220-1101 Hardware and Network Troubleshooting Practice Question
A technician is troubleshooting a laser printer that produces pages with horizontal white lines running across the printed text. The toner cartridge has been replaced with a new one, and the issue persists. Which printer component should the technician inspect or replace NEXT?
⚠ Common exam trap
It's easy for candidates to assume all print quality issues are caused by the toner cartridge, but the CompTIA 220-1101 exam tests the distinction between the toner cartridge and the imaging drum as separate components that can fail independently.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
Imaging drum
The imaging drum is the component that transfers toner to the paper in a laser printer. Horizontal white lines typically indicate a defect on the drum surface, such as scratches or contamination, which prevent toner from adhering to those areas. Since replacing the toner cartridge did not resolve the issue, the imaging drum (often a separate consumable) is the next logical component to inspect or replace.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
Fuser assembly
Why it's wrong here
A faulty fuser typically causes toner to smear, rub off, or produce a glossy/shiny appearance on the page because it fails to melt and pressure-fuse toner into the paper. Horizontal white lines, by contrast, indicate a localized defect in the image formation process before the toner is transferred, not a fusing problem. If the fuser were damaged, you'd expect vertical streaks or repeated marks spaced by the roller circumference, not uniform horizontal lines across the entire page.
- ✗
Transfer roller
Why it's wrong here
The transfer roller applies a positive charge to the paper to pull negatively charged toner from the drum surface. If it fails or is contaminated, the entire image would become faint, patchy, or missing, because toner transfer is compromised across the whole sheet. Horizontal white lines specifically arise from a defect on the drum surface that prevents toner from adhering in that exact linear region, not from a failure in the charge-transfer step.
- ✓
Imaging drum
Why this is correct
The imaging drum is a photosensitive cylinder that holds an electrostatic latent image, which attracts toner to form the image. Scratches, wear, or contamination on the drum surface create consistent white lines that repeat once per drum rotation, running horizontally across the page. This is the classic cause of horizontal white lines, and replacing the drum resolves the issue.
- ✗
Pickup roller
Why it's wrong here
The pickup roller's sole job is to grab a sheet from the paper tray and feed it into the printer. A worn or dirty pickup roller results in paper jams, multi-feeds, or blank sheets due to no paper reaching the imaging section, but it never affects the toner image itself. Since the defect is a printed image artifact, the pickup roller cannot be the source of horizontal white lines.
Visual reference
Go deeper
Related to this question
About these practice questions
This 220-1101 question is part of Courseiva's 896-question bank — original exam-style content with full explanations and wrong-answer analysis, never real exam questions or exam dumps. Learn why practice questions differ from exam dumps →
JA
Written by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
This 220-1101 practice question is part of Courseiva's free CompTIA certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 220-1101 exam.