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I can't print to an HP Laserjet 2600n that has been shared on a network from Microsoft Office, word, etc...but I can print to the printer from everything else, notepad, wordpad, etc.
Hello all,
I have a weird situation... so I'll list what the problem is, and what I've attempted to fix it.
I had set up file and printer sharing, went thru the wizard on windows xp, and found the networked / shared printer on my main desktop machine, let it install the drivers, and all should have been well... well, boy was I wrong. I have a windows xp pro laptop, connecting to a windows xp home desktop pc on a small workgroup. The pc's name is compaqdesktop, the laptop is named gateway. I created a batch file, using the netuse commands to automatically grab the printers on this workgroup. net use \\compaqdesktop\laserjet /persistent:yes and even added the IP address in the batch file, as in net use \\192.168.2.2\laserjet /persistent:yes still to no avail. All the PC's are set up with STATIC IP addresses, and I even edited the HOSTS file and the LMHOST file with the proper name to ip resolution! The gateway / router is 192.168.2.1, the compaq is 192.168.2.2, the gateway is 192.168.2.3, and my other laptop is set up with 129.168.2.4.
I can see all the printer shares, and even print to the printer, from everything except Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Office. I've uninstalled office, and reinstalled it. I even manually deleted the registry entries, and the main application folder, and then did a complete reinstall of office. If it was a firewall issue, it would seem to me that I couldn't print from anything. I have a txt file, from when it crashed Internet Explorer, attempting to print, if anyone wants to decypher it. I have deleted the shares, on all machines, and re shared them, deleted drivers, etc.
If anyone can give me some ideas as to why it's causing these weird problems, I'd be greatful. I've followed most of the guides on here, and to no avail. This printer is networkable, aka it has a built in network card... so I'm going to attempt to set it up on my network that way, instead of simple file / printer sharing.. and see if that helps. But, I'd really like to know what's going on driver / network wise. The network has netbeui, TCP/IP, file and printer sharing, QOS, and Microsoft Networking installed. That's it, no other protocols. I installed Netbuei, simply because it's sort of acted like gorilla snot in the networking world, and fixed a lot of funky connection / resolution problems for me in the past. I would assume that with static ip address, netbuei, host files set up, and even using the NET USE command, that would be one of the most hardcore / hard to break network connections you could create.
If I could give more points, I would. It's of the utmost importance that I get this running. On a side note, I went to HP's website for online support, and they said they did not support this model! The Printer is a Color Laser printer, and I popped out a LOT of cash for it... someone should support it.
I'm thinking this might be one of those long dregs thru the registry to rip everything HP and everything Office out, to get the machine running properly. Please tell me I'm wrong... or at least write me a .reg file I can import into the registry to kill them out.
If anyone of you is familiar with IE error codes, I have a 55K text file I can post, with the error, if you think you can figure out where the problem lies.
This problem isn't just on one machine, it's on both the Gateway, and my other laptop, which makes me think it's a configuration / driver issue.
Best of luck in solving this puzzle!
A million thanks in advance.
I have a weird situation... so I'll list what the problem is, and what I've attempted to fix it.
I had set up file and printer sharing, went thru the wizard on windows xp, and found the networked / shared printer on my main desktop machine, let it install the drivers, and all should have been well... well, boy was I wrong. I have a windows xp pro laptop, connecting to a windows xp home desktop pc on a small workgroup. The pc's name is compaqdesktop, the laptop is named gateway. I created a batch file, using the netuse commands to automatically grab the printers on this workgroup. net use \\compaqdesktop\laserjet /persistent:yes and even added the IP address in the batch file, as in net use \\192.168.2.2\laserjet /persistent:yes still to no avail. All the PC's are set up with STATIC IP addresses, and I even edited the HOSTS file and the LMHOST file with the proper name to ip resolution! The gateway / router is 192.168.2.1, the compaq is 192.168.2.2, the gateway is 192.168.2.3, and my other laptop is set up with 129.168.2.4.
I can see all the printer shares, and even print to the printer, from everything except Internet Explorer, and Microsoft Office. I've uninstalled office, and reinstalled it. I even manually deleted the registry entries, and the main application folder, and then did a complete reinstall of office. If it was a firewall issue, it would seem to me that I couldn't print from anything. I have a txt file, from when it crashed Internet Explorer, attempting to print, if anyone wants to decypher it. I have deleted the shares, on all machines, and re shared them, deleted drivers, etc.
