lprsetup parameters to print to HP Laserjet

[timpckt]

I need to print from OpenVms 7.2-1 on an alpha to Windows hosted printers (normaly HP Laserjets)

Using lprsetup I can create the queue and successfully print to a PDFwriter printer queue, on a Windows 2000 server, from both OpenVms and from a Windows 2000 client. So the basic setup works !!

When printing to a HP Laserjet 1012 (cheap USB printer being used a proof of concept) the prints go on the vms queue and then disappear.

The only way I can get a printout from a Windows client is by using the binary command line option.

I have tried all the advanced printing options on the Windows laser setup (RAW, IMP, TEXT etc type input formats but no improvement)

Looking at what other people have found, it would seem that I have to give the lprsetup some additional parameters that send it to the Windows print queue with the correct attributes (printcap in UNIX terms)

... an ideas or suggestions ?




I am a vms admin newbie, having used the vax for many years, now I have to take on an admin role...Help

[Antoniov.]

Mhm,
if you will print from OpenVms on a printer que served by windows 9x or win2k or winxp you have two choices:
a) create a client lpd queue on vms and configure server queue on win;
b) use server process pwprint on windows and client software on vms.
In 1.st case you have already created a client queue on vms but, perhaps, you haven't configured a server queue on windows.
However, I don't hint you use of lpr/lpd because windows doesn't accept neither control code neither line over 80 chars.
In 2.nd case you must buy pathwork32 and then install printer service on PC.
I used both solution and I prefer pwprint.
Now I'm searching my documentation about both solution, so I'll post more detailed info.

Antonio Vigliotti

[Hakan Zanderau ( Anders]

I assume you have setup a "remote" queue using lprsetup, right ?

In that case you need to check the parameters "rm" and "rp" in the printcapfile. (use lprsetup option "view")

:rm=ipadress or hostname of the PC:\
:rp=printershare on the PC:\

If you use ipadress make sure there is an
entry in the hosttable. LPD makes a hostlookup.

[Hakan Zanderau ( Anders]

One more thing......
Try "pausing" the PC-queue and then print
from VMS again. Does the job end up in the
PC-queue ??

[timpckt]

sorry, i didnt make it completely clear in my question

using lprsetup i have successfully created a queue that prints to a Windows hosted printer (a PDFwriter printer) this queue works... i can print from the vax, the job appears on the vax queue and then appears on the lpr queue and the pdf file appears on the windows PC...great !!

thus proving that the rp and rm entries are correct to access a remote queue. i had to make sure the there was an entry in the host file and the windows share name was in the same case as the rp entry. i managed to work that much out myself, then i go and try it with a real printer and it doesnt work... thus grabbing defeat from the jaws of victory

the help i am after is that this does not work for a hp laserjet although it is setup the same as the pdfwriter printer.

also i found that the laserjet will not work when printing using the windows lpr command unless i specify the "-ol" binary command line option. how do i do the same on the vax ?

in the lprsetup you can provide a number of optional parameters that ,i think, are sent to the remote printer.

other people must print from a vax to a windows hosted hp laserjet printer... did they get the lpr method to work ?

if so, did they use optional parameters or change the printer setup...HELP

thanks for the suggestion of using pathworks, i do not know anything about that product. our printing needs are very simple, just text reports and i am hoping that the lpr choice is the simple solution

[Hakan Zanderau ( Anders]

I'm a bit rusty regarding all parameters,
but I think you want /PASSALL

There is a logical

$ DEFINE/SYS/EXEC TCPIP$LPD_STREAM_PASSALL TRUE

Then restart the queue. All logicals are red
by the sysmbiont at image-activation.

[timpckt]

after pausing the queue on the win2000 server the vms submitted job DOES appear on the windows print queue

unfortunately a printout does not appear on the printer, it just disappears into the ether

as i said i tried changing the advanced printer settings on the printer within windows but none of them helped, even the setting the print processor to "text"

[Hakan Zanderau ( Anders]

Ok, if the PASSALL command or logical doesn't work. Pause the queue again and analyze the content of the received datafile on the PC.

/WINDOWS/System32/spool/something.SPL

every job gets two files .SPL and .SHD

[timpckt]

the PASSAL logical did not do anything ;-(

looking the windows spooler files
the .spl files contain the printout text and look good
the .shd appear to be binary and are a different sizes compared to coming from the vax or windows for the same file

the files are being created even when the printout does not physicaly appear

[Hakan Zanderau ( Anders]

Is it plain text in the .SPL ?

Is the printer a PS or PCL or both.
What driver is used ?

try changing "rp" to another printqueue with a different printer. Do we have a specific queue problem ?

