Termvision - Root prints on remote win98SE printers but users do not

[wintired]

Guys here is the environment

Intel OEM Dual Xeon III 150 GB RAID array server with 4.0 GB of RAM (300 pound wonder?)
SCO Open Server 5.06, licensed for 75 users, dual processors (thanks to this site we got that right) latest Caldera patchkit installed
55 Win 98SE PCs (we formated each PC and did a 100% fresh install)some on cat 5 and some on direct connect 19.2 Digi gear
Termsvision + Vison FS installed (latest versions)
Symptoms.
Server works fine from any console, everything including custom applications and hard wired (lpt 1,2,3)Okidata Pacemark printers work just fine.
But.........

Big problem 1)
Win 98 SE PCs have the following symptoms
Under vision FS we can see and do everything just like the product spec sheet. Great product and it works as it should, even with password encyptation turned on.
But under Termvision, on each of the Win 98 PC's we can get all of the 30+ workstation attached printers to work only if we are either on the server or on any of the workstations as the "Root" login user.
If we log on as any user,except Root, at either the server or any workstation we get NADA at the workstations, but we can print to the the three printers on the server.
We followed the insturctions in the on-line documentation, we even got the TA 108141 from SCO and painstakingly did all of the work in that TA and even built the 30+ printer table at /usr/vision/..../etc/printers. We even dug through Tony Lawrence's site and a few abroad and come up missing a fix.

Makles no difference if connection is cat 5, serial line, or modem. Also note htat the custome applicaitosn work absolutely fine, with no problems on either the worstations or server.

The problem is best illustrated as ...
As root when we do lp -d ws08p08 (actual printer name) /etc/hosts we get a print complete with the transaction number at the workstation.

When we do the same as a user, everything happens the same way, complete with transaction number, but nothing comes out of the printer at the workstation.

Note that from the server console the samething happens and with all of the users and the root work fine in printing at the server on the server directly but only the root can make the workstation attached printer work.

Big Problem 2)
At same location but not in office area but on factory end of building that is full of DOS machines (control manufactuirng gear) running on DIGI RS232 gear with "Double View" DOS terminal emulator that ran fine, including remote printing...now work great as terminals, but the instant you want to print on any attached DOS factory floor workstation attached Oki printer, the workstation being tested becomes crash city at DOS machine. (Old server was SCO 5.00 Open Server, and everything ran great...nothing has changed except server and ODS release level). We copied all of the old DIgi settings to the new gear line by line and cross checked them for proper terminal speeds and bit rates.

We were once DOS + Novell (combination was actaully pretty reliable) guys who, three years ago, were forced to move to Windoz by our last employer and now, as a team, we moved to a new firm that is clearly the future as it is ripping out Windoz for important stuff That SCO (some apps only come in SCO version) and Linux can do more reliabily than Windoz 2000 / XP.

So we will be the very first to admit that we are possibly missing something basic in the SCO world.

We will also point out that we as we tried to solve this set of problems, we even reviewd the books that TOny Lawrence reviewed on this site last Christmas and we tend to agree thet there are only a few crumbs of knowledge in what are really pretty old technical books for SCO.

Any ideas and solutions from the readership would be appreciated. We apologize in advance if the answer is right in front of us, but becasue we are really "newbies" (any Unix user lesss than 10 years in Unix admin is probably a "newbie&quot.......we can't find it.

We travel from NH to VA on I-95 to support similar sites so if the answer that works comes from somebody who reads this and is located along that corridor, I'll be happy to pick up a lunch one day on one of my many trips up and down the coast.

Today Sunday we are getting ready to run up to site we just were told to support in sunny Ontario Canada so don't kill youselves replying today.

Will be back in US on late Wed night.

Thank you, and we will appreciate any help you can offer.

"Wintired"

 

[wintired]

Wintired Again:

We even tried an old Novell trick of making the users equavalent wtih root (like making a Novell user equavalent with Admin) with respect to rights by going into the user admin and setting a test user with the same authorizations zand priviledges as root has and we got......

No difference.

Thanks again everybody.

Wintired

 

[pcunix]

Not knowing how you created the printers, it's hard to say where your problems are, but it is permisions for sure.

You say confusing things in your post like:

"Makes no difference if connection is cat 5, serial line, or modem"

This would seem to imply pass through printing, but then you talk about visionfs/../etc/printers.

