Soooo close, yet no cigar... 😟
I don't know whether anyone's still reading this thread, but I sure hope so...
Thanks to eBay, I now have a nice, used HP JetDirect EX Plus. I still haven't been able to make it work despite a couple hours of trying.
One diff between what Greg Sahli said and what I have: Where he said "You will use a standard parallel printer cable (DB-25 on one end, Centronics on the other) from print server to printer" what I have is a cable hard-wired to the HP LaserWriter 4ML, that terminates in a standard parallel plug (that I used to have plugged into my XP box's parallel jack. Now (as I'll describe below) that cable is plugged into the HP JetDirect EX Plus's parallel jack.
I'll describe my situation in hopes that someone'll say "Try THIS instead of THAT" and all will be goodness and light once more. 🙂
Configuration:
The JetDirect's parallel jack is hooked to the HP LaserJet 4ML's parallel I/O plug.
The Cable Modem's output (Ethernet to/from Internet) is hooked via RJ45 into PORT 1, the base port of a Linksys workgroup switch (10/100 Mbps, 5-port, model EZXS55W).
PORT 2 is hooked via RJ45 into the WAN port of an AirPort Extreme Router. (There's an Epson CX4200 hooked via USB into the Airport Extreme's USB port. It's been working fine since Day 1 I got a new Mac Mini running 10.4.5)
PORT 3 is hooked via RJ45 wire into another Ti-PbG4 Mac's (OS 10.3.9) Ethernet wired input (RJ45). I'm bypassing the AirPort Extreme's 802.11g wireless to the Ti-book because it only has 802.11b.
PORT 4 is hooked via RJ45 into the Ethernet port of the HP JetDirect EX Plus. The only apparent problem with this is that the LinkSys switch's indicator lights for PORT 4 are not the same as those for PORTs 1, 2 and 3. See following diagram between the ====s.
PORT 5 and the Uplink port on the LinkSys switch are as yet unused.
=========
1 2 3 4 5
g g g g
g g g
o o o
=========
Where the top line corresponds to PORT #, the next line is labeled "LINK/ACT", next line is labeled "100", and the last line is labeled "Full/Col". "g" means a green LED is glowing, "o" an orange LED, and a blank means that there is nothing on.
I've swapped in a known-good Ethernet cable between LinkSys and JetDirect; same top-line-green-only LEDs.
From the LinkSys switch info, this means that
All ports are detecting a active link connection
PORT 4 is running at 10MBPS rather than 100 (as are the other three whose green lights are on)
PORT 4 is running in HALF DUPLEX transfer mode rather than in full duplex (as are the other three whose orange lights are on).
The LaserWriter can be made to emit internal test pages. Five are produced -- the first two of the test pages indicate that it is a PostScript printer. The last three of those pages give PCL configuration.
===============
The JetDirect can cause the LaserWriter 4ML to generate its own test pages. I found documentation on it here:
http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/support/SupportManual/bpj06151/bpj06151.pdf
and it told me how to reset it to factory-defaults and then set it into PostScript mode (that's what I figure I need, right?)
After doing that, the PostScript Configuration Page produced by the LaserJet 4ML said, among
*many* other things,
PORT SELECT: 10BASE-T
I/O CARD READY
TCP/IP STATUS: READY
CONFIG BY: FRONT PANEL/TELNET
IP ADDRESS: 192.168.200.53
SUBNET MASK: 255.255.255.192
After looking for awhile I found what seems to be the right doc on the HP website, and the right place within it -- it's a really long URL so I used tinyurl:
http://tinyurl.com/czk6v
This was confusing (to me). It talked about "assigning an IP address" but I am not clear on that. Which one? Should I take that to be 192.168.200.53?? It mentioned "HP LaserJet Utility in the HP LaserJet folder." Might this be referring to SW that was on an installation/driver disk with every new JetDirect Print Server? I sure hope I can get by without THAT!
At any rate, here's what I've tried. From the 10.3.9 Mac on the Lan,
===============
I open Printer Setup Utility and click on ADD
I select IP Printing
Next, under PRINTER TYPE It suggests LPD/LPR but there are several other options, including SOCKET/JetDirect which I choose because it seems that the JetDirect is talking back...
I enter the IP address from the above output, 192.168.200.53 and the dialog box says "Complete and valid address" which sounds encouraging...
I assign some random QueueName like HPsockJD
Under PRINTER MODEL, I select HP and thereafter go for the HP LaserJet 4ML, v2013.003 and then click ADD.
I find I've created a new print queue named 192.168.200.53 of the KIND of LaserJet 4ML V2013.003.
I print a .txt doc to it and it accepts the job, claims to be PRINTING, but nothing happens on the LaserJet 4ML.
===============
So OK, I'll just clobber that entire printer, start another one again using IP PRINTING,
Select Printer type LPD/LPR (instead of SOCKET/JetDirect as I did above)
Enter the same IP addr 192.168.200.53 to which the Printer Setup Utility says again "Complete and valid address"
Assign a name LJ4ML3
PRINTER MODEL HP and thereafter go for the HP LaserJet 4ML, v2013.003 and then click ADD.
Now I have a printer named "LJ4ML3 on 192.168.200.53" of the KIND of LaserJet 4ML V2013.003.
Again I print to it, I saw some LAN activity, the PRINTER LIST shows that "LJ4ML3 on 192.168.200.53" is PRINTING, but nothing exits the actual printer...
===============
Sooo close... Is it that my settings on the LinkSys's PORT 4 (note the different LED configuration) that are bad? Or do I actually need driver or other SW that I don't have to help knit the JetDirect into my LAN better? Or did I make some error in creating the print queue, e.g., used the wrong IP addr or HP device type? Should I just go for GENERIC printer type, hoping that PostScript will be an adequate standard?
If anyone can make sense of this hash, great! If you need any more info, happy to oblige.
Sooooo clooooose...
PowerBook G4 Mac OS X (10.3.9) Plus Mini with OSX 10.4.4
