Yes, I've said more than once that it's networked. It's fitted with a JetDirect hardware module, which equips it with the option of connecting it via 10BaseT, Appletalk, Serial Interface, Coaxial Ethernet, or Centronics Parallel Interface. I've 'programmed' the printer to operate via the 10BaseT interface. It's up and running with Windows already.

Postscript: I've just searched the HP website again. The HP website provides a list of Laserjets that it reckons are included in Snow Leopard but when you look at HP's list of them, neither the 4M nor the 4M Plus are included. However, if you look on the Apple website's list, the 4M is included - though not the 4M Plus. I can only assume that the 4M is what I need.

I can't understand why Apple doesn't list "Laserjet 4M Plus", because that printer was specifically made to accommodate both Macs and Windows machines. The 4 Plus and the 4MP are just as much legacy printers and were produced alongside the 4M Plus in the 1990s, so why isn't the driver for 4M Plus specifically listed? Maybe it's a misunderstanding on Apple's part? Regardless, I'm just hoping that the 4M is the same driver. It'll be extremely annoying if some of the features of the printer are missing in the Mac version of the driver. They're all present and correct in the Windows version.

And again: just looked at the list of HP drivers in my Windows machine. There, it lists 4M Plus separately from 4M. Also, 4M Plus PS600 is a separate driver also (the one I really need). So, I've finally come to the conclusion that that 4M driver in Snow Leopard will turn out to be NOT the driver I need. I suspect the 4M and the 4M Plus drivers would work but wouldn't provide the necessary output quality in Postscript and give the full features.

So, will there be a way of complaining to Apple and asking them for the proper driver?

Edited by deleted (Wed 23-Mar-11 17:36:28)

Any help http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=21...

In reply to a post by meditator:

Basenji,

Thanks for that link. Most useful!

Getting just the right driver for the Mac is tricky because it's an HP Laserjet 4M Plus (PS600) that I've got and neither the list to which you pointed nor HP's website includes specifically the Laserjet 4M Plus. This is a model dating back to the mid 90s, which was specfically for both Macs and Windows PCs. You have to be very careful indeed when selecting the driver, even in Windows, as there were several 4 Series printers produced with very similar names but different functionalities. For example, the OSX10.6 listing shows Laserjet 4 Plus, Laserjet 4M, and Laserjet 4MP, but the 4 Plus and the 4MP are definitely not the same as mine. The 4M might be, but I'm not 100% certain. It's a very long time since I had to consider this.

The 'M' designation of the printer, of course, referred to Mac. I can't recall what the 'Plus' stood for; it might be dual-compatibility for Mac and Windows or it might be a reference to its Postscript ability. Even the HP brochures I've kept from the 90s never made it totally clear.

There are quite a lot of differences between all the various 4 Series models, both in the hardware and in the degree to which you can configure the printer, so it gets quite tricky. When you first install the 4M Plus's driver in Windows, even Windows chooses the wrong driver and you have to use 'Update Driver' and point it to the correct one.

The important thing here is that the printer will be used by both a Windows machine and the Mac on the network. I've already 'programmed' the printer for networked TCP/IP operation, given it an IP address, and have set the printer driver up and tested it on the Windows machine and it all works fine on that. It's now really just a matter of finding the absolutely correct driver in Snow Leopard, if it's there.

I asked about this in my local Apple Store the other week and the guy there couldn't find the exact one in Snow Leopard, so he went to the HP site, found it there, but then was directed back to Snow Leopard. We 'sorta' concluded that it was there, in Snow Leopard.

Hi again,

I've done a little digging and according to this wikipedia article, the 4M Plus is essentially a upgraded 4M, but with a faster engine and a higher max RAM capability.

Now, if that is the case and you already have your printer set up with an IP address on Windows, then what you would need to do in order to install your printer on OSX

Here's a brief walkthrough showing how to get a printer installed on OSX (I had to do this myself a few weeks ago, when I installed a HP CP1515n on my network, but instead of clicking the "IP Address" tab, I clicked the "Windows" tab and then the network neighbourhood name to find my printer, so this alternate method could work for you, too)

Go to "System Preferences", either via the Apple menu, or in the dock
Select "Print and Fax"
Press + to add a new printer
Select "IP Address" from the menu bar at the top of the window
Input the IP address and network name for the printer
OSX should now find your driver automatically, or will prompt you to select a driver from the list of drivers available

You should then go to the "File" menu of any application and print a page.

I hope this extra info is useful.

Defcom.

I've already seen that forum topic. Thanks for pointing it out, though.

Yes, I'd already seen that Wikipedia article.

As regards the differences between the 4M and the 4M Plus, I think there's more to it than even those that you've pointed out. It's actually the Postscript model I've got, so the full model name of mine is Laserjet 4M Plus PS600.

I quickly looked in Windows's list of HP Laserjet drivers available on my WinXP machine and, among others, it lists as distinct drivers: HP Laserjet 4/4M Plus PS600 (the driver I'm using in WinXP right now), Laserjet 4M Plus, and Laserjet 4M.

I've a horrible feeling that when I get my MacBook delivered shortly and I look in Print & Fax for the appropriate driver, I'll not find it there. Using the 4M driver may essentially work, but the quality of the print output may well be below that that I normally get with this printer when the optimised driver is used.

In reply to a post by meditator:

It's actually the Postscript model I've got, so the full model name of mine is Laserjet 4M Plus PS600.

Why not just set it up as a generic PostScript printer?

Edited by billford (Wed 23-Mar-11 22:30:35)

Post deleted by Tacitus