[timpckt]

the spl file is plain text

when printing to a similarly setup pdfwriter ( print queuequeue it works fine from both a wms and a windows client


to start with , i searched the web and used this article to get me going

http://www-jerry.oit.duke.edu/dec/vms_remote_printing_readme.html

the particular paragraph that seems to point in the direction of my problem is:

===== start quote ===

In some cases (e.g. HP Laserjets,... :-( you may have to define additional printcap parameters. Basically, look at the printcap file on the machine it's connected to, or look at a printcap file on some UNIX box that's printing to it already (or to someone else running UCX and lpd) and TRY those definitions. It can be a real trip trying to figure it out!

===== end quote ===

is this just a red herring or do i need some other parameters to get a HP laserjet to work as a lpr ?

the pdfwriter works fine as an lpr with no extra parameters

[Hakan Zanderau ( Anders]

I don't think that (the quote) will help.

Hope you're not in a hurry.........
It's 22:30 in Sweden now.
I will download the HP Laserjet 1012 driver
tomorrow to see what happens if I send jobs
from VMS trough it.

[Antoniov.]

using lprsetup i have successfully created a queue that prints to a Windows hosted printer (a PDFwriter printer)

The PDFwriter is not a real printer queue. HP Laserjet need more detailed info to print and you'll meet a few trouble to solve.
1.HP LJ has PS and PCL standard; using PCL (PCL5, PCL5e or PCL6) you must start print with start print control code that's E (escape followed by uppercase E).
2.HP LJ driver on windows accept only windows image format (EMF); most common LJ printers have a DOS based driver: you need install DOS driver on PC, becuase lpr/lpd (called unix printer service in windows) require a RAW format;
3.In windows printer queue you have to select RAW format instead EMF; this means you have to format layout before sending data to print (this means your application have to write usign PS or PCL code)
4.The prior requirements, need PASSALL quilifier as posted by Hakan.

if you will understand how file are printed on windows queue make a text file beginning E, followed by text and ended by form-feed. Then print it, could start (if you have installed DOS driver).

Antonio Vigliotti

[Anton van Ruitenbeek]

Timpckt,

Are you sure you want to use LPR ?
I know it's maybe a strange question, but in my opinion you must go to TCPIP$TELNETSYM.
For VMS printing, using printerlibrarys you got a problem using plain LPR. Main reason: LPR prints every setupmodule as a new print. So using librarys and setup modules every part is printed seperatly. Telnetsym opens a port (On HP this is 9100) and sends the job using all the library modules in correct sequence and after the job closes the port.

Setting up such a queue, it advisable to set op minimal 2 logicals:
TCPIP$TELNETSYM_RAW_TCP = "TRUE"
TCPIP$TELNETSYM_SUPPRESS_FORMFEEDS = "35"

Advisable is to move the logfiles of the systemdisk:
TCPIP$TELNETSYM_SCRATCH = ":[TELNETSYM]"

Keep the logfiles small, so after testing set the logicals:
TCPIP$TELNETSYM_LOG_KEEP = "3"
TCPIP$TELNETSYM_NO_OPCOM = "TRUE"

A typical queue can be set op as:
Printer queue , idle on ::":9100" mounted form default
/AUTOSTART_ON=(,<...>)/BASE_PRIORITY=4 /DEFAULT=(FEED,FORM=DEFAULT) /LIBRARY=HP_PCL /PROCESSOR=TCPIP$TELNETSYM /SEPARATE=(RESET=(RESET))

Yes, we are using DNS names, so if these changes, we don't do anything.

We do have more then one flafour of printers. So per branche of printer (Nashua, OCE, HP, Digital, Kyocera) we do have a printerlibrary. The setupmodules are created in every library using general names. So all the printouts recardles of brache are the same .

AvR

[Antoniov.]

Anton,
I guess the problem is printer connected to PC via USB so it can't reachable directly with TCP/IP.
Major problem is not on vms but on windows that's not standard lpr/lpd!

Antonio Vigliotti

[Hakan Zanderau ( Anders]

YES, in this case I think LPR is the option.
HP Laserjet 1012 is connected to the PC using USB if I'm not all wrong.

I don't know much about this PDF-writer so I have two questions.....

(1) What kind of files do you want to print from VMS ?

(2) Is the PDF-writer a criteria for the VMS-files ?

[Hakan Zanderau ( Anders]

Using LPR/LPD to share queues between VMS and Windows is rarely a problem (my personal opinion).

I have setup a number of systems where all printjobs is sent through a Windows-server (using LPD) and the clients are VMS, UNIX.

[Anton van Ruitenbeek]

Maybe a wrong suggestion, but do you want to use the PC between ?
When using an external HP Jetdirect 175x (J6035C) the printer is at once for the whole network accessible ?
Whe got a lot of problems using Windows IP because Micro$oft is implementing not always the standards as they suppose to be ....

