Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2003 7:44 am Post subject: More printing woes under Panther and X11.
I am now having other printing issues. If I have a small document (ie a one line test), the text prints, but then the printer hangs until I hit the form feed button. Sometimes the printer itself will shut off! Large full page documents seem unaffected.
I am using the latest driver (Panther compatable) for the hp Deskjet 5550. I am running 10.3.
Has anyone else seen this problem? NeoOffice/J is having even worse problems as the paper won't even feed properly with it.
Any help or insight would be appreciated.
Thanks
Chris
Joined: May 25, 2003 Posts: 4752 Location: Santa Barbara, CA
Posted: Fri Nov 07, 2003 10:25 am Post subject:
If NeoOffice/J is giving you problems, then most likely it's something with the print driver itself. NeoOffice/J uses the regular Java printing mechanism, which should map straight onto Carbon printing (as it's using the 1.3.1 VM). With Neo/J, try using the "Save as PDF" button in the print dialog or even the Fax button (I think there's a fax preview option so you don't actually have to fax it.
Does printing work OK from other applications with the HP printer? Also, is the HP configured as the default printer, or are you choosing it explicitly from the list?
I am not seeing the same bug. I still cannot get any doc I make in Office to print all the way. Files I load in made with other programs will print out. I am lost as to why this is happening, so in the meantime I have tested as PDF and it works perfectly fine so I can print from that.
Chris
I saw this posting at Macfixit.com. May be cause of your problems.
More printer driver problems The printer drivers for HP and other manufacturers have been modified - significantly in some cases- with Mac OS X 10.3. We previously reported that the "draft" mode seems to have disappeared from 950-series HP printers for some users. Normally you are able to access the quality settings by selecting Paper Type/Quality > Paper > Quality: Draft/Normal/Best in the Print dialog box.
This particular problem (draft mode missing) does not occur on every system, as a handful of users have been able to print in draft mode. Some users have reported that re-installing the printer drivers manually from the second Panther disk restored the option.
Another problem seems to be that the print quality settings do not stick; as corroborated by a number of readers.
Also, we previously reported that users are having difficulty printing after the "low ink" warning appears. Yet another problem is that some users can no longer print two-sided documents - the option is grayed out - even though they have installed the HP two-sided printing kit.
One more: For some printers, the new HP Panther printer drivers do not allow the user to symmetrically center a page printout (or to use a .5 inch top margin around), but rather only allows a top margin of 3.05 mm (0.12 inches).
Workarounds Some users have reported success removing their HP printer from the Printer Setup Utility and then adding it again. This should be your first troubleshooting step. Sometimes a restart is required after deleting, then re-adding the printer.
Other reports have suggested that deleting the following files, then re-installing the HP drivers manually from the second Mac OS X 10.3 disk restored full functionality:
As a side note, some readers actually consider the low ink restriction a feature rather than a flaw. MacFixIt reader Peter Hunter writes "I also noticed the 'pauses when ink is low' feature of the new HP printer drivers but consider it very much a feature and not a nuisance. I used to occasionally set a large number of photos printing and come back to discover that most of them looked awful because one of the colors on my three-color cartridge had run out. This meant they had to be reprinted, wasting expensive photo paper."
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