DOS printing to Laserjet 1320t versus Laserjet 4000

[tameone]

Hello, I recently acquired a Laserjet 1320t to replace our Laserjet 4000. This printing environment consists of a Jetdirect 300x hooked up to the printer via parallel cable. I did not reconfigure anything for the swap but merely unplugged the 4000 and plugged the 1320t into the Jetdirect box. Other non-DOS applications such as the Microsoft Office quite prints to the printer without any quirks. When printing from our single DOS application, the 4000 prints in landscape mode with fine print (as it should) however, the 1320t prints in large print in portrait mode. I do not see any configurations that would allow me to change these on either printer.

Initially I thought something changed on the application however, nothing was changed and when the printer is changed back, the 4000 prints correctly (landscape and small font). I am using the same PC to print and not jumping from one PC to another.

Is there some kind of setting that I am missing on either print that would allow me to change the font and orientation of printing? Thank you.

 

[DansDadUK]

The difference in outputs is almost certainly due to a combination of factors:

(a) The DOS application is NOT sending initialisation sequences to the printer, to set 'current environment' conditions (such as paper size/orientation, primary font, etc.)

(b) Instead, it is relying on the 'power-on' default values for these properties, set on the printer itself, to provide the required 'environment' for each printer 'job'.

(c) The 'power-on' default values on the LJ4000 have been set differently to those on the LJ1320.

You can probably print off a configuration page (showing the current settings on the LJ1320) by holding down the green button on the printer for more than 3 seconds.

On the networked models (i.e. LJ1320n, LJ1320tn, LJ1320nw, LJ1320tnw), you can use WebJetAdmin, or HP Toolbox, or just point your browser to the IP address of the printer, in order to view and/or change certain settings.

But I'm not sure how you change the default values on a non-networked LJ1320 (i.e. those which DON'T have 'n' in the name).

 

[tameone]

Thank you DansDadUK, I was able to load the HPToolbox that allows me to change the configs of the printer however, it does not specifically have anything that would allow me to change the orientation or font based on DOS printing. Would you happen to know off the top of your head if the LJ4000 has that specific feature? Thank you.

 

[DansDadUK]

I don't have access to a LJ4000, so don't know exactly what configuration options will be available via HP Toolbox.

I would imagine that the options to change paper orientation and default font should be present, possibly under general headings of something like 'Printing' and 'PCL, after clicking the 'Device Settings' button.

[PCL5 will almost certainly be the default printer language assumed on the device; this 'personality' will cater for plain text (as might be output by a simple DOS program) interspersed with PCL escape sequences (which may or may not be present).]