AvR

[timpckt]

being a vms admin newbie, with no real admin training ;-) and unaware of all the options and possabilities. i am open to suggestions. i am able to follow instructions and willing to try things as long as they are non-destructive

we will be moving to a new building soon and the current direct (parellal device LRA0) will not work with the new office layout. i am trying to prove if the new setup will work before i have to implement it

remote printing to new printers over tcpip will be the only practical option. the type of printers is not known at the moment, probably HP. the new printers will probably be network printers rather than printer shared by a windows server

the printouts are text file reports from an inventory db system. landscape and portrait printouts as seperate print queues or by the user changing the device directly

the lpr route works okay for the pdfwriter printer, which is great for creating electronic copies of the reports

the lpr route for the hp laserjet 1012 does not work, this may be because it is a USB device shared by a windows pc

thanks for you help so far, and i welcome your suggestions

[Ian Miller.]

have you read
http://forums1.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/questionanswer.do?threadId=466247
particularly the link to
http://h18000.www1.hp.com/support/asktima/dec_third_party/00999001-9AFF3077-1C007A.html
and my posting with attached notes

[Jan van den Ende]

timpckt,

first, of course WELCOME TO VMS!

Since you wrote you already think you might be moving to network printers, I suggest you somehow arrange to have at least ONE of those ahead of time (It must be possible to convince management of the reasonability to test that, or else, just say you need one to configure things so they will have been done, and available immediately after the nove. It will be true too!).
Now you have a real representative environment, where you can test:
- the various platforms can all use the same printer, without interference (other than an occasional wait if someone else is printing, of course).
- You mentioned that from VMS you will have to print a mix of landscape and portait documents.
In that case you should apply Anton's suggestion above: Using TCPIP$TELNETSYM is the way.
If you really want to stick to LPR, then you will have to somehow edit your doc's to put ALL control characters INTO your document, creating a single printimage file.
Normally VMS queues use setup modules which send the required setup sequences to the printer, then your doc(s), and potentially a trailing module (eg. just a reset..).
If you use LPR, those are seen as separate prints.
So: the queue sends a "change to landscape in small font". This is seen as one print (doesn't even need paper). Then send 'the doc'.
But.... your printer says: new job, back to standard (lets say portrait and 10 point font), and then prints the doc... bigger font & portait. OTOH, TCPIP$TELNETSYM opens the printer, gives it a stream of files (setup, page formatter, logo-doc, your doc, trailer....), to be handled in ONE session, and only then releases your printer.
Of course you still have to make sure that your queue setup specifies the right files in the right order, but it WILL get executed as specified.
And about defining that right order: your BIG friend is VMS HELP, and you have already found a second good friend: this forum.


Success!

If more questions: please ask!
If everything fits: make us happy with a final report informing us about that too, and decide how helpfull the various answers were, and assign points accordingly..


Jan

[Hakan Zanderau ( Anders]

Hmmmmmm, the 1012 driver is a really funny guy. ;-)
(this is my first encounter.....)

The language is NOT pcl, it just looks like it. It's called PCLXL and I don't know if it is capable of translating plain text as PCL does. I have no printer with PCLXL translator, but I have tested a couple of things by printing to file......

Using $ PRINT/PASSALL from VMS gets the file through the 1012-driver without vanish in to nevereverland, but it doesn't get formatted either..........

Borrowed a "USB to Parallell Printer Cable" just to make sure no funny stuff was going on using USB.....(no funny stuff noticed).

A good printingproblem a day, keeps the doctor away ;-)
I used to work for Digital/Compaq/HP and Printingproblems in complex environments was (still is) my special area of expertice.

Try PRINT/PASSALL to see if anything different happens.

[Anton van Ruitenbeek]

As you posted you are moving to a new building, and thinking of moving to IP.
In this case an external JetDirect is for you the (I think) correct sollution.
You don't need to buy a new printer, but can directly print using IP to the printer. The external JetDirect is the IP device but works fine. From Windows I'm using the HP drivers and for Unix and VMS i'm using IP.

AvR

[Hakan Zanderau ( Anders]

Anton,

I don't think the HP lj 1012 has anythingelse but USB. I'm not up to date with Jetdirect, but has it USB support?

I think we are stuck with the W2K being the
network interface for this printer and this specific problem.

I agree that a printer with its own network interface is the best solution.....for future usage.

[Anton van Ruitenbeek]

Hakan,

The HP External Jetdirect 170x is for Ethernet-Paralel.
The HP External Jetdirect 175x is for Ethernet-USB.

AvR