Can't print to ANY Printer

[blackcat4866]

Re: Can't print to ANY Printer

You can get LPR Jar from GCC printers:
GCC File Send Utility

I've used it from a number of different laptops and PC's. It will also run from a USB stick. I've never had an issue with anti-virus. =^..^=

[rthonpm]

Re: Can't print to ANY Printer

SNMP can give you the status of a device, and some management information. Your overall interaction with the device is fairly limited with it. Many networks actually block it because of the insecure nature of the older versions of it. WSD has a little more security thrown into it, and also gives you the ability to interact with the device without the overhead of administrative tasks. Think of it this way: you want to be able to scan a document, not tell how much toner is left, WSD lets you do the former, SNMP the latter.

[allan]

Re: Can't print to ANY Printer

What the heck is a WSD driver? I thought it was a service/port? Does it use the XPS language?

Thanks,

Its a way for windows to discover and install network devices by using a standard Application Programing Interface (API). so the devices would respond in a manner that windows could automatically add the devices for use with only an IP address.

The driver itself stays a PS or PCL driver but the crappy version shipped with windows.

I dont understand it completely maybe someone could shed some light on this i was thinking that SNMP was supposed to do this.

BC where can i get a link to get that LPR utility i tried but got frustrated with shady installers and my antivirus going wild.

[rthonpm]

Re: Can't print to ANY Printer

The first experience I had with LPR was with a couple of LD015's shared on a Server 2003 box: no matter what the admin did, the only way we could get it to print was to set LPR on them. Ever since then, I've always recommended that my customers make the change to LPR. On new print servers I also recommend that the LPD service be installed and printers shared using a true LPR port instead of TCP/IP. This is especially helpful in mixed (Windows/Mac, Windows/Linux) environments since the Unix style machines can access the server queue with a little more ease. Printing also seems a little faster overall with it, and I've had much fewer problems.

As to the Windows 8.1 issue, I've got no idea unless an update hosed something in the print spooler, or is blocking some kind of communication on ports 9100 or 10001, while LPR's 515 is still open.

[sandmanmac]

Re: Can't print to ANY Printer

Hi, Sandman,

I just LPRed the test file to a Ricoh MP C4503, and it printed just fine.

It says: "TESTING!!!!" in the upper left corner.

That indicates that a number of things are working correctly.

Still wonderin' just why I can't get the PageTech tools to play nice with it...

Thanks.

Thanks Ken.
That's it!
But I'm still not understanding how to print the actual text from the .prn file, or what much of the info within it actually means . It's just not my Forte.
I do appreciate all your hard work though.
What's very strange to me, and I'm curious to know if there's a specific reason that can be explained in simple terms, is why my laptop / OS just decided over night, that it would no longer process jobs to any printer with RAW - only LPR
Until 2 days ago, I had NEVER used LPR, and never had an issue at my office or anywhere else - except for the one single laptop in an office that I referred to earlier in the thread, and that's now printing properly too!
Should I expect to start hearing more from clients running windows 8.1 that can't print ??

[KenB]

Re: Can't print to ANY Printer

Hi, Sandman,

I just LPRed the test file to a Ricoh MP C4503, and it printed just fine.

It says: "TESTING!!!!" in the upper left corner.

That indicates that a number of things are working correctly.

Still wonderin' just why I can't get the PageTech tools to play nice with it...

Thanks.

[blackcat4866]

Re: Can't print to ANY Printer

One of my larger customer did have Java blocked for a period of time, so that tool wasn't of much use there. The good news is that their IT policies, while occasionally very strict, changed constantly. So no policy was permanent, and very soon opened back up. =^..^=

[KenB]

Re: Can't print to ANY Printer

Thanks for the credit, but alas, I was thinking of something else, also.

LPR Jar is a Java based free utility that will send any .txt or .prn file to any IP address you select. Nothing to do with the print driver. It's an alternate path, if you want to think of it that way. It works similarly to the command prompt function KenB described.

Also glad you got it figured out. =^..^=

Thanks for for the tip on LPR Jar!

Standard Windoze LPR in not part of a default Windows server or workstation installation.

While easy enough to add, it could be an issue when attempting to do so where is is not allowed, due to group policy or the like.

Since JAR LPR does not actually install anything, it avoids the issue. (It does, of course, still require Java to operate).

i personally have this very problem. While I am free to do as I wish (at least mostly, anyway) with my company issued notebook, I do quite a bit of work for a very large customer who has issued me a second notebook to work on their network (They don't allow any other PCs on the domain.). That PC has some serious limitations, and adding additional components (such as LPR) is one of them.

I plan lane on using JAR LPR in their environment this week, in fact.

Thanks again.

[ApeosMan]

Re: Can't print to ANY Printer

I have been trying to get the field techs to disable WSD on machines that went out before I got educated about those problems, to no avail; hence the multiple calls for dropping off line, the rendering, etc.

Yup very frustrating most people just don't listen. I've given so much connectivity advise to copier techs only for them to ignore or forget, which in turn can cause issues and then my time is wasted.

The best approach is to disable WSD in the warehouse. I also don't see the point to WSD as it can be more trouble than it's worth, but printer manufactures have to add it for marketing reasons.....

[ZOOTECH]

Re: Can't print to ANY Printer

I also disable WSD at setup before it goes to the customer. I have been trying to get the field techs to disable WSD on machines that went out before I got educated about those problems, to no avail; hence the multiple calls for dropping off line, the rendering, etc.

[ApeosMan]

Re: Can't print to ANY Printer

Are you using WSD driver? I've had various problems with the WSD drivers, and generally select PCL6 or PS3. =^..^=

What the heck is a WSD driver? I thought it was a service/port? Does it use the XPS language?

Thanks,

[ApeosMan]

Re: Can't print to ANY Printer

Windows 8 has a new port ( can't remember the exact name WSD or something to that effect)

Just a FYI but the WSD printer port has been around since Windows Vista, though when Vista was released not many printer manufacturers had the option available on their devices.

I find WSD Print to be flakey and I always disable it and it often downloads the wrong printer driver as well.

[blackcat4866]

Re: Can't print to ANY Printer

Thanks for the credit, but alas, I was thinking of something else, also.

LPR Jar is a Java based free utility that will send any .txt or .prn file to any IP address you select. Nothing to do with the print driver. It's an alternate path, if you want to think of it that way. It works similarly to the command prompt function KenB described.

Also glad you got it figured out. =^..^=

[KenB]

Re: Can't print to ANY Printer

Glad it's working for you.

You can LPR a .prn file, as well, from a command prompt, without using a print driver. That was my intention to try the sample file. I use this as a method to test quite often.

It would go: "LPR -S 192.168.1 100 -P lp c:\test.prn -o 1" (fill in the correct IP address and path to the file)

The S and P must be in caps, and the o in lower case.

The "-o 1" sets the binary option. Not always required.

The same will also work with PDF files if the machine has PostScript. The printer does not care about the file extension, just the actual content of the file.

I'm still wondering why the test file did not render to screen when using the PageTech tools.

[allan]

Re: Can't print to ANY Printer

WSD - Web Service for Devices. API for discovering capabilities of devices. Like the fact that it adds the scanner for u. API on devices is the new way to integrate the equipment in ways not thought of before.