HP LaserJet 4L Explorer README.TXT file. This file has descriptions of the HP Explorer software programs and instructions for installing the HP Explorer software. CONTENTS: A. HP EXPLORER SOFTWARE SETUP PROGRAM STATUS MONITOR REMOTE CONTROL PANEL TRAVEL GUIDE B. PREPARING FOR YOUR TRIP SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS INSTALLING HP EXPLORER SOFTWARE IF YOUR MOUSE IS NOT WORKING C. USE YOUR HP EXPLORER SOFTWARE ANYTIME D. STARTING TRAVEL GUIDE FROM WINDOWS 3.1 E. THE REMOTE CONTROL PANEL REQUIRES DIRECT CONNECT BITRONICS F. RUNNING THE STATUS MONITOR AND THE REMOTE CONTROL PANEL G. NEW HP LASERJET 4L PRINTER DRIVERS H. POSSIBLE SOFTWARE CONFLICTS I. STATUS MONITOR AND LAN SOFTWARE ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A. HP EXPLORER SOFTWARE The HP Explorer software consists of four sections: Setup Program, Status Monitor, Remote Control Panel, and Travel Guide. The Setup program provides step-by-step instructions to help you install the HP Explorer software on your hard disk drive. The Setup program will also aid you in correctly configuring your PC to work with your Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 4L printer. If you configuration changes, or if you want to delete a portion of the HP Explorer software from your hard disk, just run the Setup program again by typing SETUP4L from the HP Explorer directory (for example, C:\EXPLORER.4L>) and follow the instructions. The Status Monitor program receives messages from the HP LaserJet 4L printer and displays them on your PC screen. The Status Monitor is a terminate and stay resident (TSR) program that will alert you to any changes in the status of your HP LaserJet 4L printer from within any non-Windows program. These include paper cassette empty, paper jam, and door open messages. In addition, the Status Monitor will provide "hot key" access to the other parts (Remote Control Panel and Travel Guide) of HP Explorer. "Hot keys" are combinations of keys on your computer's keyboard that are set up to give you instant access to a software program. The Remote Control Panel lets you control your HP LaserJet 4L printer from your PC. Now you can change your printer settings without having to leave your PC. If your PC is directly connected to your HP LaserJet 4L printer, you can view and update the settings of your printer from your PC screen. The Travel Guide will help you explore the new world of your HP LaserJet 4L printer. The Travel Guide is an informative pathfinder to the features of the LaserJet 4L printer. The main areas you will find include Printer Overview, Printer Control, Type, Printing Tasks, and Solving Problems. This software program is designed to help explain the features of your HP LaserJet 4L printer, give you step-by-step instructions for completing common tasks, and give you quick answers to frequently asked questions regarding the HP LaserJet 4L printer. Even if you've used an HP LaserJet printer before, you'll enjoy the Travel Guide. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- B. PREPARING FOR YOUR TRIP... SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS: An HP LaserJet 4L printer, a DOS (version 3.31 or later) system computer with an Intel 80286 or greater microprocessor, high density floppy disk drive, 640 Kb RAM (450 Kb available), and 2.6 MB of hard disk space available to install the complete HP Explorer software. Both text and graphics modes are supported by the HP Explorer software, however to display in graphics mode a VGA or better graphics adapter is required. The Travel Guide only works with a VGA or better monitor. INSTALLING HP EXPLORER SOFTWARE: 1. Be sure your HP LaserJet 4L printer and cables are set up and connected to your PC according to the instructions in the HP LaserJet 4L "User's Guide." 2. Turn on your computer. 3. Make sure the printer is plugged in and on line. 4. Insert the HP Explorer disk into your floppy disk drive (usually A: or B:). 5. You must completely exit Windows before installing the HP Explorer software. At the DOS prompt, change to the drive where the HP Explorer disk is located (for example, A:) 6. At the DOS prompt (for example, A:), type SETUP4L and press the [ENTER] key. Follow the setup instructions on the screen. IF YOUR MOUSE IS NOT WORKING: If your mouse is not working, your mouse driver program may be missing, or not running. Exit the Travel Guide and return to the DOS prompt, then type MOUSE and press ENTER This should load the mouse driver and you should be able to run the Travel Guide normally. If you got a "bad command or file name" message then your mouse driver is missing from the path or is not on your computer. Consult your mouse installation documentation to be sure that your mouse is installed properly. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- C. USE YOUR HP EXPLORER SOFTWARE ANYTIME Once you have installed the HP Explorer software, you can access the different sections by using the Status Monitor "hot key" or typing a command from the DOS prompt of the HP Explorer directory. To access the Setup program to make modifications, type SETUP4L at the directory prompt (for example, C:\EXPLORER.4L\> SETUP4L) and press the [ENTER] key. To access the Status Monitor program, use the "hot key" (the default is [CTRL] [ALT] [E] ) or type STAT4L at the directory prompt (for example, C:\EXPLORER.4L\> STAT4L) and press the [ENTER] key. To access the Remote Control Panel, type RCP4L at the directory prompt (for example, C:\EXPLORER.4L\> RCP4L) and press the [ENTER] key. To access the LaserJet Travel Guide, type GUIDE4L at the directory prompt (for example, C:\EXPLORER.4L\> GUIDE4L) and press the [ENTER] key. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- D. STARTING TRAVEL GUIDE FROM WINDOWS 3.1 You can run the Travel Guide through Windows 3.1 if you install an additional program and are using the latest HP LaserJet 4 printer driver for Windows 3.1. Follow these steps to install the Windows 3.1 Travel Guide program: 1. Install the Travel Guide from the HP Explorer diskette. 