Server 2008 R2: Lack of printer driver support is appalling

[Guest wsxedcrfv]

I'm struggling with an HP Officejet Pro K8600 where HP does not explicitly offer Server 2008 R2 drivers. This is a wide-format (11 x 17) printer, that under Server 2008 reduces all print jobs as if they're being printed on 8.5 x 11 paper. I spent an hour on a web-chat support session with HP a few hours ago, which did not solve the problem, and for which the reason was that my OS was not really supported.

If there is any tabloid-sized (11 x 17) inkjet printer made by anyone that has Server 2008 R2 drivers, then I'd really like to know about it.

Why is Server 2008 R2 so different than Vista or Seven in this regard?

[CoffeeFiend]

I don't see why Win7 x64 drivers wouldn't work.

Have you tried these? It could be a setting you picked that does this too.

I much prefer the Epson Stylus Pro line but they're not exactly cheap (admittedly, it's a photo printer, not an "office" one), so I just use a good lab instead.

[cluberti]

There are no drivers specifically for Server 2008 R2, because it's Windows 7 underneath. A Win7 driver will work fine on Server 2008 R2 (besides, usually the server is the server, and not the client ). Coffee's link is the link to the Win7 basic driver set for that printer though (and I don't remember who asked before, but drivers for this specific printer were linked here on MSFN somewhere recently from the same type of question).

As to shrinking, the print job itself is usually formatted by the app doing the printing, not the driver. However, the driver *is* responsible for telling the app the paper size, so if the printer is reporting the wrong size, that would be a driver issue.

[Guest wsxedcrfv]

I probably have the Win7 drivers installed on this machine. If I remember correctly, the install wizard refused to run because the OS wasn't win7, so I had to unpack the archive file and do a manual install. I'll try that process again to verify that's what happened. It doesn't matter which app I try to print from (IE8, Excel, Acrobat reader). I set all the paper properties to 11 x 17, and the print-preview looks correct, but in the end I end up with a printout where the content was compressed into a corner of the 11 x 17 page, as if the printer was trying to print to a 8.5 x 11 page.

I have XP installed in VMware on this machine, and I installed the XP drivers for the printer from HP, and it can print 11 x 17 documents full page no problem. Originally the printer was connected to the server 2008 machine directly via USB, and then later via ethernet through our network switch. That didn't make any difference. I've read on HP support forums where people that bought this printer and had XP and upgraded to Vista (or maybe it was 7) had the same problem with printing to 11 x 17 paper. I don't think I ever saw if or how those were resolved. There was some mention of the problem fixing itself through a download from microsoft via windowsupdates, but no details as to how they made that happen.

And yes, I have asked about this here before. What prompted me to do it again was because I was at a local computer store and saw a Canon Pixma 9000 MK2 printer (13 x 19 format!) for sale for $400. I didn't buy it - instead I went online to see what drivers Canon had for it. And naturally, nothing for Server 2008. Hence the reason for starting this thread.

And yes, I know this is a technically a server OS, but to give one more piece of information - this is really Multipoint Server 2010, which is some sort of window-dressing on top of Server 2008 R2. So this is a client machine.

[Guest wsxedcrfv]

Cluberti said:

> There are no drivers specifically for Server 2008 R2, because it's Windows 7 underneath.

Confusing. According to this thread:

Server 2008 is more similar to Vista than it is to Win-7:

"Server 2008 and Vista SP1 are the exact same code tree"

Or - Is Server 2008 similar to Vista, but Server 2008 *R2* is similar to Seven. ?

What exactly does the "R2" denote?

[CoffeeFiend]

Is Server 2008 similar to Vista, but Server 2008 *R2* is similar to Seven. ?

Yes.

[jaclaz]

(besides, usually the server is the server, and not the client )

@wsxedcrfv

Usually printers that have BOTH A4 and A3 (corresponding your 8.5 x 11 and 11 x 17) default to the smaller size.

There should be a setting to set the A3 as default, if this is the problem, if this feature is not available you may try using setprinter.exe:

http://www.windowsitpro.com/article/tips/jsi-tip-9675-setprinter-exe-is-a-command-line-tool-to-set-configurations-or-states-of-local-or-remote-printers-.aspx

http://www.ureader.com/msg/16771767.aspx

jaclaz

[Guest wsxedcrfv]

... besides, usually the server is the server, and not the client

Remember, this is really multipoint server 2010 - a server OS used like a multi-station client PC.

I'll look into the A3/A4/setprinter stuff.

[sandymac]

I have a HP7500 e910 printer scanner and fax.

The 64-bit drivers for server 2008 R2 do not exist according to HP.

If I try to use the 64-bit Win 7 drivers I get a message to say its not compatible and I should upgrade (to what?).

I notice that HP-DQEX5.exe is a 32-bit program and issues the message.

What A3 printer can I use?

HP 7500 for 2008.pdf

[nitroshift]

I have a HP7500 e910 printer scanner and fax.

The 64-bit drivers for server 2008 R2 do not exist according to HP.

If I try to use the 64-bit Win 7 drivers I get a message to say its not compatible and I should upgrade (to what?).

I notice that HP-DQEX5.exe is a 32-bit program and issues the message.

What A3 printer can I use?

Try extracting the files manually from the package and do a manual install (via Device Manager).

nitroshift

[cluberti]

There is a perfectly good x64 Windows 7 software / driver package for this model from HP - both the basic driver and the full suite, although obviously a print server will like the basic driver MUCH better:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareIndex.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodNameId=4083648&prodTypeId=18972&prodSeriesId=4083647&swLang=8&taskId=135&swEnvOID=4063