Networking HP 1200 Printer

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We have a network of five computers all running XP (some home, some Pro). All works well, except the sharing of the HP LaserJet 1200 connected to one. This was set up with the PCL 6 drivers provided on CD-ROM, and these have been updated with latest drivers from HPs site. This printer shows up as “HP LaserJet 1200 Series PCL 6”. But only the host computer can print to this. Other computers appear to print OK, but the queue is jammed, and the document shows Error status.

We have installed the driver provided with Windows. This shows as “HP LaserJet 1200 Series”. This works OK but has less features and seems sometimes to screw up the layout, adding extra space between some letters.

Any idea why the ‘guests’ cannot print to the PCL 6 driver, while the ‘generic’ driver works?

Thanks
Chris

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I don’t have the answer to your specific question, but have you tried the HP specific drivers on the guest PCs?

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I don’t have the answer to your specific question, but have you tried the HP specific drivers on the guest PCs?

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Chris is on the right track. ALL of the computers on your network must have the HP 1200 drivers installed, not just the computer that the HP is connected to. Use the drivers from HP on all of the computers and the problem should be solved.

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Chris is on the right track. ALL of the computers on your network must have the HP 1200 drivers installed, not just the computer that the HP is connected to. Use the drivers from HP on all of the computers and the problem should be solved.

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Is the printer a local printer (attached via a parallel printer cable, or perhaps USB cable) on one of the PCs?
Have you arranged for it to be “shared” on the network, as a network printer?
Or have you an Ethernet connection to a JetDirect box to the printer (or a JetDirect card IN the printer – can’t remember if it can have one!). — doesn’t sound if this applies.

Basically, I;m asking what the connectivity is!

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John,

Thanks for your questions.

> Is the printer a local printer (attached via a parallel printer cable, or perhaps USB cable) on one of the PCs?
Yes

> Have you arranged for it to be “shared” on the network, as a network printer?
Yes

> Or have you an Ethernet connection to a JetDirect box to the printer (or a JetDirect card IN the printer – can’t remember if it can have one!). — doesn’t sound if this applies.

No

Regarding earlier suggestions, these give the impression that ALL PCs on the LAN MUST have the drivers installed, regardless of whether they are actually printing–is this correct? I haven’t yet had time to get to all of them to check this.

However, the correct and updated drivers ARE installed on both the host (to which the printer is connected) and the guest (which is trying to print). This fails with the PCL6 driver, and blocks the printer queue totally, including for those printing the the PCL driver provided with Windows. However, if the document is printed to the PCL (Windows-provided) driver, it prints, but sometimes with odd spaces between letters and without some of the features that the PCL6 driver provides.

Confused…

Chris

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Chris

I agree with others that you need to have the printer drivers on all PCs.

Have you tried the PCL 5e driver instead of the PCL 6 one? (Looking at the downloads for printer drivers on HP probably confuses most techies, to say nothing of end users!)

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John,

Can you tell me more? If the techies are confused, I sure am! Where can I find the difference between PCL 6 and PCL 5e?

The dirvers which came with the printer are PCL6…

Chris

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Chris

The main difference I’ve found between PCL6 and PCL5e is that PCL 6 has the PCL commands encrypted into binary, whereas a PCL5e print data stream can be “read” by someone with years of practice! We use whichever driver we feel like, if both are available, and using PCL5e might be worth a try, although I’m not really convinced.

My point was, when you display the list of available XP printer downloads for the LaserJet 1200, it is not intuitive to know which one(s) you should choose!

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Chris

The main difference I’ve found between PCL6 and PCL5e is that PCL 6 has the PCL commands encrypted into binary, whereas a PCL5e print data stream can be “read” by someone with years of practice! We use whichever driver we feel like, if both are available, and using PCL5e might be worth a try, although I’m not really convinced.

My point was, when you display the list of available XP printer downloads for the LaserJet 1200, it is not intuitive to know which one(s) you should choose!

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John,

Can you tell me more? If the techies are confused, I sure am! Where can I find the difference between PCL 6 and PCL 5e?

The dirvers which came with the printer are PCL6…

Chris

Reply | Quote

Chris

I agree with others that you need to have the printer drivers on all PCs.

Have you tried the PCL 5e driver instead of the PCL 6 one? (Looking at the downloads for printer drivers on HP probably confuses most techies, to say nothing of end users!)

Reply | Quote

John,

Thanks for your questions.

> Is the printer a local printer (attached via a parallel printer cable, or perhaps USB cable) on one of the PCs?
Yes

> Have you arranged for it to be “shared” on the network, as a network printer?
Yes

> Or have you an Ethernet connection to a JetDirect box to the printer (or a JetDirect card IN the printer – can’t remember if it can have one!). — doesn’t sound if this applies.

No

Regarding earlier suggestions, these give the impression that ALL PCs on the LAN MUST have the drivers installed, regardless of whether they are actually printing–is this correct? I haven’t yet had time to get to all of them to check this.

However, the correct and updated drivers ARE installed on both the host (to which the printer is connected) and the guest (which is trying to print). This fails with the PCL6 driver, and blocks the printer queue totally, including for those printing the the PCL driver provided with Windows. However, if the document is printed to the PCL (Windows-provided) driver, it prints, but sometimes with odd spaces between letters and without some of the features that the PCL6 driver provides.

Confused…

Chris

Reply | Quote

Is the printer a local printer (attached via a parallel printer cable, or perhaps USB cable) on one of the PCs?
Have you arranged for it to be “shared” on the network, as a network printer?
Or have you an Ethernet connection to a JetDirect box to the printer (or a JetDirect card IN the printer – can’t remember if it can have one!). — doesn’t sound if this applies.

Basically, I;m asking what the connectivity is!

Reply | Quote