HP direct jet box

[Aussie John]

Hi, I just picked up a used directjet EX plus. I wish to connect it to my HP 100 but I dont know how to set the box up.

I believe there is a way to access it via a browser but i dont know what the IP address of the box was configured to in its previous life.

Thanks

[Anonymous]

There should be a reset switch on the back of the box. Try holding that down for about 5 seconds, that should clear the memory of previous settings.

As far as your network goes. Do you have a router set up to dole out IP addresses? Or are you configuring everything manually? When you say HP 100, what do you mean? A designjet 100, deskjet 100, or Officejet 100?

[Aussie John]

hi Chad
1)HP100designjet
2)router automaticaly gives out the ip
3)there is no switch on the back, just a rocker type switch on the top (left-status(led) middle-test and right-activity(led)

&4) ps I'm on a Mac (see sig)

[Anonymous]

Hmmm.
Ok. The Designjet 100 is a system or host-based printer, that is, it only understands one print language: PCL3GUI. So, if you send a print job through the supplied printer drivers, from a standard application, you won't notice much difference. If you are simply trying to run a PLOT command from plotmaker you might run into some trouble. This is mainly due to the fact that plotmaker outputs it's plot files in GL/2 language (GL/2 is a standard language that most printers are able to understand). The DesignJet 100 does not understand GL/2, so if you try to send a plot job to it with the PLOT command, you will either get an error, no output, or some wierd symbolic script printed out. About the only workaround would be to set it up as a printer and use the print command from plotmaker. As I've stated, I've only actually tried this on a DesignJet 500.

You might try eliminating the Jet Direct box from the equation and see if you can use the PLOT command with a USB cable.
Let me know what you get. . .

[Aussie John]

Chad
I'm happily printing to the plotter via usb.
I just wish to make the printer available over the network, (and not via print sharing) hence trying to use the directjet EXplus.

I dont know how to configure the box- can I access it via the browser and if I can do you know what the default ip address of the box is?

Thanks

[Anonymous]

I beleive that the default IP is 192.0.0.192. You should be able to type that IP right into your browser and access the Jet Direct features from there. If you get a 'unable to connect' message, try hooking the JD box up to a deskjet (or any desktop printer), and hit the test button. Your jetdirect box should send out a test page that standard printers (just not your DesignJet 100 )can understand, and the test page should have all of the current settings on it. Once you get the settings, and properly configure the JD box, you should be able to hook it back up to your DesignJet 100 and print just fine.

I still want to know why HP is comming out with PCL3GUI only printers, and not having that as an output option on the Jet Direct cards. . .

EDIT: BTW I think that you can reset the box to the default settings by holding down the test button, and turning the power on/plugging it in.

[Dave Jochum]

My experience with printing out the HPGL/2 Configuration Page was that it returned a bogus IP address. The easiest thing to do was to set a new address. To reset the JetDirect box, do the following:
1. Disconnect serial cable to CPU.
2. Disconnect power cord to JD box.
3. Plug power cord back into box while holding down "Test" button.
4. Let go after "Status" light flashes.
Then you need to set new TCP/IP. I used Laserwriter Utility 3.4 (only works in Classic). There might be something newer/better that works in OS X by now--this was a year or more ago.
1. Select "Jetdirect EX". "HP Peripheral" should show in the list of available printers.
2. Highlight and choose "Info" button.
3. Choose new IP address (Ping first to be sure address is not already in use)