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23 views18 pages

Windows

Uploaded by

caio.tedos
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 18

Appendix A - More on Windows

M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide

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

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Appendix A - More on Windows
M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide

Appendix A - More on Windows


Overview This file provides additional information for Windows environments. It
should be used if you cannot find what you need in the M205/M206
Quick Reference 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

A-1
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.

Print Methods Overview


The recommended print methods for a Windows environment is to have a
central host act as a spooler for jobs before they are sent to the print
server/printer (see Figure 1: Windows Integration). The reason for this is
that the central workstation has the ability to store the spooled jobs while
they are waiting to go the printer. The Windows Print Manager would
rather see the data get spooled centrally rather than having to hold on to
the data until the print server can accept it.
There are two print methods available with the M205/M206 in a Windows
environment:
LPR Berkeley’s Line Printer Protocol which uses TCP/IP to trans-
fer data to the print server’s built-in Line Printer Daemon
NetBIOS NetBIOS over TCP/IP is used to transfer data to the print
server. This is further broken down into “net use”,
Microsoft’s shared resource feature and Print Manager,
Microsoft’s management tool for printing.
Choosing one of these methods depends entirely on what is available with
your particular Windows software. Following is a list of what is supported
within each operating system:
Windows NT LPR and NetBIOS (also applies to Windows NT/AS)
Windows for NetBIOS
Workgroups
Windows 95 NetBIOS
Note: LPR printing is supported in the Windows 95 environment with
third party software.
Regardless of the operating system, you will have to complete these three
steps:
1. Identifying the M205/M206 on the network using TCP/IP as the
underlying protocol.
2. Configuring the M205/M206 with its mandatory TCP/IP settings (i.e.
IP address and subnet mask).
3. Configuring a new printer on the Windows station.

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M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide

Figure 1: Windows Integration

Win95 Win95

Win95 Win95 NT Server

IP Router

M205/M206
Win95

Printer

There are several configuration methods including: IPAssign, ARP,


BOOTP, and RARP. Instructions for each of these methods are described
in the following sections.

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.

Configure IP Address Using ARP


To configure the M205/M206 with its IP settings using a manual “arp”
command, you will need to:
1. Log on to a Windows station with TCP/IP loaded and located on the
same subnet as the M205/M206.
2. Find the Ethernet address for the M205/M206 on the bottom of the
device. It must be entered as part of this procedure.
3. Use the “arp” command to add an entry into the Windows station’s
ARP table for the M205/M206. This is the most common syntax for
this command:
Syntax:
arp -s ipaddress ethernetaddress

Example for Microsoft TCP stacks:


arp -s 192.75.11.9 00-80-72-07-00-60

This example specifies an M205/M206 using IP address 192.75.11.9


and Ethernet address 00:80:72:07:00:60. Please note in the example
above that a “-” must be placed after every second character in the
ethernet address.

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4. Check to see if the ARP entry was accepted.


arp -a

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

Communicating Across Routers


Since Windows environments rely on TCP/IP to communicate with the
M205/M206, crossing routers becomes an issue.
After following one of the M205/M206 configuration methods mentioned
within the Quick Reference Guide and within this file, you will most
likely only be able to communicate with the print server from the same
subnet. This means any hosts across a router will not be able to see your
M205/M206.
To allow the M205/M206 to communicate across a router, it is best to
store a default router/gateway within the print server so that any packets
destined for another subnet get forwarded to this router automatically.
The router (or series of routers) can then take over ensuring the packets
get to their final destination on another subnet on your network.
To configure a default router/gateway within the M205/M206, 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. To view the print servers current settings type list tcpip then con-
figure the M205/M206’s default router/gateway.
store tcpip route add|del default routerIPaddress
ifnum

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.

Changing Workgroup Names


Windows environments define groups of related computers as “work-
groups”. By default, the M205/M206 belongs to the workgroup called
“WORKGROUP”. However, you may want to change this to suit your
network better. To do this, you will need to:
1. Telnet to the print server. This will bring up a login screen:

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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

Note: if no workgroup name has been specified, the default


name is WORKGROUP (note: all capitals). This is a
standard Windows default.
4. Logout of the Telnet session with quit. Then reboot the M205/M206
by powering the unit off and on.

Changing Destination Names


When defining some printers within Windows environments, the M205/
M206 requires that you specify a pre-defined destination rather than any
name you’d like. For example, when creating a new printer under Win-
dows NT, you are faced with a screen similar to Figure 2.
Figure 2: Windows NT Print Setup Dialogue Box

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:

Table 1: M205/M206 Default Destinations

Destination Mapped I/O Port

d1prn PRN
d2prn PRN
d3prn PRN
d4prn PRN

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Appendix A - More on Windows
M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide

Each of these names can be changed to something more meaningful. 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. Change the current name of the destination to a new name as indi-
cated by newname. This newname must be nine characters or less or
else it will be truncated and these names are case sensitive.
Note: When you change a destination name, you may have to
reconfigure the host to reflect the change.
set dest destination name newname

set dest d1prn name laser

Note: When renaming a destination, you should keep the name


similar to the I/O port or printer it points to on the M205/
M206. For example, if you have an HP LaserJet IV off of
the PRN1 port, you may want to use a name like
“lsr4prn” for identification purposes.
4. Save these configurations to EEPROM. Enter:
save
5. Logout of the Telnet session with quit. Then reboot the M205/M206
by powering the unit off and on.

