Problem connecting to network printer

[Nelviticus]

I have two PCs in my home network both running XP Pro. I also have a small network storage device with a built-in print server - a Buffalo Linkstation. My printer is connected to it.

Both of my PCs can see the shared printer on the Linkstation. When I right-click it and select 'connect', it is added to that PC's list of printers.

When connecting to it on PC #1 I am asked to choose a printer driver. Everything then works fine. However when connecting to it on PC #2 I am not asked to choose a driver. Everything looks fine but the printer isn't added properly because I can't use it - I can double-click it to look at the print queue but if I try to examine its properties or print to it I get an error message*.

Any idea what the problem might be? I've tried the following so far, all without success:

- deleting the printer and trying again;
- physically attaching the printer to PC#2, installing the drivers, then re-attaching it to the server and adding it again;
- rolling back to the last system restore point and trying again.

I should add that until today the printer was attached to PC#1 and shared. PC#2 could access it just fine as long as PC#1 was turned on.

* I'm at work at the moment and can't remember what the error message was. It was some type of software crash error rather than a normal system dialog though.

Regards

Nelviticus

 

[PRPhx]

How is the printer connected to the print server? What model is the printer? Is it network capable? Are you trying to connect using TCP/IP? If so, is the IP address of the printer in the correct IP range? Is the subnet mask correct?

Are both pc's and the printer in the same workgroup or domain?

Can you ping the printer (if it is using an IP address)?

 

[Nelviticus]

Hello there, thanks for replying.

The printer connects via USB and is a Hewlett Packard DeskJet 5150. It's not network-capable in the conventional sense but the LinkStation can share pretty much any USB-capable printer. It doesn't allocate it an IP address, you just connect to it using its UNC path, which in my case is '\\linkstation1\lp'.

The LinkStation and all its shares, including the printer, are in the same workgroup as my two PCs. I don't use a domain because the LinkStation isn't able to join one.

Everything works fine from PC#1 - it can print to and check the properties page of the printer. This leads me to think that the set-up of the LinkStation and the printer isn't the problem; I think it's something to do with the set-up of PC#2.

I suspect it has something to do with the fact that the printer used to be directly connected to PC#1 which shared it using Windows' built-in printer-sharing functionality. That lets you just install the drivers on the host PC (PC#1): any Windows PCs connecting to it just use the drivers that are installed on the host. I reckon that PC#2 now thinks that it doesn't need the drivers for a 5150 because they're installed on the host - except they're not any more, because the host has changed to the LinkStation.

I'd rather not re-install Windows just for a printer but I think I may have to.

Regards

Nelviticus

 

[PRPhx]

Hmm.. Your printer being a HP connected via USB and not networkable may be the problem. You might want to contact HP and ask their opinion/advice. I think someone told me that the newest HP printers that connect via USB can't be shared as a network shareable device (altho I may be wrong on this).

I would say that IF you connect the printer to your second pc it would work on it, but not on the pc #1, even going thru your linkstation device.

 

[firewolfrl]

Hmmm! try this:
first download and install Maxtweaks from this web site

http://www.tech52.com/

unplug the printer from wall and printerserver

then unplug the print server(for 10 minutes) and turn off both computers. then after print server is working again turn on both computers.

(offending computer) go to the add and remove applet in the control and uninstall all the software for the printer

go to the Device manager then go to view then check "show all devices"
delete anything that has to do with the printer
delete all the grey devices (not dark) in the "universal device manager" key...If you use other USB devices you may need the drivers

REBOOT and let the computer reinstall the USB ports and REBOOT again even if it does not install anything (wait 10 minutes)

follow manufacture directions and install the printer using the USB port (plug it in and turn it on)

replug the printer to the printserver and use the printserver utility to reassign the port that you chose to the printer ... it should be the same port that the second computer that works is using for the printer

it should NOT be assigned to a USB port or a LPT1 port
...most common it should be an IP number or the printserver name

that should work....maybe....that is the procedure I have used before

 

[Nelviticus]

Thanks for the response, but I managed to crack it the other day. Here's what I did:

- Deleted all printers from the problem machine (PC #2)
- Attached the printer directly to it and installed the drivers (again, just in case)
- Re-attached the printer to the LinkStation
- Turned OFF the machine that used to be the print server (PC #1)
- Added the networked printer to PC#2.

I think the key part was re-adding the printer when the old server was turned off. PC#2 obviously had a setting somewhere that said "drivers for a DeskJet 5150 are located on PC#1". When that wasn't available it had to look for them elsewhere.

Thanks for the input though.

Nelviticus