Network printing.

[G0AOZ]

Printer with a USB interface is probably going to be joining the local network, and have been looking at a Edimax PS-1216U printer server. Manufacturer's blurb states it supports W2K and XP, but nothing before. Two of the machines on the network are still happily performing tasks whilst running Windows 95 and 98.

If the printer itself supports W95/98, why should the server care what operating system machines have which are connected to the network? Or is that just a "red herring"?

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[wahnula]

Roger...as a rule, I would stay away from anything that's not officially supported. When I added Vistake to my OS boot list suddenly a printer, that was connected to an XP box and working fine, was not available. I would BE CERTAIN the product includes support for those OSes, use their support request form to be sure.

While I was searching their site, the only thing I found that mentioned Win95 was the 1206MF

One thing I've learned about PC hardware is never assume anything. Even if it makes total logical sense (as in this case) the written specs always prevail in CS battles. Buy what you KNOW will work.

Funny thing about this site...in the listing for the 1206MF posted above it only mentions Windows 95 ONCE out of three times listing the specs...do a Ctrl+F page search (or just read ) and see what I mean. That's why I would not place a whole lot of credence in their list...their specs for the PS-1216U show it supporting Win98:

It is compatible with a large number of normal printers in the various common operating systems including Windows 98SE/Me/NT/2000/XP/2003,...

...go figure. Despite my warnings above, coupled with my laziness to re-type the post, I think you should be fine in this case.

Tony

Users helping Users...

 

[G0AOZ]

Thanks for your thoughts Tony. Yes, I agree about never assuming anything! I'm not rushing into anything yet. Had a failure on an HP Laserjet 5P, which I will probably have one more go at. It was printing beautifully but stopped all of a sudden with an apparent paper jam. Cannot work out if it really is a sensor or the main board which is playing up...

ROGER - G0AOZ.

 

[JimInKS]

One thing to be aware of is that really low end printers offload much of the print processing to the computer. You cannot use this type printer with a print server. Normally this will be referred to as "host based". The HP LaserJet P1005 is an example of this.

You will need a printer that natively supports one of the standard printer languages. PCL most likely. For example the HP LaserJet P2015 says it supports HP PCL6, HP PCL5e, HP postscript level 3.

Can you just attach the printer locally to one of your computers and share it?

 

[G0AOZ]

Thanks for the info regarding "host based" printers. Yes it could be attached to a local machine, but since usage tends to be sporadic throughout the day, that local machine would end up being left switched on all the time. The problem has been solved for the moment, as I've got the HP Laserjet 5P working again!

ROGER - G0AOZ.