Networking

[qim]

I have a desktop on 98SE connected to an HP Deskjet 6122, and to a router which is in turn connected to cable internet.

I also have a laptop on XP connected through RJ45 cable to the router.

I am having problems with Word2000 from the XP which is due to the printer drivers.

I cannot find anywhere info on which drivers I need for this type of set-up.

Help...

qim

[Jorge Pinto Leite]

Not sure if I understood exactly your problem...
The drivers for your printer are available in ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softlib/software1/COL1674/dj-8375-2/6122_ptb_win2k_xp.exe

But does your router have network capabilities? Can you ping the desktop from the XP? If you can, you should be able to install the networked printer on XP with the above mentioned drivers. If not, you cannot use it from the laptop. Does your problem happens when the router (or the desktop) is not powered on? If so you can avoid it by installing a "dumb" printer on XP stating that it can be used offline.
Hope this helps.

[qim]

Hp Portugal told me that the Deskjet 6122 does not support networking.

However, it does work 99% of the time from either of my two computers conncted through a 4 port router.

The router also enables me to have access to the internet from either computer.

The problem is that Word2002 is giving me problems and MS directs me to a web page that says the problem is with the HP printer driver.

The driver in the Desktop was installed as part of the original printer installation while on the XP I followed the "Assistente de Configuração de rede".

As for your other questions the router and the PC is always powered on, 24 hours a day.

I am not sure how to ping one computer from the other.

The webpage is suggested is not acceesible, at the moment anyway.

Obrigado

[Bob Mitchell_1]

Hi Qim

Can you print from the 98 machine ok?
Have you previously been able to network print to this printer, maybe under a different opperating system?

Accordiong to HP's site http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/us/en/en/WF06a/18972-236251-236261-14438-236261-88749.html Listed under
Connectivity, Optional. This is what is listed as a network device.
HP Jetdirect 175x External USB Ethernet Print Server J6035A, HP Jetdirect wp380 server J6061A, HP Jetdirect 170x External Parallel Ethernet Print Server J3258BHP Wireless Print Server wp110 (802.11b) J6062A, MPI Tech Bluetooth adaptors

It appears that the 6122 is not directly networkable as a printer on a remote computer ie your XP machine.

You might want to invest in a print server, either HP's one or similar. Make sure that the print server conects via RJ45 plugs to connect to one of the ports on the router. Naturally the router and print server will need to be powered up to work.

Give your local distributor or HP Portugal a call to discuss.

Merry Christmas

Bob

[qim]

Can you print from the 98 machine ok?

Yes I can, although often a message comes up regarding a problem with some port but I try again and always works second time.

Have you previously been able to network print to this printer, maybe under a different opperating system?

I have always used these operating systems and I can print from both computers without any problem, other than it is very slow from the remote XP. As I said the main problem is not so much with the printing but with the drivers being disliked by Word2002, and MS telling me to sort it out with HP.


It appears that the 6122 is not directly networkable as a printer on a remote computer ie your XP machine.

But the fact is that it does work!!!

You might want to invest in a print server, either HP's one or similar. Make sure that the print server conects via RJ45 plugs to connect to one of the ports on the router. Naturally the router and print server will need to be powered up to work.

I believe my touter works as a print server. ( Eminent Broadband Router"

Give your local distributor or HP Portugal a call to discuss.

HP Portugal knows less than I do...

Merry Christmas

And to you to.

qim

[ranthony2cfl.rr.com]

As a workaround (not a fix): Why not just copy or move the file to be printed from the laptop to the desktop? Then let your regular printing from the 98SE take it from there.

I had a similar problem from an IBM laptop running W95 and an IBM NetVista running W2K/AS to my HP PSC500 that was installed on a Compaq running W98. HP said the PSC500 was not intended to be networked. The laptop resolved by just installing the HP's drivers on it. The W2K finally resolved once HP made PSC500 drivers available for W2K (about 6 months later) -- however, I did get a partial resolution from HP before that(able to use print but not scan), by installing a 'generic' driver which they recommended on the W2K.

[qim]

Well, I guess the first thing is to find out what drivers I have installed.

And I'm afraid I don't know where to look...

Can you help?

thanks

qim

[Ron Kinner]

See if XP will let you install the printer locally. Then it will have the driver files it needs to use the printer on the 98.

Ron

[qim]

Hello Ron

But how can I check what drivers are installed right now?

qim

[Marc Villeneuve_1]

Olla Gim.

Se você não resolver seu problema, alguma coisa simples a fazer aqui que pode ajudar em a maioria de caso!

You need to have the latest driver for you printer, no matter witch one you have installed. Just overwrite...

Go to www.hp.com. Click on support and Drivers. In there, click on download driver and write the type/model of your printer. Next you will have to chose the Windows XP driver. Afther this download the apropriate software depend if its USB or Parallel cable.

Plug the printer direcly on your laptop. We put network beside for the first test.
Install the driver on you laptop and do a print test with Word. If its printing ok, you could plug it again into network.

If its not working, I suggest 2 things. Buy an HP Jet Direct print server(if you have the money!) or put your computer in Win2000 pro. Sometime Win XP not working good! Other wise, change your printer to a network printer. There are some that are not to expensive. Depend of your budget and your need!

But the best wait to do it if you dont have time and money to spend on this, just send your files to print to your desktop as sed earlier.

