Redirect LPT port to a TCP/IP Printer WITHOUT having to share the printer
We (unfortunately) still use a DOS program that will of course only print to a LPT port, but we only have TCP/IP printers on the network. I need to redirect any print job sent to LPT1 to a specific printer's IP address.
I am aware of the
NET USE LPT1 \\servername\sharedprinter
method to redirect, but cannot share the printers. I have found some third party software that accomplishes what I need to do, but it is much too expensive and I need to find an alternate method.
I have searched here & google but cannot find a solution other than what I worte above. Anyone have a suggestion?
MAX
I am aware of the
NET USE LPT1 \\servername\sharedprinter
method to redirect, but cannot share the printers. I have found some third party software that accomplishes what I need to do, but it is much too expensive and I need to find an alternate method.
I have searched here & google but cannot find a solution other than what I worte above. Anyone have a suggestion?
MAX
No that won't work unless the printer is a netbios device itself... some printers will do that, my OKI will advertise itself so you can get to it with \\printername.
If that is the case you should be able to re-direct it to the printer with a normal net use command like
net use lpt1: \\10.1.1.1\lpt1
or
net use lpt1: \\10.1.1.1\lp
Try start | run \\ipaddress
to see if it does support that or look in the printer's web or telnet front end for being able to configure netbios access.
If your DOS app can change port name try printing to c:\spool say then have a batch file which does
lpr -s ipaddress -p raw -ol c:\spool
to send the spool file to the printer.
Why you can't use shares?
Steve
Steve
If that is the case you should be able to re-direct it to the printer with a normal net use command like
net use lpt1: \\10.1.1.1\lpt1
or
net use lpt1: \\10.1.1.1\lp
Try start | run \\ipaddress
to see if it does support that or look in the printer's web or telnet front end for being able to configure netbios access.
If your DOS app can change port name try printing to c:\spool say then have a batch file which does
lpr -s ipaddress -p raw -ol c:\spool
to send the spool file to the printer.
Why you can't use shares?
Steve
Steve
What type if printserver card?
ASKER
The printers have HP Jet Direct cards.
I tried:
net use lpt1: \\10.1.1.1\lpt1
or
net use lpt1: \\10.1.1.1\lp
and I get "System error 67 has occurred. The network name cannot be found."
I might be a little confused with respect to printer sharing . . . . maybe someone can clear this up for me.
We used to have one PC connected with a parallel cable (LPT1) and then we shared that printer on that PC. As I understand it, all print jobs going to that printer were routed through that PC to the shared printer - this is what I want to avoid. Now however, the printer is only connected via TCP/IP (IP ADDRESS). If I share the printer on a PC in this case, do all print jobs get routed through that PC or am I just sharing the Jet Direct card?
I tried:
net use lpt1: \\10.1.1.1\lpt1
or
net use lpt1: \\10.1.1.1\lp
and I get "System error 67 has occurred. The network name cannot be found."
I might be a little confused with respect to printer sharing . . . . maybe someone can clear this up for me.
We used to have one PC connected with a parallel cable (LPT1) and then we shared that printer on that PC. As I understand it, all print jobs going to that printer were routed through that PC to the shared printer - this is what I want to avoid. Now however, the printer is only connected via TCP/IP (IP ADDRESS). If I share the printer on a PC in this case, do all print jobs get routed through that PC or am I just sharing the Jet Direct card?
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ASKER
Thanks for all the input. I feel a little stupid now because I have everything working great and the solution was quite simple in the end . . . this isn't my regular job in my defense:). In hind sight, perhaps I should have mentioned that we have a Novell server on our network as well...and each PC has a Novell client installed.
I have a spare PC so I decided to fire it up and use it as a printer server. I installed the required printers & shared them . . . I'm not sure why I didn't think of this earlier?? It turns out that Novell has a "Capture a printer port" feature . . . on each Novell client I needed to redirect, I simply browsed to the shared TCP/IP printer on the network, assigned it to LPT1 & captured it - works very nice.
I'll split the points between you - The link from pgm554 was what turned the light bulb for me when I saw the phrase "Capture Printer Port" - I remembered seeing that on a Novell menu before - so I gotta give the answer to you.
Max
I have a spare PC so I decided to fire it up and use it as a printer server. I installed the required printers & shared them . . . I'm not sure why I didn't think of this earlier?? It turns out that Novell has a "Capture a printer port" feature . . . on each Novell client I needed to redirect, I simply browsed to the shared TCP/IP printer on the network, assigned it to LPT1 & captured it - works very nice.
I'll split the points between you - The link from pgm554 was what turned the light bulb for me when I saw the phrase "Capture Printer Port" - I remembered seeing that on a Novell menu before - so I gotta give the answer to you.
Max
Glad you got it sorted.
Thanks too... tend to forget people still use NetWare. The commandline
way of doing that is capture.exe btw though you can still do net use too.
If the printer is configured so it is a printer shared through your
netware server already then no need for your spare w/s with shares on -
you can just capture lpt1 straight to the server.
Anywayat least you are working, thanks for share of the points
Steve
way of doing that is capture.exe btw though you can still do net use too.
If the printer is configured so it is a printer shared through your
netware server already then no need for your spare w/s with shares on -
you can just capture lpt1 straight to the server.
Anywayat least you are working, thanks for share of the points
Steve
As somebody that likes Novell and only tolerates M$,I would have normally said something like,if you used Netware,you wouldn't have this problem and sure enough,the first time I don't mention Netware...
ASKER
That too funny pgm554! I don't know much about Netware, but I'm learning - very stable platform. Hey dragon-it, is it an easy thing to explain how to "share a printer through a Netware server"? This is what I wanted to do in the first place, but could not figure out how to do that.
Max
Max
What netware version are we talking here... if it's 3 or 4 it needs a specifically netware aware print server. If it's 5 or 6 things could be said tob a BIT easier... not as easy as doing it from windows mind... it involves creating a printer, print server, and print queue in NDS using Console1 or nwadmin or setting it up through ndps, different again in 6 I think. I rarely use netware now though I am a CNE5 and cut my networking teeth on NetWare 3 and 4. Might be worth a post here where no doubt people are doing this more often than me:
https://www.experts-exchange.com/Networking/Novell_Netware/
https://www.experts-exchange.com/Networking/Novell_Netware/
ASKER
Sorry, I was away for a few days. Thanks Dragon-it, e have v6 and I can use nwadmin to do this. I have been trying a few things and with abit of tweaking, I should be able to figure this out. Thanks for all your help.
Max
Max
net use lpt1: 10.1.2.3
or
net use lpt1: \\10.1.2.3