If anyone can give me some ideas as to why it's causing these weird problems, I'd be greatful. I've followed most of the guides on here, and to no avail. This printer is networkable, aka it has a built in network card... so I'm going to attempt to set it up on my network that way, instead of simple file / printer sharing.. and see if that helps. But, I'd really like to know what's going on driver / network wise. The network has netbeui, TCP/IP, file and printer sharing, QOS, and Microsoft Networking installed. That's it, no other protocols. I installed Netbuei, simply because it's sort of acted like gorilla snot in the networking world, and fixed a lot of funky connection / resolution problems for me in the past. I would assume that with static ip address, netbuei, host files set up, and even using the NET USE command, that would be one of the most hardcore / hard to break network connections you could create.
If I could give more points, I would. It's of the utmost importance that I get this running. On a side note, I went to HP's website for online support, and they said they did not support this model! The Printer is a Color Laser printer, and I popped out a LOT of cash for it... someone should support it.
I'm thinking this might be one of those long dregs thru the registry to rip everything HP and everything Office out, to get the machine running properly. Please tell me I'm wrong... or at least write me a .reg file I can import into the registry to kill them out.
If anyone of you is familiar with IE error codes, I have a 55K text file I can post, with the error, if you think you can figure out where the problem lies.
This problem isn't just on one machine, it's on both the Gateway, and my other laptop, which makes me think it's a configuration / driver issue.
Best of luck in solving this puzzle!
A million thanks in advance.
I would get rid of the static IP addresses on your workstations. Let DHCP deal with that. Your Network laser I would assign a static IP above where DHCP would use. Connect your laser to the router. Sounds like you have your IP/gateway addressing messed up.
can you share files? it sounds like an authentication problem, and getting xp pro to talk to xp home is a pain.
on hp home, disable the guest account, and make the user name and password exactly the same as for your laptop.
-gsgi
on hp home, disable the guest account, and make the user name and password exactly the same as for your laptop.
-gsgi
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ASKER
I'll try that, didn't think about authentication problems... but, would I be able to access the resource with other programs, like Wordpad, Notepad, etc.. and not be able to access it via IE and Word. That's what is happening now. I can see the file shares, I even have mapped drives on the machine. Although they seem sluggish when I open them...so, I'll definately give the authentication a try! Anyway I can add these accounts in XP Home, and not have them show up on the login screen? Thanks
ASKER
As far as the network set up being screwed up... tell me where I'm wrong here.
Cable ---> Belkin router *192.168.2.1*----> Compaq *192.168.2.2*, Gateway Laptop *192.168.2.3*, Sony Laptop *192.168.2.4*
Compaq settings
IP Address 192.168.2.2
subnet 255.255.255.0
default gateway 192.168.2.1
DNS Server 192.168.2.1
Similar setups on both of the laptops. I set up static ip addressing, simply because I have less than 10 computers, so Static IP's are easy to manage, and I was having problems with my shares dropping, when I had DHCP setup.. .sometimes I could access quickbooks, sometimes I couldn't.. just weird little things like that.
If you can find a fault in the setup, please let me know. I didn't think that XP Home or XP Pro had any form of configurable DNS servers within them, and thus the reason I used Host files for resolution.
Cable ---> Belkin router *192.168.2.1*----> Compaq *192.168.2.2*, Gateway Laptop *192.168.2.3*, Sony Laptop *192.168.2.4*
Compaq settings
IP Address 192.168.2.2
subnet 255.255.255.0
default gateway 192.168.2.1
DNS Server 192.168.2.1
Similar setups on both of the laptops. I set up static ip addressing, simply because I have less than 10 computers, so Static IP's are easy to manage, and I was having problems with my shares dropping, when I had DHCP setup.. .sometimes I could access quickbooks, sometimes I couldn't.. just weird little things like that.
If you can find a fault in the setup, please let me know. I didn't think that XP Home or XP Pro had any form of configurable DNS servers within them, and thus the reason I used Host files for resolution.
ASKER
Setting these computers above, or below the DHCP scope on the router, would have the same effect, would it not??
Using the unused static addresses of 192.168.2* -192.168.2.99 *when the DHCP Scope on the router is 192.168.2.100 -150, would be the same as using the upper non dhcp scope of 192.168.2.151-254. Would it not?
Using the unused static addresses of 192.168.2* -192.168.2.99 *when the DHCP Scope on the router is 192.168.2.100 -150, would be the same as using the upper non dhcp scope of 192.168.2.151-254. Would it not?
> Using the unused static addresses of 192.168.2* -192.168.2.99 *when the DHCP Scope on the router is 192.168.2.100 -150, would be the same as using the
> upper non dhcp scope of 192.168.2.151-254. Would it not?
yes, it should work either way.
Did you try these things?
1. In the print driver, set spooling to "start printing after the last page has spooled" this reduces print job timeouts, as the job is sent as a single block,
not fragmented pages..
2. On the printer, in the menus, increase buffer size and timeout values.
3. In win2k and above, deselecting "advanced printing features" may help.
4. Another gem is in MS word, tools>options>print tab, make sure "allow a4/letter resizing is UNTICKED, otherwise it breaks many printer driver
settings.
