That isn't anything new. When inkjets started hitting the shelves, competitive pricing let to the offsetting of some hardware components on the printer end to virtualization of the functionality of the hardware on the host computer. Similar snafus as Bruce is experiencing makes it seem like "Déjà vu All Over Again[Yogi Berra I think]"...
> -----Original Message----- > From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Karen > Tellef > Sent: Tuesday, February 25, 2014 11:11 AM > To: RBASE-L Mailing List > Subject: [RBASE-L] - Re: OT: HP Printer Control Explained > > Wow, Bruce. What kind of an advantage did they think THAT would be? > Why take away that functionality? > > Albert: When I got a windows 8, I was surprised at how easily all my > programs and hardware came over... EXCEPT my HP laser. It took > 6 months after I got the laptop for them to come out with a driver > (which was >1 year after windows 8 was announced). > > Karen > > > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Albert Berry <[email protected]> > To: RBASE-L Mailing List <[email protected]> > Sent: Tue, Feb 25, 2014 10:05 am > Subject: [RBASE-L] - Re: OT: HP Printer Control Explained > > > And for those considering an upgrade of their operating system, my HP > laser won't work with any OS later than XP SP3. To print I have to use > a virtual machine. Luckily, in a manner of speaking, I have some old > programs that I use and installed Win 7 Pro which supports the VM. It > is a hassle to work with, though. > > Albert > > On 2/25/2014 7:45 AM, Bruce A. Chitiea wrote: > > All: > > > > I offer this forum response to anyone wrestling with printer control > issues. > > > > Bruce Chitiea > > > > "The LaserJet P1606dn printer is a host-based device (see > > > http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?cc=us&lc=en&dlc=en&docname > > =c0199 > > 5860 ). > > > > "This means that it doesn't understand any of the traditional Page > > Description Languages (PDLs) - PCL5, PCL6 (a.k.a. PCL XL) or > > PostScript - as used on more expensive models. > > > > "Host-based devices use proprietary (not published) languages which > > vary from model to model and manufacturer to manufacturer. > > > > "I think that with many of the HP models, the language is known as > > JetReady, which is (loosely) based on a (very) stripped down variant > > of PCL XL; most of the fomatting is done of the host workstation > > (hence the name), with everything (text & images) converted to > > encapsulated, compressed raster images; the interpreter in the > printer > > just unencapsulates and uncompresses these images, and prints the > resultant dots. > > > > "Note that even of the printer supported the standard PCL6 (PCL XL) > > PDL, it is exceedingly difficult (in most cases impossible) to inject > > anything (such as your 'page ejects') into the stream generated by > the > > driver, due to the highly structured nature of this PDL. > > > > > > > >
