I've given up. The HPLJ2 was getting too old anyway. I bought a used HPLJ6L, and it set up and worked right away. Now I just have to get it working on the network with Samba and all.

I still maintain that Linux lags Windows badly in this regard. Even if you never have set up a printer with Windows it would be easy to figure it out. It works about the same with any printer, or any other device, and works about the same on any version of winodws that has been out for the last 10 years. I doubt there are many long threads in help forums about setting a printer in windows.

Basic admin tasks are far more consistant with windows than linux, i.e. start->settings->control panel, etc. With Linux, everything is a huge sloppy mish-mosh. With linux, the way you set up one peripheral is completely different than the way you set up another. It also varies widely by distribution, i.e. setting up nVidia drivers is different with redhat or debian. It can also vary by GUI interface: kde, gnome, icewm, or whatever.

But, I digress.

There is no arguing that Windows is easier to set up ... but then again, every hardware company, and most OEMs have thrown their weight behind it.
When you consider the short period of time that Linux has had in the market it is impressive how well it is doing in therms of hardware support, drivers, etc, etc.
At any rate, I'm glad you solved your problem.