[HP4 LASERJET]
The Hewlet Packard LaswerJets found in public clusters are connected to the Novell PC Server via the Print Monitors. The cluster LaserJets in each zone are hidden and do not appear in the Chooser. Instead, print jobs are sent to "virtual" printers created by the Print Server in the WEB Services AppleTalk Zone. All LaserJet printing is sent through the Print Server, which redirects the job to the appropriate Print Monitor.

The PrintMonitors display the print queue for the cluster LaswerJet. Once each job has been sent to the printer (and redirected to the PrintMonitor), it must be "Continued" from the PrintMonitor. This allows users to finish sending their job to the printer while standing in front of the printer, hopefully preventing them from printing someone else's job, and allowing them time to insert their printing card to pay for the printout.

The Hewlet Packard LaserJet does not use a custom printer driver, but uses the LaserWriter printer driver included with the MacOS. In order for a Macintosh to print successfully to a LaserJet, both must be properly connected to the network, and the computer must boot with the latest version of the "LaserWriter" printer driver. The driver is a "Chooser Extension", and should be in the Extensions folder within the Macintosh System Folder. This file dists to public cluster Macintoshes, and for student room connections can be installed using the current System Software Installer.

Here are the fixes to some of the common LaserJet-related printing probelms:

Related Links:

Fixing Error Messages / Resetting the Output Tray

 When something is wrong with the printers (they print through the back instead of thorugh the top, they want both paper trays inserted or they display some other kind of error message on the little LCD screen), try the following procedure to reset them (copied from the manual):
  1. Insert your card. The printer will not do anything without the card insterted.
  2. Take it off line.
  3. Hold down both the Shift and Reset buttons for about 5 seconds until RESET=MENU* appears. Depending on what is wrong, there are 3 choices at this point. Use + or - to cycle through them and press Enter to select the item, although you most likely want to stay with the RESET=MENU* option selected in the window.
  4. Press On Line to reset the printer.
All else failing, turn the printer off and then on again, insterting your card for a while. If it's still doing weird things, then something is probably very wrong with it.

[Back]