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PCL XL error page w/ each print job when using V4 driver on shared network printer(s)

Troy 1 Reputation point
2021-09-01T15:29:29.643+00:00

Long story short... we have a local print server through which all of our networked printers are installed and shared to users' workstations.
We're attempting to move away from using V3 drivers (which require local admin privilege's to install) and transition to V4 drivers so that our end users can freely install and use printers without assistance from IT.
After swapping all of the drivers over, most of the devices have been successfully printing w/o issue, but some have been printing an additional PCL XL error page after the print jobs completion.

The error page is as described below:
PCL XL error
Subsystem: KERNEL
Error: IllegalTag
Operator: 0x40
Position: 78531 (this last number varies depending on the print job)

For context:

  • The printers are all running static IPs.
  • All printers have been added to the print server using dedicated TCP/IP ports.
  • Printers are all shared with users via a network share
  • Each printer has the latest firmware installed
  • Each printer successfully prints w/o issue running the V3 HP Universal PCL6 driver or each printer's model specific V3 driver.
  • Error page prints regardless of the printer being BW or Color
  • I've primarily observed this issue on HP (Hewlett Packard) models M452dn/nw, M506, M507, and M553
  • Print server is running Win Server 2019 Build 1809, client computers are using Win 10 20H2 and 21H1

A couple of interesting items to note:
When printing directly from the print server using a test page or an actual document, no error page is printed.
When printing from a users workstation using a test page or document, the error page does print

As far as troubleshooting:

  • I found a few old forum posts (back from the PCL5 to PCL6 transition) referencing to swap Truetype font to "Download as Softfont" and setting True Type as Bitmap to "enabled". These changes had no noticeable impact.
  • Tried manually updating firmware's
  • Reached out to HP concerning the issue, the rep pointed me to Microsoft claiming HP doesn't actually develop its own V4 drivers.
  • Tried swapping in/out multiple drivers.
  • Mirrored configurations between identical printer models, one using V3 one using V4. The V4 will always error.
  • Uninstalled and reinstalled the printers multiple times with different drivers.
  • Shared/unshared the printers multiple times on the print server itself after making changes.
  • Verified the shared printer is installing locally (on workstations) with the correct driver

Has anyone else experienced similar issues? OR Know of any workaround/solution to allow these printers to be used with a V4 driver without printing the extra error page?

Windows Server Printing
Windows Server Printing
Windows Server: A family of Microsoft server operating systems that support enterprise-level management, data storage, applications, and communications.Printing: Printer centralized deployment and management, scan and fax resources management, and document services
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  1. Limitless Technology 39,516 Reputation points
    2021-09-02T10:36:11.76+00:00

    Hello,

    Thank you for your question.

    Additionally troubleshooting steps, As the drivers are nothing but .inf files which are saved in folder c:\windows\system32\inf\

    I would suggest below steps as It will be installed fresh and new copy of your V4 drivers.

    1. Please try to create new VM or Fresh workstation with new User profile and print from Print Server deployed printer.
    2. Please try to created new VM with 2019 as It should not take much time and add Print Server and Install it V4 Drivers role as It should not take much time.

    If the reply was helpful, please don’t forget to upvote or accept as answer :)

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  2. James Iversen 36 Reputation points
    2021-09-09T13:38:20.537+00:00

    I'm having the EXACT same issue. These are fresh installs of 2019 Datacenter OS 1809 and drivers from HP for listed devices. We also experience issues with V4 drivers from Xerox and manufacturers.

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  3. Troy 1 Reputation point
    2021-09-09T14:25:38.817+00:00

    Just a bit of an update.

    Creating a fresh workstation had no effect.
    Still working on creating a new VM print server. It's been a busy week in the office and I haven't had an opportunity to get this done yet.

    As for the error page, a coworker of mine found a "temporary" work-around for anyone experiencing this issue.

    If you're looking to print 8.5x11 pages with little-to-no custom settings. Try downloading and using the "Microsoft IPP Class Driver". (It may already be installed on your print server, or you may need to manually search for it by specifying a driver and using Windows Update)

    Please note, although this removes the PCL XL error page. You will lose all custom printer preference settings that aren't landscape/portrait orientation. (that is the only setting we retained on the devices we tested this driver on)

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  4. James Iversen 36 Reputation points
    2021-09-09T15:22:22.33+00:00

    Not a viable solution for us...

  5. Justin Boynton 1 Reputation point
    2021-12-23T17:16:42.847+00:00

    I realize this post is a few months old however we too have had the EXACT same experience. We have a couple hundred Enterprise PageWide printers doing this. Forests are being leveled as we speak due to the extra error page. Did you make any progress with HP on a viable solution?

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