smm@acd4.acd.com ( Steve McCoole ) (12/12/90)
Pardon me if this has be aired before, new reader alert :-) Got a brand new LaserJet III D and postscript cartridge to go with it. It is hooked to several systems ( PC and UNIX ) through a switching print buffer. What I need to know, is it possible to switch back and forth between postscript and HP modes on the printer without pulling the cartridge, etc. etc. Any info on this would be appreciated. Thanks in advance. --- Steve McCoole | smm@acd4.acd.com / uunet!acd4!smm Applied Computing Devices, Inc.
is@athena.cs.uga.edu ( Bob Stearns) (12/12/90)
You can switch back and forth with the Pacific Page cartridge and NOT with the HP cartridge. The Adobe cartridge is not available for the III or III-D.
prb@chinet.chi.il.us (Paul Botts) (12/13/90)
Oops, I forgot to quote...well the question was, can you switch back and forth between PostScript and PCL modes on a LaserJet III w/PostScript cartridge, without turning off the machine and pulling the cartridge? According to the HP people, no. They were quite emphatic on the importance of turning off the printer before pulling the cartridge, too. This is the only drawback of an actual HP PostScript cartridge; I'm told that a PAcific Data cartridge can do it, though I don't know how. prb@chinet.chi.il.us (Paul Botts)
medici@dorm.rutgers.edu (Mark Medici) (12/13/90)
smm@acd4.acd.com ( Steve McCoole ) writes: | Got a brand new LaserJet III D and postscript cartridge to go | with it. It is hooked to several systems ( PC and UNIX ) | through a switching print buffer. What I need to know, is | it possible to switch back and forth between postscript and | HP modes on the printer without pulling the cartridge, etc. | etc. No, there is no way at the present. I've bugged HP about this since beta's for the LaserJet III started, but without positive results. The QMS-420-PS will do this, but it is only a 4 page per minute printer and doesn't duplex. If I'm wrong, PLEASE CORRECT ME! I'd love to know how to do this.
wolfgang@wsrcc.com (Wolfgang S. Rupprecht) (12/15/90)
For the record - the Genuine Adobe cartridges can switch - but that cartridge will only work on HP-LJ-II's. This doesn't mean you really want to use this feature though. Switching is very ssssslllloooooowwwww as it requires the printer to go through the whole boot-up proceedure for the mode it is entering. It seems no faster than turning the printer off, pulling the cartridge, and turning the printer on again. It does save a bit of wear and tear in the printer's power supply and the cartridge connector though, so it is handy. (All in all a new LJ-II, a 2 meg HP-clone memory board and a Genuine Adobe cartridge will make a nice cheap PostScript setup.) -wolfgang -- Wolfgang Rupprecht wolfgang@wsrcc.com (or) uunet!wsrcc!wolfgang Snail Mail Address: Box 6524, Alexandria, VA 22306-0524
evan@telly.on.ca (Evan Leibovitch) (12/18/90)
In article <1990Dec15.012323.16510@wsrcc.com> wolfgang@wsrcc.com (Wolfgang S. Rupprecht) writes: [ About the ability of Laserjet Postscript carts to switch back and forth between Postscript and the HP codes ] >For the record - the Genuine Adobe cartridges can switch - but that >cartridge will only work on HP-LJ-II's. The Pacific Page cartridges can switch, and they're available for IIs, IIIs, IIPs, IIIDs, and the rest. >This doesn't mean you really want to use this feature though. >Switching is very ssssslllloooooowwwww as it requires the printer to >go through the whole boot-up proceedure for the mode it is entering. >It seems no faster than turning the printer off, pulling the >cartridge, and turning the printer on again. It does save a bit of >wear and tear in the printer's power supply and the cartridge >connector though, so it is handy. Ditto for the PacificPage. It allows the switch through a software code, and I wrote a Pacific Page printer model for the UNIX lp spooler which allows one to switch from one set of codes to the other using a "-o" option to 'lp'. But it's not done too often, because of the above-mentioned slowness. I literally had to build 'sleep' commands into the model, because anything sent to the printer while it changes modes is lost. My other bother about PacificPage is its inability to switch bins on the IID/IIID or IIP. They say it's because HP wouldn't give them the technical information necessary to implement a bin switch mechanism. Has this been recitified? -- Evan Leibovitch, Sound Software, located in beautiful Brampton, Ontario evan@telly.on.ca / uunet!attcan!telly!evan / (416) 452-0504 Ididntdoit, nobodysawmedoit, youcantproveathing. - Bart