printer install issues  

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  1. Posts : 16
    W7 Pro x64
       #1

    printer install issues


    Newbie here with a few printer install issues.

    Printer = HP laserjet 2605dn, Computer = HP Z series workstation W7 Pro 64. Connection via USB. Oh, network connection isn't practical as the router is at the other end of the house.

    Recently our inkjet bit the dust, so I went looking for a used color laser printer. Found this printer that has not been used all that much and price was right. Printer use will be mostly limited to color for the cards/brouchers the wife makes on a very limited basis. The principle printer is and will remain a Brother HL-5470 (monochrome) as it is connected via wireless network connection and accessed throughout the house.

    Found an old thread here regarding installing this printer on a W7 machine. Was helpful and printer is up and running. The issues pertain to features/functions available when using the UPD drivers. When using Windows update the drivers found was for Post Script. Don't know if that has any impact on my issues. Very impressed with the qlty of the color output even when using normal copy paper.

    First issue, under color management the only thing available is print gray scale. Shouldn't there be other settings available? On the test printouts I've made, I don't think I need any adjmts but would be nice to have them available.

    Second issue, need to add additional memory. Presently have the stk 64MB and is reported correctly on the config report. Have additional memory on order and will have early next week. Reading the manual, it says after adding the memory you need to change amount of available memory in the driver. All I've found so far is under Printer-Properties/Device-settings/Installable-options is a listing for Printer memory and that has a drop down menu with two choices and the smallest choice is for 384-494MB which is more than the printer can handle. Right now I don't know what to expect when I install the new memory module.

    Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 2,752
    Windows 7 Pro x64 (1), Win7 Pro X64 (2)
       #2

    WebFoot said:
    First issue, under color management the only thing available is print gray scale. Shouldn't there be other settings available? On the test printouts I've made, I don't think I need any adjmts but would be nice to have them available.
    The problem here is with the HP driver for the printer. It is set up for "auto", but for some reason this has the effect of producing black-and-white.

    You need to change it to "color".

    Devices and printers -> select your 2605dn and right-click on it -> printer properties -> device settings -> scroll down to the very bottom, and change "Device type" from "auto detect" to "color".

    That will solve your problem.

    NOTE: if you have both PCL6 and PS drivers installed (as I do, but I never use the PCL6 printer and have the PS printer defined as my "default"), you need to make this "auto detect" -> "color" change for both. HP made the same error in both drivers.


    Second issue, need to add additional memory. Presently have the stk 64MB and is reported correctly on the config report. Have additional memory on order and will have early next week. Reading the manual, it says after adding the memory you need to change amount of available memory in the driver. All I've found so far is under Printer-Properties/Device-settings/Installable-options is a listing for Printer memory and that has a drop down menu with two choices and the smallest choice is for 384-494MB which is more than the printer can handle. Right now I don't know what to expect when I install the new memory module.
    I don't know what driver software you got from HP and are running. Can you please provide?

    I'm running v5.6.0 for both PCL6 and PS drivers, and do not show any "Installable options" item for printer memory like you describe. I now see that there is a 5.8.0 version for both drivers that just got released, so I supposed I should upgrade.

    I recently upgraded my own 2605dn memory from the standard 64MB to the max of 320MB, through the addition of a 256MB module. All I had to do was insert it, and the device configuration report correctly showed that it had been recognized and was functional. I made no other change to any driver setting to support the additional hardware memory in the printer.

    I know for a fact that the memory must be working, because some documents I printed that had HUGE graphics imbedded in them were now able to print, whereas before they produced "printer error". And I did nothing to make this work now, other than install the additional 256MB physical memory.

    Now there IS an item in the PS driver "installable options" named "available Postscript memory" and it currently shows 6144K, or just 6MB. I haven't changed it, though maybe I should, given that I've now gone from 64MB -> 320MB of physical memory. I will research to see if I can find out what this option is for, and whether it pertains to an available memory buffer in the printer or memory buffer size used on the PC. In either case, seems that enlarging this number would provide additional in-memory performance, presumably. I'll research this.

    Or, perhaps the memory setting you describe is new in the 5.8.0 drivers. I'll see shortly.


