HP LaserJet 2200D– PCL6 / PCL XL Unsupported Protocol Error with HP Universal PCL6 Driver on Windows

[alaa2003]

Hello HP Support Community,

I am reporting a reproducible compatibility problem between the HP LaserJet 2200 / 2200D and the current HP Universal Printing PCL 6 driver, and I would like to ask HP to investigate it and, if possible, provide an official solution.

This is not a general Windows printing problem. The printer works correctly with PCL5, while the Universal PCL6 driver generates a PCL XL protocol error.

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1. Printer information

Printer: HP LaserJet 2200d
Operating system: Windows 10 x64
Printer connection: Network print server / RAW TCP 9100
Print server: Linksys WPS54GU2 Wireless-G PrintServer
Print server IP: 192.168.2.94
RAW port: TCP 9100

The printer itself is functioning correctly.

The print server's internal test page prints correctly, and direct RAW printing to TCP port 9100 also works.

The printer configuration page reports:

• Product: HP LaserJet 2200

• Firmware Datecode: 20010626

• Total Memory: 8 MB

• Available Memory: approximately 5.36 MB

• PCL: 19990105

• PCL XL: 19990105

• PostScript: 19990105

• Resolution: 1200 dpi

• Duplex: Long Edge

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2. The problem with HP Universal PCL6

I tested the following HP Universal Printing PCL6 versions:

• HP Universal Printing PCL 6 v8.2.0

• HP Universal Printing PCL 6 v6.1.0.20062

Both produce the same type of error on the LaserJet 2200:

PCL XL error

Subsystem: KERNEL
Error: UnsupportedProtocol
Operator: 0x0
Position: 0

The important point is that the error occurs immediately at the beginning of the PCL XL stream.

The printer therefore appears to reject the PCL XL protocol/version being advertised by the driver.

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3. Important finding – the generated PCL XL stream can be made to print

I captured the print job generated by HP Universal PCL6 v8.2 and inspected the actual binary PRN data.

The generated stream contains:

@PJL ENTER LANGUAGE=PCLXL
) HP-PCL XL;2;1;

In some print-quality presets the driver also generates:

) HP-PCL XL;3;0;

I made a binary-safe modification only to the protocol declaration, changing:

) HP-PCL XL;2;1;

to:

) HP-PCL XL;2;0;

The modified PRN printed successfully on the LaserJet 2200.

This is an important result because it indicates that the printer is capable of processing the generated PCL XL job, but rejects the protocol/version combination used by the current driver.

I did not rewrite or otherwise modify the PCL XL commands in the document.

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4. Additional investigation of HP UPD v8.2 quality presets

I also captured and compared PRN files generated by several v8.2 print-quality presets, including:

• Professional

• General Office

• Normal

• Quick View

• Enhanced

• Fine Lines

• Fast / Resolution 1200

• Image Ret 3600

• Eco mode

A particularly interesting result was that the General Office and Quick View jobs had essentially identical PCL XL binary bodies for the same document, while the protocol declaration differed.

For example, the relevant declarations were:

) HP-PCL XL;3;0;

versus:

) HP-PCL XL;2;0;

This further suggests that the protocol declaration itself is significant to this printer.

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5. Temporary workaround – per-queue PDL-PCL6 setting

I also tested a queue-specific modification so that the HP Universal PCL6 queue advertises/uses PCL XL protocol version 2.0 instead of 2.1.

With this modification applied, the generated PRN changed from:

) HP-PCL XL;2;1;

to:

) HP-PCL XL;2;0;

The printer then successfully processed the job.

This is preferable to modifying the DLL globally because the change can be applied to the individual printer queue.

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6. Temporary workaround – HP UPD v8.2 GPD preset modification

I also identified the relevant quality-preset definitions inside:

hpcu3606.gpd

The relevant groups are:

PQGroup_6 = General Office
PQGroup_7 = Professional

These groups contained:

=PCLXL_Protocol3Comment

I changed the protocol comment reference to:

=PCLXL_Protocol2Comment

while leaving the actual print-quality settings unchanged.

For example, the Professional preset still retains:

@PJL SET PRINTQUALITY=NORMAL

but generates:

) HP-PCL XL;2;0;

instead of:

) HP-PCL XL;3;0;

After applying both the queue-specific PDL setting and the GPD preset modification, I captured new PRN files and verified that the generated PCL XL headers were changed as expected.

The resulting jobs are accepted by the LaserJet 2200.

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7. Historical evidence – this problem appears to predate Windows 10

There is also a very relevant independent report from 2011 involving the same printer family.

Mark A. Ziesemer published:

"HP LaserJet PCL Errors and Driver Availability" – October 1, 2011

The author specifically used an:

HP LaserJet 2200D

with a network adapter, and reported the same:

PCL XL error
Subsystem: KERNEL
Error: UnsupportedProtocol
Operator: 0x0
Position: 0

He reported that HP Universal Print Driver 5.0.3.37, from December 2009, was the last version that worked with his LaserJet 2200D, while newer UPD versions produced the UnsupportedProtocol error.

