I wanted to change CNC laptop from DHCP to a fixed IP address. (It greatly simplifies using FileZilla to move files if the IP address is the same from day to day.) But I could not remember the Admin password, so I reset the router. Along the way I needed to connect my Windows laptop to the router. In all the cable octopus wrestling, I unplugged the cable that goes to the laser printer, and it just disappeared. If there is no Ethernet connection, DHCP cannot broadcast its request for a DHCP server, or at least no one can hear it, screaming in the darkness. So the printer defaults to a 156. IP address, which the router does not see and the printer is invisible. Once I resolved that problem, it seems to be going forward.
Windows Add Printer seems to work better than HP's install program. Having spent some time as a naive user test subject for the install program when I worked at HP, I am not even slightly surprised.
I will no longer purchase a consumer HP printer, because of the horrible drivers and installation.
ReplyDeleteAnd once installed, often something will go wrong, and not only will the drivers not install correctly (they will go through the installation process, burning MY time, but not work afterwards), the drive has to be scrubbed, the drivers uninstalled, the drive cleaned, then re-installed...three or four times in a row before it takes...
OTOH, an Epson or Brother printer manages to install with little drama, and stay installed...
Oh, and HP customer service: You're welcome for the laugh
Hi Clayton,
ReplyDeleteI see it is the same old, same old.
Consider this my first of the new year "get a mac, don't look back" missives.
I vaguely remember in my pre-Mac days (286 PC's etc) something about drivers and printer install programs, but ever since, I have gotten used to the "toaster model" (put bread in, take toast out).
Imagine plugging in a printer and it just works; no hoops, nothing to find. You just press the print button from whatever app you want to print (from the app you are printing from) and the printing process starts.
Think of much time and energy you have invested into anachronistic tech that makes you work for it.
Hope you are doing well.
You can simply do a reservation in your dhcp server. That will save you some work if you change DNS setups, for example.
ReplyDeleteWhy not just use the machine name instead of IP?
ReplyDeletehttps://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/success.png
ReplyDeleteDLINK's DIR-842 seems to have no way to reserve particular device IP addresses in DHCP, nor are named devices obvious. This used to be easier.
ReplyDeleteBFR: This turned out to be a cable not plugged in and a router of excessive complexity, but I discovered this after removing the printer from the Windows list of printers. And yes, print works from every Windows app I have seen. And always write down the router's admin password on a label on the router. If you do not use it regularly, you are guaranteed to forget it.