Windows
Windows
Table of Contents
Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1
Key Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1
New Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-1
M205/M206
Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2
Print Methods Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-2
Using IPAssign . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-3
Configure IP Address Using ARP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-3
Communicating Across Routers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-5
Changing Workgroup Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-5
Changing Destination Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-6
General Workstation Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-7
Configuring TCP/IP On Your Windows Workstations . . . . . . . . . A-7
Windows 95
Workstation Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-8
Windows 95 NetBIOS Network Software Installation . . . . . . . . . A-8
Windows 95 IP Address and Netmask Configuration . . . . . . . . . . A-8
Windows 95 New Printer Setup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-8
MPS Workstation Setup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-9
Windows NT
Workstation Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-10
Windows NT LPR Network Software Installation . . . . . . . . . . . A-10
Windows NT NetBIOS Network Software Installation . . . . . . . A-11
Windows NT IP Address and Netmask Configuration . . . . . . . . A-11
Windows NT New Printer Setup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-11
MPS Workstation Setup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-12
Windows NT Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-14
Queue hangs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-14
Other Errors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-15
Windows for Workgroups Workstation Setup . . . . . . . . . A-15
Windows For Workgroups NetBIOS
Network Software Installation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-15
Windows for Workgroups IP Address
and Netmask Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-16
Windows for Workgroups New Printer Setup. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-16
Windows for Workgroups Troubleshooting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-17
Printer and Network Errors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-17
A-i
Appendix A - More on Windows
M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide
Key Features
• M205/M206 configuration through a manual ARP method - See
“Configure IP Address Using ARP” on page A-3
• communicating between different subnets - See “Communicating
Across Routers” on page A-5
• altering the workgroup the M205/M206 displays in - See “Changing
Workgroup Names” on page A-5
• changing the M205/M206 destination names used in Windows print
setups - See “Changing Destination Names” on page A-6
• setting up TCP/IP services and installing new printers in Windows 95
environments - See “Windows 95 Workstation Setup” on page A-8
• setting up TCP/IP services, installing new printers, and troubleshoot-
ing in Windows NT environments - See “Windows NT Workstation
Setup” on page A-10
• setting up TCP/IP services, installing new printers, and troubleshoot-
ing in Windows 3.x environments - See “Windows for Workgroups
Workstation Setup” on page A-15
New Features
• Microplex’s proprietary print solution for Windows - See “MPS
Workstation Setup” on page A-9 or page A-12
• Using IPAssign to assign a temporary IP address while configuring
the M205/M206 - See “Using IPAssign” on page A-3
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Appendix A - More on Windows
M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide
M205/M206 In a Windows environment, TCP/IP is the data transfer protocol used for
Configuration printing. This means that IP addresses and netmasks are required in your
Windows stations along with appropriate TCP/IP software. Once these
are set up, you will be able to detect the M205/M206 on your network.
There are also some optional settings that you may want to configure.
This section offers alternative methods for configuring your M205/M206
within a Windows environment and mentions some of the more common
optional settings available.
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M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide
Win95 Win95
IP Router
M205/M206
Win95
Printer
Using IPAssign
IPAssign is a TCP/IP configuration utility for Windows. We recommend
using it when you install our print servers in Windows environments. For
information about how to use the Microplex IPAssign software, please
refer to IPAssign on page 13 of the M205/M206 Print Server Quick
Installation and Configuration Guide.
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Appendix A - More on Windows
M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide
You should see an entry in the listed ARP table with the IP address
and Ethernet address specified in Step 3.
5. Try to “ping” this IP address to see if the M205/M206 can be seen on
your network.
At this point, you should be able to communicate with the M205/M206
from your local Windows station. This means the print server knows
about an IP address and subnet mask to abide by and has these settings in
its current memory. However, if the M205/M206 is power cycled, these
settings will disappear unless you store them into Flash. To do this, you
will need to:
1. Telnet to the print server. This will bring up a login screen:
telnet ipaddress
Note: If prompted for a “User ID” and password first, type in
“root” for the ID and press ENTER at the password
prompt since there’s no password by default.
