Print Jobs May Stop Responding and Event ID 2004 May Be Displayed (249017)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Terminal Server Edition SP4
  • Microsoft Windows Base Terminal Server
This article was previously published under Q249017

SYMPTOMS

Print jobs may stop responding (hang) in the print queue for an extended period of time. In addition, Event ID 2004 may be displayed in the application log.

CAUSE

Line printer remote (LPR) printing in Terminal Server Edition (Service Pack 3 and Service Pack 4) defaults to TCP ports 512-1023. Unless the target line printer daemon (LPD) server supports using this non-RFC 1179 specified port range, print jobs do not spool to the LPD server unless the randomly selected port does not work within the supported LPD port range (typically, 721-731 for RFC 1179).

RESOLUTION

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

152734 How to Obtain the Latest Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack

STATUS

This behavior is fixed in Windows NT Server 4.0, Terminal Server Edition, Service Pack 5.

MORE INFORMATION

LPR printing in Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 2 (SP2) and earlier used TCP ports 512-1023 by default. Windows NT 4.0 Service Pack 3 (SP3) and later uses TCP ports 721-731 for TCP/IP printing by default. This allows the TCP/IP printing service to use the same port range specified in the "3.1 Message Formats" section of RFC 1179.

In addition, there are two registry entries you can use to configure LPR in SP3, to enable the use of TCP port 1024 and greater. For additional information about setting LPR printers so they are RFC compliant, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

141708 Printing to LPD Printer Is Slow or Fails with Windows NT

For additional information about updated TCP/IP printing options, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

179156 Updated TCP/IP Printing Options for Windows NT 4.0 SP3 and Later

Modification Type:MajorLast Reviewed:6/28/2004
Keywords:kbbug kbfix kbprint KB249017
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