Printer spooler problem with HP5Si on 2003

  • Thread starter Thread starter Don
  • Start date Start date
D

Don

I have only one printer which has been giving me fits ever since we upgraded
to server 2003. We have over 20 printers on our network and this one HP5si
will display a dialog on the print server saying the following:

The printer was unable to connect to your printer. This can be caused by
your printer being turned of, the cable being unplugged, or being connected
to a VPN, which will block your access to your local network.

Here is what I have tried:

Replaced the jetdirect card after it fried (it was doing this prior to the
card going).
Removed the printer from the server and created a new printer (along with
drivers).
Checked the firmware on the printer, it is the latest
Replaced the network patch cord
Put the patch cord into another port

It does not error contantly, it will error a few times a day, and not to one
particular user. We have three 5si printers and this is the only one giving
me the problem, as a matter of fact this is the only printer giving me a
problem. We recently upgraded from NT 4.0 to 2003 with active directory. So
I strongly suspect this is an active directory issue.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
 
Don said:
I have only one printer which has been giving me fits ever since we upgraded
to server 2003. We have over 20 printers on our network and this one HP5si
will display a dialog on the print server saying the following:

The printer was unable to connect to your printer. This can be caused by
your printer being turned of, the cable being unplugged, or being connected
to a VPN, which will block your access to your local network.

Here is what I have tried:

Replaced the jetdirect card after it fried (it was doing this prior to the
card going).
Removed the printer from the server and created a new printer (along with
drivers).
Checked the firmware on the printer, it is the latest
Replaced the network patch cord
Put the patch cord into another port

It does not error contantly, it will error a few times a day, and not to one
particular user. We have three 5si printers and this is the only one giving
me the problem, as a matter of fact this is the only printer giving me a
problem. We recently upgraded from NT 4.0 to 2003 with active directory. So
I strongly suspect this is an active directory issue.

Any suggestions?

Thanks
Click to expand...

Don
If the problem remained with the same physical printer when you used a
different port there are only a few possibilities.
1. The physical cable from the patch panel to the printer location, the best
way to test this is to move the printer to another cable (yes, I know it's a
heavy beast!!!).
2. The cable that connects the printer to the wall (I expect you have already
tried that).
3. The Jetdirect card (already eliminated).
4. Some weird problem in the Formatter in the printer.
You could try a cold reset as follows, but remove the jetdirect card first or
the cold reset will reset the network address etc. in the jetdirect card.

"Cold Reset
Cold reset clears all data from the printer memory and sets all the defaults
(except Service Mode settings) back to the factory settings.
Caution Performing a cold reset resets the JetDirect configuration. To avoid
making
changes to your configuration remove the JetDirect card before performing
a cold reset.
If possible print a PCL and a PostScript Configuration Page prior to
performing a Cold Reset. This will document current settings for later
reference.
To perform a cold reset:
1 Turn the printer OFF.
2 While holding the [On Line] key down, turn the printer ON. RESTORING
FACTORY SETTINGS appears briefly on the display, then INTERNAL TEST
appears. After about 30 seconds, RESTORING FACTORY SETTINGS again
appears on the display, followed by READY. The On Line indicator also
illuminates. The cold reset is now complete."

You may have to reset the cold reset paper size afterwards depending on the
default (A4 or Letter) in your location. I can send you that information if
needed.
If it is not cabling and a cold reset does not fix it then I suspect it is a
formatter problem, they can be swapped between two printers. The formatter is
the large assembly that the jetdirect card plugs into, undo two (I think, maybe
4) large thumbscrews (power off of course) pull the cage out and swap with
another printer, they can be a bit tricky, just see how it is located in the
grooves as you pull it out and you will see how it slides back. If you keep the
jetdirect card in the formatter as you do the swap the printer addresses will
also be swapped, to avoid this just keep the jetdirect cards in the original
physical printers. The formatters may have memory cards or PCL cards installed,
no reason to worry about that unless the two printers are differently
configured and even then I would leave them alone for this test.
You may wish to try the formatter swap before you physically move the printer
to avoid some potential muscle damage!!!
Tony
 
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