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Where do I get updated Printer/Plotter drivers for RHEL5.3 for a networked printer that is now very slow to print/plot Adobe files? Thanks so much!
Well, since you don't tell us what KIND of printer/plotter you're using or give us any details at all, past "RHEL 5.3"...we can't tell you anything. RHEL 5.3 is ancient and unsupported, totally. Only 5.11 is even a candidate for extended support (for $$$$$), and that's on the way out. Whatever you're doing with that server, you need to evaluate it and migrate it to a current version of things.
What software are you talking about? What's running on that server, and what kind of hardware is in the equation? You can run Samba with something called "Point n'Print" https://wiki.samba.org/index.php/Set...indows_Clients
...which will share out a printer on a Linux system to Windows clients, and use the Windows drivers, but this is just a guess, since we don't know anything about what you're trying to do with what.
Thanks for the replies folks. It is an HP 4200 N. It is on the network, and only recently started having trouble with throughput.Nobody else is having trouble with output, except this host. The data gets there but it is very slow( 5-10 minutes) now. This is a host system for a piece of electronic instrumentation.
What general net perf tools are you familiar with?
Can you try some, to compare how well/poor this host can commnicate with other things/hosts?
Same subnet? Old spray with switches (see man) comes to mind, but I doubt you have it.
Do you have any of these?: https://access.redhat.com/solutions/33103
Do this web search: rhel|fedora|centos network performance measurement tools
I think Google has an option where you can specify date ranges, to find old docs.
Of course, You might be able to locate &compile souce code,
But think how you'd feel/respond IF someone asked you for help with Win98!!!
(Yes, I understand that this is like: someone 'stuck' at org/Co. using floppy disks)
Think deeply: what might have changed "recently", between that host and that printer???
Include both (endpoints) and all intervening network. (e.g. Some router config?)
Is now something 'bad' happening with/to those tcp/ip packets? (tcpdump)
Thanks for the replies folks. It is an HP 4200 N. It is on the network, and only recently started having trouble with throughput.Nobody else is having trouble with output, except this host. The data gets there but it is very slow( 5-10 minutes) now. This is a host system for a piece of electronic instrumentation.
Ok, that's part of this puzzle. But you say "nobody else" is having trouble, but don't elaborate. Again, unless we have a complete picture of what's going on we can't guess. You only mention the RHEL 5.3 system...where does this fit in?
Since you say only you are having problems, is this your workstation? The print server? What program are you printing from? Others using it too? Same version? If everyone else is printing through that box, then there is something wrong with your workstation. If that box is the 5.3 system then that rules out the drivers or anything else. And if your plotter is directly on the network (as you hint at), there could be still other causes.
No matter what, the 5.3 box needs to be replaced, period. It's totally unsupported and very old. Either pay for RHEL 7.4 or load CentOS instead. While HPLIP doesn't support the Designjet 4200, you can get the Windows drivers and extract the PPD file from there, and set up the printer manually to use it.
The 4200 is a PCL/PostScript printer and it depends on what you have configured for its default language. Either language should work and assume if it has been working that the driver is not the issue. I would not imagine that either has changed in a very long time and doubt it is a driver issue.
I would check the cups and other log file to see what might be found.
A host system for a piece of instrumentation probably means that there no so support for a more recent version and so upgrading is not possible.
Even though the OP posted printer/plotter from what I can determine the DesignJet 4200 is a scanner. What other information did you find?
I got from the initial post "Printer/Plotter", with a later addition of HP 4200 N. From there, the only thing I could find for "HP 4200 plotter" was referencing the DesignJet, and that wasn't supported by HPLIP. The 'regular' 4200N is easily supported with HPLIP, though, as you said, but that can't handle large-scale drawings like those produced by electronic instrumentation (CAD software??), of the type that plotters produce.
Was a leap based on the sparse details. Could most definitely be wrong, though, but the OP did mention plotter.
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