CoNetrix

Blog: printing

I am doing an SBS 2008 install at a customer and have run into the whole x86 / x64 print driver problem. The SBS box is x64 and that is where I wanted to install the network printers. The terminal server is x86. I did some research on the driver compatibility and universal printer drivers and decided for simplicity sake to use the HP universal print driver. I got everything installed, but during testing a couple of the printers (specifically the HP 4050 series LaserJet), I had a very weird problem come up. Every time I printed something, the printer would display “waiting on manual feed tray” as if the job was specifically targeting that tray. Even when I statically set the default tray in the driver config, it would try to pull from the manual feed tray….ahh the joy of printers. Well, after about an hour of troubleshooting, I tried changing what seemed like a very unrelated setting. [more]

Notice the Paper type is unspecified. By default that is set to "HP Tough Paper" on this model of printer. If that setting is not changed, it defaults back to the manual feed tray NO MATTER WHAT. Does the gremlin in the printer know what type of paper is loaded…well, apparently so. Do yourself an favor and set it to “Unspecified”.

Networking, SBS 2008, drivers, SBS, HP, printing,
 

While working with Windows XP users, sometimes you need to add a local printer to their PC but they don’t have permissions to add a local printer.  Usually to get around something like this in the control panel, we hold shift and right click the icon to bring up a “Run as..” option where we can use admin credentials to get the task done.  However, you will not be able to “Run as..” for adding a printer in Windows XP unless you modify the folder view. 

From within the printers and faxes window, go to tools, options, and select “Use Windows classic folders.”  You will now see an icon for “Add Printer” that you can shift + right click on to add a printer with admin credentials.

Networking, Windows XP, printing,
 

We could not get any of the HP 4345’s to update their firmware. The first time that we would update the firmware on one of the printers it would look like it worked but the firmware revision number did not increment. All sequential attempts in updating the firmware would result in errors within the printer’s event log.

Solution: After trying many different things with many different HP technicians even replacing the formatter boards on the printers all together we found a solution. [more]We had to remove the third party BAR DIMM card that was installed on the printer before updating the firmware. My best guess is that it was actually trying to push the updated firmware file onto the BAR DIMM instead of the HD on the printer and thus was not able to read it.

Networking, printing,
 

Printing from an AS400 causes a prompt on the printer display to select an available tray.  This is a known problem on the following models HP LJ 4250, HP LJ 9050, and HP M3035 printers.  This is caused by the limited driver selection on AS400. Printing directed through this server directs print to Tray 1. Since Tray 1 is not loaded, the printer prompts for user intervention to redirect print to loaded tray.  To fix this, you can modify printer settings to automatically try another tray, preventing prompt and user intervention during print. [more]

Steps for modification:

  1. From web interface, select settings Tab
  2. Browse to the following Menu: Configure Device>System Setup> Tray Behavior
  3. Set Use Requested Tray to First (default is Exclusively). This will allow print coming to tray one to be redirected to the next available tray without user interaction.

NOTE: The actual menu options may be different for different models. The menu names above were taken from the 9050 model.

General, AS400, printing,
 

Make sure that you plug the printer in while the thin client is turned off. After plugging it in boot up the thin client. Log in and go to install a printer like normal. You should see a printer port named LPT2, this is the one that you want to select since it is what was mapped to that USB port. If you plugged in the printer while the thin client was turned on you have to turn it off and switch the printer to another USB port.

Networking, thin client, printing,
 

With new models of HP printers we've noticed problems with AS400's printing directly to tray 1.  If the printer will be used as an AS400 printer, make the following changes to allow for platform print being sent to tray 1.

  1. From the printer's web interface, select the settings tab
  2. Browse to the following Menu: Configure Device -> System Setup -> Tray Behavior
  3. Set Use Requested Tray to First (default is Exclusively). This will allow print coming to tray one to be redirected to the next available tray without user interaction.
General, printing,