From: schuster@panix.com (Michael Schuster)
Newsgroups: comp.periphs.printers
Subject: Re: IIP memory problem   :-(
Date: 17 Aug 92 21:47:59 GMT
Organization: PANIX Public Access Unix & Internet, NYC

In article <4847@blue.cis.pitt.edu.UUCP> prpst2@unix.cis.pitt.edu (Paul R Perdeus) writes:
>Hello all!
>
>	I am having a perplexing problem with my HP IIP.  About a
>month or 3 ago (I know, nothing like waiting forever!) I installed a 4
>MB board into my printer.  I bought it from a generic mail order
>place(the name of which escapes me) and it is NOT a HP board.  But the
>ad said 'for all ..., IIP, .. printers'.
  [wfw experience deleted]
>So I do a self test (something i did NOT do when I got the board - flame
>away, i deserve it!!!) and it says that there is only 512k memory (Base
>memory in IIP's)!  I'm looking through the manual and it says nothing
>about having to do anything to get the printer to recognize extra
>memory once you install it.

You don't have to do anything special; if the board works, it works.
You really should have done the self test immediately upon installing
the memory card, like they usually tell you to.

>I did see, however, that it says that the
>IIP can only handle 2 2MB boards to achieve maximum capacity of 4.5 MB
>total memory.  It doesn't say anything about 4 MB boards for the IIP
>(only for other models).  the board installed with no problem (which I
>hope means that it CAN be used in the IIP) so basically I'm confused.
>Did I get ripped off, or am I doing something wrong?  I shudder to
>think about the hell I must go thru to return this thing, especially
>since it's been soooo long.  PLEASE HELP!!

The printer can address 4.5 MB total. The way HP boards are manufactured,
you add memory in 1 or 2 MB increments, so to get 4.5MB you would
use two HP boards. Third party boards sometimes cram 4 MB on one
card. There is nothing wrong with this, and that design parameter
should NOT be the reason the printer doesn't recognize the extra memory
in and of itself.

Before you panic, remove the memory card using the ejector levers at
the side. Then reinstall it, and press very VERY =VERY= hard.
Sometimes it's a tight fit, and the card doesn't seat properly the
first time (especially on a IIIP).

>	- The manual says that when the printer is ready, it has about
>398(?)k memory available.  I am assuming that the memory up to 512k is
>used for configuration and stuff when the printer is powered on.

Yep.

 If
>this is the case and my [limited] understanding of how a laser printer
>works (the whole document (or at least a page at a time) is downloaded
>into printer memory and then printed out all at once) is also true, I
>still don't understand how I could be out of memory if the document I
>was printing was barely above 100k.

Depends on the printer driver. Soft fonts and graphics take up additional
memory which could give you an ERROR-20 if they're mixed on the same page.

>Is there a diffence between the
>file size of the document and the size when you print it?

Abso-DAMN-lutely.

>	- When I set up my printer in windows, I changed the memory to
>4.5 MB (which is what it has).  What does this actually do?  Does this
>initialize the printer, or just let windows and it's apps know what kind
>of a printer it is dealing with?

If might let the printer drive decide how many "permanent" soft fonts
the printer can hold before it runs out of memory. That way repeatedly used
fonts don't have to be downloaded every page. But if you tell the driver
the printer has memory which really isn't there .... BOOM!!


-- 
_______________________________Mike Schuster________________________________
NY Pub. Access UNIX/Internet: schuster@panix.com | 70346.1745@CompuServe.COM
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Newsgroups: comp.periphs.printers