Kyle Posted December 13, 2007 Posted December 13, 2007 We have one HP 2600n printer installed on the network on our Print server. We also have a multitude of other HP printers on the server as well. The problem i have is if a file of more than 2mb is sent to the printer it does not print and just seems to stick in the print queue. All the other printers on the server carry on printing so i know the spooler service has not stopped. But, If i restart the spooler service the job that was stuck in the HP2600n will then print. This has happened 4 or 5 times now. The spooler service is automatically set to restart 3 times but i don't think it stops anyway. I have made sure i have the latest driver installed and i can't think of anything else that may be causing it. The printer is in the Art room so gets a lot of large files sent to it so its could be a huge problem soon for us. Any suggestions or tweaking of the settings?
plexer Posted December 13, 2007 Posted December 13, 2007 I wouldn't use a 2600n in an environment where it is going to get hammered I just don't think they are up to it. We had one that was forever playing up and luckily it also had some print output issues so I was able to get it replaced the replacement is used by our data manager and has been good so far. the other thing I did was add a dhcp reservation for it rather than use a static ip address because even with a static ip it would sometimes forget what that was. Ben
Ric_ Posted December 13, 2007 Posted December 13, 2007 A few questions.... 1. Are you running any quota software (e.g. PMP)? 2. When installing the latest driver, did you use the scrubber tool to remove the old one first? 3. Does the spooler fall over if installed on another machine?
Kyle Posted December 13, 2007 Author Posted December 13, 2007 add a dhcp reservation for it rather than use a static ip address yes it already has a DHCP reservation A few questions.... 1. Are you running any quota software (e.g. PMP)? 2. When installing the latest driver, did you use the scrubber tool to remove the old one first? 3. Does the spooler fall over if installed on another machine? 1. No 2. No 3. Not tried this, as we have not had any problems with the other printers.
sahmeepee Posted December 13, 2007 Posted December 13, 2007 I would also try connecting to the actual console of the print server when you have a print job stuck on it. We have quite a few HP printers installed which give us a message box on the server: =========== The print spooler was unable to connect to your printer. This can be caused by your printer being turned off, the cable being unplugged, or being connected to a VPN, which will block your access to your local network. Your document will print when the printer becomes available. =========== If you OK the message, the job comes out! The message only displays on the console session though so if you're usually connected via a normal remote desktop session you won't see it. VNC/Dameware etc. will show it and connecting via "mstsc /console /v:servername" might too. If your problem is the same as ours I suspect the fix is to use a standard tcp/ip port instead of an hp one, but haven't got round to testing the theory yet.
plexer Posted December 13, 2007 Posted December 13, 2007 You may find it won't print anything if you specify it as a normal tcp/ip port though. Our K850 and 550's do the same thing. Ben
contink Posted December 13, 2007 Posted December 13, 2007 I would also try connecting to the actual console of the print server when you have a print job stuck on it. We have quite a few HP printers installed which give us a message box on the server: =========== The print spooler was unable to connect to your printer. This can be caused by your printer being turned off, the cable being unplugged, or being connected to a VPN, which will block your access to your local network. Your document will print when the printer becomes available. =========== If you OK the message, the job comes out! The message only displays on the console session though so if you're usually connected via a normal remote desktop session you won't see it. VNC/Dameware etc. will show it and connecting via "mstsc /console /v:servername" might too. If your problem is the same as ours I suspect the fix is to use a standard tcp/ip port instead of an hp one, but haven't got round to testing the theory yet. I found this issue too recently and I applied this update... it's been working a few days now without problem. This is with K550's...
Ric_ Posted December 13, 2007 Posted December 13, 2007 @Kyle: It is worth seeing if their is a scrubber tool. I had issues with a K850dn and when i found this tool and then re-installed the latest driver all the problems went away. It's a shame that the tools are driver specific - a scrubber that worked with them all would be a handy addition to the toolkit.