    P.S. - forget about PCL6, unless you are printing something that for some reason requires PCL6 and cannot be printed using PS. Just use the PS driver as your default, and forget about PCL6. Of course naturally by default action Windows will install the PCL6 driver when it first senses the printer, so you have to go after the PS driver yourself (and now you have two printers). In my experience there's no point in uninstalling the PCL printer, because Windows will just go right back and re-install it. Just forget about it, and use the PS printer as your default.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 2,752
    Windows 7 Pro x64 (1), Win7 Pro X64 (2)
       #3

    Ok. Found some information on that "available postscript memory" option.

    Apparently this value SHOULD be a function of installed printer memory, but apparently this does not automatically happen.

    The recommendations are:

    Total RAM = 128 MB, Available Postscript Memory = 6144 KB
    Total RAM = 256 MB, Available Postscript Memory = 38912 KB
    Total RAM = 384 MB, Available Postscript Memory = 104448 KB
    Total RAM = 512 MB, Available Postscript Memory = 169984 KB

    I guess 6144KB is the minimum, even for the default of only 64MB which the standard memory size in the 2605dn.


    Since there's no value shown for the 320MB of memory now in my 2605dn, I think I'll just interporlate between the 256MB and 384MB values shown, and set my "available postscript memory" number to 71680 KB.


    EDIT: the above information apparently applies to some other printer, and not the 2605dn. The above suggested large numbers for "available postscript memory" are NOT ALLOWED for the 2605dn "printer properties" configuration. The maximum number which is allowed for the 2605dn is 32767, so that's what I've gone with.
    Last edited by dsperber; 15 Feb 2014 at 21:58.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 2,752
    Windows 7 Pro x64 (1), Win7 Pro X64 (2)
       #4

    Correction to my earlier post regarding "available postscript memory", now that I've upgraded to version 5.8.0 of the driver (both PCL6 and PS).

    I must have been reading an article for a different HP printer. I've now just upgraded to the latest 5.8.0 version of the PS driver from the HP site, and cannot enter a number larger than 32767 in the "available postscript memory" field. So while 6144 still was there as the default, apparently 32767 is the maximum allowed for the 2605dn.

    Don't know if this is intentional or unintentional on HP's part (even with 320MB memory now in the printer instead of the original 64MB), but I'll just leave it at 32767 and be satisfied.


    Also, the "device type" -> COLOR change I mentioned earlier to activate color printing does still need to be done as the "auto detect" value is still misinterpreted to produce B&W.

    But HP has now added one more new item ("punch unit") following the "device type" item. So "device type" is no longer the very bottom item. It's now second-from-the-bottom. But it still should be set to "COLOR".


    Finally, for some reason the "duplex unit for 2-sided printing" item was also presented as "not installed" by default, which is incorrect for the 2605dn which is a duplexing printer. This was certainly the case with the PCL6 driver version 5.8.0. So I had to change that item to show "installed" for the PCL6 driver.

    When I then installed the PS driver version 5.8.0 it already showed "installed" for the duplex feature. I don't know if this was already correct, or if it resulted from my change to the PCL6 driver setting (though that seems highly unlikely). In any case I did NOT have to make the same change for the PS driver.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 16
    W7 Pro x64
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Wow, thanks for the time spent dsperber.

    First let me say there is some differences in what we are seeing and experiencing. As for what drivers I'm using, lot of drivers being mentioned but the top one is HPMCPD25.PPD = 5.8.2008. Got this off the HP site about 4 days ago.

    As for having both the PS and the PLC drivers installed, that didn't work for me. After having the PS driver installed and printer working I tried installing the PLC UPD and that didn't work. Ended up with new printer and ICON looked like a floor model. Printer didn't work when trying to print a test page. And on top of that the PLC driver install removed the PS drivers. Was able to recover and now am back to where I started and printer is now back working.

    As for what is seen under the device settings, down at the bottom under Installable options I see Automatic Configuration with choice of OFF or UPDATE NOW. Next line up from that is Mopier Mode which is set to disabled. Not sure what Mopier Mode is.

    As for adding the memory, I saw the requirement for updating the driver in the user manual but that could be old info that no longer applies.

