Ricoh Universal PCL6: Quickly deploy user codes for many people?

[Guest]

We have an Active Directory domain, with a Ricoh MP C6502, using the Ricoh Universal PCL6 driver. We want to identify print jobs with a department ID, and I want to be able to set this up with minimal fooling around.

I've already had to do this at another location, where user codes (Prefs -> Job Setup -> User Code) were used in the Universal PCL6 driver, but the setup for that was just ridiculously labor-intensive.

There does not appear to be a way for me to deploy user codes to individual accounts via registry settings or AD Group Policy, because the Ricoh universal PCL6 driver settings are stored in a single registry key as a huge binary blob.

In the end I was forced to basically request every user's password, log on to their account, open their printer properties, and manually type in the User Code, log off the account, go to the next one. This is just stupid for 150 users. What does a company with 1000 user accounts do?

,

Is there a faster or better way, that allows me to just enter usernames and ID codes in a list somewhere, perhaps as a user attribute within Active Directory itself, which the copier and driver can use directly without me having to mess with each individual user account by hand?

I see something about LDAP but apparently that is just for scan-to-email to read in user accounts as scanning destinations?

[blackcat4866]

Re: Ricoh Universal PCL6: Quickly deploy user codes for many people?

We have an Active Directory domain, with a Ricoh MP C6502, using the Ricoh Universal PCL6 driver. We want to identify print jobs with a department ID, and I want to be able to set this up with minimal fooling around.

I've already had to do this at another location, where user codes (Prefs -> Job Setup -> User Code) were used in the Universal PCL6 driver, but the setup for that was just ridiculously labor-intensive.

There does not appear to be a way for me to deploy user codes to individual accounts via registry settings or AD Group Policy, because the Ricoh universal PCL6 driver settings are stored in a single registry key as a huge binary blob.

In the end I was forced to basically request every user's password, log on to their account, open their printer properties, and manually type in the User Code, log off the account, go to the next one. This is just stupid for 150 users. What does a company with 1000 user accounts do?

,

Is there a faster or better way, that allows me to just enter usernames and ID codes in a list somewhere, perhaps as a user attribute within Active Directory itself, which the copier and driver can use directly without me having to mess with each individual user account by hand?

I see something about LDAP but apparently that is just for scan-to-email to read in user accounts as scanning destinations?

I don't know a better way, be it ridiculous or not. And LDAP is for searching email destinations only. Nothing else. =^..^=

[NeoMatrix]

Re: Ricoh Universal PCL6: Quickly deploy user codes for many people?

I don't know your server/domain structure or if you have an LDAP server.
One idea might be to send a bulk email to all your users, with instructions on how to set their own user codes in the printer properties themselves. You'll still have to have an email text file with your User Code numbers tabulated.
But at least it will be a less labour intense operation.

Do you know any programming languages?
Can you write scripts or batch files?

I'm not sure if I've helped you or not....

[wseyller]

Companies with large number of user don't use account codes, dept id codes or whatever each mfg calls theirs. Instead they use user authentication with external server and is based on single sign on when the user logs in. Some will then use something like Papercut to track usage.

[KenB]

Re: Ricoh Universal PCL6: Quickly deploy user codes for many people?

You may want to download the Print Driver Packager NX (free) and pre-configure the driver to use Windows authentication.

Once the the driver is configured, you send it out to your users and have them run it.

This way all jobs will be identified by the user name.

Bag the association of codes and IDs; they're seldom used in large environments.

[Dale Mahalko]

Re: Ricoh Universal PCL6: Quickly deploy user codes for many people?

You may want to download the Print Driver Packager NX (free) and pre-configure the driver to use Windows authentication.

Thanks, I will take a look at this.

[slimslob]

Re: Ricoh Universal PCL6: Quickly deploy user codes for many people?

You may want to download the Print Driver Packager NX (free) and pre-configure the driver to use Windows authentication.

I have not tried it on the Ricoh Universal PCL6 as I prefer to use either the regular PCL6 drivers unless I have an older MFP fro which there are no 64 bit drivers. On the normal PCL6 driver, PDPNX or the older Ricoh Print Driver Editor can configure the driver to give a popup for entering the code when you send a print job. This is useful if you have multiple users on a computer or a customer, such as an attorney, who needs to enter a clnt or project code for each print job.

[ewizzy]

Re: Ricoh Universal PCL6: Quickly deploy user codes for many people?

We have an Active Directory domain, with a Ricoh MP C6502, using the Ricoh Universal PCL6 driver. We want to identify print jobs with a department ID, and I want to be able to set this up with minimal fooling around.

I've already had to do this at another location, where user codes (Prefs -> Job Setup -> User Code) were used in the Universal PCL6 driver, but the setup for that was just ridiculously labor-intensive.

There does not appear to be a way for me to deploy user codes to individual accounts via registry settings or AD Group Policy, because the Ricoh universal PCL6 driver settings are stored in a single registry key as a huge binary blob.

In the end I was forced to basically request every user's password, log on to their account, open their printer properties, and manually type in the User Code, log off the account, go to the next one. This is just stupid for 150 users. What does a company with 1000 user accounts do?

