Network printer help??

[Hedgie]

I have just bought a HP Laserjet 2420 which has a network card in. Do I connect the network cable from the printer into a spare port on the cable router?

Then how do I install it ?

[sean.browne]

yes, just connect it up and run the software that came with it. It should locate it on your network and configure it for you. There are other, more fifficult ways to do it but the HP software is normally all you need.

[Hedgie]

yes, just connect it up and run the software that came with it. It should locate it on your network and configure it for you. There are other, more fifficult ways to do it but the HP software is normally all you need.

Hi there,

It came with a disk but when I unzipped the files it just gives me a load of folders and no installation info?

[Hedgie]

OK...so far....

1) I connected a networ cable from the printer to the cable router.
2) I have downloaded the drivers from the HP site and extracted them to a folder on the hdd.

I can't figure out whats next !!

[FireFleur]

Networks printers on the whole tend to be a lot simpler to configure, because you only need to plug them into a switch or hub and then communicate over a network interface to them, which is simpler than USB, or even Parallel as there is not much on the client side, and it is all in the printer really, just have to locate the printer on the network.

[Hedgie]

OK this will probably sound stupid but..... I have 2 pcs in different rooms both of which are connected with cat-5 cables to the cable router. Does this automatically make them networked or do I need to do something?

[FireFleur]

You are probably running DHCP so an IP number will be assigned automatically to any system running a DHCP client.

The IP number is like a street address if you will, they can be assigned by the node directly or by the node via DHCP.

I am going to assume you are using windows, so open a console (MS Prompt) and type ipconfig you should see an address. The last 3 digits are generally the nodes in that network, you can ping around that number to see what responds.

But, the printer should also appear as a networked device somewhere in the control panel, or network places if memory serves.

[Hedgie]

the following comes up -:

Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection specific DNS Suffix
IP Address
Subnet mask
Default gateway

[FireFleur]

Try ipconfig /all.

No need to publish the addresses, but it should on the right of IP address.

You can stick some Xs in if you like, it doesn't matter too much just a little more security.

[Leo-InstallingIT]

Hi

Yes, if you plug it into a spare port on your router it should get assigned an IP address by the router.

Now if you print a configuration page from the printer by:

1) Pressing the tick button
2) Scroll so that it says "Information" on the screen, and press the tick.
3) Scroll to "Print Configuration", and hit the tick.

It should then print out a configuration page. On this page you should see an IP Address. This is the address of your printer on the network. However your router may decide to assign it a different one next time - so your PC won't know where to find it. For this reason I would give the printer a fixed IP address.

To do this open up a web browser on your PC, and type the IP address into the address bar as follows. http://IPADDRESS
(Replace the IPADDRESS bit with the number of the sheet.)

Now you should be able to go to the Networking page and change the IP address. On this page there should be an option to use static IP address.
You should also be able to change the IP address, I would tend to move this to about 250 in the same range. So for example if the IP Address at the moment is 192.168.1.6, I would change it to 192.168.1.250.

This will then be the address you use on the PC for the printer setup. Do you have the HP disks?

Technically you should also exclude 192.168.1.250 from your routers DHCP range. What router do you have?

I hope this helps, any questions just let me know.

Many Thanks

Leo

[Hedgie]

Hi

Yes, if you plug it into a spare port on your router it should get assigned an IP address by the router.

Now if you print a configuration page from the printer by:

1) Pressing the tick button
2) Scroll so that it says "Information" on the screen, and press the tick.
3) Scroll to "Print Configuration", and hit the tick.

It should then print out a configuration page. On this page you should see an IP Address. This is the address of your printer on the network. However your router may decide to assign it a different one next time - so your PC won't know where to find it. For this reason I would give the printer a fixed IP address.

To do this open up a web browser on your PC, and type the IP address into the address bar as follows. http://IPADDRESS
(Replace the IPADDRESS bit with the number of the sheet.)

Now you should be able to go to the Networking page and change the IP address. On this page there should be an option to use static IP address.
You should also be able to change the IP address, I would tend to move this to about 250 in the same range. So for example if the IP Address at the moment is 192.168.1.6, I would change it to 192.168.1.250.

This will then be the address you use on the PC for the printer setup. Do you have the HP disks?

Technically you should also exclude 192.168.1.250 from your routers DHCP range. What router do you have?

I hope this helps, any questions just let me know.

Many Thanks

Leo

I put the ip address into the browser and it says ' connection interrupted' this document contains no data..

[sean.browne]

It shouldn't be that complicated. Did you not get an installation CD with it? It should be a case of putting it in the drive and either it will autorun or you run setup.exe.

If you didn't get a CD for any reason, you can download a driver / setup program. I know you have done this already but there must be something wrong with the file if unzipping it results in empty folders.

You shouldn't need to print config page, or assign static IP or make reservations in your DHCP server, you should be able to run setup.exe

[Hedgie]

I had to download the drivers from the HP site and extract them to my hard drive.

The router is ' NETGEAR WNR 2000' supplied by Virgin media.

[Hedgie]

It shouldn't be that complicated. Did you not get an installation CD with it? It should be a case of putting it in the drive and either it will autorun or you run setup.exe.

If you didn't get a CD for any reason, you can download a driver / setup program. I know you have done this already but there must be something wrong with the file if unzipping it results in empty folders.

You shouldn't need to print config page, or assign static IP or make reservations in your DHCP server, you should be able to run setup.exe

The driver files I downloaded don't contain any setup.exe. I have just downloaded again and no difference?

[Leo-InstallingIT]

Hi

When you downloaded the drivers from the HP site was it this file :

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=18972&prodSeriesId=416419&prodNameId=412119&swEnvOID=228&swLang=8&mode=2&taskId=135&swItem=lj-24947-4

If you download that, it should run you through the installation.

Many Thanks

Leo

[Hedgie]

Hi

When you downloaded the drivers from the HP site was it this file :

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=18972&prodSeriesId=416419&prodNameId=412119&swEnvOID=228&swLang=8&mode=2&taskId=135&swItem=lj-24947-4

If you download that, it should run you through the installation.

Many Thanks

Leo

Hmmm ...no it wasn't. Do you think I have only downloaded the driver and not the installation files?

I will try downloading that one and see what happens.

[Leo-InstallingIT]

Hi

Yes it sounds like it. Personally I would just go with the driver files you have downloaded, but you may find it easier using the HP Software.

Many Thanks

Leo

[FireFleur]

You shouldn't need to print config page, or assign static IP or make reservations in your DHCP server, you should be able to run setup.exe

This is the classic mistake of simplistic thinking trying to masquerade as simplicity :)


The executable is called : lj2400seriesprnsyswin-en.exe



The network information given by myself Leo-InstallingIT is useful so you are aware of what is working and what is not, a bit of upfront knowledge pays dividends later on down the line, and improves the experience of owning the kit.

[Hedgie]

Thanks guys, your help has been welcomed :)

I'm sure to screw something else up along the way ;)

[Leo-InstallingIT]

No problem, if you come across any other snagging points just let us know :)

Many Thanks

Leo

[FireFleur]

Network printers are quite simple, the browser thing maybe on a specific port, have a read of your manual.

You can often telnet into a network printer, and from a shell you can do some quite interesting things with them.

I miss my network printer, it was great, but it broke down :). You can run a print server on a machine, and of course most Linux Systems come with CUPs but a dedicated network printer is a joy.