Generic PCL printer driver?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nicolaj
  • Start date Start date
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Nicolaj

Hi,

I need a generic PCL printer driver that will work with PCL5e/PCL6
compliant printers. It should be generic and like a mini-driver
without any fancy printer-specific features (it don't have to be able
to brew coffee or fold the output into oragami-birds or anything). The
only requirements are:

- Duplex print
- 1 (manual feed) + 4 or more trays
- Color print (PCLXL/PCL6)

One other thing that seems to be in every Microsoft unidrv-compliant
driver is the amount of memory in the printer, but I don't know if
this affects the printjob in any way.

I could probably use the LaserJet III driver if I didn't also have to
print in color, BUT this driver doesn't offer more than 1+1 trays (or
something like that), and some new printers offer 4 trays besides the
manual tray - and (unfortunately) we of course need to support some of
these...

If none exists, does anyone know if it is possible to write such a
generic PCL driver based on the Microsoft unidriver technology?
(http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/d..._78506769-3f07-4d18-b9b6-d7606a757eda.xml.asp)

Or does anyone know of an existing printer from some printer-vendor
like HP, Epson, Brother etc. driver that will fulfill our needs and
can be used to many different printer makes and models?

ANY help will be HIGHLY appreciated!!!!!

Thanks in advance,
Nicolaj Rasmussen
 
Hi Bob,

Thanks for the info. Unfortunately we need the printerdriver running
on Windows 2000/2003, and all the drivers on the page is for Linux and
seems to use Ghostscript - and unfortunately I don't have the ability
to "convert" the driver - if it is at all possible? :-/

I have searched high and low, but haven't found any truly generic
PCL5e/6 driver that supports 1MF+4 trays, duplex and color... I tried
with a generic driver from Brother, but when printing to e.g. an HPCLJ
4650 the printer kept saying "Load Letter" even though A4 was
specified as the papersize on the printserver and in the printer
itself. Everything else seemed to work perfectly though, so I guess
Brother is on the right track :-)

Anyone else?

Thanks,
Nicolaj
 
Exactly what are you trying to do? What kind of printer do you have, and
why can't you just get the driver from the manufacturer?

Mike Schumann
 
Hi Mike,

Link to original thread:
http://groups.google.dk/groups?hl=d...259%24H05.38580%40twister.nyroc.rr.com&rnum=2

We have an ASP environment (Windows 2000 Terminal Services) with more
than 1000 printers shared among 4 printservers. We have problems with
being unable to install some of the drivers (mostly HP) on some
printservers, probably because some of the other printer driver
conflict in some way. The printservers have different drivers
installed and a driver that installs just fine on one servers, won't
install on another printserver. The printservers are (supposed to be)
identical apart from hosting different printers/printer drivers.

Thus the wish to find some "common ground" and share the same printer
drivers across multiple printer models. In an ideal world (in my head
anyway) it should be able to send the same standard PCL commands to a
multiple PCL compatible printers and get successful outputs printed on
them. Many mention the LaserJet III Series PCL, HP LaserJet PCL driver
and the HP Color LaserJet PCL drivers as lowest common denominators
and these might very well work to many of the new printers on the
market EXCEPT they only support 1-2 trays and do not support supplex
and 4 or more trays. So basicly what I need is an upgrade to the HP
LaserJet PCL driver and the HP Color LaserJet so they support duplex
and more trays - and then on each printer I can set the trays to the
right paper size or Unavailable based on the psycical setup of the
printer. Likewise enable Duplex if the printer support it. This will
greatly minimize the number of printerdrivers to support (= install
and maintain).

Companys like Gestetner, Ricoh etc. and Brother supply mini-drivers
taht support a wide range (all?) of their printer models - so if it is
possible to to get a HP minidriver that would do the trick as well.

Hope I make sense...

Thanks,
Nicolaj
 
Why not organize your print servers, so each server supports a group of
identical printers? Having a few more servers, where each is specialized on
a smaller task list, is a very effective way to minimize problems caused by
conflicting software.

The problem with Terminal Server is that a lot of printer drivers don't work
very well, as they were not designed for a multi-user reentrant environment.
HP drivers are notoriously buggy.

On my Terminal Server system, I have been using the LaserJet III driver for
all of my LaserJets. This works fine for a black and white printer, where
300 dpi is acceptable. I don't have any color LaserJets, so I haven't faced
that problem.

Mike Schumann

P.S. Terminal Server problems are usually quite unique, and you might want
to post your issues on some Terminal Server related newsgroups.
 
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