    Lets see, what else. Oh, as for color, Color output is working fine. Under printing preferences/color, The image of the page is shown in color and when I click on print grayscale the page image turns to blk/wht. There are no other choices. Seems like in some info seen there was a pic shown of this page with adjmts for the various parameters.

    Did I forget to reply on some other comments you made??? Again, thanks, for your comments.

    PS
    Duplex is working just fine.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 2,752
    Windows 7 Pro x64 (1), Win7 Pro X64 (2)
       #6

    WebFoot said:
    First let me say there is some differences in what we are seeing and experiencing. As for what drivers I'm using, lot of drivers being mentioned but the top one is HPMCPD25.PPD = 5.8.2008. Got this off the HP site about 4 days ago.
    The 5.8.0.17508 driver I installed (for both PS and PCL6) is from the page with the link I provided in my first reply:




    As for having both the PS and the PLC drivers installed, that didn't work for me. After having the PS driver installed and printer working I tried installing the PLC UPD and that didn't work.
    Actually, if the printer is connected with USB cable and powered off, when you power it on for the first time Windows will do an auto-install of the PCL6 driver immediately.

    Then you can run the PS installer file (downloaded from the above HP page) and it will be added as a second printer driver for the same device. So you'll end up with a single printer object in "Devices and Printers", but if you right-click on it and select either "printer preferences" or "printer properties" from the context menu you will see BOTH the PCL6 and PS printers and you can then click on either to get into the dialog for that printer.


    Ended up with new printer and ICON looked like a floor model. Printer didn't work when trying to print a test page.
    If you go to "printer properties" -> "ports" tab, you'll probably not see "USB001" which is the proper port you should see. If you don't see "USB001" then you really won't be able to print, and printing a test page will fail.

    Installation of a "second printer" should select "local printer", and "use existing port", and select "USB001" (which was already created by Windows when it auto-installed the PCL6 printer when you first powered it on).

    You might just start over. Go to "Devices and Printers", right-click on the printers that are there and then select "remove device". When you have any/all of these 2605dn-related objects gone power the printer off and re-boot. Then power the printer on and Windows should automatically auto-install the PCL6 driver.

    Optionally, you can then run the PCL6 driver you've downloaded (from the HP site) but I believe it'll in all likelihood be the same 5.2.0.17508 driver as Windows probably just installed automatically. Nevertheless if you just proceed, you'll end up with two PCL6 printers. Not a problem. Again, select "local printer" and "use existing port" and select USB001.

    Then you can run the PS driver, again choosing to add "local printer" and "use existing port" and select USB001.


    As for what is seen under the device settings, down at the bottom under Installable options I see Automatic Configuration with choice of OFF or UPDATE NOW. Next line up from that is Mopier Mode which is set to disabled. Not sure what Mopier Mode is.
    I also show "automatic configuration: OFF", but I don't show "Mopier mode" above it. Instead, "Mopier mode" is below it.

    Here is what my 5.8.0.17508 driver shows BELOW the "automatic configuration: OFF" line (note that the second-to-last line is "device type: color" which is what I manually set):




    As for adding the memory, I saw the requirement for updating the driver in the user manual but that could be old info that no longer applies.
    The PDF manual doesn't provide any specific details on what this value means or what it should be as a function of physical printer memory.

    In any case 32767 is definitely the largest value you can actually type there. If you try entering a larger number it just gets changed (as you're typing) to 32767.


    Lets see, what else. Oh, as for color, Color output is working fine. Under printing preferences/color, The image of the page is shown in color and when I click on print grayscale the page image turns to blk/wht.
    Yes, that is how it SHOULD be working.

    But if you don't manually correct "device type: auto detect" to "device type: COLOR" (see my screenshot above) then you won't see the page in color. It will only be in B&W because the driver mistakenly treats "auto detect" as "monochrome" (i.e. B&W) when it should be treated as "color". Once you change that setting to COLOR now the page image appears in color as it should.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 16
    W7 Pro x64
    Thread Starter
       #7

    Thanks for getting back so quickly.

    Your device setting screen is a lot different than what I'm seeing. Here are a couple shots to show all the settings.

