JeffHarp
asked on
Home wireless network printing problem. Win 95, 98 &XP.
OK, here's the hook-up:
D-link DI-713P
Compaq 7360 (Win98 desktop) 10/100 Ethernet & cable to box
Old Pentium 1 machine (Win95 desktop) 10/100 Ethernet & cable to box
Toshiba Satellite 4000 CDT (Win98 notebook) D-link DWL-650 wireless PCMCIA card
Toshiba Satellite 1805-274 (Win XP notebook) D-link DWL-650 wireless PCMCIA card
Lexmark 1000 Colot Inkjet
When I have the printer hooked to the 713P, I can't get any machines to print from it. They may not be compatible with each other. So, I hooked the printer back up to the Compaq desk top and it will work on it. Therefore, I know the cable and printer work. After installing the printer on the Toshiba 1805-274 (and a little adjusting) I managed to get it to print just fine. So, I now have 1 Win 98 machine and one Win XP machine talking to the printer. I also have one hard wired machine and one wireless machine (the two above respectively) working with the printer. The old Pentium 1 machine (hard wired Win 95) will print, but all of the letters are off set on the bi-directional printing and it is unreadable. The Toshiba 4000 (wireless Win 98) will not print period. I have tried every configuration possible. It will see the printer on the network, but it says that it is off line. If any of them would have worked I thought it would be this one since it and the computer the printer is hooked up to are both Win 98 machines. I originally had the system on a Compaq CP-2W Connection Point, but it locked up on me and died. The Toshiba 4000 wouldn't print with it either, but the old Pentium 1 machine printed just fine over it. I thought that it might be incompatibility between the D-link card and the Compaq CP-2W. That's why I changed to an all D-link system, but apparently that wasn't it. Any ideas? I've used up all of mine.
If you need the exact settings for all of them, let me know.
D-link DI-713P
Compaq 7360 (Win98 desktop) 10/100 Ethernet & cable to box
Old Pentium 1 machine (Win95 desktop) 10/100 Ethernet & cable to box
Toshiba Satellite 4000 CDT (Win98 notebook) D-link DWL-650 wireless PCMCIA card
Toshiba Satellite 1805-274 (Win XP notebook) D-link DWL-650 wireless PCMCIA card
Lexmark 1000 Colot Inkjet
When I have the printer hooked to the 713P, I can't get any machines to print from it. They may not be compatible with each other. So, I hooked the printer back up to the Compaq desk top and it will work on it. Therefore, I know the cable and printer work. After installing the printer on the Toshiba 1805-274 (and a little adjusting) I managed to get it to print just fine. So, I now have 1 Win 98 machine and one Win XP machine talking to the printer. I also have one hard wired machine and one wireless machine (the two above respectively) working with the printer. The old Pentium 1 machine (hard wired Win 95) will print, but all of the letters are off set on the bi-directional printing and it is unreadable. The Toshiba 4000 (wireless Win 98) will not print period. I have tried every configuration possible. It will see the printer on the network, but it says that it is off line. If any of them would have worked I thought it would be this one since it and the computer the printer is hooked up to are both Win 98 machines. I originally had the system on a Compaq CP-2W Connection Point, but it locked up on me and died. The Toshiba 4000 wouldn't print with it either, but the old Pentium 1 machine printed just fine over it. I thought that it might be incompatibility between the D-link card and the Compaq CP-2W. That's why I changed to an all D-link system, but apparently that wasn't it. Any ideas? I've used up all of mine.
If you need the exact settings for all of them, let me know.
ASKER
Mike
Thank You for the fast comment. I have already done as you suggested above. I get the best results of all that way (it thinks it can see the printer until I try to print), but then it comes back that the printer is off line. I also thought that it might be a lack of network support from this printer, but then it doesn't make sense why it works just fine with the Toshiba 1805-274 over the network. And yes, the printer is setup to be shared with everything on the network. I even went in and shared everything I could find to share over the entire network just in case I missed something that was blocking it. Then I shared it from the Toshiba 1805-274 to see if I could route throug both of them. That didn't work either, but I didn't think it would. I have a large amount of color cartridges for this printer that I am trying to utilize since they are so expensive. I have considered that I may have to get a new printer and use up the cartridges just on 1 or 2 machines. If you come up with any other ideas, please let me know.
Thanks
Jeff
Thank You for the fast comment. I have already done as you suggested above. I get the best results of all that way (it thinks it can see the printer until I try to print), but then it comes back that the printer is off line. I also thought that it might be a lack of network support from this printer, but then it doesn't make sense why it works just fine with the Toshiba 1805-274 over the network. And yes, the printer is setup to be shared with everything on the network. I even went in and shared everything I could find to share over the entire network just in case I missed something that was blocking it. Then I shared it from the Toshiba 1805-274 to see if I could route throug both of them. That didn't work either, but I didn't think it would. I have a large amount of color cartridges for this printer that I am trying to utilize since they are so expensive. I have considered that I may have to get a new printer and use up the cartridges just on 1 or 2 machines. If you come up with any other ideas, please let me know.
