Odd.

Do the instructions here result in it spewing out a test page?

http://www.ehow.co.uk/how_7551535_do-hp-4m-plus-netw...

GeeTee, some of those e-How pages are incredibly inaccurate. Needless to say, it didn't work - no response.

Despite that, I've managed to find an MIO menu on the printer. However, the only item in it is "CFG NETWORK = NO/YES". There's no DHCP setting in this printer.

If I were to set the above-mentioned setting to YES, I'm not sure where to go from there. It might be that the printer will then be automatically assigned an IP address in the correct range. I thought I read somewhere that, with the Jetdirect hardware module, this printer automatically senses the type of connection.

Test pages are available from this printer, but not in the contexts so far suggested, it seems. I've hitherto used this printer on a parallel interface, attached to the WinXP machine and when first installing its LPT1 driver from Windows, Windows offers to print a test page.

Can you give the exact model number of the printer? There might be a couple of variations.

It might be worth locating an older version of the JetAdmin software and running it on the PC. If I remember correctly that used ARP to locate even an unconfigured JetDirect card over the network and allows configuration of it.

Change to YES and a whole new menu will appear.

I stated at the very beginning of this topic that the model of printer was the HP Laserjet 4M/Plus. It's a model that could (and hopefully still can) accommodate a variety of connection interfaces. Do appreciate that Series 4 printers from HP are nothing like Series 4000. The 4 Series are different, earlier beasts.

I've managed to force a test page from "MIO". But it doesn't really help much. It just states that the LAN environment is Ethernet multi-protocol, that the I/O card is ready, and that the IP address is 0.0.0.0.

I bought the printer in 1994. I believe it came with several sets of floppies and, for networking, you used those floppies to install appropriate software depending on whether you wished to operate via Windows Workgroup, Windows NT, Novell LAN, Sun, Unix, etc. I've long since lost those floppies, though. I think they were, in part, for running under Windows 3.1 and under DOS. But this model of printer went on to be used in professional and business circles, in workgroup setups, in the wider world for many more years. I've managed to keep mine going for the last 16 years or so, but have never used it in networked mode hitherto. The trouble is that, in that time, implementation methods for home networking have changed. So, basically what I'm needing is some sort of walkthrough wizard. I feel sure that such a wizard would have been produced for networkable printers like these in the late 90s and even up until just a few years ago. And looking around the HP website, I've not found anything concerning JetDirect that I could use.

Sometimes the semantics can get in the way, so just let me define the setup I'm after. It's one where a separate printer server will not be required. The printer is neither attached directly to the WinXP PC nor the Mac, instead it's attached to the router's hub. So, printing is to be performed via that hub, from either the PC or the Mac. In that context, the printer will be shared. However, the impression I get is that Microsoft's definition of 'shared' is something different. Anyways, the printer will somehow need to be assigned an address such as 192.168.0.3 or 192.168.0.4 (since 192.168.0.1 is that of the router itself, and 192.168.0.2 is the existing PC. The Mac isn't involved yet, but will be in due course). Currently, the router and PC are set up for DHCP, so the previously-mentioned addresses stem from the DHCP allocation.

No, it doesn't.

Meanwhile, I've managed to find an "HP Install Network Printer Wizard" at the HP website. It's here:

http://h20338.www2.hp.com/Hpsub/cache/344391-0-0-225...

The ReadMe file on the neighbouring webpage says that it supports both Windows and Mac and it's for any JetDirect-connected device such as HP Laserjet. It's currently v8.1, dated 13th Oct 2010.

Is this piece of software familiar to anyone here?

Haven't tried running it yet but all previous attempts to get things working, using all your various suggestions ("you" being the various contributors here) so far, have resulted in a trial file being queued but never reaching the printer. Perhaps I need to reconfigure the router to stop DHCP and to use static addresses all round?

Edited by deleted (Mon 21-Mar-11 00:47:59)

You don't need to disable DHCP on the router, you just need to find the menu option on the printer that allows you to enter the IP address and subnet mask you wish it to have.

Then you add the printer to your XP machine by selecting the relevant printer driver and in the Port section set it to print to a "Standard TCP/IP Port Monitor". In the configuration options for that port (found in the Properties of the printer on the PC) you enter the IP address of the printer and select the LPR radio dot button, hit OK and you are good to go. IF that still fails to communicate the print job to the printer, go back to the port configuration options on the printer driver on the PC and try setting it to RAW instead of LPR and in the Raw Settings - Port Number field enter 9100 (the standard Raw IP print port btw.).

There really is no more to it than that:
a. Find menu entry on printer to enter IP and Subnet
b. Setup print driver to print to Standard TCP/IP Port (as above)
c. Print something

Unless someone happens to have the exact same printer in front of them to step through the menus line by line, instructions can't really be more specific than that. This is one of those tasks that can be so frustrating over a forum - in front of the printer and PC I've no doubt any one of the contributors to this thread would have that printer printing over IP in a few minutes

I fully appreciate what the HP LJ4 is. I installed hundreds of the things to print over IP in a former job with a company that supplied them. That's over a decade ago now, so understandably I don't recall every menu option.

You should dispell all thoughts of Microsoft printer sharing from your mind, it is not used in the setup you are doing here. On the Ports tab of the Properties of the printer driver in the Printer and Faxes folder on your XP machine you will use the Add Port... button to add a "Standard TCP/IP Port" entering the ip address of the printer in the dialogue box that appears. But before doing anything at all on the PC you need to find the menu option on the printer itself that allows you to enter the IP address and subnet mask you wish it to have.

Would Part B of http://www.perpetualpc.net/jetdirectconfig.html be of help?