Printing gap between consecutive pages

[Abu-Hafss]

Hi

I have my HP4100N directly connected using CAT5/6 crossover cable.

Everything is working fine except that I get annoying gap between two consecutive sheets.

Examples:

a) 1 Page, 10 copies ==> Normal

b) 10 Pages, 1 copy each ==> The printer would pause after printing each page as if there was only one page to print. Then it would start printing the next page as if a fresh command is given to print the next page.

I shall appreciate if someone would sort out this problem for me.

[davidzuts]

The difference is in the first instance the printer has processed the 1 page so it is in memory and is able to print copies one after the other. In the second instance the printer as to process 10 pages in memoy at the same time so it takes longer to process. A couple of things you can do which may or may not help. First look at your quality settings as if the documents are just text you can adjust the dpi or quality settings in half which will help speed the process. You could add memory to the printer which could also help and I assume you have the start printing immediately under advanced settings in the driver. It could also be an issue with the computer since when it starts printing immediately the driver is still processing the spooling of the job so there could be a delay in spooling each page which could slow the process. You could check the item to start printing after the complete job has spooled which will tie up the computer but will tell you if the issue is spooling or the printer since with the later method if there is no pausing after each page that will tell you that there is a spooling issue as your computer processes the job.

[Abu-Hafss]

Yes, I do have the setting "Start Printing immediately" active.

As for the DPI, I am sorry I am bit confused........... if other models like P1006 or P1102 can print continuously without changing the printing quality then why can't 4100N do?

Would you please elaborate "You could check the item to start printing after the complete job has spooled which will tie up the computer but will tell you if the issue is spooling or the printer since with the later method if there is no pausing after each page that will tell you that there is a spooling issue as your computer processes the job."

[davidzuts]

Even though all machines you quote have 8 mb memory there is a hugh difference in the processor. The 4050 came out in 1999 and the P1000 series came out in 2007. Memory is only one factor in how a printer performs when processing a print job. More important is the speed of the processor which interpets the data for printing. Think of it like computers. Computers that were built in 1999 were a lot slower then computers built in 2007. They could both have the same amount of memory and the same speed hard drives but the processors in the 2007 models where at least 10-15 times faster. What I mean in the last part is if you change the setting to start printing after the complete job has spooled you will then be able to tell if the bottleneck is the computer or printer. When you choose after the complete job has spooled which is not default the complete print job will spool to the print spooler of the driver and then will start printing which will insure the printer received the complete job as a steady stream of data without any breaks from the computer. When you use the default to start printing immediately the stream is sent as soon as the first data has spooled so if there is a delay in the spooling process it will slow down how the printer receives the data.

[Abu-Hafss]

Thanks a lot for your time for such a detailed explanation. I shall get back after checking.

In the meantime, would you please brief me "What is I/O Timeout (in seconds)"? What should be the ideal setting?

[Abu-Hafss]

No! It didn't helped.

As soon as printing command is issued, the "Data" LED would start blinking and the LCD displays "PROCESSING JOB"

After printing each page the printer would go to idle and then it would wakeup, warmup and then resume printing. During the whole process LED blinks continuously until the job ends.

[davidzuts]

I/O setting has no effect when using the network card. That only applies to the parallel interface. Not sure what your other post is telling me. You have a choice in the driver of start printing immediately or start printing after job has completely spooled. If you choose the second option and then hit the print button after making that selection and the printer starts processing immediately then the spooler of the computer is having no effect on the job and the issue as mentioned before is the processor of the printer. In other words it appears this printer is only capable of processing 1 page at a time which will be a memory and processor issue. As I said before you can try to change the dpi or print quality settings to the lowest setting where the output is satisfactory which should speed up the operation a little. If using 1200 dpi and you are able to reduce to 150 dpi it should speed up the operation. Plus you get more pages from your toner cartridge. Sorry but I gave you the wrong date for your printer. It was 2001 and not 1999 but still 6 years of processor difference.

[Abu-Hafss]

Perhaps you are right, the computer's spooler has no effect on the job ----- I see absolutely no difference in printing job with either of the spooler setting.