220-1101 Hardware and Network Troubleshooting Practice Question
A technician is troubleshooting a laser printer that produces pages with horizontal black lines across the entire page. The toner cartridge was recently replaced with a new, genuine cartridge. Which of the following components should the technician inspect or replace NEXT?
⚠ Common exam trap
Candidates often confuse horizontal lines with fuser issues (like streaks from a damaged roller) or assume the new cartridge cannot be defective, but the symptom of repeating horizontal lines at regular intervals is a classic indicator of a drum problem.
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
✓
The imaging drum
Horizontal black lines across the entire page typically indicate a defect on the imaging drum, such as a scratch, toner buildup, or a damaged organic photoconductor (OPC) layer. Since the toner cartridge was recently replaced, the drum (often integrated into the cartridge in many laser printers) may have been damaged during installation or is defective, causing it to fail to discharge properly and deposit toner in a continuous line.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
The fuser assembly
Why it's wrong here
A faulty fuser assembly uses heat and pressure to permanently bond toner into the paper fibers; when it degrades, you typically see smudging, offset ghosting, or toner that rubs off, because the toner is not being fully melted and pressed into the page. A damaged fuser roller could produce repeating marks, but those would be spaced by the fuser roller's circumference and appear as broad, blurred bands, not the sharp, evenly spaced horizontal lines that characterize a surface defect on the imaging drum.
- ✓
The imaging drum
Why this is correct
The imaging drum, an organic photoconductor (OPC), is the core of the laser printing process: it is charged, selectively discharged by the laser, and then tonered to form the latent image. A scratch, nick, or worn spot on the drum surface creates a physical discontinuity that will pick up or transfer toner incorrectly on every rotation, producing a sharp horizontal line or band repeated at exact intervals equal to the drum's circumference. The regularity of the defect is the key diagnostic clue, since the same damaged area passes by the developer and transfer points each revolution.
- ✗
The transfer roller
Why it's wrong here
The transfer roller applies a positive charge to the paper as it passes, pulling negatively charged toner from the drum onto the page. If it is worn, contaminated, or failing, the charging is uneven, leading to light prints, mottled density, or vertical streaks along the paper path, but not discrete horizontal lines. Any repeating defect from the transfer roller would be spaced by its circumference and typically appear as a soft, wide band or a density shift, not a crisp line matching a drum surface flaw.
- ✗
The pickup roller
Why it's wrong here
The pickup roller is part of the paper feed system, not the image formation chain; its only function is to grab a sheet from the input tray and push it into the registration rollers. A worn or dirty pickup roller will cause misfeeds, paper jams, or multiple sheets being fed, but it never comes into contact with the toner image or the photoconductor, so it cannot generate horizontal line artifacts on the printed page. Horizontal repeating lines always trace back to a component in the imaging or toner-transfer path, such as the drum.
Quick reference
OSI Model Reference
| Layer | Name | PDU | Key Protocols / Devices |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Application | Data | HTTP, HTTPS, DNS, SMTP, FTP, SSH |
| 6 | Presentation | Data | TLS / SSL, JPEG, ASCII encoding |
| 5 | Session | Data | NetBIOS, RPC, SIP |
| 4 | Transport | Segment / Datagram | TCP, UDP |
| 3 | Network | Packet | IP, ICMP, OSPF — Routers |
| 2 | Data Link | Frame | Ethernet, Wi-Fi, PPP — Switches, Bridges |
| 1 | Physical | Bits | Cables, NICs, Hubs, Repeaters |
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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.