74 

|

Troubleshooting

Printing problems

CONDITION

POSSIBLE 

CAUSE

SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS

The printer does 

not print.

The printer is not 

receiving power.

Check the power cord 

connections. Check the 

power switch and the power 

source.

The printer is not 

selected as the 

default printer.

Select 

Dell 2145cn Color 

Laser MFP

 as your default 

printer in your Windows.

Check the printer for the following:

•

The front cover is not closed. Close the cover.

•

Paper is jammed. Clear the paper jam 

(see "Clearing paper jams" on page 64).

•

No paper is loaded. Load paper (see "Loading 

paper" on page 27).

•

The toner cartridge is not installed. Install the 

toner cartridge.

•

If a system error occurs, contact your service 

representative.

The connection 

cable between the 

computer and the 

printer is not 

connected properly.

Disconnect the printer cable 

and reconnect it.

The connection 

cable between the 

computer and the 

printer is defective.

If possible, attach the cable 

to another computer that is 

working properly and print a 

job. You can also try using a 

different printer cable.

The port setting is 

incorrect.

Check the Windows printer 

setting to ensure that the 

print job is sent to the correct 

port. If the computer has 

more than one port, ensure 

that the printer is attached to 

the correct one.

The printer may be 

configured 

incorrectly. 

Check the printer properties 

to ensure that all of the print 

settings are correct. 

The printer driver 

may be incorrectly 

installed.

Reinstall the printer software. 

See the 

Software section

.

The printer is 

malfunctioning.

Check the display message 

on the control panel to see if 

the printer is indicating a 

system error.

The document size 

is so big that the 

hard disk space of 

the computer is not 

enough to access 

the print job.

Get more hard disk space 

and print the document 

again.

The printer 

selects print 

materials from 

the wrong paper 

source.

The paper source 

selection in the 

printer properties 

may be incorrect.

For many software 

applications, the paper 

source selection is found 

under the 

Thin Paper

 tab 

within the printer properties. 

Select the correct paper 

source. See the printer driver 

help screen.

A print job is 

extremely slow.

The job may be very 

complex.

Reduce the complexity of the 

page or try adjusting the print 

quality settings.

Half the page is 

blank.

The page orientation 

setting may be 

incorrect.

Change the page orientation 

in your application. See the 

printer driver help screen.

The paper size and 

the paper size 

settings do not 

match.

Ensure that the paper size in 

the printer driver settings 

matches the paper in the 

tray.

Or, ensure that the paper 

size in the printer driver 

settings matches the paper 

selection in the software 

application settings you use.

The printer 

prints, but the 

text is wrong, 

garbled, or 

incomplete.

The printer cable is 

loose or defective.

Disconnect the printer cable 

and reconnect. Try a print job 

that you have already printed 

successfully. If possible, 

attach the cable and the 

printer to another computer 

and try a print job that you 

know works. Finally, try a 

new printer cable.

The wrong printer 

driver was selected.

Check the application’s 

printer selection menu to 

ensure that your printer is 

selected.

The software 

application is 

malfunctioning.

Try printing a job from 

another application.

The operating 

system is 

malfunctioning.

Exit Windows and reboot the 

computer. Turn the printer off 

and then back on again.

Pages print, but 

are blank.

The toner cartridge 

is defective or out of 

toner.

Redistribute the toner, if 

necessary (see 

"Redistributing toner" on 

page 58).

If necessary, replace the 

toner cartridge.

The file may have 

blank pages.

Check the file to ensure that 

it does not contain blank 

pages.

Some parts, such as 

the controller or the 

board, may be 

defective.

Contact a service 

representative.

CONDITION

POSSIBLE 

CAUSE

SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS