Printing using NT4 server

[PeteDavies]

I require the following setup:
A printer is connected by a serial cable and a cable converter to a DECserver 900TM. Also connected to this 900TM is a PC running NT4 server which I need to be able to print from. I have installed the Microsoft TCP/IP printing service and can ping the 900TM OK. The printer has been added as an LPR port, specifying the IP address of the 900TM and the port number that the , using the following format: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx:yy (xxx is ip address, yy is port number)

Is this the correct way to do it or am I missing something?

 

[mikes999]

If I understood correctly, the printer is hooked up to the DEC box via serial cable, and you can print from the DEC OK. How do you specify the printer's IP (on which interface?) to enable printing from the NT box? In your scenario, defining the LPR port on the NT4 wouldn't do you any good; you should find the way to share printer under specific name on the DEC's OS, and tell the NT to direct print jobs onto this name (if there is such a tool for DEC systems - I am not sure. There is a similar option for UNIX printers from NT, though).

You can buy a print server (~$100), plug centronix cable from the printer into it, and hook it to the network, thus enable printing from both systems to the same printer, on different interfaces (serial & parallel) - which is, IMHO a terrible idea, since both systems don't know about each other, and print jobs will mix up constantly.

Can you setup printer on the network, and TCP/IP print from both NT4 and DEC boxes? That would be the best solution.

Good luck.