I have a Windows Server 2022 machine running the Print and Document Services role for network printing. Several older HP LaserJet P3015 printers use HP Universal Print Driver PCL 6 version 61.360.1.26819. Every print job comes out last page first, regardless of the page-order settings selected in the printer or client preferences. The behavior also occurs when printing directly from the server, although disabling "Enable Advanced Printing Features" changes the result locally; remote clients still print in reverse order. The same printers work normally with the PCL 5 driver installed on the server, and I can reproduce the issue from multiple computers. Has anyone found a reliable fix, or is the newer PCL 6 driver simply incompatible with these older printers?
2 Answers
If PCL 5 is already working, I would use that driver. For these P3015 units, you generally will not lose anything important by staying with PCL 5, and it avoids the ordering problem entirely.
Check the printer's web administration page as well as the Windows driver settings. Some older devices have their own page-order option, and it may be set to automatic or last-page-first. Setting it explicitly to first-page-first is worth testing. Also make sure the printer firmware is current, since firmware and newer universal drivers can sometimes disagree.
That is probably the practical workaround. The printers are still useful, but their firmware is quite old, so the newest PCL 6 package may not be handling them correctly.