Four HP Printer Problems Associated with LAN Manager (99710)
This article was previously published under Q99710
SUMMARY
This article discusses four problems encountered with Hewlett Packard
token ring printers running off of LAN Manager 2.1 servers. Details on
the network configuration that reported the problems are found below.
MORE INFORMATION
The network reporting these problems contained: 9 LAN Manager 2.1 file
servers with 6 HP token ring printers attached to each server. The
servers were running HPFS, Irmatrak and IBM token ring cards running
NetBEUI. The HPs were running the HP-jet direct cards at 4 MB/sec. The
printers were physically connected to the server through 2 Synoptics
concentrators and a Cisco router.
PROBLEM 1
SYMPTOMS
No more than six printers are allowed per LAN Manager server.
The HP3Si printers come up with Error 40 on them for no apparent
reason. If you reset, the server connection is re-established. HP3s
and HP3Ds do not get an Error 40, but they stop printing and have to
be turned off and back on to re-establish the connection.
The HP setup program on the server displays some of the already
connected printers, not just the new (unconnected) printers, as it
should. This display changes from hour to hour.
You cannot delete an in-progress print job. If a printer stops printing
a job, you cannot restart it because of the stuck print job. You can
delete the print queue and recreate it, but sometimes a queue does not
delete even after rebooting the server 2-3 times.
CAUSE
This is a thread limitation problem related to OS/2 and to HPREDIR,
which through design use many threads per printer.
This probably indicates a loss of the logical connection between the
server and the printer.
HP printers should broadcast availability only when they are NOT
connected to a server. NOTE: only one server can connect to a
printer with the OS/2 HPREDIR.EXE (this is not true for Windows NT
and Windows for Workgroups). The appearance of the printer's NIC
address might indicate that the printer cannot determine that the
server is still out there.
A software problem with PMSPL.DLL in LAN Manager 2.1, fixed in versions
2.1a and 2.2. NOTE: JetDirect is no longer supported by HP. SDI (Simple Device Installation) is now used to install network printers. For more information on this, see:
RESOLUTION
The latest version of HP Jet Direct software (A.00.03) supports seven
printers, due to a new architecture of HPREDIR.EXE. The seven printer
limit is still due to the OS/2 thread limit mentioned above.
PROBLEM 2
Consult HP about the Error 40.
PROBLEM 3
As implied by the CAUSE of the problem, this usually means that no
server has a connection to the printer. Check the HP Setup program
for the server that should have the connection to see if the connection
has been lost. If it has not been lost and you suspect problems, contact
HP Technical Support. In any case, do not establish two LAN Manager
servers that use the same physical HP Printer. When a LAN Manager server
(using the OS/2 HPREDIR.EXE) connects to the HP printer, it establishes
a "permanent" connection.
Under Windows NT and Windows for Workgroups, it is possible to connect
only for the duration of a print job. Although this allows multiple
servers to use the same physical printer, it adds complexity to your
printing solution and Microsoft does not recommend it.
PROBLEM 4
Improved by a software fix. Sometimes, a print job that still will not
cancel with the new PMSPL.DLL from LAN Manager 2.1a and 2.2 can be
canceled if HPREDIR.EXE is terminated gracefully.
It's a good idea to run the HPREDIR in STARTUP.CMD instead of CONFIG.SYS.
Here is the procedure:
- Remark out the RUN=C:\HPNETPRN\HPREDIR.EXE at the bottom of your
CONFIG.SYS.
- Add START C:\HPNETPRN\HPREDIR.EXE to STARTUP.CMD (maybe just before
starting the server).
This has two advantages:
- The HPREDIR.EXE program generates very useful information to STDOUT
that is never seen when it is started as a detached process (as
RUN=C:\HPNETPRN\HPREDIR.EXE), but is viewable in the new OS/2
window that is created to run HPREDIR when you START HPREDIR.
- It lets you choose either of two methods to stop the HPREDIR--the
fast method or the preferred method.
Method #1--FAST:
You can CTRL+C the HPREDIR.EXE and stop it (sometimes freeing PRINT
MANAGER to delete a print job--this was the only mechanism available
before the PMSPL.DLL fix), then do another START
C:\HPNETPRN\HPREDIR.EXE to reconnect the server to the printer.
This has the disadvantage of terminating HPREDIR.EXE without
allowing it a chance to gracefully shut down.
Method #2--PREFERRED:
HP has included a mechanism in their INSTALL program to stop
HPREDIR if it happens to be running. You can invoke this mechanism
(without doing an actual re-installation).
- Start the program C:\HPNETPRN\INSTALL.EXE.
- Choose a default language of your choice (which one is not
important).
- Hit ENTER until the dialog appears that asks you where
you wish to install the software (defaults to C:\HPNETPRN).
- At this dialog, press ESC (this should drop you to a
C:\ prompt).
- At this point, HPREDIR.EXE has received a KILL REDIR
message from the INSTALL program and has terminated
gracefully.
This method of terminating HPREDIR.EXE also works when HPREDIR is
running as a detached process from CONFIG.SYS.
| Modification Type: |
Major |
Last Reviewed: |
7/13/2006 |
| Keywords: |
kbnetwork KB99710 |
|