Re: Laserjet 4m plus problem

I have two networked LaserJet 4M Plus printers here accessed by mostly Windows
computers and one occasional Linux Red Hat 8.2 computer. I have never any
problem with the speed of printing.

Because your LJ4M+ is a true PostScript printer, it would be most useful if your
Slackware system had the proper PostScript PPD file installed for this model of
printer. Does it? How much memory does the LJ4M+ have? Lack of printer memory
can cause unpredictable printing with LaserJets (PCL or PostScript) and other
similar raster-image printers. Beyond this, I can only suggest that you address
your problem to a Linux newsgroup... Ben Myers

On Wed, 30 Jul 2003 11:43:25 +0200, Felix Pfeiffer
<expires-07-01.10.ff-> wrote:

>Howdy,
>
>i have a Laserjet 4m Plus connected to my local lan via Jetdirect card.
>(10-BaseT)
>Printings works quite well except when i try to print pages with images or
>something similar... (Means where the Postscriptfile gets large...)
>It lasts _very_ long to send e.g. a 1MB ps file to the printer. Perhaps
>~20minutes.
>I'm using Cups 1.1.15 on Slackware 8.1 / Linux 2.4.21.
>Is there any possibilty to make file sending to the printer faster? The way
>it is now, it is really annoying
>
>thanks in advance,
> Felix.

Felix,

I sent you the HP LJ4M+ PPD I use, obtained originally from the Adobe web site.

For your information, Adobe maintains an extensive archive of PPDs for printers
which contain a licensed PostScript firmware engine. As I recall, this archive
is indexed by brand-name of printer.

I would consider increasing the amount of memory in your LJ4M+ to the maximum of
50MB. To do so, you would need three good quality 16MB 72-pin non-parity fast
page mode SIMMs conforming to industry JEDEC standards for serial presence
detect (SPD). The maximum amount of memory in the printer is your best
guarantee of trouble-free operation.

12MB to 16MB may SEEM like enough memory for a 4MB Postscript image, but it is
quite likely that the printer memory capacity is being exceeded by the resulting
raster image built by the PostScript interpreter. Memory capacity problems are
quite common with HP LaserJet and other raster-oriented page printers because
the printer manufacturers sell their printers with the minimum amount of memory,
then charge customers a lot of money for the memory upgrades.

As a test, see what happens when you print the 4MB PostScript file at 300 dpi,
instead of the default 600 dpi. Other possibilities to check are network-level
configuration parameters for both the printer's JetDirect and the Linux
computer, and also the physical network connection, including Category 5 cable
and any network hub, switch or router in the path between computer and printer.

.... Ben Myers

On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 14:06:44 +0200, Felix Pfeiffer
<expires-07-01.10.ff-> wrote:

>Ben Myers schrieb:
>
>> Because your LJ4M+ is a true PostScript printer, it would be most useful
>> if your Slackware system had the proper PostScript PPD file installed for
>> this model of
>> printer. Does it?
>Well not really. I found a ppd file which is for this printer (on
>http://hp.sourceforge.net/) , but if i use it and print a testpage the
>quality isn't perfect. So i searched on HP.com and found a windows exe
>which contained some ppds. One of them produces excellent quality and i'm
>fully satisfied with it, except the problem i have when printing large
>postscript files. One line in this ppd is
>
>"*% For "HP LaserJet 4V/4MV" version 2014.101"
>
>So it's not for a lj4mp but i haven't found a better one yet for a lj4mp
>
>> How much memory does the LJ4M+ have? Lack of printer
>> memory can cause unpredictable printing with LaserJets (PCL or PostScript)
>> and other
>> similar raster-image printers.
>
>It has either 12MB or 16MB (not sure but it is enough for a 4mb i file i
>guess
>
>F.

Ben Myers schrieb:

> I would consider increasing the amount of memory in your LJ4M+ to the
> maximum of
> 50MB. To do so, you would need three good quality 16MB 72-pin non-parity
> fast page mode SIMMs conforming to industry JEDEC standards for serial
> presence
> detect (SPD). The maximum amount of memory in the printer is your best
> guarantee of trouble-free operation.

Ok, i will try to get that Memory... I don't think that it might be
something else because i have some more pc's connected to this LAN and they
have no problem with sending and recieving from on to another

thanks for your help,
F.

Then make sure that the Category 5 cable leading from the network hub/switch to
the JetDirect in the printer is OK. Or maybe substitute a new cable if easy to
do... Ben Myers

On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 17:00:10 +0200, Felix Pfeiffer
<expires-07-01.10.ff-> wrote:

>Ben Myers schrieb:
>
>> I would consider increasing the amount of memory in your LJ4M+ to the
>> maximum of
>> 50MB. To do so, you would need three good quality 16MB 72-pin non-parity
>> fast page mode SIMMs conforming to industry JEDEC standards for serial
>> presence
>> detect (SPD). The maximum amount of memory in the printer is your best
>> guarantee of trouble-free operation.
>
>Ok, i will try to get that Memory... I don't think that it might be
>something else because i have some more pc's connected to this LAN and they
>have no problem with sending and recieving from on to another
>
>thanks for your help,
>F.