Posted by snoopdogMs on 3/4/09 8:35pm
Msg #279531
insufficient memory?
Not only does this apply to my mental state sometimes, but for the first time in 2 years my HP3005 printer stopped printing a 127 page packet at about page 102 and printed a page that said "insufficient memory". I have printed larger packages than this previously. Since I can be techno-illiterate sometimes, I must ask an ignorant question. Does the printer reach some saturation point of memory after a long period of time or usage? This may not even be the correct question.
| Reply by MW/VA on 3/4/09 9:02pm
Msg #279533
I encountered this problem frequently with the HP 4050 I had. I'm not familiar with the 3005.
Does it have a control panel? If so, I used to go to the Resets menu, go to I/O and reset all I/O. That usually worked. The problem I had with HP is that the printers "think" and the computer & printer seem to have problems communicating. I finally ditched the 4050 and went to a much cheaper Brother HL-5250DNT, which has turned out to be more reliable.
Maybe someone who is more tech savvy than I can give you a better answer. It baffled the tech people who worked for the office machines co. I got the 4050 from. It seemed to lose the memory & settings every now & then for no apparent reason.
| Reply by Susan Fischer on 3/4/09 11:54pm
Msg #279546
So true. HPs 'think.' Not so sharp on the 'handshake.'
Sometimes my 2430 just decides there's some 'problem.' Most of the time it's not true, but that doesn't stop the dreaded ORANGE light from blinking, right when you need precision printing...
I think I suffer from an HP bias, since Dr Dad retired after 32 years in the labs at Palo Alto. I'
m on my second 2430, this one with duplex - which comes in handy as a shirt on a pocket sometimes.
I suspect, and it's the vaguest guess, that if I upped the memory to the max, the 'problems' would subside. Just a guess.
Speaking of memory, who are you people, and why are you in my loft?
| Reply by Gary Boehm on 3/4/09 11:51pm
Msg #279545
A different approach...
What interface cable are you using? I recently picked up an HP 2200 dual tray printer on eBay. I just plugged it into the same parallel cable I was using on my "old" HP printer for many years. Well, I had all variety of problems including that it would just plain stop printing. I'd have to cancel print jobs in Control Panel and even reset my SYSTEM to get it to start printing again.
Then today I switched to the USB Interface or A/B cable and viola(!) all the problems went away! I have now printed two Countrywide packages flat out, it switched trays/paper, everything works great.
The older parallel interface uses just one wire line to control the start/stop of data to the printer. If that gets out of whack the computer will keep sending data and the printer is unable to stop it and the printer memory overflows.
The newer interface uses a more sophisticated control communication method that seems to be more reliable. I already had my HP 3015 hooked up that way and I left it on there. Just for fun I sent the package to the 2200 in mixed page size AND when it started printing I sent the same package to the 3015 in all 8 1/2 x 11 format for the borrower. Had both printers going at the same time! Whoo Hoo (as Homer would say)! I was out the door in about 20 minutes with BOTH sets in hand.
BTW this was for a big Title company that thought a signing was in another state. When they realized that they called me at 4:30 and asked if I could do a rush signing. I said "What time?" and they said 5:00 LOL. Happy to take their money - which paid for the printer!
| Reply by Susan Fischer on 3/4/09 11:59pm
Msg #279548
Cable? Whodda thunk it? Hey, Gary, does it matter how
long the cable is? I mean, is there anything lost in the connectivity and 'handshake' thing with longer cables vs short distances?
| Reply by Gary Boehm on 3/5/09 10:55am
Msg #279616
Cable? Whodda thunk it? Hey, Gary, does it matter how
Not really. There is some practical limit (like over 100 feet or something). My parallel cable is 25 feet. I used it initially because my "new" printer has to sit to my left, further away from my system. My 3015 sits right next to the system. So to switch to the A/B cable (which was only 10 feet long) for the new printer I have to run it across the floor behind my chair! Not a permanent solution but it works. I'm going to be looking on eBay for a 25' USB cable now.
