I didn't accomplish much today other than move a lot of furniture just so I could move it all back. As I mentioned earlier, my Linksys wireless print server isn't compatible with Vista 64-bit. Which, as it turns out, is sort of a theme. I rearranged both the office and the living room so I could have the printer directly connected to the new HP Vista box, but HP has decided that it isn't updating the drivers for the Laserjet 1000. Given that I can get 64-bit drivers for the Deskjet 500, first released over 20 years ago, this seems somewhat odd. The speculation is that the LJ1000 is too efficient and isn't racking up enough toner cartridge sales to fit HP's printer business model. Given that I've had mine since late 2001 and have purchased exactly one toner cartridge, they may have a point, but it is still pathetic that HP assumes I am so stupid that I'll run right out and buy a different HP printer that costs more per page. Nice work, HP. Way to alienate a customer who has had nothing other than HP printers for over two decades. I now own my last HP printer.
Otherwise, the system is running smoothly. I have the Drobo set up as a share on the network, the laptop seems to connect to it easily, and everything Just Works. Other than the whole not-being-able-to-print thing; maybe that's just the IT gods hinting that it's time to consider going paperless. It's more habit than anything at this point, especially when I'm finishing up a paper for school; final proofing is always on hardcopy. By making the process difficult, maybe I can kick the dead-flat-tree addiction. We'll see.
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Hey Ric
Not sure if you have tried this, but you might be able to install the xp drivers by going into 'server properties' in your printers/faxes area, and adding the drivers manually through the 'add driver' wizard (not going through the install on the disc).
I would also suggest trying a LaserJet 4m driver to see if that will get you up and running. It's a super basic driver, but gets the job done for a wide range of printers in a pinch.
Hope that helps?
The XP driver trick only seems to work with 32-bit Vista. Same goes for installing other PCL5 printer drivers, the universal driver etc. I keep poking at it hoping to find the one trick that works. I hadn't thought of the 4m driver; I'll give that a try when I have a chance.
The bottom line is that HP updated the driver for the Deskjet 500, a 20+ year old printer, but not the Laserjet 1000, which was still being sold four or five years ago.
Anyway, thanks for the tip.
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