A common cause of communications errors between your computer and printer is cabling. Many devices like Tape drives, Zip drives, Scanners, etc. now make use of the printer port to save money. By using the printer port, you don't have to purchase a separate SCSI (or other) adapter and tear your computer apart to install it. Simply unplug your printer, plug in the new device, then plug the printer into that. This is called 'daisy chaining', or 'cabling through.' Some printers work just fine this way but some, especially multi-function printers, do not.
If you've installed another device on the printer port and your printer suddenly quits working, you will need to read the user manual for the new device to determine how to work around the issue, if possible.
If you have already installed a second device on the printer port and things work fine but you suddenly find one day that the printer has stopped working, you probably just forgot to power on the other device in the 'chain'.
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