The article provides the following information for the working PCL6 driver:

Version:    5.0.3.37
Date:       December 2009
File:       upd-503-pcl664.exe
Size:       16,289,336 bytes
SHA-1:      733cd725b962b99a25b9b7c94cdd5aa3a06a7116

The article also discusses the lack of an accessible HP archive for older UPD versions.

Source:

https://blogger.ziesemer.com/2011/10/hp-laserjet-pcl-errors-and-driver.html

This historical report is particularly relevant because it demonstrates that the LaserJet 2200D + Universal PCL6 + UnsupportedProtocol problem was already documented years before the current Windows 10 / UPD v8.2 environment.

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8. Current driver situation

The current HP Universal PCL6 driver I tested is:

HP Universal Printing PCL 6 v8.2.0

The current package generates PCL XL streams that the LaserJet 2200 rejects unless the protocol declaration is changed from the generated version to 2.0.

This is why I believe this should be investigated as a driver compatibility issue, rather than simply a printer installation problem.

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9. PCL5 works correctly

As an additional control test, I installed and tested HP Universal Printing PCL5.

The LaserJet 2200 prints successfully using:

HP Universal Printing PCL 5 v6.1.0.20062

I also tested the model-specific:

HP LaserJet 2200 Series PCL5

and it also prints correctly.

Therefore:

LaserJet 2200 + Windows 10 x64 + network connection
                         │
                         ├── PCL5 → works
                         │
                         └── Universal PCL6 → PCL XL UnsupportedProtocol

This makes a hardware, network, or basic Windows printing failure unlikely.

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10. What I am asking HP to do

I would appreciate it if HP could address the following:

A. Provide an official compatible PCL6 driver

Please provide an official HP download link for the last HP Universal PCL6 driver that was actually compatible with the LaserJet 2200/2200D.

In particular, the historical evidence identifies:

UPD PCL6 5.0.3.37

as a known working version for the LaserJet 2200D.

If HP has a later officially tested version that supports this printer, I would also appreciate a link to that version.

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B. Correct the current Universal PCL6 driver

Please investigate why the current Universal PCL6 driver generates:

) HP-PCL XL;2;1;

and, for some presets:

) HP-PCL XL;3;0;

for this printer.

If the LaserJet 2200 requires PCL XL 2.0 compatibility, the driver should either:

1. automatically select the compatible PCL XL protocol for the LaserJet 2200, or

2. expose a supported configuration option that allows the printer to use PCL XL 2.0.

Ideally, the printer's supported PCL/PCL XL capabilities should be correctly represented in the driver's printer description.

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C. Add proper LaserJet 2200 compatibility to the current UPD

If the current UPD is intended to continue supporting legacy LaserJet models, please add or restore the appropriate compatibility information for the LaserJet 2200 series.

In particular, the behavior of:

PCLXL_Protocol2Comment
PCLXL_Protocol3Comment

appears to be important for this printer.

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D. Document the workaround

Until a corrected driver is available, it would be useful if HP could document an official workaround for LaserJet 2200 users.

At the moment, the practical workaround I found is to force the generated PCL XL stream to use:

) HP-PCL XL;2;0;

instead of:

) HP-PCL XL;2;1;

and to prevent applicable UPD v8.2 quality presets from generating the PCL XL 3.0 declaration.

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11. Why I believe this deserves investigation

There are several independent pieces of evidence:

1. The LaserJet 2200 hardware prints correctly using PCL5.

2. RAW TCP/IP printing works correctly.

3. HP Universal PCL6 produces a reproducible:

   UnsupportedProtocol

4. The error occurs at:

   Operator: 0x0
   Position: 0

5. Changing only:

   HP-PCL XL;2;1;

   to:

   HP-PCL XL;2;0;

   makes the same binary print successfully.

6. Changing the relevant UPD configuration so that it generates PCL XL 2.0 also works.

7. A historical 2011 report from an actual LaserJet 2200D owner documents essentially the same UnsupportedProtocol failure with newer HP Universal PCL6 drivers.

8. HP Universal PCL5 continues to work correctly with the same printer and Windows installation.

Taken together, these results strongly suggest that there is a long-standing compatibility issue between certain versions of the HP Universal PCL6 driver and the LaserJet 2200 PCL XL implementation.

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12. Request to HP

Could an HP driver engineer please review this issue and confirm:

• Which PCL6/UPD version is officially compatible with the LaserJet 2200/2200D?

• Is UPD PCL6 5.0.3.37 still available from an official HP archive?

• Why does the current UPD generate PCL XL 2.1 / 3.0 declarations for this legacy printer?

• Can HP provide an updated printer definition/GPD that correctly selects PCL XL 2.0?

• Can the current Universal PCL6 driver be updated to officially support the LaserJet 2200 series?

An official download link to the last known compatible driver would already be extremely helpful.

Thank you.

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Additional references

Historical LaserJet 2200D PCL6 compatibility report – Mark A. Ziesemer (2011):
https://blogger.ziesemer.com/2011/10/hp-laserjet-pcl-errors-and-driver.html

HP Support Community – Printer Setup, Software & Drivers:
https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Printer-Setup-Software-Drivers/bd-p/Software

HP LaserJet 2200 Series official driver/support page:
https://support.hp.com/ca-en/drivers/hp-laserjet-2200-printer-series/28861