Extremely SLOW printing with Ricoh AP2600 + 10.4.2: Why?

Question

Level 2

304 points

Extremely SLOW printing with Ricoh AP2600 + 10.4.2: Why?

I have a PB G4 running 10.4.2, and a Ricoh Laser Printer model AP2600. I have installed all the latest drivers and software, downloaded directly from the Ricoh site.

Here's my problem: When I try to print a document -- even a short document that is nothing but text in a generic font -- the print time is EXTREMELY slow, compared to what it ought to be. A single sentence in Geneva in TextEdit takes 30 seconds; one page in Palatino in MSWord takes TWO MINUTES; a pdf or jpeg can take 3 - 6 minutes per page, depending on the size.

Three things to keep in mind: when I plug my old iBook running OS9 into the same printer, and try printing the same documents (or equivalents), they print instanteaously. An MSWord document or SimpleText document starts printing after ONE SECOND. Pdf's will take maybe 10 - 15 seconds per page. Also, when I plug my new PB G4 into another printer I have -- an Epson 777 inkjet -- the printing is also extremely fast -- just a few seconds pause before the printing starts. And lastly (this is very revealing), some Classic apps on my PB G4 manage to print out pages using the old OS9 printing utility -- and when that happens, the printing is again instantaneous.

Thus, the problem is obviously between Tiger and the Ricoh, specfically.

I got this Ricoh AP2600 because it is supposed to be an extremely fast printer -- and it was, when I was still using OS9. But now, under Tiger, it has become so slow as to be almost unusuable in my work environment.

What should I do to improve the printing speed? The whole suite of printer utilities for Tiger are a little confusing to me, but as far as I can tell I've make all the proper settings and preferences.

This problem is driving me to distraction, as I spend half my day waiting for this printer to spit out pages. Help!

Posted on Oct 4, 2005 1:31 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Oct 5, 2005 3:30 PM in response to Tuffy Nicolas

I am experiencing similar problems with a Brother MFC-8220. I started out using the direct USB connection. Thinking that might be a bottleneck, I spent another $100 on the Ethernet interface card and that's just as slow.

Printing PDF documents is an exercise in patience; I watch the printer queue message "Spooling LPR job, 2% complete..." sit there for 5-10 minutes... "3% complete...". This printer is rated at 20+ pages per minute, but I'm lucky to get 20 pages per hour.

It's as if the Tiger printing software is a zero priority thread and the data just trickles to the printer a few bits at a time. My Ethernet hub has lights that blink while traffic is passing; network activity is virtually non-existent. If I go to the Activity Monitor, my CPU usage consistently shows 90+% idle while printing. I am able to log in to the web-based configuration on the printer just fine, and I can watch the job status via the local CUPS web interface (localhost:631) fine too.

I'm going to try installing Panther on a separate partition to see if it's indeed Tiger that's the culprit. I'll report back with my findings...

Reply

Answer 2

Oct 16, 2005 4:58 AM in response to Tuffy Nicolas

Hardware: Tiger OS on G4 2x450 Mhz + Deskjet 1220C (A3 ink) + Samsung ML1450 (A4 laser). Earlier I had Epson 870 (A4 ink).
Printing is, and has always been unbearable slow. I work with pdf prints from architects and constructors at home office, and I´m now this close to tossing the machine out the window.
In my other office at work I have a pentium II - 400Mhz PC that starts warming up the same second I hit "print", and also prints without any delays and breaks during the job.

My mac seem to hold back information to the printer, and just feeding it with small drops of info now and then. Therefor I wonder if it has to do with print buffer on the mac, and if it´s adjustable.

Had same issue with file transfering over internet. I improved performance and speed by doubling packetsize for both send and receive in config.

Reply

Answer 3

Oct 18, 2005 10:09 AM in response to Tuffy Nicolas

I am experiencing EXACTLY the same problem as you with an HP 2610 All-in-on e new printer.
Prints extremely fast from a PC and EXTREMELY slowly from my MAC (tiger).
Almost unusable for printing graphics documents.
I have contacted the HP support but ... seems not to be an HP specific problem.

Reply

Answer 4

Tuffy Nicolas Author

Level 2

304 points

Oct 30, 2005 10:27 PM in response to Marc Vanden Eynden

Bjorn and Marc -- Your posts have given me an idea. Try this to solve the slow printing problem on Tiger:

In any Apple application, press "Command-P" to get Tiger's Print Dialog Box; the third drop-down menu in the box says "Copies & Pages" -- select that menu and choose the third option in it, called "Scheduler"; in the "Scheduler" preferences panel, there is another drop-down menu called "Priority" that is set to "Medium"; HERE IS THE KEY: change the "Priority" from "Medium" to "Urgent."

I have a suspicion that this will make the sending of data from the Mac to the printer be the highest priority task, and thus the data will flow faster, and printing will happen faster. As it is now, with the "Priority" set to "Medium," the data transfer to the printer might be made to be a background task that happens very slowly.

If you try this, please report back to say if it improved printing speed.

Thanks.

Reply

Answer 5

Oct 31, 2005 2:11 PM in response to Tuffy Nicolas

Hi Tuffy

Could be an incompatability with the printer and Tiger. I've had numerous problems with HP's and Tiger via USB. I'd suggest you contact Ricoh and see if their drivers are supposed to work fine in Tiger.

Also try setting it up as a Generic Printer instead of letting it auto-select the correct PPD and see if it prints any faster that way. You should also try the Reset Print System option and re-create your printers to see if that helps at all (probably won't seems your Epson is workin fine)

Matt

Reply

Answer 6

Oct 31, 2005 2:37 PM in response to Tuffy Nicolas

Tuffy,

I don't know if it helps others but my situation improved with setting the scheduler to urgent.

Thanks,

CJ

Reply

Answer 7

Nov 5, 2005 5:49 PM in response to Marc Vanden Eynden

I have the same problem with my HP 2610. From the Mac, an 8x10 300dpi photo can take 10 to 20 minutes!!, same photo to the 2610 from a Windows XP PC takes 30-50 seconds. A Canon i950 connected *** USB to the same Mac takes about 50 seconds as well.

I contacted HP and they gave a complex driver uninstall-reinstall process, which I tried to no avail with both the driver that shipped with the printer and the latest off HPs website.

This is totally bogus, Apple & HP have to collaborate to fix it.

Reply