2. Insert the DOS Drivers diskette into your floppy disk drive. 3. From the DOS prompt, change directory to where Travel Guide is installed and type [Floppy Drive]:WINGUIDE [Enter]. For example: C:\EXPLORER.4L\GUIDE>B:WINGUIDE [Enter] This will place the program WINBROW.EXE into the Travel Guide sub-directory. NOTE: Windows 3.0 is not supported. Installing The Travel Guide Icon 1. Select the Windows Group in which you would like to include the Travel Guide. 2. From the Windows Program Manager menu: a. Select 'File'. b. Select 'New'. c. Select 'Program Item' d. Select 'OK'. 3. The Program Item Properties dialog box will appear. a. Next to Description, type in TRAVEL GUIDE. b. Next to Command Line, type in WINBROW GUIDE4L. c. Next to Working Directory, type in the drive and directory where you installed the Travel Guide plus the sub-directory name GUIDE (For example, C:\EXPLORER.4L\GUIDE). All other items in the dialog box can remain the same (Short key, none, and an un-checked box next to Run minimized). d. Select 'OK'. 4. The HP Explorer icon will appear. To run the Travel Guide select the HP Explorer icon. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- E. THE REMOTE CONTROL PANEL REQUIRES DIRECT CONNECT BITRONICS In order for the Remote Control Panel to work properly, it must be able to receive status information back from an HP LaserJet 4L printer. Most devices connected between the HP LaserJet 4L printer and the PC will prevent the printer from sending data back to the PC. The Remote Control Panel will not work with most hardware print spoolers (and some software print spoolers), and some switch boxes. The Remote Control Panel also will not work with a network printer since the printer cannot send information back to the PC over the network. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- F. RUNNING THE STATUS MONITOR AND THE REMOTE CONTROL PANEL Both the Status Monitor and the Remote Control Panel receive status information back from the printer. Therefore, if the Status Monitor is loaded into memory, it will be "locked" while the Remote Control Panel is running. This means that you can still access the Status Monitor through "hot keys" but the Status Monitor will not be able to notify you of any changes in the status of your HP LaserJet 4L printer. Once you have exited the Remote Control Panel, the Status Monitor should work as usual. In some circumstances, the Remote Control Panel may not be able to "unlock" the Status Monitor and / or reset the printer so that it can send messages. If the Status Monitor is not working properly after exiting the Remote Control Panel, follow these steps: 1. Check the printer's status lights and make sure the printer is in a ready state. For more information on the printer's status lights, refer to the HP Explorer Travel Guide or the HP LaserJet 4L Printer User's Manual. 2. At the DOS prompt, type STAT4L and press the [ENTER] key. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- G. NEW HP LASERJET 4L PRINTER DRIVERS In order to take full advantage of your new HP LaserJet 4L printer features, you must update your printer drivers. Top application drivers are on a disk labeled "Printer Drivers". Just follow the instructions on the disk to load the drivers and you'll be up and running today. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- H. POSSIBLE SOFTWARE CONFLICTS The HP Explorer Status Monitor program is a TSR which monitors the printer status continuously while it is loaded. It watches for other programs which may be using the printer port at the same time, and avoids conflicts with programs which access the ports via BIOS services. Some programs access the port hardware directly for performance reasons and cannot be detected. These programs may conflict with the Status Monitor operation, and vice-versa. The user should be aware of this and, when possible, set up all software to use normal BIOS services. Software configuration may allow a setting such as "Print through the BIOS." (that's good) or "Print to hardware port." (that's bad). Many common DOS programs print in a way which prevents the Status Monitor from popping up to report printer messages during printing. In that case, the Status Monitor will "beep" its normal sound, but not pop up. This occurs in the DOS copy command (to LPT), Microsoft Word, and other programs which use the DOS copy command for printing. "PrintCache" by LaserTools is a high-speed print buffering program which writes directly to the LPT port hardware. While the current version of PrintCache is fully compatible with the HP Explorer Status Monitor, using older versions with the HP Explorer Status Monitor will cause conflicts and abnormal operation. Although PrintCache can be configured to use the BIOS (avoiding conflicts), performance will suffer. Please call LaserTools at (510) 420-8777 for an upgrade to their newest version. Make sure to specify that you are using the HP Explorer Status Monitor. Other programs may conflict with the Status Monitor in different ways. In particular, communications programs often monitor incomming data and "timeout" if the data stream is interrupted for any reason. If the Status Monitor pops-up during a data transfer, it may be aborted. To solve this or any other problem associated with popping up at the wrong time, you may include the name of the program which should not be interrupted in the EXPLORER.4L/STATUS/NOSWAP.TXT file. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- I. STATUS MONITOR AND LAN SOFTWARE The Status Monitor must be loaded after all LAN software in your autoexec.bat file. This will prevent problems for LANs which load some software in config.sys and other software in autoexec.bat. The Explorer setup4l program will automatically place the call to the Status Monitor last. ======================================================================