Help? HP 6MP no longer prints with router & JetDirect on my G4 after reinstalling OS X
badd...@comcast.net
When I try to print from any application on my G4, the HP 6MP runs through the power and data lights, but never actually prints anything. It doesn't give any error lights�it just stops trying.
The HP 6MP is connected via Appletalk to my 1.25Ghz mirror-door tower G4 running OS 10.4.11 via SMC Barricade ethernet router to a JetDirect300EX+ to the 6MP.
Router address = 192.168.2.101
HP JetDirect 300EX+ I.P. address = 192.168.2.100
I did a cold reset on the the JetDirect, but it went from 0.0.0.0. right back to 192.168.2.100 as soon as I plugged the ethernet cable back into the running system. It's supposed to go to a factory default of 192.0.0.192.
Self test on JetDirect works, and its status light shows it is functioning. The self test printout indicates I/O Card Ready.
Self test on HP 6MP works. Running HP Laserjet Utility in OS 9 is able to print a test page from the utility through the connected system. The utility says, Warning: printer is off line during the test, though it is able to print.
Help please?
Thanks,
Douglas
David Empson
> My HP 6MP won't print any more, after reinstalling OS X. It used to work
> from both OS 9 and 10 on this G4. When I try to print from any application
> on my G4, the HP 6MP runs through the power and data lights, but never
> actually prints anything. It doesn't give any error lights—it just stops
> trying.
(I also have a 6MP and an older JetDirect EX Plus, and I'm using it from
computers running 10.4, 10.5 and 10.6, with AppleTalk or JetDirect
Socket protocols.)
Did you reinstall the relevant drivers from HP? I recall they had
several updates to the Postscript printer description files for printers
of that era, some of which may have been after the release of 10.4. You
may have reverted to an older version of the PPD which doesn't work
properly.
You could also try various workaround such as creating a printer using
JetDirect Socket or LPR instead of AppleTalk (but I doubt that is the
issue), or choosing the Gutenprint PCL driver for the LaserJet 6P (if it
is available in 10.4).
> The HP 6MP is connected via Appletalk to my 1.25Ghz mirror-door tower G4
> running OS 10.4.11 via SMC Barricade ethernet router to a JetDirect300EX+
> to the 6MP.
>
> Router address = 192.168.2.101
> HP JetDirect 300EX+ I.P. address = 192.168.2.100
>
> I did a cold reset on the the JetDirect, but it went from 0.0.0.0. right
> back to 192.168.2.100 as soon as I plugged the ethernet cable back into
> the running system. It's supposed to go to a factory default of
> 192.0.0.192.
>
> Self test on JetDirect works, and its status light shows it is
> functioning. The self test printout indicates I/O Card Ready.
>
> Self test on HP 6MP works. Running HP Laserjet Utility in OS 9 is able to
> print a test page from the utility through the connected system. The
> utility says, Warning: printer is off line during the test, though it is
> able to print.
Apart from the warning (which could be normal), everything sounds fine.
The problem appears to be a Postscript compatibility issue or something
similar - when printing from Mac OS X, the printer is going through the
motions, so it is receiving a document, but it just isn't outputting
anything.
The IP address of the JetDirect is stored in nonvolatile memory so it
should be retained after a restart. (Its default is 192.168.0.192, by
the way.)
My JetDirect can configure the IP address via a telnet connection, or
presumably with the Windows-based JetDirect admin tools, which I've
never used.
--
David Empson
dem...@actrix.gen.nz
badd...@comcast.net
I had to set up the 6MP in Printer Setup Utility as an IP printer as
described in a snippet I found, as copied below:
"Printing To Obscure Network Printers
Jeff Hecht
The Printer Setup Utility in OS X 10.3 includes a set of print drivers
and the open-source GIMP-PRINT software which makes it possible to print
through an Ethernet hub or router to older printers, such as the HP
Laserjet 5MP. Unfortunately Apple's on-line help files are missing one
critical bit of information that is needed at least for the 5MP.
Printing through the Ethernet requires setting up IP Printing, using
LPD/LPR and entering the digital Internet address. The box also asks for
a queue name, but indicates you don't have to enter the queue if a
default may suffice. In the case of the 5MP -- and probably other older
printers as well -- the default doesn't work. You need to enter LP
(lowercase is fine) for the queue."
For the 6MP, which has the same situation as described for the 5MP
above, I didn't have to enter anything as a queue name, and copied the
JetDirect IP address as the printer address. I was not able to use the
Apple-provided HP printer driver or printer the utility initially saw
and identified.
Works fine now, yay!
Douglas