2. You should now see a prompt displayed that has the M205/M206’s IP
address followed by a colon then root.
ipaddress:root>
3. Store the new IP address and netmask in the Flash (EEPROM) so the
M205/M206 can remember its configuration after it is rebooted. See
the Appendix G - More on Commands PDF file for additional infor-
mation on command syntax.
store net ifnum addr ipaddress
store net ifnum mask netmask.
Note: for the M205/M206, the ifnum will always be 1.
4. Verify the IP address and netmask.
list stored net
5. Log out of the telnet session with quit then reboot the M205/M206 by
powering the unit off then on. This will reset the unit and apply the
changes to the stored settings.
6. Test the equipment and configuration after installation is complete.
ping ipaddress
Once you have configured the unit, you will notice the STAT LED flash-
ing once per second. This means the M205/M206 is configured and
organizable on the network. At this point, you can now configure your
host.
Note: If you would like to communicate with the M205/M206 from
across routers, you will need to fill in an entry within the “Rout-
ing” section. Please see Communicating Across Routers for fur-
ther details.
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M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide
It’s easier to store one default entry rather than an entry per remote
host or network, though it is possible to do this. The syntax for this
method is:
store tcpip route add|del [host|net] IPaddress[/
mask] routerIPaddress ifnum [metric]
4. Logout of the Telnet session with quit. Then reboot the M205/M206
by powering the unit off and on.
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Appendix A - More on Windows
M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide
telnet ipaddress
Note: If prompted for a “User ID” and password first, type in
“root” for the ID and press ENTER at the password
prompt since there’s no password by default.
2. After logging in, you should now see a prompt displayed that has the
M205/M206’s IP address followed by a colon then root.
ipaddress:root>
3. Store the M205/M206’s Workgroup name for Microsoft Networks.
Microsoft Networks uses these names to organize groups of comput-
ers in Workgroups so that when browsing certain functions, users see
only computers belonging to a particular workgroup rather than all
the printers on the network.
store pserver smp workgrp workgroupname
The first field requires the IP address for the M205/M206 and the second
field must be filled in with an existing destination from the print server
(e.g. d1prn). Otherwise, the M205/M206 won’t accept this as a valid net-
work printer. Table 1 outlines the default destinations to choose from:
d1prn PRN
d2prn PRN
d3prn PRN
d4prn PRN
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M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide
IP Address Netmask
Host 1 192.1.1.1 255.255.255.0
M205/M206 192.1.1.2 255.255.255.0
Host 2 192.1.1.3 255.255.255.0
and so on...
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Appendix A - More on Windows
M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide
The following sections will detail how you configure TCP/IP settings on
the different Windows platforms.
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M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide
5. At the Browse for Printer dialogue box that displays, double click
on the appropriate workgroup containing the M205/M206. By
default, the print server falls under the workgroup, WORKGROUP.
6. Continue searching the network until you see the M205/M206’s
name, “M_xxxxxx”, where “xxxxxx” equals the last six digits of the
print server’s Ethernet address found on the bottom of the device.
(e.g. M_001C1A)
7. Once you see the M205/M206, double click on it to display a list of
four pre-defined destinations/queues to choose from.
8. Select a destination/queue for the printer; most likely you will use
d1prn.
9. Click OK once you have selected the destination.
10. Back at the network path window, select NEXT since this path should
now be filled in for you.
11. At the next window, select the appropriate printer manufacturer and
model of the printer attached to the M205/M206 and click on NEXT.
12. Fill in a name for this new network printer at the next window and
decide if you want this to be the default printer. This printer name can
be anything you’d like as long as it’s unique.
13. When prompted for a test page, select either Yes or No depending on
the state of the attached printer and click on FINISH.
Note: Windows may ask for a disk or CD-ROM to load the
appropriate printer driver to complete this new printer
setup.
There should now be a new printer icon within the ‘Printers” folder. This
new network printer relies on NetBIOS over TCP/IP as the underlying
protocol to print to the M205/M206.