Thanks
Jeff
Have you updated to the latest and greatest drivers on each machine for that printer? This might help. Also, try installing the printer locally on the machine like it was hooked up to it, then change the printer port to the shared path of the printer. See if that might work.
ASKER
Both of those are good suggestions, but I have done them both to no avail. I have tried so many things that it's hard to remember to list them all here. Let me try to help by listing what I can remember that I have done.
In addition to what we have already discussed I have:
Linked directly to set the path
Entered the path myself
Captured the printer port on Lpt1 @ 2
Gone through every spooling option
Tried direct to the printer (through network)
Set local & network printer (as discussed above)
Tried the MAC address for the computer with printer name
Done all of above after deleting all printers & reinstall
I think the next thing I will try is to connect the printer directly to the Toshiba 4000 and see if it will print from it as a truly local printer. I expect it to do that, but who knows until I try if it will or not? If you come up with any more ideas, I'm listening with bated breath.
Thank You
In addition to what we have already discussed I have:
Linked directly to set the path
Entered the path myself
Captured the printer port on Lpt1 @ 2
Gone through every spooling option
Tried direct to the printer (through network)
Set local & network printer (as discussed above)
Tried the MAC address for the computer with printer name
Done all of above after deleting all printers & reinstall
I think the next thing I will try is to connect the printer directly to the Toshiba 4000 and see if it will print from it as a truly local printer. I expect it to do that, but who knows until I try if it will or not? If you come up with any more ideas, I'm listening with bated breath.
Thank You
Well, right off hand, that's the only thing I can think of to try. Hook up the printer directly and see if you can actually print to it locally to be able to rule that out.
ASKER
Mike
I tested the printer with a direct hook-up to the Toshiba 4000. At first it wouldn't print. Then I re-installed the driver (for about the 15th time), but this time with the printer connected to the physical printer port. On the install it found the printer and set it up for me. After that it printed just fine from it as long as it was directly connected to it. I put it back on the Compaq and now I get the same problems all over again. At least we have eliminated incompatibility problems between the computer and the printer. It must me a problem somewhere in the network, but I sure can't seem to find it. Like the gumpy in the old Monty Python series; my brain hurts. If you get any revelations, please let me know.
I tested the printer with a direct hook-up to the Toshiba 4000. At first it wouldn't print. Then I re-installed the driver (for about the 15th time), but this time with the printer connected to the physical printer port. On the install it found the printer and set it up for me. After that it printed just fine from it as long as it was directly connected to it. I put it back on the Compaq and now I get the same problems all over again. At least we have eliminated incompatibility problems between the computer and the printer. It must me a problem somewhere in the network, but I sure can't seem to find it. Like the gumpy in the old Monty Python series; my brain hurts. If you get any revelations, please let me know.
The only other thing that I might try would be to see if it is a protocol problem. If your running TCP/IP, install Netbui and see if that works. If your running Netbui, install TCP/IP and see what happens.
ASKER
Mike
I tried it and it didn't make any difference. But, in the process I may have found a clue. When I print from the Win 95 machine (even though the quality is off) the Lexmark conrtol program does not come up on it, but it does come up on the Compaq (the one the printer is connected to) and the job can be cancelled from the Compaq. When I print from the XP machine I get the same reaction, the control program comes up on the Compaq. The XP machine prints perfectly. When I try to print from the Toshiba 4000 the Lexmark control program comes up on it and not on the Compaq. Also, if I type in the address of the printer \\Compaqname\printername on the other two machines they take it just fine. If I put that same thing in the Toshiba 4000, it tells me that isn't a real port and that I have to enter a real port. So, I have to capture Lpt 1 to get that address in there. Now, I'm thinking that it still isn't really captured and that it is still trying to print to the local Lpt 1. Does that make sense to you? What I'm thinking about doing is uninstalling all of the network on the Toshiba 4000 and then reinstalling it. Unless you have another idea about what could be causing it to not really capture the port. What do you think?
I tried it and it didn't make any difference. But, in the process I may have found a clue. When I print from the Win 95 machine (even though the quality is off) the Lexmark conrtol program does not come up on it, but it does come up on the Compaq (the one the printer is connected to) and the job can be cancelled from the Compaq. When I print from the XP machine I get the same reaction, the control program comes up on the Compaq. The XP machine prints perfectly. When I try to print from the Toshiba 4000 the Lexmark control program comes up on it and not on the Compaq. Also, if I type in the address of the printer \\Compaqname\printername on the other two machines they take it just fine. If I put that same thing in the Toshiba 4000, it tells me that isn't a real port and that I have to enter a real port. So, I have to capture Lpt 1 to get that address in there. Now, I'm thinking that it still isn't really captured and that it is still trying to print to the local Lpt 1. Does that make sense to you? What I'm thinking about doing is uninstalling all of the network on the Toshiba 4000 and then reinstalling it. Unless you have another idea about what could be causing it to not really capture the port. What do you think?
ASKER
New information. I finally got the Win 95 machine to print correctly over the network. Here's what I did.
Uninstalled all of the printers.
Connected the printer directly to it.
Installed the printer with the old driver.
It wouldn't print at all.
