Adding Non-HP printers to 9000 series

[Lambrewski3]

We are having issues adding non-hp network pprinters to our 9000. Any ideas as to how I can get this accomplished. Any help would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Bob Lambert
IT Manager
IHMVCU

[Steven E. Protter]

Shalom,

1) It depends how you are to use them. If you want to do local printing, then you need HP-UX drivers.

2) If you want to do remote printing or queue management you can use the lp spool print system that ships with the OS. But you again need HP-UX drivers.

3) You can try using cups or samba to service the printers. Samba is provided on http://software.hp.com as CIFS/9000. You will need the server version and the client to do access tests.

SEP

[Bill Hassell]

There is no good way to add non-HP printers. An (non-Windows-only) HP printer with a JetDirect card works flawlessly. Almost no other manufacturer provides a compatible solution. Big Canon printers that offer port 9100 (JetDirect) capability are one exception.

Other than that, HP-UX provides minimal support for printers. non-HP network printers use the lpd/lpr protocol (RFC 1179) which is an archaic standard for today's data centers. You add these printers using SAM and the term: remote printer, not network printer. This will be compatible with both PCs and other Unix servers acting as print servers. The hard part is connecting to built-in print servers (ie, NIC cards) or external printer-to-LAN converters. You'll have to locate the internal printer name as the lpd protocol expects 1 or more printers connected to a print server and there is no default printer name.

As far as options, none of the typical lp -o options will work for remote printers. So landscape and duplex and font changes are not possible. The lpd/lpr interface is the same for all printers.

[Lambrewski3]

I appreciate the prompt response. I figured this wouldnt be an easy solution. Thanks you both again for taking the time to reply.

Bob Lambert
IT Manager
IH Mississippi Valley CU