Computer can't find Xerox Phaser 6180N printer after set to USB

Phaser6180N pretty high end color laser but a nightmare to configure.
I just finished a PC build. Everything went fine. Last thing I set up was the printer. I plugged it in and saved a picture from the intenet and opened it with MS paint and it printed. Then I went to print ebay labels and it gave me the errors it did last format. I have a fax and other printer on the network in another room but I don't use it. I Remove Device those two. Then removed the Phaser to reinstall thinking I knew what I did last time to fix it which I'm pretty sure I did again this time but it didn't work. Next I go to Add Printer in Windows 8.1 Devices and printers controll panel. It shows me the printer in the other room only so I select "the one I want isn't listed". Next, Instead of TCP/IP or bluetooth, I choose "local" and then it goes to a new window and instead of multiple printer ports in a drop down, I choose the one USB one, the virtual USB. I don't have a printer cord even if that would be easier. Then it auto selects me the Phaser to choose from many other printers I don't have. It says sucessfully installed. I click the test page it prompts, gives an error. I truobleshoot the printer it says other things in the que so I delete the que and uninstall the printer and redo everything. Same error after test print. Troubleshoot now says it's because a 2.0 printer is plugged into USB 3.0. I uninstall everything and plug into USB 2.0. Still nothing happens when I print in ebay. All I can get to print is something in MS paint and it only prints right after boot up when I reinstall.

I'm thinking your mistake is choosing the virtual USB port option. If you wan to use it as a local printer then buy a USB printer cable. You said in your post you don't have one. Once you get that cable, delete all instances of the printer in "Printers and Devices" and reinstall the driver. During the driver install choose local and USB. You could also connect the printer via ethernet cable and have it as a network printer. The driver would have to be configured to tell the printer to use the ethernet connection during the installation process. Does it have wireless capability? If so, you could install the driver again and configure it for wireless connectivity. Your computer itself does not need to have wireless capability to use the printer wirelessly since the wireless communication happens between the router and the printer, not the computer and the printer. If the computer is connected to the network via ethernet cable then when you send the print command the computer sends it to the router and then the router passes it on wirelessly to the printer. This of course assumes your router has wireless capability.

it is a USB printer cable. One end is USB into the PC, the other is not USB, it's only something I've ever seen on the printer. I had this printer running fine for like 2 years via USB. I know it giving me the only USB option as 'virtual' sounds like a sort of non standard method but t woks USB anyway.
Printer isn't wireless.

Didn't notice before but before I even try to print, the Explorer print pop up to change settings before hitting Print shows Status:error state. So I will see what I can change in the actual printer dashboard and hopefully get it running again. Will make note of it for next time.

Fixed it.


Installed latest driver from xerox site, didn't print. Checked all settings which seemed to be set right. uninstalled printer, unplugged, turned PC off, Turned the elcetric breaker. set an antenna on the roof and waited for ligtning to hit it, turned pc back on, installed prtinter, checked for updates, sang to the printer, tapped it three times on the side, turned it off then turned it on then off then on then off. uninstalled then reinstalled then uninstalled then reinstalled then turned it off then on then off, called xerox and microsoft but only got a robot, turned it off turned it on. but it didn't print.



Then I tried this which worked: removed device, unpluggeed the usb and restarted. Plugged back in and when windows tried to auto install it, I hit cancel. I was going then try and install the xerox driver (which didn't work all the other times but I hoped maybe it would less likely conmflict with the generic Windows driver that always gets auto installed but I canceled this time). Next instead of even installing any driver or anything, the printer was shown in devices and printers so I printed a page and it's all working, printing color, labels, all types of media.