Cant add jetdirect printer

[Annelise Wilken]

I have an rx2600 11:23 server and have installed jetdirect version E.10.34 I am unable to install a HP laserjet 2600 printer - it is on the network and is pingable, it is correctly entered in the hosts file, however when trying to add the printer through jetdirect I receive the error message:

!! HPL4 is NOT an acceptable name!!
Either it is NOT a network printer or this host is denied access
to it!

I have performed a selftest print from the printer and the IP address and subnet mask etc are correct - I can also print to this printer through windows PC's so the netowrk setting is correct, however I can't set it up on my HP server. I have done a cold reset and set up the IP address again but it still won't add, does anyone have any ideas? The jetdirect card is internal to the printer.


Many thanks.

[Victor BERRIDGE]

Hi,
Printing so Win pc is not a proof of correct settings Win/Novell by default dont need IP or can be configured without, using other protocols...
Did you try form your server do telnet your printer?
e.g.
$ telnet lpvbe
Trying...
Connected to lpvbe.
Escape character is '^]'.

Please type [Return] two times, to initialize telnet configuration
For HELP type "?"
> ?

To Change/Configure Parameters Enter:
Parameter-name: value

Parameter-name Type of value
ip: IP-address in dotted notation
subnet-mask: address in dotted notation
default-gw: address in dotted notation
syslog-svr: address in dotted notation
idle-timeout: seconds in integers
set-cmnty-name: alpha-numeric string (32 chars max)
host-name: alpha-numeric string (upper case only, 32 chars max)
dhcp-config: 0 to disable, 1 to enable
novell: 0 to disable, 1 to enable
dlc-llc: 0 to disable, 1 to enable
ethertalk: 0 to disable, 1 to enable
banner: 0 to disable, 1 to enable

Type passwd to change the password.

Type "?" for HELP, "/" for current settings or "quit" to save-and-exit.
Or type "exit" to exit without saving configuration parameter entries
> Local flow control off
Connection closed by foreign host.


All the best
Victor

[Annelise Wilken]

I tried to telnet to the printer but I got a connection refused message - not sure what to do about that, any ideas??

[Victor BERRIDGE]

Well I suppose you now have put the finger on your issue...
The example I showed is my personal printer, I use it to test and al sorts so it is not configured by the printing team...
I configured it pure IP, no novell no appletalk and DLC/LLC desactivated, so to print from my PC I have to configure my printer as IP using jetdirect, this to avoid all conflicts with other protocols...

Now I would go and see the printer and ptrint out its setup/configuration again and double check, You will also notice there is a security menu, has someone activated the password facility? or locked the command panel?


Good luck
Victor

[Bill Hassell]

Since telnet is being refused, there are several possibile problems. The first is with routing. If the LJ2600 is on another subnet, then telnet (and all TCP/IP printing) will fail if there is an invalid subnet mask *and/or* no router configured in the printer. Windows (using the JetDirect software) will often use non-TCP/IP connections. Another is that the router between the printer and your HP-UX box is blocking port 9100 (standard for JetDirect TCP/IP printing). And as mentiuoned, the JetDirect card may not have TCP/IP protocol enabled (there are 4 protocols on the card).

The response "not a network printer" is the standard response for a failure to contact the JetDirect printer using port 9100. You may need your network departmentg to run Ethereal to trace communications from the HP-UX box to the JetDirect card.

[John Waller]

If I remember correctly, not all jetdirects are compatible with HP-UX. Some of the cheaper external models do not work with jetadmin and you have to set them up as a remote printer. Use SAM/Printers & Plotters/ LP spooler and add a remote printer. For the server specify HPL4, for the remote queue name I normally specify the same name as the printer will be called on the HPUX queue. I normally leave the "Remote Printer is on a BSD System" un-checked.
This method alows basic printing but you may loose some of the advance functions.

[Annelise Wilken]

Thanks, I did try adding it as a remote printer but it just showed as being down. I've got someone looking at the printer configuration (as I'm not where the printer is) and I think if I can solve the telnet problem I can sort out the rest. Many thanks though.

[Geoff Wild]

Does snmp work?

hpnpadmin -v hpl4

Try adding like so:

addqueue -i 9998 -q HPL4 -h hpl4.yourdomain.com

Rgds...Geoff

[Annelise Wilken]

I've had the customer check all of the settings on the printer itself and it turns out that the network card in the printer is not a jetdirect card, it is a host based netwrok card for printing over IP from windows - does this mean I can't configure it to print to the unix server because its a host based printer?

[Geoff Wild]

You will need software from the company that makes the network card in order to add it as a network printer - IE - I have a couple like Xerox and Label Printers (Lexprt)...

Who is the manufacturer of the network card?

Rgds...Geoff

[Geoff Wild]

Sorry - do you mean the printer is attached to a Windows pc?

If yes, then you can set the printer up as a remote queue to that Windows machine...


Use lpadmin (or sam)

Example:

lpadmin -v/dev/null -mrmodel -pmvs2 -ormcal1mvs.mydomain.net -orplcldup

-p

-orm

-orp

Rgds...Geoff

[rmueller58]

hppi -s can get you into the interface
or
try it from the command line

do a MAN on addqueue

addqueue -i PTYPE -h -q -b off

I've have problems with NON HP printers using this method, but if SNMP is active on the printer it works like a charm with HP printers..

[Bill Hassell · Accepted solution]

Some basics:

HPPI (and the ealier JetAdmin) are completely proprietary, so if the printer does not have an HP JetDirect card installed (or uses an JetDirect external box) then hppi will be of now use.

(very) early versions of the JetDirect cards (called XIO cards) hasd only Novell proptocol. Later versions were added but only one protocol per card and were not downloadable for updates). Early multi-protocol cards did not have the lpr/lpd remote printing capability. About the time lpd/lpr was added, the network cards added a web server capability for configuration. My guess is that this is a standard HP JetDirect LAN card.

But the basic problem is that this is a "host-based" printer. It has *NO* printer language at all--no PCL, no Postscript, nothing. It only prints the dots sent to it by the computer. To put this in perspective, if you simply want to print the letter A, you must first find a font, then scale it to the desired point size, then calculate the dot position on the page, then output each line of dots in the desired color(s). As you might expect, this is an enormous program to handle colors, shading, graphics, etc, layout the entire page in computer memory, then output one dot row at a time.

So this printer is compatible only with Windows (ME,2K,XP,98SE,2003server) and *NOTHING* else. It will never work with WinNT, HP-UX, Linux, Mac, nothing else. The good news is that host-based printers are cheaper because they have very little memory and no formatter electronics. The bad news news is that they look like other printers that do have a formatter (ASCII, PCL, Postscript) but won't work. Hooking the printer to a PC and sharing the printer won't work either because remote printer jobs are sent untouched to the printer.

The first host-based HP printers were early Deskjet models and they caused a number problems until the term "host-based" was clearly added to the packaging. Other host-based device such as modems appeared about the same time, with the same incompatibility issues. (no driver = unuseable for any printing).

[Annelise Wilken]

Many thanks for all of your replies - looks like this printer will only work on windows PCs.

Thanks to everyone.