HP LaserJet FutureSmart Single Function and Multifunction (MFP) Printers - LaserJet USB Walk Up Printing Overview

Feature Description

Walk up USB printing is a new feature on the latest HP LaserJet printers and MFPs. This allows customers to print supported file formats directly from a supported USB storage device and does not require the printer to be connected to a PC. The supported file formats for Walk Up USB Printing are PDF, PRN and PS. These are the only supported file formats that can be printed.

The USB port located on the exterior part of the printer supports walk up printing and does not support third party solutions.

When a user installs a USB storage device into a printer that is turned on and operating normally (no error messages) the control panel will display Reading USB Accessory and then display the stored job menu for USB Storage1 where the user can see a list of the folders and printable files stored on the USB storage device. From this list, the user can select the files and number of copies to be printed. After queuing a file, the user can continue to select other files to print by pressing the OK button. The printable files on the USB storage device can also be viewed by pressing the Folder button on the control panel or press the Menu button and scroll to Retrieve Jobs.

Supported USB Storage Devices and Protocols

The USB Walk Up Printing feature only supports:

• USB 2.0
• NAND Flash Memory devices
• File formats FAT, FAT 16 or FAT 32
• Size 128 MG to 2 GB

USB storage devices are dynamic and their internal components change frequently. Two USB storage devices that appear to be the exact same may have different internal components allowing one device to work with the USB Walk Up Printing feature while the other device does not work. The quality of the internal components and the 2.0 certification will be important factors in how the device functions with the printer. Please contact the USB manufacturer for support or questions about the device specifications and certifications.

The Walk Up Printing feature supports multi-partition devices. However, only one partition will be accessible to the user for printing files. The partition that is accessible will be the first supported partition type on the device that the printer detects. For example, devices with the popular U3 partitioning and software are not fully supported but the printer will try to detect a supported partition type and allow the user to access files in that partition.

For each USB version different modes can be supported. The Walk Up Printing feature is designed to work with devices that support Bulk-Only Transport (BBB or BOT) and Control-Bulk-Interrupt (CBI).

Supported File Formats

The Walk Up USB supports three file types, PDF, PRN and PS. These files cannot be encrypted or password protected. If they are encrypted or password protected the file cannot be printed. The printer cannot read encrypted files and the user will not be able to enter a password to access the file.

PDF (Portable Document Format) up to version 1.4 is supported on the walk up USB. PDF is a print ready file format that was created by Adobe. The format is typically created with Adobe software.

PRN is a print to file format that is created using an HP print driver. The PRN is a spooled print file that contains all the information typically sent to the printer when printing through the driver. Instead of sending this information to the printer it is saved in a file and can be printed later without a PC or a driver.

Creating a PRN:

• Insert thumb drive into PC
• From the document application select File, and Print.
• Select an HP print driver (example the P3010 Series PCL or P3010 Series PS driver).
• Check the Print to file box on the print window .
• Click on the OK button.
• The file directory window pops up.
• Name the file.
• Select the thumb drive in the directory to save the Print to file to the thumb drive.
• The document name will look like [file name].prn and be readable by the walk-up USB.

This will be the most efficient way to print unsupported file types, such a word (.doc), excel (.xls) or PowerPoint (.ppt) formats.

PostScript files can also be printed with the walk up USB. These files will have the extension .ps. PostScript is a page description language that was created by Adobe that describes how the page(s) should be printed.

If a customer has another file format other than the PDF, PRN or PS that needs to be printed they will need to change the file format using software or creating a .prn file using an HP print driver.

NOTE:

Changing the file extension does not change the file format and the file will not print correctly using walk up USB.

Unsupported Devices and Protocols

The USB Walk Up Printing does NOT support:

• CD-ROM Drives
• Hard Disks Drives
• Floppy Drives
• USB 1.0 (low speed)
• USB 1.1 (low & full speed)
• On-the-go
• Devices larger then 2GB

  NOTE:

  Device larger that 2 GB may cause an error that requires the user to power cycle the printer before it can operate normally.

NOTE:

This is not an inclusive list of what is not supported. This list includes the most common devices and protocols. If there are questions, please refer to the supported devices and protocols section.

If an unsupported USB drive is used the following error messages may appear:

USB Accessory is not functional or Unsupported USB accessory detected

If one of these messages does appear, then try a different USB drive and verify the drive is 2.0 certified. To verify the 2.0 certification and the file formats of a particular USB storage device, plug the USB device into a PC. Go to the Windows Explorer and right click on the Removable Disk (USB Drive) and select Properties. See Figure 1 below.

Figure : Removable Disk - Properties

The General tab in the Properties window will identify the certification and the file format. See Figure 2 below.

Figure : Certification and file format details

Security Concerns

There is no increased security risk with the Walk Up USB functionality versus standard printing over the network or USB connection or installing a hard drive.

• The Walk Up USB printing only allows documents in PDF, PRN, or PS file formats to be read, viewed from the control panel, and printed from the USB mass storage device.
• The Walk Up USB mass storage device cannot interact with the printer’s network card or the network.
• The USB mass storage device also cannot be used to store, retrieve data from the printer or the network, or transfer data to the printer or the network.

Write permissions

Each time the printer is powered on, it will perform a boot-up sequence. During the boot-up sequence, the printer detects all installed USB storage devices and configures them in a standard way for HP and non-HP applications. Users who leave USB storage devices installed during this boot-up sequence will notice that the printer stores folders and files on the device.

Users who do not want files written to the USB storage device must be careful to remove the USB storage device from the printer during the boot-up sequence.

Disabling USB Storage Devices

It is possible to disable Job Retrieve access to USB storage devices by configuring the printer using an SNMP (PML) OID, Web Jet Admin or the Embedded Web Server. This only prevents users from printing jobs from USB storage devices. It does not disable the USB ports or any networking read/write access to the device.

Disabling using EWS:

To get to the EWS, open a browser and type in the printers IP address (192.168.0.0). At the EWS go to the Settings tab and then click on Security on the left navigational bar.

Figure : Navigating to Security Settings

Then click on Configure under Device Security Settings.

Figure : Device Security Settings

Then scroll down to the USB Printing section. Here you can Disable or Enable the functionality.

Figure : Enable or Disable Walk-Up Printing From Host USB Devices

There is not increased risk with the Walk Up USB printing and disabling this functionality does not secure the printer. For information on secure printing, go to www.hp.com/go/secureprinting.

https://support.hp.com/