Could one overclock a printer?

[HeroRareheart]

I do not plan to do it but my laser printer has a processor so could I overclock it and if so what would that do exactly, what would be made faster?

 

Also there was no section of the forums that seemed like a good place to put this so it's going in general.

[Needfuldoer]

But why?

 

It might process pages a little faster, but the print engine that actually puts toner to paper would still be the same speed.

[HeroRareheart]

I am fully aware that this is a completely stupid thing to do, I'm not asking HOW to do it I'm simply asking if I possessed the skill needed COULD I do it?

[Needfuldoer]

1 minute ago, HeroRareheart said:

I am fully aware that this is a completely stupid thing to do, I'm not asking HOW to do it I'm simply asking if I possessed the skill needed COULD I do it?

I don't see why you couldn't, but I don't see why you would, either.

[HeroRareheart]

4 minutes ago, Needfuldoer said:

why

Pure human curiosity.

 

1 minute ago, Needfuldoer said:

I don't see why you would, either.

Well that'd make a great YouTube title wouldn't it? "I overclocked my printer"

[RONOTHAN##]

5 minutes ago, HeroRareheart said:

I am fully aware that this is a completely stupid thing to do, I'm not asking HOW to do it I'm simply asking if I possessed the skill needed COULD I do it?

it will depend on the microprocessor inside the system. You could theoretically flash a new firmware that forces the chip to run at a higher frequency if it uses a variable clock gen, or if it's real old school, you would have to replace the quartz oscillator that determines the frequency (how old school overclocking happened back before unlocked CPUs).

 

Again, there isn't a point to doing this, especially since there is a not insignificant chance that the software for the printer is expecting it to run at a very specific frequency (kind of like how some game engines are tied to the frame rate)

[Needfuldoer]

Just now, HeroRareheart said:

Well that'd make a great YouTube title wouldn't it? "I overclocked my printer"

An hour later: "LaserJet Go BRRRRRRR"

 

An hour after that: "MY PRINTER can do THIS?!"

 

An hour after that: "One Weird Trick BROTHER DOESN'T Want YOU to KNOW!"

 

A week after that: "Overclocking Your Printer for Fun and Profit"

[harryk]

Overclocking the processor in a modern printer will not yield any noticeable benefit. The processor is plenty fast to do what small job it needs to do.

 

However CPUs are not the only thing you can overlock. Supposedly overclocking the physical printing mechanisms was a thing back in the day of dot-matrix printers when printing speed was terribly slow. I don't know if it was done much in the home enthusiast community but certainly the manufacturers would do everything to maximize the speed the mechanisms could run without sacrificing accuracy. So just like tuning a CPU, one could tune their printer and make modifications such that it would print faster than a stock version.

 

With the proper skills and knowledge, in principle one could do similar tuning with a modern inkjet or laser printer, though this would almost certainly require creating an entirely custom control system to interface directing with the hardware.

 

 

[steelo]

You've inspired me to overclock my keurig. 

[LogicalDrm]

You can mod to run Doom...https://www.wired.com/2014/09/doom-printer/

[BlueChinchillaEatingDorito]

Now you can have paper jams twice as fast. Would overclocking a fridge act like a Turbo button?