Intersvr Does Not List Available COM Ports for Printing (103387)



The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.0
  • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.2
  • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.21
  • Microsoft MS-DOS operating system 6.22

This article was previously published under Q103387

SYMPTOMS

Intersvr does not list the COM port(s) available for remote printing from the Interlnk client.

WORKAROUND

If you are printing remotely from the client to the Intersvr's COM1 port (using LPT1 as the data channel), you must perform the following steps before invoking INTERSVR and INTERLNK:

  1. You MUST have an extra LPT port on the server.
  2. Set COM1 parameters on the server at the command prompt. For example

    c:\>mode com1: <b>,<p>,<d>,<s>

    where <b> is the bit rate (for example, 9600 bits per second [BPS]), <p> is the parity (for example, none), <d> is the data bits value (for example, 8), and <s> is the stop bits value (for example, 1).
  3. Redirect the open Intersvr LPT2 port (not being used as channel) to COM1 by typing the following at the server's (Intersvr) command prompt:

    c:\>mode lpt2:=com1:

  4. Start up Interlnk (with Intersvr invoked) and print to the Intersvr's redirected LPT2 port to print on Intersvr's COM1 port.
NOTE: The above steps also apply to using a null modem cable as the data channel and printing to the Intersvr's physical COM2 port. Your server must have two COM ports and the LPT1 port must be redirected to the COM2 port for printing.

MORE INFORMATION

Many users want to use a customized parallel cable as a data access channel between the client and server because it transfers at a rate of 8 bits compared to customized serial null modem cable's rate of 1 bit.

You can print to another LPT port (LPT2) if you have two physical LPT ports on the server (Intersvr), or you can print to another COM port on the server. The Intersvr's user interface, however, only lists the LPT ports available for printing.

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:11/16/1999
Keywords:KB103387