Post by papaof2 on Apr 25, 2022 20:54:36 GMT -6
My wireless duplex laser printer, a Brother HL2270DW, has become ill: after about 10 years, it no longer has a presence on the network :-( The USB port still works so I can still print to it - just not conveniently. I guess the printer is age 70 in "dog years" and "ancient" in "computer years" ;-)
The replacement printer is available - HL2370DW - for about what I paid for the 2270 new, but they only offer drivers for Windows 7 and up :-( I guess I'm a bit old-fashioned, but I prefer the 4x3 screen format for writing instead of the 16x9 format - more lines of text on the page in Word.
I can get a Dell E6420 or E6430 for about $150 delivered and move on to Win 7+ (have the media for Win 7 and 10) or set up an ancient NetGear network "print server" - no memory, just a slow network to printer interface - do-able in an hour's time or use a thumb drive and sneakernet to copy things from my "writing" computer to the better half's Win10 machine and print from there or use one of the ancient no-hard-drive laptops in the basement to run Linux from a thumb drive and make it into a "network print server". Yes, I write like I think, almost always having more than one way to do something ;-)
No big deal at the moment, just a level of annoyance because I'd asked the better half to read what's maybe the first third of "Going Dry" and the printer wasn't there when I tried to print that for her and the printer didn't respond to the usual power-off/power-on reset. A few minutes to locate an old USB cable, pull the printer out of its cabinet and connect the cable and then wait while the laptop s-l-o-w-l-y sent the 20-odd double-sided pages to the printer - no delay when you're using a network printer as the laptop just spools the job, connects wirelessly and the printer icon leaves the tray when the print job finishes.
Tomorrow I'll run an ethernet cable to the printer and check whether the wired network hardware still functions - there is a network switch within 10-12 feet of the printer and that's the simplest solution - if it works...
Getting down to floor level to check the printer, connect the USB cable and wait while the printer cranked out those 20-odd double-sided pages is beyond what my body can currently do - I'm now on the second Rx painkiller for the day - so any further testing will be tomorrow.
If the ethernet connection works, I have a place for the printer in the basement - complete with power and ethernet cables already run. Moving the 2270 down there will give me a place to put a new 2370 on this level.
The replacement printer is available - HL2370DW - for about what I paid for the 2270 new, but they only offer drivers for Windows 7 and up :-( I guess I'm a bit old-fashioned, but I prefer the 4x3 screen format for writing instead of the 16x9 format - more lines of text on the page in Word.
I can get a Dell E6420 or E6430 for about $150 delivered and move on to Win 7+ (have the media for Win 7 and 10) or set up an ancient NetGear network "print server" - no memory, just a slow network to printer interface - do-able in an hour's time or use a thumb drive and sneakernet to copy things from my "writing" computer to the better half's Win10 machine and print from there or use one of the ancient no-hard-drive laptops in the basement to run Linux from a thumb drive and make it into a "network print server". Yes, I write like I think, almost always having more than one way to do something ;-)
No big deal at the moment, just a level of annoyance because I'd asked the better half to read what's maybe the first third of "Going Dry" and the printer wasn't there when I tried to print that for her and the printer didn't respond to the usual power-off/power-on reset. A few minutes to locate an old USB cable, pull the printer out of its cabinet and connect the cable and then wait while the laptop s-l-o-w-l-y sent the 20-odd double-sided pages to the printer - no delay when you're using a network printer as the laptop just spools the job, connects wirelessly and the printer icon leaves the tray when the print job finishes.
Tomorrow I'll run an ethernet cable to the printer and check whether the wired network hardware still functions - there is a network switch within 10-12 feet of the printer and that's the simplest solution - if it works...
Getting down to floor level to check the printer, connect the USB cable and wait while the printer cranked out those 20-odd double-sided pages is beyond what my body can currently do - I'm now on the second Rx painkiller for the day - so any further testing will be tomorrow.
If the ethernet connection works, I have a place for the printer in the basement - complete with power and ethernet cables already run. Moving the 2270 down there will give me a place to put a new 2370 on this level.