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Computer will not start up properly if printer is turned or left on first.

I purchased 2 Brother DCP-L2540DW printers yesterday. I installed the drivers from the CD and hooked up the printer when instructed. It requested me to restart the computer at the end of the installation package. What happens is my computer boots up just prior to the 'Press Ctrl Alt Delete' screen. Prior to displaying this screen, both my monitors briefly display 'No Signal', turns black and the power light on both monitors turn amber.

I can wait at the blank screen for 5, 10 or 15 minutes and nothing will change. Within 3 seconds of me turning off my printer, both monitors display the 'Press Ctrl Alt Delete' screen and everything is OK.

Everything works perfectly if I restart my computer with the printer turned off.
My computer will not start properly if I start my computer with the printer turned on.

I've contacted Bother and they're blaming Microsoft for the problem. Brother doesn't have a phone number for tech support. The phone number is a message to go to their website for 'Live Chat'.

I rotated printers and my computer restarted fine the first time. Every time after that I ran into the same problem with either printer.

I've updated the firmware on the printer.
I've downloaded and used the latest driver from the Brother Website.
I've installed every update related to the Brother DCP-L2540DW printer on the Brother website.

Any suggestions?

pjam

We had similar issue with an HP LaserJet P3005 connected by USB. If we disconnected the USB computer would start, and then we could plug in USB. We ended up replacing the motherboard in the printer.

SOLUTION

Bill Rellergert

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it_saige

Have you checked your BIOS settings to ensure that you are not allowing to boot up from the USB/Removable storage?

Have you performed a BIOS upgrade for the computers motherboard?

-saige-

JohnnyBCJ

ASKER

We had similar issue with an HP LaserJet P3005 connected by USB. If we disconnected the USB computer would start, and then we could plug in USB. We ended up replacing the motherboard in the printer.

Seems drastic for a printer that I haven't had hooked up for a day but it's sad I can't get anyone behind Brother's tech support team to help me.

Wow.. I think I might suspect a short in your parallel/USB port/cable.. I had something similar happen years ago, and it turned out to be a a tiny solder ball on the USB port connector. It's definitely something weird. Could also be a bad printer that has now shorted your USB ports.

Try a different cable with a port that is currently in use by something that works.. like your mouse.

I will try another USB cord in the same port as my mouse and I'll give you the results shortly.

Have you checked your BIOS settings to ensure that you are not allowing to boot up from the USB/Removable storage?

Have you performed a BIOS upgrade for the computers motherboard?

-saige-

I should have said that in my question, my hard drive boots first in bios. It passes the 'Loading Windows' screen but it stops prior to 'Press Ctrl Alt Delete'.

rindi

Why connect the printer directly to the PC? From what I gather by it's part number it has a "W" in it, and that usually means it has an integrated wireless print-server. Just set it up for wireless use and you won't have any problems.

JohnnyBCJ

ASKER

Why connect the printer directly to the PC? From what I gather by it's part number it has a "W" in it, and that usually means it has an integrated wireless print-server. Just set it up for wireless use and you won't have any problems.

This could be a possible work around to the problem but I cannot setup a wireless network. I like the way you think!

SOLUTION

Spike99

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pgm554

I would call the computers manufacturer and see what needs to be changed in the BIOS.
It does sound like a boot setting on the systems.

JohnnyBCJ

ASKER

If a different cable doesn't fix it as suggested, I would return the suckers: they're new so they should work straight out of the box with the cables and accessories provided.

If you decide to go that route, I would spend a bit more and get a printer with a wired network connection so you can connect it directly to the network switch or router. Does your your network equipment have the ports available to do that? If not, a small network switch might be a worthwhile expense.

Other people take my printer multiple times throughout the year and I end up getting mine replaced. I'll be lucky to have a printer stay on my desk for 4 months.

I would call the computers manufacturer and see what needs to be changed in the BIOS. It does sound like a boot setting on the systems.

I never thought of that but I don't think my computer would be supported. It's a couple years old.

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pgm554

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SOLUTION

Member_2_406981

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nobus

some motherboard bios change automatic to put the usb devices first in the boot order
if so - check if you can disable boot from usb

JohnnyBCJ

ASKER

The bios has the hard drive selected first. Also, if I select the hard drive from the boot menu, I get the same result.

I've had issues in the past with usb devices hanging a boot.
Some chipsets are notorious for this.
I just bought a cheap usb card and was done with it.

Wouldn't it be the same as changing the port from the front of the computer to the back?

You also could try to connect the printer over an USB-Hub and not directly to the PC. sometimes this helps too with USB-boot problems. Also try one of the USB3 ports if available.

I can give this a try but at the same time this happens even when I select to boot from hard drive in the boot menu.

some motherboard bios change automatic to put the usb devices first in the boot order
if so - check if you can disable boot from usb

This happens even when I select to boot from hard drive in the boot menu.

pgm554

The only two other things that come to mind are seeing if the settings in the bios on the affected machine will allow you to set it to legacy mode for USB and see if the firmware can be updated to the latest rev on the printer:
http://support.brother.com/g/b/downloadend.aspx?c=us&lang=en&prod=dcpl2540dw_us_as&os=93&dlid=dlf004715_000&flang=8&type3=375

And make sure you have the latest rev for your computer bios installed.

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JohnnyBCJ

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JohnnyBCJ

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Shortest explanation to the solution to the problem.