Help trying to install a laser printer, laserjet 4m plus/Jetdirect

[BobMarley]

I was given an older laser printer:

HP Laserjet 4M Plus, it has a Jet Direct Card installed too.

So, I connect a patch cable from the jetdirect card in the printer, to my router.

Then on my computer, I search for this printer, but it never finds it.

Can someone help me out?

thanks

 

[jlazzaro]

After connecting the jetdirect card to the printer, does it get link lights?

If you can, try to print out a configuration page. This will tell you the ip address of the printer. Or, you can use some deductive reasoning and determine the ip yourself. ie if your using 192.168.1.x addressing and your laptop has 192.168.1.1 and is the only computer, the printer should be 192.168.1.2. Ping around until you find it.

After you have an address, to go printers, add a printer, and create a local tcp/ip port to the ip of the printer. Point to the drivers and you should be set.

 

[oddyager]

The first thing you need to check for is if the card is getting an IP address. Print out the configuration page from the laserjet and see if it is. Then try pinging that address.

 

[BobMarley]

Hey guys, thanks for the replies.

Yeah, I printed out the Self Test page.

The ip address was 192.0.0.192, (default or something), then I read to do a cold boot, so I did, and now the ip address is 0.0.0.0.



I downloaded some HP tool to configure the jetdirect card, but the program can't even locate the printer, so no luck there.

Any sugguestions?

Can I modify the ip address from the printer itself?

 

[nweaver]

after a cold boot, it takes a few minutes to get the IP stuff configured, try another config page after leaving it booted for a few minutes.

Are you getting link lights? Those older JD cards are 10Mb only iirc, and depending on what you have.

you should be able to configure the IP from the control panel.

 

[jlazzaro]

Is the printer set to obtain an address from DHCP/BOOTP or MANUAL?

 

[BobMarley]

Oh, blinking lights on the Jetdirect card?

I was looking for lights, but didn't see any.

I'll check when I get home.

Not sure about the obtain option, I'll look for that too.
thanks again people.

 

[skyking]

I can talk you through setting the IP, gateway, etc right on the buttons on top of that printer. I have set up many HP's that way.
Let me know if you still need help.

 

[BobMarley]

Still no luck, after the cold reset, I can assign an ip address, but can't ping it from my computer. Tried the HP software installation wizard thing, no luck.
thought it was my firewall software, not that at all.

No lights on the jet direct card, I don't see any led that could be lit up.

 

[Slowlearner]

1. Check the router to see if the printer is connected to the network (there should a LED lit up on the router for that port).
2. Check your current internal IP set up (this depends on the router), in XP at the command prompt type ipconfig/all - if it is (say) 192.168.1.XXX, go into the printer's control panel and manually assign a fixed IP of 192.168.1.YYY < a large number so that it does not conflict with other pcs on your network. Make sure that the first 9 digits are exactly the same.
3. After making the changes, reboot the pcs, while the printer is on. Get on any any pc and in IE type in http://192.168.1.YYY/ and see if you can access the printer.
4. If everything goes well. Here how you install it: Control Panel > Printers>add>Local>ports>TCP/IP port> type in > so on.

Please report back with the error messages - it would help if we knew the router model and your OS.

 

[skyking]

3. After making the changes, reboot the pcs, while the printer is on. Get on any any pc and in IE type in http://192.168.1.YYY/ and see if you can access the printer.

Jetdirects of that era do not have a webserver. The only way to access them outside of the HP software is via telnet. That is doable but sort of dicey, it is a blind terminal that does not echo your commands.

 

[BobMarley]

Okay, manually configured the ip, I tried this before with no luck, but I'll try again.

Setup up to an unused ip address.
Subnet and gateway, all okay

Printed the test page: TCP/IP status: Ready

Pinged 192.168.1.130 - okay replies (4)

tried the hp network thing, can't find it.

eeerrrrrhhhhgggg!!!

I'm about to give up!

Oh
XP Home
Router, WRT54G.

 

[skyking]

forget the hp thing, just add the printer as shown in the post above.

4. If everything goes well. Here how you install it: Control Panel > Printers>add>Local>ports>TCP/IP port> type in > so on.

 

[Slowlearner]

You are getting a response to the ping command? - Good - that means the printer is properly configured and connected to the network. Now go and add it as local printer but specify a TCP/IP port.

Yeah, I forgot about the telnet thingy, thats probably the reason HP's Install Network Printer Wizard can't find it. As Skyking mentioned you dont have to use their wizard.

 

[BobMarley]

Thank you Slowlearner and skyking, and everyone else!

It worked!

The local port / tcp/ip configuration worked.
I didn't think it would.

Thank you very much everyone else that added.

Originally posted by: Slowlearner
You are getting a response to the ping command? - Good - that means the printer is properly configured and connected to the network. Now go and add it as local printer but specify a TCP/IP port.

Yeah, I forgot about the telnet thingy, thats probably the reason HP's Install Network Printer Wizard can't find it. As Skyking mentioned you dont have to use their wizard.

 

[Slowlearner]

Glad to hear that.