Network Printer Problem

[webby74]

Hi All

I've been having a problem with a new HP Officejet Pro K5400 network printer. We got it in January for the History dept. They have been printing fine until last week when every document they send they get nothing and the print que says Error Printing.

It's installed on a windows server running windows 2000. I've tried printing directly from the server and get the same. Also tried reinstalling the printer and the driver and get the same.

And also been trying to set the printer up on the teacher's laptops so they can print directly to the printer, but I get a message saying that it can't find the printer on the network.

The really bizarre thing is that I can connect directly to and print successfully over the network from the Apple iMac in my office!

Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks

Andrew

[contink]

I haven't heard of that specific problem but I have a few guesses and a few things to try.

.. and just out of interest did you install the SP3 for XP around the same time? Just a though but it sounds awfully close to that release to be a possible vector.

Things to check

• Can you still reach the printserver by going to the http://[Printserver_IP]
  
• Check the IP and netmask hasn't changed for the printserver
  
• Check that someone hasn't duplicated the IP somewhere else (DHCP settings?)

If it comes down to reinstalling all over again here's a few tips I've adopted with my HP Officejet installs.

• Uninstall the bog standard HP driver and the printer from the server
  
• Use the network button on the printer to get the TCP/IP address setting that the printer has for reference
  
• Instead of using a Manually set IP address I'd recommend using your DHCP and a reservation to set the TCP/IP information through that. It tends to stick better for some reason and also ensures your printers IP is reserved properly.
  
• Apply security settings (ie: add a password) to your K5400 so that none of the children can change any of the settings (this might be your culprit).
  
• Grab the latest driver and extract using 7zip to get to the actual contents without having to run the EXE
  
• Reinstall manually using a Standard TCP/IP port set to the correct IP address and use the "Have disk" option to point to the driver files you extracted

I spend quite a bit of time with HP Officejets nowadays so I'll keep an ear out if anything else occurs to me.

Cheers..

[contink]

Oh... also... try restarting the print spooler service on the server..

[Joanne]

i second checking the ip address that the printer has... i have ones that like a change sometimes!

[webby74]

It was the IP address! Thank you for the help with that.

Andrew

[webby74]

[*]Instead of using a Manually set IP address I'd recommend using your DHCP and a reservation to set the TCP/IP information through that. It tends to stick better for some reason and also ensures your printers IP is reserved properly.

I will give that a try Monday morning. many thanks

Have a good weekend!