Printer crashing

[JWRStation]

I am sure I have seen this problem before somewhere but not sure where????..  I have Railmaster pro but whenever I go to print the CV list the save as screen comes up for the document writer then Railmaster crashes..

 

[Augustus Caesar]

Your predicament could be caused by several issues and you would need to offer up a little more in terms of what OS you use, make and model of printer, is the printer USB connected or Ethernet/Wireless and a little more on the error itself.

 

If the printer is USB connected there could be some cross-talk between RM and its own port with that of the printer.

If you want a quick sample 'fix' it ain't going to to be easy to sort that without more info but here's a little one for you in the meantime. If the printer is USB connected then unplug the printer and remove the driver for it completely - or do that in reverse if the printer removes itself from the list in Device Manager and leaves no option to remove the driver afterward (this could depend upon its make).

Then download the latest driver from the manufacturer's site and use that to reinstall the driver. Then plug the printer back in. Sometimes the software will only allow you to finish installing when it asks you to plug in the printer during the driver install. If possible try and bypass that and let the driver install completely first.

 

Also, if you use two USB sockets that are close together on your motherboard or laptop case then try and space them (the printer and the Elite or eLink USB plugs) out because some USB ports (sockets) are shared.

 

TIP: Always use a USB port lower than number 5 in Device Manager for your hardware that runs RM.

 

Get back to us if that fails.

[Rog RJ]

You could try installing a software (virtual) printer, such as Bullzip PDF printer, which will print to a file on your computer instead of printing to an external printer.  You can then print the PDF document at a later time, if needed.

[Howbi]

You can print to a PDF in Windows 10.........it is an option under the Print command box.......HB

[Chrissaf]

...but whenever I go to print the CV list the save as screen comes up for the document writer then RailMaster crashes.

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This reply is more for the eyes of Rog and AC.

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Windows already has built in virtual printers as standard ... see image

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/media/tinymce_upload/36e6d724c2258f669f9be246285b0a58.jpg

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Yellow highlight is the PDF one.

Blue highlight XPS Document Writer.

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Now it strikes me that as JWR used the quite unusual term "save as screen" and "document writer" highlighted in bold in the quote of his original post, that he is trying to use the 'XPS Document Writer' virtual printer to save an electronic file copy of the list, rather than trying to print it out on physical paper. If it was on physical paper I would have expected him to use a term like "when I go to print the list".

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Others have asked before, "why can't I save an electronic file version of the list" .... why must it be printed out on paper". So obviously this 'save a copy' feature is missing in RailMaster but wanted by some 'users'. JWR could be using the XPS virtual printer as a workaround for this missing feature in RM.

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I have never used the XPS virtual printer myself, but given that RailMaster is written in an obsolete version of Visual Basic. The chances are that the issue may be with the way the RailMaster code is written and the code expectations of the XPS virtual driver.

[St1ngr4y]

I have just tried this myself and it worked fine. I was able to view the resultant file using the XPS viewer simply by double-clicking the file in Windows Explorer.

 

@JWRStation 

 

Are you using the very latest version of Railmaster?

 

Ray

[Augustus Caesar]

Hmmm... 'document writer'. The clue IS in the question.

Well, it was near to 4am so I can be let off with that one hopefully.

It might offer help to anyone that has an issue where my comments are relevant though... clutching at straws I know but some of us are fallable. I'm off to have a lie down 😳

[Rog RJ]

I've never used document writer, didn't even know it was there tbh.  I've used Bullzip for years so it's my go to print solution that serves me well.

 

Most of the time I use my android tablet, the PC (laptop) mainly being a backup device.

[96RAF]

I have often been fooled by various apps that list all sorts of printer variants when I have my printer set as default, which I expect any app to pick up on.

I go to print and off the app tries to print to something I don’t have, so now I check when printing from strange apps to see which printer they are trying to get me to use, then once I have clicked on my own printer all is usually fine.

[JWRStation]

Sorry for the delay but not looked online for a while.

Yes it was using the XPS virtual printer and I am on Windows 7 Pro...  I have now found it just as easy and not particullarly onerous to just copy the CV list by hand to my operation spreadsheet...  I have hundreds of Loco's and need this spreadsheet with all their info and operational status otherwise I can never remember which one works with what or needs doing to it....

Joe