    As for your first screen shot, been to that page and another one or two showing the same UPD drivers.

    Forgot exactly all I did when I tried to install the PCL drivers. Currently the printer is set up for USB001.

    I have a schedules engagement shortly so won't be able to do much on this today. Tomorrow will give a shot to your recommendation to remove the printer device and then proceed reinstalling.

    You know this is sort of funny asking for the help. 27yrs with HP but in another field other than printers. Then my son has 20 yrs in the HP Vancouver div but they are strictly inkjet.

    As I previously said, there will be little use of this printer for text as I will be using my other laser printer for monochrome/text. That being the case I likely won't spend too much time with trying to get both the PLC and PS drivers working if I have problems.

    Once again, thanks for the help.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 2,752
    Windows 7 Pro x64 (1), Win7 Pro X64 (2)
       #8

    WebFoot said:
    First let me say there is some differences in what we are seeing and experiencing. As for what drivers I'm using, lot of drivers being mentioned but the top one is HPMCPD25.PPD = 5.8.2008. Got this off the HP site about 4 days ago.
    "Some differences"??? Seems impossible that you could have downloaded the driver for the 2605dn from the same page that I provided a link to. This is for Win7 x64?? Are you sure??

    My PCL6 driver is HPCU1606.GPD. And my PS driver is designated HPCU160S.PPD. Neither is the HPMCPD25.PPD, which I believe is for a different printer entirely.

    Assuming we're now talking just about PCL6 and not PS (as my earlier screenshots were for, since that's actually the only printer I use by default), here is what my current 5.8.0.17508 PCL6 printer looks like. Note again that I have THREE separate printers shown with ONE PRINTER ICON, because that's how Windows presents it. One of them (the original PCL6 driver) occurred automatically when I powered on the printer and Windows automatically recognized it and auto-installed the PCL6 driver and created USB001 port. The other two (the official 5.8.0.17508 versions) for both PCL6 and PS are also shown in the flyout for either "printer preferences" or "printer properties".



    So, if I then select "printer properties" for my own added PCL6 driver, here is what the ABOUT looks like. Note the difference in the PPD member, which is NOT the same file name as you say is on your machine. Again, this says to me you didn't download the specific driver for the 2605dn from that page, else you couldn't show a different PPD file name.




    And then if I go to the "Device Settings" tab, here is what is presented:






    I recommend you "remove device" for whatever you have, and do a fresh download from the HP driver page I provided the link for, and start from scratch again. The different PPD name is a "giant clue"that you have a different driver installed than you should.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 16
    W7 Pro x64
    Thread Starter
       #9

    Trying to think back on the exact steps I went through 5 days ago and is a little foggy. Very possible I didn't have the printer connected to the computer. For the last few printers I've had, you didn't make the connection until after the drivers were installed.

    Went with ADD PRINTER and from the list of brands and models I didn't see anything for the 2605. Next clicked on Windows Update. From there I selected the driver titled as can be seen at the top of the screen shots I posted. After getting the printer up and running I next went to the pg you've shown and DL'd the driver for PCL setup. That is when I started getting into trouble.

    So here is what I intend to do today.

    * Remove current printer drivers.

    * Turn on the printer and plug it into the computer. (At this point the computer should install the basic drivers. Right?)

    * Next go to the pg you've shown with both of the latest drivers. DL both drivers separately. Make sure they are set up to use the USB001 port.

    * After this I should see all the drivers listed like you've shown under printer properties.

    * When I go to Device Settings, I should then see the same items that are shown on your machine.

    I'll get back after I'm done and report how the reinstall went.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 16
    W7 Pro x64
    Thread Starter
       #10

    Reinstall complete. As far as auto install drivers when first plugged in, didn't go exactly as described it would. During the install it went out to Windows Update and installed the same drivers as I initially had. Next DL'd the 2 driver packages on the HP site and made sure they were set up for using USB001 port. Rest of install went well and I now can see all 3 driver sets. As long as I select either of the 5.8.0 drivers, all looks like the screen shots dsperber posted.

    Think I've gone as far as I can go on the install. Only thing left is after I install the additional memory later this week.

    Anything else I need to do?
      My Computer


 
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