[STEVEN LEE_12]

There setup you described is very common for a SOHO network to cut down the cost of sharing devices. You wanted to print from the XP laptop onto the hp Deksjet 6122 which is connected to the 98SE PC.

I assume that the laptop and Pc are properly connected in a network and can "talk" to each other via the router. It does not matter that the printer is not networkable since you are attaching it to the PC and not directly to the network.

First enable sharing of the printer on the PC. Select "Settings" at the Start menu and click "Printers". Select the printer, right-click and click on "Sharing..." Enable sharing and give a name to the printer, eg "hp6122". If the printer is not shared, you cannot print from another computer.

Install the correct Printer Driver on the laptop. The file 6122_enu_win2k_xp.exe can be downloaded from hp's website if you do not have it. You do not need any other special drivers.

After successfully installing the Printer Driver, add a printer on the laptop. Choose to add a "network" printer, browse the network and find the name of shared printer which you just created on the PC. Once this is done, you should be able to print from the laptop onto the printer.

If you have multiple 6122 printer selections installed on the laptop, delete all and keep only the printer you just created as not to confuse yourself later which printer selection actually works.

[qim_1]

Hello Steven

Thank you for your very comprehensive reply.

Just one little point: on the laptop shall I select the sharing or not sharing?

At the moment I have not sharing. It seems to work ok, but I have problems with Word2002 that keeps crashing because it does not like the set-up.

What I have done is to use Word with a different local (non existent) printer and change over when I need to print.

As this was done only yesterday I am not sure if it is working well.

qim

[STEVEN LEE_12]

You do not need to enable sharing of the printer on the laptop side because the printer is not connected directly to the laptop.

On the laptop, go to the Printers folder, select the Deskjet 6122, right click and "Set as Default Printer". This will send all print jobs from Word to the printer.

What do you mean When you say Word 2002 does not like the setup? The choice of printers should not affect Word. When Word crashes, what is the error message?

[qim_1]

Hello Steven

Well.. I'va had the two computers running for over a year now. Very slowly, but they work, including the printer.

My big problem is that Word2002 which came with the XP laptop keeps crashing with a message MS Error Reporting, saying that it encountered an error and has to shut down. It then sends a report and often opens up an MS net page saying that the error has to do with the HP driver.

In January I tried to start all over again, but the problem persisted, even after I downloaded the latest drivers (or so I believe...)

In fact I would like to have yet another fresh clean, but I am having problems setting up a HomeOfficeNetwork in the XP. It goes to the stage where it seems to be transferring files (that's what the icon does) but stays there for ever, and does not reach the stage where it invites me to create a disk to use in the other computer.

Any help on the various queries welcome.

Qim

[STEVEN LEE_12]

The problem may not be the Printer Driver at all. Windows has the nasty habit of misreporting errors.

Is your laptop from hp? Do you have other devices connected to the laptop that is from hp, eg external CD drive?

[qim_1]

Hello Steven

Nope! The laptop is Toshiba. the only HP (other than sauce...) that I have is the printer.

The router is Emminent.

To have a fresh start and use all your instructions, I should like to get rid of the HomeOffice Configuration that I have on the laptop, but I am not sure what to do. I thought that deleting the icons in the Network (sorry my Xp is in Portuguese and I never know what the translation is on an English system)Before when things worked better I had 3 icons in the same line. Now that it works very slowly I have a 1394 icon and a bridge on top and the LAN icon in a second line.

Can I delete these icons somehow, and will that give me a clean slate to start all over again?

Thanks

qim

[STEVEN LEE_12]

Before you do anything else, may be you can try uninstalling Word and reinstall Word.

Make sure you have the Installation CD before you uninstall. Otherwise you won't be able to reinstall Word.

The problem lies with Word, not the Printer Driver or the network.

[qim_1]

Hello Steven

I have tried to do that once and it did not solve anything. (Apart from the fact that I had to call England and listen to a long taped speech before they gave me a number that enabled Word to work...)

If you have a chance please let me know how to get rid of the current (and any other) network configuration on the XP.

Thanks

qim

[STEVEN LEE_12]

You need not have called England for the Activation Code because activation can be done online.

When you start Word after installation, it will prompt you to activate. Just choose to activate online.

You can delete all the icons in "My Network Places". Then add a network place again. Most of the time, XP will find all computers within the network by itself.

You should also delete all the icons in the Printers folder and add the hp printer again in the way I described in one of my previous replies.

Good luck!

[qim_1]

Thanks Ste´ven

I am going to try again.

I have just thought that the reason I could not delete the icons before was because the connection was on, which means that I may have to disconnect the laptop from the network before deleting the current configuration through the icons.

Thanks again for your patience.

q

[qim_1]

Hello Steven Lee

Well, I'm still having problems with the printing from the laptop.

Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

In one of your messages you said:After successfully installing the Printer Driver, add a printer on the laptop. Choose to add a "network" printer, browse the network and find the name of shared printer which you just created on the PC.

However, the wizard that takes me through the installation says that in my set up I should chose "Local printer". I did and as I said it works but it often gets confused.

The other point is that when I open the printer Icon Properties/Sharing and press the button "Additional drivers" I only have the XP/2000 selected and in my PC (the one that is attached to the printer" I have 98SE.

Could this be the problem?

I have not done anything, as I have a knack for making things even worse when I try...

qim