Sorry for the late summary, I wanted to verify that the configuration
we finally went with worked before posting the summary. The original
question:
--------------------->8 Original Question 8<--------------------------
> We're just about to approve the purchase of an HP LaserJet 4M+
> for our local network, but I wanted a reality check from the
> experts before doing so... This will be the first printer we've
> connected to our UNIX boxes, so forgive my ignorance...
>
> We're running several SunOS 4.1.x boxes, a Solaris 2.x box,
> an HP-UX 9.02, and and SGI (yet to arrive -- assume the most recent
> release). We would like to be able to print across the ethernet from
> all of the UNIX boxes. In addition, we want to be able to print from
> Mac's on both LocalTalk and EtherTalk, and from a PC to be connected
> to the serial/parallel port in the future. In short, the automatic
> emulation switching of the HP is a must for us...
>
> The questions:
>
> o Printing from the Mac's (LocalTalk or EtherTalk) is basically
> plug and play, right? Is any additional software needed for
> this connection?
>
> o I spoke with the local certified HP dealer (who didn't know much
> about connecting to UNIX) and he claimed we needed to purchase the
> JetDirect software so that we could print from the Sun boxes and
> the HP box. Is this the case?
>
> o Looking through the literature, I didn't see where the JetDirect
> software was available for IRIX. Are we are on our own here,
> or did I just miss something?
>
> o I'm aware of the public domain pacakage, CAP, which seems to
> replace the functionality of the JetDirect software by translating
> the lp/lpr speak into EtherTalk. Can we run CAP _instead_of_ the
> JetDirect software, or are both required? Does CAP support the
> 4M+ ? Can CAP be compiled on all of the above operating systems?
--------------------->8 Original Question 8<--------------------------
Responses:
Mac connectivity (LocalTalk/EtherTalk)
--------------------------------------
o Plug and play -- the printer came with drivers for the MacIntosh
that installed straight without a hitch.
HP LaserJet 4M+
---------------
o For reasonable speed on PostScript prnter (the majority of our
jobs), at least 10Mb is recommended. We're running 10Mb right
now and have been pleased with the speed.
o The printer can also be configured to use an lpd daemon local to
the printer. This option was not as seemless to the users (e.g.
required different priner names for postscript and ASCII printing),
so we installed the JetDirect software (see below).
o Our configuration (10Mb memory, TP ethernet), the printer moves
much faster than the rated 12 ppm for most jobs -- we're very
pleased with the performance and output quality.
HP JetDirect Software
---------------------
o Our HP dealer tried to sell us the JetDirect software on CD/ROM --
this isn't necessary. The README's were adequate for installation,
so there's no reason to pay for the CD. The JetDirect software is
available at:
which has links to the HP anonymous ftp site/directory:
ftp://ftp-boi.external.hp.com/pub/jetdirect/solaris22_23
o This software made configuring the printer for our Sun host a
breeze. It creates the appropriate /etc/printcap entry as well
as allowing you to configure the printer to boot via bootpd --
alleviating much trial and error for the sysadmin.
o The software also comes with filters that will automatically
detect PostScript, PCL, or ASCII text and print each correctly.
Notes:
- It only detects Adobe PostScript (%!PS-Adobe-?.0 on the first
line). This required some hacking to get a couple of public
domain packages working correctly (notably xmgr and a2ps).
- We've been able to transfer files from a PC in PCL and print
them via lpr without problem -- the filter recognized this
format on the UNIX side (I was impressed).
o The JetDirect software is available for HP-UX, Solaris 2.x and
SunOS 4.x. We installed the software on one of our SunOS 4.1.3
machines and configured all our other Sun's to spool to that
remote machine -- works fine.
o The JetDirect software does _not_ allow for page accounting -- if
you need this functionality, you'll have to look elsewhere (maybe
CAP?)
SGI connectivity
----------------
o We should be able to spool to the remote Sun as we did with the
other Sun's on our network. We have not tried this yet (the SGI
has yet to arrive), hopefully the connection will also be seamless.
CAP
---
o This could be used as a substitute for the JetDirect software -- we
didn't look into it since we were pleased with JetDirect.
other
-----
o There were some recommendations for other printers -- most of
them were well out of our budget, but thanx for the recommendations.
o Some people recommended purchasing a dedicated stand-alone print
server to do the emulation switching and handle connectivity. Since
we were able to get this functionality without the added hardware
expense, we didn't look into this solution.
o There were recommendation for PC-NFS or SAMBA to allow printing
for PC clients to printers connected to the Sun. We're looking
into these...
o See also: "SUMMARY: HP 4si Printer" by Paul Elliott post on 10/03.
--Michael Zika
Nuclear Engineering
Texas A&M University
(zika@trinity.tamu.edu)
Many thanx to:
Mark O Reilly moreilly@fsaia.qld.gov.au
Timo Lehto timoal@martis.fi
Tom Crummey tom@sees.bangor.ac.uk
David Beard beard@maths.adelaide.edu.au
Chris Ritson C.R.Ritson@newcastle.ac.uk
Richard N. Cleary rnclear@sandia.gov
Dan Walsh walsh@planet8.sp.paramax.com
Roland Conybeare rconybea@corpsyndev.ml.com
Mark Anderson manderso@mitre.org
Eric Wampner eww@crc.com
Clay Luther clay@inetinc.com
Andy Feldt feldt@phyast.nhn.uoknor.edu
Mark Wallen mwallen@ucsd.edu
David Rossman sysadmin@odetics.com
Bob Haxo rshaxo@ucdavis.edu
Harish Malneedi harishm@pcsdnfs1.eq.gs.com
Michael Myers mmyers@willamette.edu
Robert D. Worsham worsham@aer.com
Susan Feng sf@ced.berkeley.edu
David Burwell dburwell@telecom.telecom.com
Dave Fetrow fetrow@biostat.washington.edu
Steve Lee stlee@alc.com
karl@water.ca.gov
Lyndon C. Lim lyndon@vlibs.com
Bryan Hall hallbd@wsmc-mis.af.mil
Rocky Gould rgjj490@wadnr.gov
Glenn Satchell glenn@uniq.com.au
Mike O'Connor mjo@msen.com
Rodney Campbell rodney@tansu.com.au
Olav Lerbrekk olav.lerbrekk@geology.uio.no
Steve Philson philson@nmr.chem.umn.edu
Ken Burns ken@cpatl.com
Carlo Di Mascio cdimasc@bmo.com
Patrick M. Landry pml@cacs.usl.edu
Steve Harris vsh%etnibsd@uunet.uu.net
Paul Elliott p.elliott@trl.OZ.AU
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