IP Printing and HP LaserJet 4250

Question

Level 1

116 points

IP Printing and HP LaserJet 4250

I'm having difficulties to print to HP LaserJet 4250 via LPD protocol. Each and every time I try to print, the print queue stops saying "Jobs stopped".

If I tail CUPS error log I see this:
I [25/Oct/2006:15:00:29 +0300] Started filter /usr/libexec/cups/filter/cgpdftops (PID 5646) for job 2.
I [25/Oct/2006:15:00:29 +0300] Started filter /usr/libexec/cups/filter/pstops (PID 5647) for job 2.
I [25/Oct/2006:15:00:29 +0300] Started filter /Library/Printers/hp/filter/hppostprocessing (PID 5648) for job 2.
I [25/Oct/2006:15:00:29 +0300] Started backend /usr/libexec/cups/backend/lpd (PID 5649) for job 2.
E [25/Oct/2006:15:00:30 +0300] PID 5649 stopped with status 1!
I [25/Oct/2006:15:00:30 +0300] Hint: Try setting the LogLevel to "debug" to find out more.

I have deleted the printer and set it up again on Printer Setup Utility and downloaded new drivers from HP web site. It just doesn't work. Printing to old HP 2100 with LPD works fine so looks like Mac OS X does not like HP 4250 printer. Setting LogLevel to "debug" on CUPS does not offer any clues. What gives?

Power Mac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8) HP LaserJet 4250

Posted on Oct 25, 2006 5:17 AM

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Answer 1

greg sahli

Level 7

25,508 points

Oct 25, 2006 5:31 AM in response to tomis

The preferred IP printing protocol for HPs is HP Jetdirect. (often called raw port or socket printing in manuals)

If you still need to use LPD, don't forget to enter the device-specific queue name in Printer Setup. For Jetdirect cards, I think either "raw" or "bin" or "ps" will work.

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Answer 2

tomis Author

Level 1

116 points

Oct 25, 2006 11:52 PM in response to greg sahli

I don't print directly to the printer, the print job goes through Windows 2003 Server, so instead of the printer address I use the server's address and print queue name. This works fine with HP LaserJet 2100 but not with the 4250. Even tried with generic PostScript driver without luck.

The only option seems to grab old 2100 and use it instead.

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Answer 3

greg sahli

Level 7

25,508 points

Oct 26, 2006 5:19 AM in response to tomis

Oh.
I suspect that the issue you are having is mismatched driver. Windows often defaults to using the PCL driver, while the driver on the Mac is postscript.
Create a new queue on Windows that uses postscript and print to that queue from OS X.

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Answer 4

tomis Author

Level 1

116 points

Oct 27, 2006 5:23 AM in response to greg sahli

The print job never reaches the Windows Server, the local print queue on the Mac keeps stalling and does not continue no matter how many times I hit Start Jobs button in Printer Setup Utility.

I have tried the original HP driver which came with Tiger install disk and drivers dowloaded from HP site without success. On the other hand printing via IP to older HP LaserJet 2100 works without hitch.

I'm not sure if this is somewhow related to the Mac OS X 10.4.8 Update, which I installed at the same time I swapped the printer. Or, I quess CUPS is somewhow messed up, but why IP printing to other printers works, is beyond me.

Power Mac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8) Windows 2003 Server, HP LaserJet 4250

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Answer 5

go-dons

Level 1

10 points

Oct 28, 2006 2:36 PM in response to tomis

Since my own printer started giving me similar "job stopped" problems I've read a lot of threads looking for a solution.

In another post, I found a reference to "Printer Setup Repair" a small app. from www.fixamac.net. It can perform many functions (most of which I don't understand and, therefore, haven't used), but using it to repair permissions apparently fixes problems that the disk utility doesn't.

Sure enough, when I ran the programme it detected permission problems with printing files, that disk utility hadn't, and repaired them. As recommended in another thread, I also used it to delete printer drivers that weren't needed.

Since restarting my Mac, the printer has worked perfectly. It seems to cure all makes, HP & Epson.

Might be worth trying.

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Answer 6

tomis Author

Level 1

116 points

Oct 29, 2006 11:58 PM in response to go-dons

I just used it to wipe out unneeded printer drivers and run through the repair stuff. Deleted printer from Print Setup Utility and reinstalled it.

It still stops the queue when I try to print.