Michael Posted February 6, 2008 Posted February 6, 2008 I've searched for this problem high and low and came across this post! Glad to know I am not alone. I'm using Windows Server 2003 R2 and shared two HP2600n's via ethernet. I have also created two standard TCP/IP ports and not the HP TCP/IP port. Both printers have static IPs and sending a test page works correctly. I can also type the printer IP into IE to view printer status, so I know the network is talking ok to the printers. I'm running the lastest drivers (downloaded last week) and today I also updated the printer firmware. Still, the same problems! The problems I'm having are that print jobs are getting stuck in the print queue. The Spooler service is constantly working and I know this because there are also two Canon Photocopiers which work absolutely fine. Only until I stop and start the Spooler service do the stuck print jobs on the 2600n's go through. It's clearly an issue with this printer model/driver and not services running on the print server. The printer in question works host based, meaning workstations on the network do all of the job processing. It's rubbish, but I have to work with it! Two solutions I have come across are disabling bidirectional support and to choose Start print after last page is spooled which I am going to try tomorrow. Has anyone any other ideas to fixing this? Many thanks!
dhicks Posted February 6, 2008 Posted February 6, 2008 Has anyone any other ideas to fixing this? Many thanks! I've got similar problems - I've got an HP2600n which needs to be printed to from a bunch of assorted pupil's machines (our Sixth form, who can bring their own laptops in from home to use in their study rooms) and another HP (forget the exact model) that needs to be printed to from some Linux machines. Both printers are crummy Windows-only machines. After a lot of messing around, I've finally figured the easiest way to get them to work would be to have them driven by a Windows machine. However, client machines would see a generic Postscript machine, the input to which is redirected (via RedMon) to a short script which uses Ghostscript to convert the Postscript into PDF and print to the appropriate printer. If I can figure out where each print-out is coming from via the information passed in the Postscript then I can also track which user is printing what and to what printer. I figure this might solve the above problem too - I know I couldn't get the 2600n driver to work under Windows Vista. The advantage of the above is that you only need the one driver (Adobe generic Postscript driver + Color PPD file) installed on each client, no matter how many printers they're connected to. -- David Hicks
tosca925 Posted February 7, 2008 Posted February 7, 2008 I seem to remember this helping for us............ disabling bidirectional support
SimpleSi Posted February 7, 2008 Posted February 7, 2008 (edited) Two solutions I have come across are disabling bidirectional support and to choose Start print after last page is spooled which I am going to try tomorrow. Has anyone any other ideas to fixing this? Many thanks! I had stuck print jobs at 2 schools at beginning of the year when I'd just used the install CD to install on the server and then shared the printer. I then just went to each workstation and ran //server/laser to add them. To get them working, I removed the old printer on the server, manually created standard TCP/IP ports on the server, added the printer (Picked up drivers using the "I have a disk" method), disabled bi-directional and re-shared the new setup using the old name. All my problems went away - queue hasn't stuck again at all. Just for further info, the first time I installed one of these printers which was at another school, I used AutoIt to run the CD install routine on every workstation as the school has no real server. This worked fine as well - no stuck print queue issues either. Hope this helps. regards Simon Edited February 7, 2008 by SimpleSi
SimpleSi Posted February 7, 2008 Posted February 7, 2008 However, client machines would see a generic Postscript machine, the input to which is redirected (via RedMon) to a short script which uses Ghostscript to convert the Postscript into PDF and print to the appropriate printer. Quick aside - if you get this working could you post the details in another thread (don't want to hijack this one) as I need my eeePC machines to be able to print to 2600s (without having to recompile the kernel ) regards Simon
Michael Posted February 7, 2008 Posted February 7, 2008 Thanks for the feedback people! Glad I'm not alone on this one. For everyone's reference to resolve this issue, I used a standard TCP/IP port (not an HP one), the latest drivers (6.2.1) and the latest firmware 20070716. I'm using this printer with 2003 Server R2 and XP clients only. There are no Vista clients. Once the printer was installed on the Print Server, I shared it out as usual and unticked just bidirectional support. This made all the difference! Pushed it out using Print Management and my support requests went down to pretty much nothing! 2
dhamshaw Posted February 29, 2008 Posted February 29, 2008 Yeah, the solution from Michael seems to have sorted out my problem for me here. It's the first 2600n we have had so I was glad I found this thread! Just one tick box saves the day again! Thanks again!