Have you been using a parallel cable then? I'd be interested to know if changing the cable worked for you. And BTW, it's not just the cable, it is an entirely different interface at both the computer and the printer ends.
| Reply by PAW on 3/5/09 11:22am
Msg #279624
Bi-directional parallel cable length
does make a difference, especially with printers with low memory conditions or slow processors, such as the older printers. The real old printers didn't use bi-directional communications so the sender (PC) just sent whenever the 'control' line was on. With the bi-directional cables, not only can the printer and PC talk to each other, they can provide status to each other over the control lines. When the cable get very long (over 64', if I remember correctly) then a data request from the PC or a response from the printer may get missed and cause an 'overrun' error.
If you encounter a problem with bidirectional printing, disable bidirectional printing and resend your print job.
To disable bidirectional printing, do the following:
1. Click Start , point to Settings , and then click Printers .
2. Right-click the bidirectional printer, and then click Properties .
3. Click the Ports tab, clear Enable bidirectional support , and then click OK .
| Reply by Gary Boehm on 3/5/09 12:59pm
Msg #279638
Bi-directional parallel cable length
Yes now I remember, I just knew the practical length was somewhere no more than 50 - 100 feet. What I was really thinking when I wrote that was that they probably could not BUY a parallel cable more than 50 or 100 feet - so it did not matter.
Yes I know that old interface well. Back in the old 8 bit days (yes people, there were microcomputers many years before IBM go into them) I used to wire up the interfaces and write the software to control them. We used to call it the Centronics Interface because that was the company that developed it/popularized it and other companies followed (anyone remember the DECWriter?). Other than the single control line, it was never originally designed to be a) bidirectional, b) high speed, or c) for long cable length. But the extra ground line between the active lines to keep "noise" down was a neat idea (if it was REALLY effective?).
| Reply by Margaret Paddock on 3/4/09 11:56pm
Msg #279547
Did you try going to HP website and checking for the driver updates? This sometimes helps. If not call HP for assistance - they are pretty good about helping.
| Reply by sue_pa on 3/5/09 7:31am
Msg #279563
...Since I can be techno-illiterate sometimes... Welcome to my world ... most times.
I used to haev this problem sometimes with my HP 4100 - a machine that could print the largest of the large packages with no problems. My problems arose only with one document set - either Wells Fargo or WAMU - I forget which one it was. My solution was to print ... in your example ... 50 pages, 50 pages, 27 pages. Certainly not the answer but it worked for me.
| Reply by MW/VA on 3/5/09 8:40am
Msg #279580
The problems I encountered had nothing to do with enough memory, the correct driver, or cable issues. IME HP has lots of problems with "spooling" issues.
| Reply by MW/VA on 3/5/09 8:41am
Msg #279581
Incidentally, when I worked with HP tech support on these "spooling" issues, they insisted on blaming Microsoft. What a joke!
| Reply by PAW on 3/5/09 11:31am
Msg #279626
Print spooling is a function of the Operating System
The printer has nothing to do with 'spooling'. You can disable spooling by using the "print direct" option in the printer playout menu.
Page printers typically only process three pages at a time: One being printed; one being rendered for printing; and one being sent from the source, be it a print server or spooler. If there's enough memory to store more compressed pages, it will allow the source to send more pages. However, if multiple COLLATED copies are requested and supported by the printer, then the printer needs to store all rendered pages if there's enough memory. If not, it will attempt to store all compressed pages and render the pages separately for each copy. If it can't store all the pages in compressed format, it with either (1) only print one copy, which is what typically happens, or (2) fail with an insufficient memory error or memory overrun error.
| Reply by MW/VA on 3/5/09 2:15pm
Msg #279652
Re: Print spooling is a function of the Operating System
Thanks, Paul. I am definitely not a tech person--my mind is not wired for it.
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