HP 2200DN PDF printing problems

[ric]

Hi All,
Got an HP 2200 LJ at home, connected to my router via ethernet. I've
been printing to it quite happily for 6 months or so from both XP
machines and Mac OS X boxes, using default drivers. Recently, however,
it doesn't like printing PDFs. It'll print plain text fine, but PDFs
seem to fox it - either it'll sit there for 30 minutes or so then spit
out a few pages, or it'll do nothing.
No software changes to the computers have been made - is it possible
the memory's duff?
I've logged in to its webserver but can't find any detailed info about
the printer RAM in there - and on the info page printed when you hold
down the main button on power up it doesn't give info either.

Can anyone suggest how I can get this working again?

Ric

 

[Warren Block]

Hi All,
Got an HP 2200 LJ at home, connected to my router via ethernet. I've
been printing to it quite happily for 6 months or so from both XP
machines and Mac OS X boxes, using default drivers. Recently, however,
it doesn't like printing PDFs.

What are you using to print PDFs? (Acrobat Reader? Copying the PDF
file direct to the printer?)

Are you using a PCL or PostScript driver? At what resolution?

It'll print plain text fine, but PDFs seem to fox it - either it'll
sit there for 30 minutes or so then spit out a few pages, or it'll do
nothing.

What's on the pages printed?

No software changes to the computers have been made -

Acrobat Reader defaults to automatic background updates, and there are
other background things like Windows updates that can cause breakage.

is it possible the memory's duff?

Unlikely if other types of files print okay. Try printing a multiple
megabyte bitmap.

I've logged in to its webserver but can't find any detailed info about
the printer RAM in there - and on the info page printed when you hold
down the main button on power up it doesn't give info either.

Press Go and Job Cancel at the same time. It should be on that page.

 

[Ben Myers]

There is a well-known issue with printing PDFs properly on an HP PCL printer.
The workaround from Adobe's web site is to check the checkbox that tells Acrobat
(or Acrobat Reader) to rasterize the print image and send the raster image to
the printer, rather than PCL commands and data. This works because under
normal circumstances Windows (and probably OS X?) and the PCL driver together
are woefully inefficient in converting the PDF to a PCL data stream. The
consequence usually is that the printer's memory fills up with lots of PCL
commands and data and it does not have room for the entire print image, so the
printer kicks out a partially rasterized page.

Other solutions:

1. If the printer does not support PostScript right now, get a PostScript SIMM
to install.
2. Increase the amount of printer memory to the maximum.
3. Reduce the printer resolution to 300 dpi.

I first ran into this problem upgrading someone from Windows 3.1 to Windows 95.
It seems that printer drivers have only become less efficient over the years and
that print images (PDFs, complex Excel spreadsheets, web pages) have become more
and more complicated.

The best long term solution for any laser printer is to use PostScript with the
maximum amount of memory the printer allows. Both my clients and I do not have
any real printing problems because I've sold and currently use PostScript
printers with a lot of memory.

From a memory seller's web site:

"The HP LaserJet 2200 uses 100-pin 66MHz type memory and has 2 bank(s) of 1
socket(s) each for a total of 2 memory socket(s) . The HP LaserJet 2200 comes
standard with 8MB of RAM and supports up to 72MB of RAM with 8MB of that in
Fixed RAM". Maximum memory per socket is 32MB... Ben Myers

 

[Fred McKenzie]

Got an HP 2200 LJ at home, connected to my router via ethernet. I've
been printing to it quite happily for 6 months or so from both XP
machines and Mac OS X boxes, using default drivers. Recently, however,
it doesn't like printing PDFs. It'll print plain text fine, but PDFs
seem to fox it - either it'll sit there for 30 minutes or so then spit
out a few pages, or it'll do nothing.

Ric-

I've experienced a similar problem, but it seems to be related to a
graphic on the cover of a weekly newsletter. I get around it by
printing from Preview on the Macintosh, rather than from the Adobe
Reader.

I expect your printer does a memory check when you first turn it on,
just as a computer might. My HP 4600 shows the memory count on its LCD
display during startup.

Fred

 

[Clint Young]

Hi All,
Got an HP 2200 LJ at home, connected to my router via ethernet. I've
been printing to it quite happily for 6 months or so from both XP
machines and Mac OS X boxes, using default drivers. Recently, however,
it doesn't like printing PDFs. It'll print plain text fine, but PDFs
seem to fox it - either it'll sit there for 30 minutes or so then spit
out a few pages, or it'll do nothing.
No software changes to the computers have been made - is it possible
the memory's duff?
I've logged in to its webserver but can't find any detailed info about
the printer RAM in there - and on the info page printed when you hold
down the main button on power up it doesn't give info either.

Can anyone suggest how I can get this working again?

Ric

FWIW - I use the rasterize image function when I run into that problem
occasionally on my LaserJet 4000. it works great.