General Worksta- Configuring TCP/IP On Your Windows Workstations


tion Configuration Since TCP/IP is used as the data transfer protocol, IP addresses and net-
masks must be assigned to your Windows workstation(s) if you haven’t
already done so.
If you are not familiar with IP addresses and are sure that this network
will not go onto the Internet, the following are some sample settings to
use:

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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M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide

The following sections will detail how you configure TCP/IP settings on
the different Windows platforms.

Windows 95 Windows 95 NetBIOS Network Software Installation


Workstation Setup 1. Make sure that File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks is
installed in your Network setup. If not, you’ll need to perform the
following steps.
2. Open Settings:Control Panel folder.
3. Double click on the Network icon.
4. Select Add.
5. Select Service.
6. Select File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks from the
list.
7. Click OK.
8. Click OK again since this service will now show in the list to the left.

Windows 95 IP Address and Netmask Configuration


1. Open the Settings:Control Panel folder.
2. Double click on the Network icon.
3. Under the Installed Network Software list, select the entry dealing
with the TCP/IP Protocol.
4. Click on Configure.
5. A dialogue box will come up asking for network settings. Fill in the
IP address and netmask for this workstation and then click OK.

Windows 95 New Printer Setup


To configure a new printer on a Windows 95 station, you will need to:
1. Select Settings:Printers from the Start menu.
2. Double click on the Add Printer icon.
3. Select Network Printer from the second window of the Add Printer
wizard that loaded.
4. At the next window, click on BROWSE to help fill in the network
path of this printer.

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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.

MPS Workstation Setup


Microplex has created its own print utility called “Microplex Printing
Solution” or MPS. MPS relies upon TCP as the underlying printing proto-
col.
Note: MPS works with Windows 95 and Windows NT only.
To configure a new MPS printer on a Windows 95 or NT workstation, you
will need to:
1. Insert the Microplex diskette labeled MPS into the floppy drive.
2. Load up the File Manager or WinFile and look under the floppy drive
for an MPS ZIP file.
3. Double click on the MPS ZIP file to extract all files within it to a
directory on the Windows station.

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Appendix A - More on Windows
M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide

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.

Windows NT Windows NT LPR Network Software Installation


Workstation Setup 1. Go to the Main program group.
2. Double click on Control Panel.
3. Double click on Network.

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M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide

4. A dialogue box will appear showing your current network settings.


Under Installed Network Software, check to see if MS TCP/IP
Printing shows. If it doesn’t, you’ll need to perform the following
steps.
5. Select Add New Software.
6. Select TCP/IP Protocol and Components.
7. Click on Continue.
8. Select TCP/IP Printing Support from the TCP/IP components list
that displays. You may also want to select Connectivity Utilities.
9. Click on Continue.

Windows NT NetBIOS Network Software Installation


1. Go to the Main program group.
2. Double click on Control Panel.
3. Double click on Network.
4. A dialogue box will appear showing your current network setting.
Under Installed Network Software, check to see if NetBIOS
TCPIP->Streams Environment appears. If not, you’ll need to add
this new software by clicking on the Add New Software Button.

Windows NT IP Address and Netmask Configuration


1. Go to the Main program group.
2. Double click on Control Panel.
3. Double click on Network.
4. Select TCP/IP Protocol from Installed Network Software list.
5. Click on the Configure button.
6. A dialogue box will come up asking for network settings. Fill in the
IP address and netmask for this workstation and then click OK.

Windows NT New Printer Setup


To configure a new printer on a Windows NT station, you will need to:
1. Open the Control Panel.
2. Double click on Printers.
3. Select Create a Printer from the Printer menu to display the dia-
logue box in Figure 3.

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Figure 3: Create a Printer Dialogue Box

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

7. Type in the IP address or host name of the M205/M206 in the first


field.
8. Type in the name of a pre-defined destination/queue on the M205/
M206 in the second field.
Note: This name cannot be any name you’d like. It must be a
name of an existing destination/queue on the M205/
M206 and it must be lowercase by default. You will most
likely use “d1prn” for the prn port.
9. Click OK when done specifying these two fields.
You now have a new network printer which relies on the standard TCP/IP
print protocol, LPD, to print remotely to a printer off of the M205/M206.

MPS Workstation Setup


Microplex has created its own print utility called “Microplex Printing
Solution” or MPS. MPS relies upon TCP as the underlying printing proto-
col.

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M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide

Note: MPS works with Windows 95 and Windows NT only.


To configure a new MPS printer on a Windows 95 or NT workstation, you
will need to:
1. Insert the Microplex diskette labeled MPS into the floppy drive.
2. Load up the File Manager or WinFile and look under the floppy drive
for an MPS ZIP file.
3. Double click on the MPS ZIP file to extract all files within it to a
directory on the Windows station.
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 but-
ton 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

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).

