Cannot Browse Printers When You Are Trying to Print or Browse Printer Queues (322953)


The information in this article applies to:

  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Server
  • Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server
This article was previously published under Q322953

SYMPTOMS

When you try to browse the printer list from your print server, the browse list may timeout and may not display any printers. Any request to print to the server over the network may not work. However, you can print from the server. A Network Monitor trace of a client to the server may show STATUS_PIPE_NOT_AVAILABLE (0xC00000AC) errors that are returned from the CreateFile call to the print server.

CAUSE

This problem may occur on a busy server with slow connections to other computers. Under these conditions, the spooler service on the server may run out of RPC threads to handle the requests.

RESOLUTION

Service Pack Information

To resolve this problem, obtain the latest service pack for Microsoft Windows 2000. For additional information, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

260910 How to Obtain the Latest Windows 2000 Service Pack

Hotfix Information

A supported fix is now available from Microsoft, but it is only intended to correct the problem that is described in this article. Apply it only to computers that are experiencing this specific problem. This fix may receive additional testing. Therefore, if you are not severely affected by this problem, Microsoft recommends that you wait for the next Windows 2000 service pack that contains this hotfix.

To resolve this problem immediately, contact Microsoft Product Support Services to obtain the fix. For a complete list of Microsoft Product Support Services phone numbers and information about support costs, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://support.microsoft.com/contactus/?ws=support

NOTE: In special cases, charges that are ordinarily incurred for support calls may be canceled if a Microsoft Support Professional determines that a specific update will resolve your problem. The typical support costs will apply to additional support questions and issues that do not qualify for the specific update in question.

The English version of this fix should have the following file attributes or later:
   Date         Time   Version        Size     File name
   ------------------------------------------------------
   13-Jun-2002  09:17  5.0.2195.5853  940,304  Ole32.dll
   13-Jun-2002  09:17  5.0.2195.5883  429,328  Rpcrt4.dll
   13-Jun-2002  09:17  5.0.2195.5023  184,592  Rpcss.dll

STATUS

Microsoft has confirmed that this is a problem in the Microsoft products that are listed at the beginning of this article. This problem was first corrected in Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4.

MORE INFORMATION

For additional information about how to obtain a hotfix for Windows 2000 Datacenter Server, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

265173 The Datacenter Program and Windows 2000 Datacenter Server Product

For additional information about how to install multiple hotfixes with only one reboot, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

296861 Use QChain.exe to Install Multiple Hotfixes with One Reboot

Sample Output From a Network Monitor Trace

Frame  Time  Src MAC Addr  Dst MAC Addr  Protocol  Description  Src Other Addr  Dst Other Addr  Type Other Addr

99  2.031276  0002A5FBE364  0002A5F03E78  SMB  C NT create & X, File = \spoolss  10.61.1.99  10.61.1.199   
+ Frame: Base frame properties
+ ETHERNET: ETYPE = 0x0800 : Protocol = IP:  DOD Internet Protocol
+ IP: ID = 0x8EF; Proto = TCP; Len: 146
+ TCP: .AP..., len:  106, seq: 804524982-804525088, ack:2648823816, win:17520, src: 2682  dst:  139 (NBT Session) 
+ NBT: SS: Session Message, Len: 102
+ SMB: C NT create & X, File = \spoolss

*************************************************************************************************************************************************************
100  2.031276  0002A5F03E78  0002A5FBE364  SMB  R NT create & X - NT error, System, Error, Code = (172) STATUS_PIPE_NOT_AVAILABLE  10.61.1.199  10.61.1.99   
+ Frame: Base frame properties
+ ETHERNET: ETYPE = 0x0800 : Protocol = IP:  DOD Internet Protocol
+ IP: ID = 0x91E7; Proto = TCP; Len: 79
+ TCP: .AP..., len:   39, seq:2648823816-2648823855, ack: 804525088, win:16384, src:  139 (NBT Session)  dst: 2682 
+ NBT: SS: Session Message, Len: 35
+ SMB: R NT create & X - NT error, System, Error, Code = (172) STATUS_PIPE_NOT_AVAILABLE

***********************************************************************************************************************
101  2.031276  0002A5FBE364  0002A5F03E78  SMB  C transact WaitNmPipe, File = \PIPE\spoolss  10.61.1.99  10.61.1.199   
+ Frame: Base frame properties
+ ETHERNET: ETYPE = 0x0800 : Protocol = IP:  DOD Internet Protocol
+ IP: ID = 0x8F0; Proto = TCP; Len: 140
+ TCP: .AP..., len:  100, seq: 804525088-804525188, ack:2648823855, win:17481, src: 2682  dst:  139 (NBT Session) 
+ NBT: SS: Session Message, Len: 96
+ SMB: C transact WaitNmPipe, File = \PIPE\spoolss

********************************************************************************************************************************************************************
102  2.171903  0002A5F03E78  0002A5FBE364  TCP  .A...., len:    0, seq:2648823855-2648823855, ack: 804525188, win:16284, src:  139 (NBT S 10.61.1.199  10.61.1.99   
+ Frame: Base frame properties
+ ETHERNET: ETYPE = 0x0800 : Protocol = IP:  DOD Internet Protocol
+ IP: ID = 0x91F3; Proto = TCP; Len: 40
+ TCP: .A...., len:    0, seq:2648823855-2648823855, ack: 804525188, win:16284, src:  139 (NBT Session)  dst: 2682 

***********************************************************************************************
103  2.265654  000216747560  *BROADCAST  ARP_RARP  ARP: Request, Target IP: 10.61.9.99         
+ Frame: Base frame properties
+ ETHERNET: ETYPE = 0x0806 : Protocol = ARP:  Address Resolution Protocol
+ ARP_RARP: ARP: Request, Target IP: 10.61.9.99

************************************************************************************************************************************************
104  2.281280  0002A5F03E78  0002A5FBE364  SMB  R transact - NT error, System, Error, Code = (181) STATUS_IO_TIMEOUT  10.61.1.199  10.61.1.99   
+ Frame: Base frame properties
+ ETHERNET: ETYPE = 0x0800 : Protocol = IP:  DOD Internet Protocol
+ IP: ID = 0x9203; Proto = TCP; Len: 79
+ TCP: .AP..., len:   39, seq:2648823855-2648823894, ack: 804525188, win:16284, src:  139 (NBT Session)  dst: 2682 
+ NBT: SS: Session Message, Len: 35
+ SMB: R transact - NT error, System, Error, Code = (181) STATUS_IO_TIMEOUT
Modification Type:MinorLast Reviewed:10/11/2005
Keywords:kbHotfixServer kbQFE kbnetwork kbWin2kSP4fix kbbug kbenv kbfix kbprint kbWin2000preSP4Fix KB322953
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