Reinstalled the new driver and it printed fine.
Hooked it back up to the Compaq.
Captured the Lpt 1 port.
Installed it on the Win 95 machine as a network printer.
It wouldn't print of even see the printer.
Reinstalled the new driver which took over and set up an new profile for the printer itself.
Switched the spooling to raw.
Now it prints good.
Of course all of this was interrupted by several restarts.
I found (through System Information) that it did not have the Lexmark print processor installed and was using WinPrint. From what I can tell that was what was making it print in an overlapped blurry way. For some reason installing the new driver wasn't putting the Lexmark print processor into play. The only way I could get that assigned was to directly attach the printer to that machine. I have no idea as to why that was the case, but it was.
Right about the time I finished all of this, company arrived for lunch. I had to stop work for the time. Some of the things it did looked exactly like what the Toshiba 4000 is doing. I have tried to work on it, but with company present I can't think straight. My brain power is not enough to do this work with people constantly talking to me about other things at the same time. Anyway, I may have a clue about what is going on now. I have 3 out of 4 machines talking to it and 2 of them over the network. The strange thing is that the only one that is still having problems is the one with the same operating system (Win 98) as the Compaq that the printer is hooked to. Strange things happen. As soon as I get to where I can think again I'll work on it some more. I'll let you know what happens and why I think it happened. Thank You for all of your advice so far, it really has helped me think this weird one out.
Uninstalled all of the printers.
Connected the printer directly to it.
Installed the printer with the old driver.
It wouldn't print at all.
Reinstalled the new driver and it printed fine.
Hooked it back up to the Compaq.
Captured the Lpt 1 port.
Installed it on the Win 95 machine as a network printer.
It wouldn't print of even see the printer.
Reinstalled the new driver which took over and set up an new profile for the printer itself.
Switched the spooling to raw.
Now it prints good.
Of course all of this was interrupted by several restarts.
I found (through System Information) that it did not have the Lexmark print processor installed and was using WinPrint. From what I can tell that was what was making it print in an overlapped blurry way. For some reason installing the new driver wasn't putting the Lexmark print processor into play. The only way I could get that assigned was to directly attach the printer to that machine. I have no idea as to why that was the case, but it was.
Right about the time I finished all of this, company arrived for lunch. I had to stop work for the time. Some of the things it did looked exactly like what the Toshiba 4000 is doing. I have tried to work on it, but with company present I can't think straight. My brain power is not enough to do this work with people constantly talking to me about other things at the same time. Anyway, I may have a clue about what is going on now. I have 3 out of 4 machines talking to it and 2 of them over the network. The strange thing is that the only one that is still having problems is the one with the same operating system (Win 98) as the Compaq that the printer is hooked to. Strange things happen. As soon as I get to where I can think again I'll work on it some more. I'll let you know what happens and why I think it happened. Thank You for all of your advice so far, it really has helped me think this weird one out.
Looks and see if there are any progams that install when you install the printer driver that could be causing the problem. If you don't notice anything right off hand, edit the win.ini file and look on the run= and load= lines to see if anything is running that has to do with the printer. It's possible there may be something loading in the registry also.
ASKER
Mike
I have not been able to work on this anymore lately because of long hours at work. The government is sending me on an all expenses paid trip in the near future. If I can't get this all settled before I have to go, I am not sure how to get you the points you have earned without improperly marking one of the comments as the answer. I believe you have put me on the right path to solve it and I am planning to reinstall Win 98 on that computer to see if that fixes it. I do not feel right about marking the wrong one as the answer yet though because someone else may spend their points on this question to read what we came up with as the answer. Do you know how I can get the points assigned to you another way? Thank You for all of your help. If I do get it resolved before I have to leave I will post it here.
Jeff
I have not been able to work on this anymore lately because of long hours at work. The government is sending me on an all expenses paid trip in the near future. If I can't get this all settled before I have to go, I am not sure how to get you the points you have earned without improperly marking one of the comments as the answer. I believe you have put me on the right path to solve it and I am planning to reinstall Win 98 on that computer to see if that fixes it. I do not feel right about marking the wrong one as the answer yet though because someone else may spend their points on this question to read what we came up with as the answer. Do you know how I can get the points assigned to you another way? Thank You for all of your help. If I do get it resolved before I have to leave I will post it here.
Jeff
You know what, since this will be long forthcoming in the resolution, I would suggest that you delete the question since no formal answer was obtained and we can revisit it in the near future. When more time becomes available.
ASKER
Mike
Since I will be out of the Country for circumstances that I can't control and I will not have the time to receive a complete answer that I know you would have guided me to, I went to the Community Support section and asked what I could do about it. ComTech answered my question about the points and told me what to do about it. I have no doubt that you were helping me get there. I wish I could have resolved it better. Thank You very much for your help.
Since I will be out of the Country for circumstances that I can't control and I will not have the time to receive a complete answer that I know you would have guided me to, I went to the Community Support section and asked what I could do about it. ComTech answered my question about the points and told me what to do about it. I have no doubt that you were helping me get there. I wish I could have resolved it better. Thank You very much for your help.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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net use lpt1: \\computername\printershar