BTW, I'm on the I-95 corridor, but it would take a bit more than a free lunch for me to fix this
Tony Lawrence
SCO Unix/Linux Resources

http://pcunix.com

tony@pcunix.com

 

[wintired]

Answer / Clarification to "PC UNIX" Questions

Question "Makes no difference if connection is Cat 5, serial line, or modem"

This sytem has a number of separate and distinct physical environments operating to establish connections.

This system also has more than one way for a windows PC to establish a software connection to the server.

First the software.....

Vision FS AND Term Vision AND X Vision to make the server look like a big Microsoft server to any attached windows machine AND separately on the same windows PC set up at least one, but usually Multiple Terminal sesions for UNIX programs operating on the server AND (check out the "Vision product line&quot to support "Unix Neighborhood file browsing )...reguardless of the physical connection.

Think of this server as the ultimate Vision Products line demo server with just about everything from that product line running except Tranatella. So it can be simultaneously a UNIX type Vision world and a Microsoft type Vision world.

Vision family connection support so.....
you can connect your Windows PC to server in any one of three ways.......

Network card inside some of the PCs on the "Cat 5 " network (good part of this site's office areas) or.....

In plant areas (Plant management sections) DigiBoards on same server (actually Digi Serial port controllers which are boxes with lots of RS-232 connectors on sides) to a spider web of physical cables attached to it and run all over the plant that allow a PC running MS Windows and only a serial wire connection to also create a terminal session with Term Vision on the PC and connect to the SCO server and to "browser the server as if it were a Microsoft file server or to brouse the "Unix Neighboor hood"

Note on plant areas...there are also machines out on manufacturing floor that are DOS pc's running "Double view" for traditionally DOS termainal emulation conections over serial cabling. They have a printing problem that probably relates to speed (though) I could be wrong) or.....

Or for staff operaitng at home or client engineering sites to be able to dial in of regular POTS lines on Windows PCs using Term vision products to be exactly the same as if they were at the office.

To clear it up.

WIth the exception of the vision FS Windows NT style type "browsing" on the server that only works over plant location connections on cat 5 or serial digiboard lines on this setup customer staff can...

establish ANSI or X termainl sessions over any kind of connection and brouse UNIX neighborhoods part of Vision family on file manager part of term Vision products

The printing works if you log into system as Root under any scenario, but as I described above, not if you are not root.

"This would seem to imply pass through printing, but then you talk about visionfs/../etc/printers."

All the printers were set up to operate more than one way.

First using the SCO X interface or the character based interface a very traditional "lp" type printer(s) was setup just like every UNIX system over the last ziliion years. The printer(s) are OKI's connected with serail cables to real live "makedev " parallel ports on the big box.....

Then.....

Using the ./visionfs commands and the SCO technical document we set up 30 printers so that 30 windows PCs could then "advertise" their attached printers to the SCO sever. Look inside Vision Serivces panel on control panel on PC and there is a tab to "create printer" The corect type is "RPC" printer and not the "LPD" printer.

This works over cat 5 or serial and modem, and I'll note the speed over the last two is actually pretty good. Think of the connected windows PCs as being UNIX servers advertising their printers via RPC protocols.

Also, as Windows PC's running Windows Programs that are clearly not UNIX (example MS Office) using Vision FS created "shareable" printers attached to server and Windows PCs. It actually works on PCs and quite well

I will note everything works if you are root, but if you log on as anything else, otherwise everything works but printing.

"BTW, I'm on the I-95 corridor, but it would take a bit more than a free lunch for me to fix this"

BTW I figured that a lunch is only the start. I have a Novell cluster array project that gets me to Chelmsford (next to Lowell) every other week so I'm sure if you are what you are you will get more than lunch and probably meet fact to face.

But I want to make sure that you are not a Unix head who never had a cleint / boss who years ago went out and installed the entire Vision line, except for Tranatella, so as a UNIX head living on almost free products, never got the experience with the Vision line necessary to fix the problem, or least understand it.

I will point out that many Unix heads don't read very well, and you may certainly be the exception, but I've already been burned by Unix heads who "can do anything" but read a 700 page manual and understand it. I will also point out that most Unix heads are better than nearly 99% of the windows heads on this earth.

Since you have survivied as an independent consultant and the writing on the site you have is good writing you are probabably most certainly the exception to the above.

Site is not in New England so I am coy about its location because Boston area people seem to not like to travel or seem not to like to dial in to fix things remotely (my perhaps limited experience) which is why I have stayed clear of anything other than this posting.

Example, would you drive to Ottawa Canada (from DC suburb) on a Sunday Night and return on a Wednesday morning (18-20 wonderful hours in a big boroque rented car + 24 hours of billable time) for a client?

Wintired