Once the printer is cleared of any error situation and the


“blocked” message goes away, the print job should then go
through and the queue should move along properly.
However, if the printer is in fact on-line and ready to print but
you’re still seeing “blocked” messages, there may be a problem
with the communications between the print server’s I/O port and
the printer. Possibly the cable is faulty and the send signal isn’t
getting through to the print server or maybe the printer and print
server aren’t communicating properly. If this is the case, you need
to look closely at the settings on both the printer’s interface and
the print server’s I/O port interface. Another option is to try
another printer to see if it works any better.
• “printing data - waiting”

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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Appendix A - More on Windows
M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide

This “waiting” message is very common when using NT’s LPR


client with NT version 3.5. Microsoft has a known bug that hangs
up LPR printing periodically but this is supposed to be fixed with
NT v3.51 according to Microsoft’s on-line Knowledge Base.

Other Errors

Printing in a Windows NT environment can produce various errors


that are not always meaningful to the user. Some common ones are
“Windows cannot write to this file.” or “A network error has
occurred.”

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.

Windows for Work- Windows For Workgroups NetBIOS


groups Worksta- Network Software Installation
tion Setup 1. Make sure that you have the Microsoft TCP/IP-32 group in your
Program Manager. If you do not have the file, wfwt32.exe, you can
download it from:
• Compuserve in “MS Software Library”
• Microsoft’s FTP site, ftp.microsoft.com, under “Softlib/MSL-
FILES”
• Microplex’s FTP site, ftp.microplex.com, under “support/misc”
2. Once this is placed in a directory on you Windows for Workgoups
(WfW or Windows 3.1x) station, you will need to double click on the
Network Setup icon in the Network Group.
3. Click on Drivers.
4. Since the TCP/IP services will not yet be listed here, click on Add
Protocols.
5. Select Unlisted.
6. Specify the directory where the file exists. A new TCP/IP-32 pro-
gram group will then be created which will include FTP, Telnet, etc.
Note: At this point, you will be prompted with a dialogue box
asking for the TCP/IP network settings (i.e. IP address
and netmask) for this WfW station. Fill these in at this
time.

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Appendix A - More on Windows
M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide

Windows for Workgroups IP Address


and Netmask Configuration
Configuring an IP address and netmask for the WfW workstation is part
of the procedure involved in installing NetBIOS Network Software.

Windows for Workgroups New Printer Setup


If you are running Windows 3.1 stations on your network, you will need
to rely on either TCP/IP or IPX to print to the M205/M206. If IPX is used,
you will have a print queue defined on a Novell file server which your
Windows 3.1 stations will send their print jobs to. The M205/M206 will
then service this print queue as either a PSERVER or an RPRINTER.
Please see the Novell Configuration chapter within the M205/M206
Quick Reference Guide for further details.
If you want to rely on TCP/IP though, you will need a third party TCP
stack loaded onto your Windows station since TCP/IP support did not
automatically come with Windows until the introduction of Windows NT
and Windows 95.
You may also be running a third party stack if you decided not to use
Microsoft’s. Some common TCP stacks today are FTP Software’s OnNet,
NetManage’s Chameleon, and Frontier Technologies’ SuperTCP. In each
case, they allow your Windows 3.1 station to communicate with other
TCP/IP devices. This means you can send print jobs to the M205/M206 as
well.
The most common print method offered with Windows TCP stacks is
LPR/LPD, a multi-platform remote printing protocol used on everything
from PCs to mainframes. The LPR print setup is very simplistic involving
only two parameters:
1. M205/M206 IP address - the IP address or host name of the print
server you want to print to.
2. M205/M206 destination/queue - a pre-defined name on the print
server telling the device which I/O port to send the jobs to. You will
most likely use “d1prn” for the PRN port.
Note: This destination name is case sensitive and by default, all
names are lowercase.

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Appendix A - More on Windows
M205/M206 Installation and Configuration Guide

Windows for Workgroups Troubleshooting

Printer and Network Errors

Anytime you have several Windows for Workgroups (WfW) stations


printing directly to a print server, you may run into various printer and
network errors. The problem occurs when one station is sending a
print job to the printer and another station tries to send a print job to
the same printer at the same time. The print server tells the second
station to hold on to its data until it has finished with the first job.
However, the Print Manager on this second station doesn’t like this
and errors out. This requires that the user on the second station resub-
mit their job when the printer is clear again.

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.

The best solution to this problem is to then have a central spooling


station (like an NT server) which allows each WfW station to spool
the print job immediately to the server’s hard drive. The NT server
then can sit with the print job until the print server/printer can take it.
The print server then only deals with one station and it goes through
each job as it gets queued up.
Note: It is not possible to set up a WfW station as the central
spooling device since you cannot share a printer on the
network that is already being shared. It is because a “net
use” connection is used between this central station and
the print server that causes the problem. However, a cen-
tral NT station can offer a shared network printer to these
WfW stations.

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