Driver Customization

SteveB · 03-05-2009

I have a Ricoh 3260C on my network and we need to configure usage of user codes to control black and white and color printing as well as locked printing.

Right now the only way to input user codes is manually on each computer, and if I lock the printer down to require user codes when none is configured on the driver @ the PC it just won't print...

This is not acceptable behavior for my users. I have read a little bit that the driver can be customized to show a popup to input the user code when printing but I can't find that utility anywhere. Can someone point me to a link to download it or let me know how I can get it?

Thank you

-Steve

**Jomama46** · 03-05-2009

Unless you purchase a third party utility from Print Audit or Equitrac, you have to use the user code in the driver and it will be tied to that computer or actually that driver. You can install multiple instances of the driver and give each a different code, then retrieve the counts from the copier but that a pita. However, I have a customer that is doing that.

SteveB · 03-05-2009

I found a couple other posts on here that imply it is possible to customize the drivers to add a popup.

I just talked to someone on Ricoh support that actually sorta knew what was going on for once. He said there is a 'popup' driver but only Ricoh techs can install it.

Is there any way I can get access to that without having to go through a Ricoh tech... what a pain in the butt!

BTW, setting up user codes individually on over 140 shared printers is not an option :-p

**Jomama46** · 03-05-2009

BTW, setting up user codes individually on over 140 shared printers is not an option :-p

I hear ya!

Why is it a pain in the butt to call a Ricoh tech to give you what you want? If you call, maybe he'll email it to you/

**Shadow1** · 03-05-2009

If you have that many printers / users / accounts, you need equitrac or print director or some sort of 3rd party billing solution - you will drive yourself insane otherwise. I'm always open to a way to cheat the system and save some $$$ but sometimes its just not worth it.

SteveB · 03-05-2009

Originally Posted by Jomama46

I hear ya!

Why is it a pain in the butt to call a Ricoh tech to give you what you want? If you call, maybe he'll email it to you/

Last time I called support they made me feel like an idiot for even thinking something like that would exist. This time I got a guy that at least knew about it. He said a tech would give me a call about it...

hopefully that will take care of it... I really don't understand why they wouldn't just make this stuff available on their website. We have a service contract with them anyway so they're just wasting their time by not making it available.... ohhhhhhh well.

**Shadow1** · 03-05-2009

You'll probably get a call from a Ricoh Salesperson. I am a Ricoh tech and we've always been told what you are looking for is print director. There is a new embedded architecture app that does the same thing, but it's not cheap either.

If you find a popup solution I'd be really interested to know about it.

**Cipher** · 03-05-2009

From a device driver coding point of view you would think it would be possible to add a tick box option that enables a popup prompt to enter a usercode before every print job is submitted to the spooler or directly to the printer.
It's only a case of inserting a plain text PJL command at the begining of the print data, it's not rocket science by any means.

It would just be a simple solution that would work well on so many sites.
No need for expensive and over complicated server side software.

But that would be too easy I guess.

**cobiray** · 03-05-2009

There is a Ricoh PCL editor that you can use to "modify" the driver to give you the pop up. I don't think it works on shared printers, so you might have to load the driver locally to get it to work properly and then mod each driver. Let me know if you want to give it a try, I've got it here somewhere.