I'm running out of options here, just wondering, is this Apples, HP's or CUPS's fault? I bet if I ask help from Easy Software Products (they licenced CUPS to Apple) they'll tell it's Apple's or HP's fault, not theirs.

HP said printing trough Windows server is not even supported, one should use Novell server print straight to the printer, which in my case is impossible because print quotas are enforced. Great...

Using IP printing is the only option because that's the only way pcounter supports Macs and Linux.

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Answer 7

greg sahli

Level 7

25,508 points

Oct 30, 2006 6:34 AM in response to tomis

So I guess you haven't tried changing the print driver on Windows to the postscript driver?

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Answer 8

tomis Author

Level 1

116 points

Oct 31, 2006 3:58 AM in response to greg sahli

Changing the printer driver on Windows does not help to solve my problem because the print job never goes to the server, the local queue on the Mac stops so it never leaves the Mac. So the problem is on the Mac, not on the Windows Server.

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Answer 9

greg sahli

Level 7

25,508 points

Oct 31, 2006 5:10 AM in response to tomis

It's difficult for us to help you if you aren't willing to listen...
Print jobs are being rejected because they aren't in the correct format/language.

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Answer 10

tomis Author

Level 1

116 points

Nov 1, 2006 3:06 AM in response to greg sahli

Then maybe you can explain to me why printing to HP LaserJet 2100 works perfectly with same settings - the only exeption is the HP 4250 driver.

The driver used on the Windows serves is HP LaseJet 4250 PS while the completely well printing HP LaserJet 2100 uses the HP Laserjet 2100 Series PS driver. Both are PostScript drivers, no PCL in sight. The printer model is HP LaserJet 4250 PS, so it supports PostScript.

I have compared the settings between 2100 and 4250 on the server side-by-side and there's nothing odd that hits my eye in there.

On the Mac, the settings are as follows:

Protocol: Line Printer Daemon - LPD
Address: the DNS name of the Windows server
Queue: the share name of the printer on the Windows server
Print Using: HP LaserJet 4250.

So, the exact same settigs except the share name work well with the HP LaserJet 2100 series printer.

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Answer 11

greg sahli

Level 7

25,508 points

Nov 1, 2006 5:46 AM in response to tomis

Thank you for looking at that.

Have you looked at the cups logs in the Console?
(back to confirming that the job did/could have left the Mac)

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Answer 12

tomis Author

Level 1

116 points

Nov 1, 2006 11:59 PM in response to greg sahli

Yes I have, always the same error - please look at my first post.

I'm not sure if this is related to upgrade to 10.4.8, I updated from 10.4.7 to 10.4.8 at the same time the printed was switched to LaserJet 4250. To find out, I'm planning to grab a vacant Mac mini and test with Mac OS X 10.3.9 and then try 10.4.

A little Googling releaved the same error "PID XXXXX stopped with status 1!" shows that people have had the same problem with some Linux distros (Fedora, Ubuntu) - even with inkjet printers. Unfortunately the CUPS logs are not verbose enough to give details about what goes wrong. Apple documentatiion does not indicate CUPS was changed with 10.4.8 Update.

On the other hand, I discoved all the other printers on the server use WinPrint as printing engine but HP 4250 used HPZPP3zw. Default data type was RAW with both engines. But changing it to WinPrint had no effect.

Power Mac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8) Windows 2003 Server

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Answer 13

greg sahli

Level 7

25,508 points

Nov 2, 2006 4:43 AM in response to tomis

Yes I have, always the same error - please look at my first post.

You're right - now it's MY TURN to listen! Sorry...

The error shows that the lpd "backend" (CUPS term for the communication driver) is what fails. You could first confirm that any other computer can access the printer with LPD/LPR. After that, you can replace just the lpd backend file using the utility "Pacifist" from www.versiontracker.com.

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Answer 14

tomis Author

Level 1

116 points

Nov 6, 2006 12:01 AM in response to greg sahli

Just verified exactly same problem exists in Mac OS 10.3.9 Panther. After setting up printer and trying to print, the print queue stopped. Seems that CUPS version is different since it didn't give same error message. Driver was installed from the CD that came with the printer.

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Answer 15

greg sahli

Level 7

25,508 points

Nov 6, 2006 5:26 AM in response to tomis

tomis-
I think it seems possible that it is the PC setup, and not the Macs, that isn't quite right yet.

Have you tried Windows Printing as a workaround to see if that works?

http://www.ifelix.co.uk/tech/3015.html

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