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4. Once extracted to a directory, find the Setup file and double click on
this to load the InstallShield Wizard.
5. Answer the prompts throughout the wizard and select Yes to restart
your computer at the end.
6. Once your computer is rebooted, open the Settings:Printer folder to
view your existing printers.
Note: MPS will only work with an existing printer. If you don’t
have an existing printer that you can alter, create one now
(use any port settings you like since they will be changed
in the following steps).
7. Select the printer that you want to use with MPS and click on the right
mouse button to bring up a sub-menu.
8. Select Properties from this menu to display the current settings for
this printer.
9. Click on the Details tab to display the printer’s port settings.
10. Click on the ADD PORT button.
11. At the Add Port dialogue box that displays, click on the radio button
labeled Other.
12. Click on Microplex TCP/IP Printer Port from within this “Other”
list.
13. At the next dialogue box that displays, fill in the host name or IP
address of the M205/M206 in the first field.
14. Fill in a valid TCP port number on the M205/M206 in the second
field. Since there is only one port on this print server model, this will
always be 4400.
15. Click OK when done to return to the “Details” window. You should
now see something about “MPS Port” within the “Print to following
port:” field.
16. Click OK to close this printer’s properties window.
You now have a new network printer which relies on MPS for peer to peer
printing to a printer attached to the M205/M206.
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M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide
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Appendix A - More on Windows
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4. Define a name to represent this print setup and select the appropriate
driver for the printer that will be used in this M205/M206 print setup.
5. Under the Print To field, select Other...
6. Select LPR Port from the list that displays and click OK to bring up
a dialogue box similar to the one found in Figure 4.
Figure 4: Add LPR Compatible Printer Dialogue Box
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Appendix A - More on Windows
M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide
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Appendix A - More on Windows
M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide
Windows NT Troubleshooting
Queue hangs
Hanging print jobs or queues with Windows NT 3.5x and 4.0 usually
means there’s a problem at the host end. Most likely the printer and
print server are sitting on the network waiting for some form of activ-
ity but the host is not doing anything. This is very typical for any LPR
printing with Windows NT 3.5 and is possible with NT 3.51 and 4.0
as well.
The first thing to check is that the printer is in fact ready to go, mean-
ing it is willing to accept more data. The best way to do this is to the
use the lpstat command found on the print server. In fact, this com-
mand’s output will tell you where exactly the problem is. Therefore,
you’ll want to telnet into the unit when the hanging occurs and issue
lpstat. Search under the appropriate I/O port you are printing to and
see if you see any messages like:
• “printing data - blocked”
If you see this message with the seconds to the right of the
“blocked” message incrementing with every lpstat command you
issue, then the printer is not allowing the print server to pass data
to it. This will hang the print queue because the print server can-
not take more data in its output buffer until the “blocked” mes-
sage goes away (i.e. the printer sends the signal saying it’s okay
to send more data).
Anytime you see this message, the print server says it knows
about the print connection but it is waiting for the host to send
data. Currently the unit’s buffer has some room in it for more data
but the host is not co-operating. Therefore, you need to look to
the host to see why it is hung up. Look for errors that might lead
you in the right direction and definitely make sure the host can
still see the print server on the network using “ping” or “telnet”.
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M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide
Other Errors
In most cases, the errors are all related to the LPR bug with Microsoft
NT 3.5. That or an error comes up because the print server cannot
take more data for some reason (i.e. the printer is in an error state).
Windows has a real problem if it can’t send all of the print job data
right away so if it’s blocked from sending data, its spool file builds
and builds leading to an error like the ones mentioned. Be sure to
check the lpstat output on the print server to determine where the
problem is and if it’s host related, keep the LPR bug in mind.
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Appendix A - More on Windows
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This problem will occur with any external print server that does not
spool entire print jobs (which is the case for every print server on the
market today). The Print Manager likes to send the data it spools
immediately and if it can’t do this (because the printer is already busy
with another job) it will produce an error saying the network or
printer is busy.
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