,

Is there a faster or better way, that allows me to just enter usernames and ID codes in a list somewhere, perhaps as a user attribute within Active Directory itself, which the copier and driver can use directly without me having to mess with each individual user account by hand?

I see something about LDAP but apparently that is just for scan-to-email to read in user accounts as scanning destinations?

Anotyher way arounbd this is to use the Printer Driver Packager NX tool and edit the driver to use a pop up window when you want to print. That way, if the user from 'X' Dept uses another PC in the building, then the print gets logged to the correct dept.

Might work?

[cccjjn]

Re: Ricoh Universal PCL6: Quickly deploy user codes for many people?

You should avoid the Universal Driver completely on large networks. I never use it ever. Learned my lesson. It bit me in the rear end once and I'll never risk that mistake again. Network of about 25 workstations in a busy medical practice. The Universal PCL6 would drag down the network. Complete cluster.......customer flipping out. Had to go back a couple days later and un-install the Universal on every workstation and install the regular PCL6

[qbert69]

Re: Ricoh Universal PCL6: Quickly deploy user codes for many people?

Anotyher way arounbd this is to use the Printer Driver Packager NX tool and edit the driver to use a pop up window when you want to print. That way, if the user from 'X' Dept uses another PC in the building, then the print gets logged to the correct dept.

Might work?

...if you have the print driver installed on the print server, it should be able to push down to each work station the correct print driver for that Operating System and hardware configuration along with the requirement of the pop-up to enter the dept code to be able to print....

[Choro1dal]

Re: Ricoh Universal PCL6: Quickly deploy user codes for many people?

As you wish to continue using User Codes you have a couple of options available.

1. Use Print Driver Packager-NX (PDP-NX) to customise a supported print driver using a print configuration file. This can be set to create a pop-up window each time a user prints enabling them to enter a user code. This field can set so that it is either blank or pre-set with a default value.

2 Once again using PDP-NX it is possible to create an installer package associated to a user configuration file (.csv). When the package is run settings are applied to the created print object. I.E

machine,account,pcipaddress,$USERCODE$,$USERID$,$U SERNAME$,$ADDRESS$,$UNCPATH$,$URL$,$PNAME$,$COMMEN TS$
,ACME.CORP\Choro1dal,,134679,,,,,,
,ACME.CORP\Service.Manager,,666,,,,,,

Using the above csv entries would result in the User Code 134679 applied automatically as default if the installer was run using the ACME.CORP Choro1dal account whilst the User Code 666 would be set if the Service.Manager logged in and ran the installer.

[Dale Mahalko]

Re: Ricoh Universal PCL6: Quickly deploy user codes for many people?

Heh, what? the Ricoh NX driver tool costs money? Not free?

Since our copier services are contracted I'm checking to see if the company will get me the NX utility for free.

Also we don't HAVE to use user codes. That is just what was done previously at another location I had to set up. If there's another way to do this without the NV driver customization tool, I'm fine with that.


So far in my testing, it seems that setting up a printer share on a Windows Server 2008 R2 file server with the Universal driver without NX, and then customizing the printer share's properties.... this can NOT transmit its properties to client machines, when distributed to the clients via group policy.

I had hoped this might work, to create multiple printer device installs for a single target device on the Windows server, then setting a department ID for each device install, and then sharing the server's printers. Alas the desktop machines seem to always install with the default driver settings.

[slimslob]

Re: Ricoh Universal PCL6: Quickly deploy user codes for many people?

Heh, what? the Ricoh NX driver tool costs money? Not free?

Since our copier services are contracted I'm checking to see if the company will get me the NX utility for free.

Also we don't HAVE to use user codes. That is just what was done previously at another location I had to set up. If there's another way to do this without the NV driver customization tool, I'm fine with that.


So far in my testing, it seems that setting up a printer share on a Windows Server 2008 R2 file server with the Universal driver without NX, and then customizing the printer share's properties.... this can NOT transmit its properties to client machines, when distributed to the clients via group policy.

I had hoped this might work, to create multiple printer device installs for a single target device on the Windows server, then setting a department ID for each device install, and then sharing the server's printers. Alas the desktop machines seem to always install with the default driver settings.

PDP-NX is free. You can download it from the Ricoh driver download page. Just scroll down past the list of Operating Systems. It is 197MB. The old Ricoh Print Driver Editor is only 23.3MB and can be downloaded from Softpedia.

[Dale Mahalko]

Re: Ricoh Universal PCL6: Quickly deploy user codes for many people?

Well, that is weird, searching for it. This first page I found says "Where to Buy" / "Request a quote":

Home > Software > Workflow > Printer Driver Packager NX
Printer Driver Packager NX

Yet here's a multimedia animation saying it's free:
Printer Driver Packager NX

And here it is for download:
Printer Driver Packager NX


.... I'll try that download. heh.

[Choro1dal]

Re: Ricoh Universal PCL6: Quickly deploy user codes for many people?

If you don't wish to use User Code or Basic Authentication you can always RTFM and set up LDAP or Windows Authentication, either of these methods would not require driver customisation or the expense of additional software.