SwedishChef Posted March 12, 2008 Posted March 12, 2008 Just had exactly the same problem, I found this thread useful and also this site here.... I will test tomorrow and let you know if I still get a problem... http://community.tigranetworks.co.uk/blogs/tim_long/archive/2008/02/15/the-case-of-the-printer-that-wouldn-t.aspx
Mike-j Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 (edited) We have about 8 HP2600N running on the print server on a standard tcp/ip port, the hp port where causing us problems similar to those mentioned above, we also use static ip’s. However the HP2600N don’t like printing from Sims, nova-t over the network, but are ok from Sims if installed locally. So we don’t us them on the admin network. Also this may be handy works a treat, http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsServer2003/techinfo/overview/printmigrator3.1.mspx Great Backup tool :-) Edited March 22, 2008 by Mike-j
dgsmith Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 However the HP2600N don’t like printing from Sims, nova-t over the network, but are ok from Sims if installed locally. So we don’t us them on the admin network. That's the exact same problem we had. We got a new admin server and assigned all the printers through network on the server rather than locally, and found our 1 2600n used by the admin network just wouldn't print from SIMS unless it was locally attached. I still wouldn't recommend the 2600n for large usage though - spend the extra on a better printer and get consumables which last longer, as it'll save money in the long term.
timbo343 Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 We had the same problem, we just removed the printer from the server and the affected machine and reinstalled them both. No problems at all now.
bizzel Posted March 22, 2008 Posted March 22, 2008 If your problem is the same as ours I suspect the fix is to use a standard tcp/ip port instead of an hp one, but haven't got round to testing the theory yet. Yep. We had this with some 2600s and 3600s. Changing the ports to standard tcp/ip type fixed it and we've had no further issues.
SimpleSi Posted March 23, 2008 Posted March 23, 2008 We got a new admin server and assigned all the printers through network on the server rather than locally, and found our 1 2600n used by the admin network just wouldn't print from SIMS unless it was locally attached. Just abit confused by the your language (and worried because I've just installed a HP2600N on a peer-peer admin network. Are you saying if you direct each computer on the admin network to print to the printer via a local TCP/IP port on each computer themselves then SIMS printing is OK? regards Simon
dgsmith Posted March 23, 2008 Posted March 23, 2008 For some reason, it wont print if being fed through the network port (whether that be network compatibility issues, or the spool being remote I have no idea). Locally meaning through the USB interface. The guy from county who set up our server up last month struggled to figure out why this was, and only managed to get it working locally. Now, I am not saying this is the ONLY way to get it working - maybe if some research took place and trial and error it would have done, but that we couldn't get it working when using the network interface. 1
Mike-j Posted March 24, 2008 Posted March 24, 2008 http://forums12.itrc.hp.com/service/forums/bizsupport/questionanswer.do?admit=109447627+1206364527807+28353475&threadId=1032468 floating point error, this has something to do with the drivers HP are aware of this, put as yet no solution. So hp2600n on print server wont print from sim. put are ok if installed locally.
yetiasr67 Posted April 1, 2008 Posted April 1, 2008 Hi Guys... I'm new to this forum, but I'm an experienced engineer so hopefully I can help out:) I'm so relieved that other people are having the same problem with the HP2600n and Server 2003. I can't wait to try the solution offered here. It was so frustrating at one school, that I ended up installing a local printer on every bloody PC - not recommended. I'd just like to add that I support a number of schools that have the HP2600n/Server2003 combination, and EVERY time I've had this problem the server is running SP2? Thanks again - fingers crossed that disabling Bi-Directional works. Lee.
SimpleSi Posted April 1, 2008 Posted April 1, 2008 I still have a gut feeling that the English language is letting us down on this thread - especially the word "local" when talking about installs I've got a school with 4 computers on an admin network with no server and two HP2600Ns connected to the network via ethernet. One computer holds the SIMS database. I used the standard install CD on each computer to set them up to print to each printer via TCP/IP. The school have not reported any problems apart from the day the printers lost their IP settings (both did at the same time so I assume a mains dip of some sort). (I've had all sorts of problems with HP2600Ns via servers but not any if I just use the install CD directly on a computers -apart from IP walkabout ) regards Simon
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now