> upper non dhcp scope of 192.168.2.151-254. Would it not?
yes, it should work either way.
Did you try these things?
1. In the print driver, set spooling to "start printing after the last page has spooled" this reduces print job timeouts, as the job is sent as a single block,
not fragmented pages..
2. On the printer, in the menus, increase buffer size and timeout values.
3. In win2k and above, deselecting "advanced printing features" may help.
4. Another gem is in MS word, tools>options>print tab, make sure "allow a4/letter resizing is UNTICKED, otherwise it breaks many printer driver
settings.
Sometimes....when you use a static IP address for workstations...you can get the gateway wrong...or DNS...so let your router control the workstations. Hardcode the ip of the laser to something above where you will have no workstations...connect the laser to the router and try and ping it 'laser'. If you can ping the ip then set it using add printer>local Printer> uncheck search for printer..>next> check create new port > tcpip port > enter ip of printer > select driver....and away you go.
I am not saying this is the solution....but I would try it first...
ASKER
I won't get a chance to try any of these methods out until I can get back at my place tomorrow. I'll sent out points, where applicable, and split points once I find the solution that fixes the problem. Thanks for all your responces, and I'll hopefully get this resolved once I can get back to my place.
Thanks again.
P.S. I know most people screw up static ip addressing... and DHCP is super easy and quick. But, in this instance, I take the machines offsite, and then hook them back up to my home network, and everytime I do, I get a new IP address. Thus the reason I went with static ip addressing. Everywhere else I take my laptops usually has wireless, which is all DHCP, and thus, no real reason not to have Static Ip's on the machines. But, I'll try your suggestions and see what I come up with.
Heck, if that doesn't work, I'm going to reset the router, and kill DHCP altogether, and see if that will do the trick!
Thanks again.
P.S. I know most people screw up static ip addressing... and DHCP is super easy and quick. But, in this instance, I take the machines offsite, and then hook them back up to my home network, and everytime I do, I get a new IP address. Thus the reason I went with static ip addressing. Everywhere else I take my laptops usually has wireless, which is all DHCP, and thus, no real reason not to have Static Ip's on the machines. But, I'll try your suggestions and see what I come up with.
Heck, if that doesn't work, I'm going to reset the router, and kill DHCP altogether, and see if that will do the trick!
It is all the more reason to use DHCP if you move your notebook from one network to another...not all networks have the same IP address for their routers....but do as you please...just offering a suggestion
Hi just a question
but I'm assuming this printer is connected to a parallel port!! and with the net use command have you specified an LPT port?
IE:- net use lpt2 \\compaqdesktop\laserjet /persistent:yes then in the printer driver select the printer port as lpt2.
Just clarifiying these couple
but I'm assuming this printer is connected to a parallel port!! and with the net use command have you specified an LPT port?
IE:- net use lpt2 \\compaqdesktop\laserjet /persistent:yes then in the printer driver select the printer port as lpt2.
Just clarifiying these couple
ASKER
Actually, the printer is hooked up via usb, thus the reason I didn't specify an LPT port in the command. If there are options to specify virtual ports in the net use command for USB, feel free to send them. I haven't found any such monsters, but they might exist.
As far as moving to different networks, I don't do that, except with wireless. I'm using a wired connection on all 3 machines, and a wired router. I do appreciate the suggestion thou, and will test it out, if the Firmware upgrades on HP's website, and the newest drivers *which supposedly address this issue* do not handle the error. HP finally got back to me, via there support board, and suggested a firmware upgrade, and version 3.0 of the drivers to fix this mess. But, stay tuned. Even if this fixes the mess, I'll give out points for the suggestions on here that help piece it all together.
Thanks again
As far as moving to different networks, I don't do that, except with wireless. I'm using a wired connection on all 3 machines, and a wired router. I do appreciate the suggestion thou, and will test it out, if the Firmware upgrades on HP's website, and the newest drivers *which supposedly address this issue* do not handle the error. HP finally got back to me, via there support board, and suggested a firmware upgrade, and version 3.0 of the drivers to fix this mess. But, stay tuned. Even if this fixes the mess, I'll give out points for the suggestions on here that help piece it all together.
Thanks again
ASKER
Well, the firmware update and the latest drivers finally made this thing work, after using the tip about the print spooling! Thanks guys for all the help. The DHCP was not an issue at all, I've set up 5 small law firms with similar set ups, and not a single call back off of networking issues. DHCP is great for larger networks, but, static ip's always allow resource sharing, without any phantom issues in the mix, if set up properly. Thanks to all that responded, hopefully some of the great suggestions here, will help others in the future.