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 Post subject: Printer not working
PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 3:19 pm 
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Joined: Fri Feb 08, 2008 6:52 pm
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I was talking to you last week about a printing problem on my MacBook Pro. Originally the printer icon was popping up on the Mac dock when printing but then putting the next document on hold requiring me to go into the menu to try to get it to start printing again. This is no longer a problem as the printer icon no longer comes up on the dock.
However, if I drop a file onto the RISCOS printer icon, the icon "shivers" and after about 10 seconds the printer starts printing.
If I then drop a second file onto the icon it still "shivers" indicating that it has accepted it but the printer remains silent.
If I then disconnect the USB cable for at least ten seconds and then reconnect it the printer fires into life immediately but prints out the first file only. Even if I flush the queue it will still print out the first file after disconnecting and reconnecting the cable.
Sometimes it will print out a previous file as though the queue had not been flushed at all. Whatever the reason, the application is unusable unless it can print.
You thought that you might have a work-around ready this week. Is this still the case?
My printer is an HP LaserJet 4050T. Showprinters shows HP_LaserJet_4050_Series_1. The definition file is LaserJet4 and the path is HostFS::


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Feb 11, 2008 3:21 pm 
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By the way, I forgot to mention that I am running Leopard v 10.5


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 5:05 pm 
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I've now opened the VirtualAcorn Mac Knowledge Base (I uploaded version 1 about 20 minutes ago). There is an article in there about setting up a "Raw" printer driver which should help.
Go to Support/KnowledgeBase to find the articles.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Feb 12, 2008 8:31 pm 
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Thanks for that, Aaron. I went through the procedure as instructed and, once I had restarted VA (not mentioned in instructions), the printer icon went yellow and I managed to print a sheet at the first attempt.
However, when I then tried to print a second sheet, nothing happened. In the CUPS Jobs screen the file was shown as "processing". I cancelled the job and was able to print again but only one job. To print a third time I have to click on Print (in Impression) go again to the Jobs screen, cancel the job and then go back to my VA screen and press Print again. And so on.
The printer works perfectly normally if I try to print from the Mac side.
Any ideas?


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 12:43 pm 
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What's the model number for your 4050? The reason I ask is that another forum member (thanks Roy) has passed me a list of model numbers for the 4050:
The model number for the Mac version is C7829B.The other models are:
LaserJet 4050 C4251A
LaserJet 4050 N C4253A
LaserJet 4050 T C4252A
LaserJet 4050 TN C4254A
LaserJet 4050 SE C4255A
and...
LaserJet 4050 USB Mac Printer C7829B
i.e. do you actually have the correct printer for the Mac?


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 12:56 pm 
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My machine is the HP 4050T C4252A.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 1:07 pm 
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"i.e. do you actually have the correct printer for the Mac?"
I did not know there was a "correct" Mac printer. The machine was bought for the Acorn over 8 years ago when Macs were still tiny little Apples.
The printer does print from the Mac. The problem is that I have to cancel the job via the CUPS page after each print to allow the next job to print.
I also have a Brother HL2040 which works via Airport from the Mac. However, would the supplied Brother RISCOS drivers work?
Also, my own home-written software also uses formating codes based on HP PCL5 language. Would that run unmodified through a Brother?


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Feb 19, 2008 1:22 pm 
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Right, so the printer is not the version designed for the Mac.
You will need to check if the Brother printer is PCL compatable. If it is then you should be able to run your program. The information you need should be in the printers manual (a lot of Brother machines are HP compatable - but not all).
If the Brother is PCL compatable then you will be able to use an Hp driver in RISC OS (unless there is a RISC OS driver for this particluar printer).


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Sun Feb 24, 2008 4:36 pm 
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The Brother printer does not have HP emulation so, if I am to proceed with VA on a Mac, I will have to get a suitable HP printer.
Is there anybody in the community who has experience of HP printers working with VA and Macs and could recommend a suitable model, please?


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Mon Feb 25, 2008 12:57 pm 
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I would suggest that you approach the problem in this way.
Work out what budget you have for a new laser printer.
Pop along to www.ebuyer.co.uk and see which machines fall into the correct price category and also have good reviews from buyers.
Check which mashine are HP compatable.
Choose one or two and then find some other reviews via Google to get a fuller picture.
Buy the one that's best.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Tue Feb 26, 2008 6:00 pm 
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Thanks Aaron.
The budget isn't the issue. I have a perfectly good HP LJ4050T which is Mac compatible. Leopard comes with 4050T drivers. I can print from the Mac side perfectly normally. When I try to print from the VR side, the job sits in the Mac side rather than in the VR queue control buffer. If I pull out the USB connector and put it back in again it prints. If I have two jobs waiting then, after the first job has printed, I have to pull the cable out and replace it a second time and then the second job prints.
The second method is to delete the job in the CUPS page. The next job will print through perfectly but then the following job has to be deleted in the CUPS before it will print again - and so on.
Whatever the problem is I would rather not spend ??200+ on a new machine I don't need if it is only a simple software problem which, without remedy, might re-occur on the new machine, too.
Any ideas? Would it help if I emailed the access log?


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Wed Feb 27, 2008 11:27 am 
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You were asking for advice on buying a new HP (or compatable printer) which I tried to provide.
We have already established that your printer is not the version intended for the Mac. Since the printer also doesn't work with RISC OS correctly then it's not "perfectly good". I really don't think the problem is with VRPC.
It might be an issue with the particular RISC OS driver, it might be a problem with the firmware in the printer, it might be a problem with the Mac driver. E-mailing me a log won't help.
My only other suggestion at this point is to try using other RISC OS LaserJet printer definition files (printing to the Raw printer driver) to see if one of them will work.


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 Post subject:
PostPosted: Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:30 pm 
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Thanks Aaron,
Received delivery of HP CP3505 yesterday and now all seems to be working OK.


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