From: Digest To: "OS/2GenAu Digest" Date: Thu, 1 Jul 2010 00:01:46 EST-10EDT,10,1,0,7200,4,1,0,7200,3600 Subject: [os2genau_digest] No. 1980 Reply-To: X-List-Unsubscribe: www.os2site.com/list/ ************************************************** Wednesday 30 June 2010 Number 1980 ************************************************** Subjects for today 1 Re: 3rd option : Mike O'Connor 2 Re: 3rd option : Ed Durrant 3 Re: 3rd option : Ed Durrant 4 Re: 3rd option : Mike O'Connor 5 Re: 3rd option : Ed Durrant 6 Re: 3rd option : madodel 7 Re: 3rd option : Mike O'Connor 8 Re: 3rd option : Mike O'Connor 9 Re: 3rd option : Peter Moylan 10 Re: USB Printer support (Was:(3rd. Option)) : Ed Durrant 11 Re: 3rd option : Alan Duval 12 Re: USB Printer support (Was:(3rd. Option)) : Peter Moylan 13 Re: 3rd option : Peter Moylan 14 Re: USB Printer support (Was:(3rd. Option)) : Peter Moylan 15 The future of printing perhaps ? : Ed Durrant 16 Re: USB Printer support (Was:(3rd. Option)) : Ed Durrant 17 Re: The future of printing perhaps ? : Ed Durrant 18 Re: USB Printer support (Was:(3rd. Option)) : Peter Moylan 19 Re: USB Printer support (Was:(3rd. Option)) : Chuck McKinnis **= Email 1 ==========================** Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2010 01:07:12 +1000 From: Mike O'Connor Subject: Re: 3rd option Peter Moylan wrote: > This is with a USB connection. (The printer comes with a USB cable, but > not a parallel port cable or ethernet cable.) I wanted to try a parallel > port connection, but the parallel port connector is not compatible with > the only parallel port cable I have. Did the standard for parallel port > connectors change when I wasn't looking? It shouldn't have, because the > other end of the cable happily connects with my PC. > Hi Peter, Years back - around 1980, when I still owned a home in Sydney, I had to have a custom cable constructed for the parallel connected printer I had at the time - a QUME55 Daisywheel printer. i was made fully aware that the majority of the pins on a standard centronics parallel cable were not connected - just a subset were. so you might just need to get yourself a current IEEE1284 cable. > The failure to print with USB might just be a problem with using > USBPRT.SYS, a thing that I've never tried to use before. (That is, I've > never had a USB-connected printer.) > > I haven't yet tried it with a network connection. To do that I'll have > to move the printer to my Windows computer, because Windows is needed to > change the IP address. (As supplied, it has an address of > 169.254.212.83, a rather strange-looking choice.) I'll try that tomorrow. > That quad-dotted address looks remarkably like the "black-hole" address allocated to a port that isn't a valid connection.- e.g. by Microsoft, when it can't connect to a DHCP server. You may be able to connect your Phaser directly to your router and have it allocated a DHCP address on your current LAN sub-net, and converse with it through your SeaMonkey/Firefox browser.and thus configure it. > The printer driver installation from the PPD file appeared to go OK. > Afterrunning the PPD import utility, my list of available printer drivers > includes a "Xerox Phaser 3125 PS", which at least is the right label. > >> ........ which I need as eCS is not recognizing any USB ports. >> > I wonder whether that's related to my problem. I have a vague suspicion > that I do have a working printer driver, but a faulty "USB printer" > interface. On the other hand, I do have a working USB disk interface. > Sounds more to me like you don't yet have any USB ports set up for the Phaser to match with! > By the way, the Officeworks salesman told me that I would have to buy a > USB cable since there wasn't one in the box. I said that was OK, I'd use > the parallel port cable. When I opened the box it was the other way > around: USB cable included, parallel printer cable not included. (But it > did include power cords for 3 different countries!) So what you're told > about what is and is not included might not be right; you can't tell > without opening the box. > So what's new? :-D Regards, Mike -- Failed the exam for -------------------- MCSE - Minesweeper Consultant and Solitaire Expert -------------------- Personal replies to any of : mikeoc (at) internode (dot) on (dot) net mikeoc (at) austarnet (dot) com (dot) au majilok (at) gmail (dot) com [Please ZIP any attachments, other than GIF/JPG or plain-text] If you are missing a response from me - check Tweed Heads WX status at: http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDR663.loop.shtml#skip -------------------------------------------------- http://www./melbpc/ - The Melbourne OS/2 SIG === **= Email 2 ==========================** Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2010 07:22:29 +1000 From: Ed Durrant Subject: Re: 3rd option Alan Duval wrote: > Done some internet searching and found that I could get the Brother > HL-5340D for $243 delivered. It has a parallel connector as well as > high speed USB 2.0. > > Emulation PCL6, BR-script3, IBM Proprinter XL, Epson FX-850. > > ? what is BR-script 3 and is it similar to postscript 3. Also what is > IBM Proprinter XL? > > Regards, > > Alan > -------------------------------------------------- > > http://www./melbpc/ - The Melbourne OS/2 SIG === > Br-Script is Brother's version of Postscript, as far as I know for all basic functions the same as Postscript, just may have some additional capabilities to Apple's Postscript. The IBM Proprinter (and XL) was a VERY common matrix impact printer used in business when the PC first came out and for several years afterwards. It's main competitor at the time was the Epson graphics protocol as used later by the FX - both protocols were angled towards graphical printing rather than just characters. -- Cheers/eCS2.0 Ed Please checkout my podcasts at: http://eComStationAustralia.podbean dot com or via iTunes To subscribe - click this: http://eComStationAustralia.podbean dot com/feed -------------------------------------------------- http://www./melbpc/ - The Melbourne OS/2 SIG === **= Email 3 ==========================** Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2010 07:45:10 +1000 From: Ed Durrant Subject: Re: 3rd option Peter Moylan wrote: > I wanted to try a parallel > port connection, but the parallel port connector is not compatible with > the only parallel port cable I have. Did the standard for parallel port > connectors change when I wasn't looking? It shouldn't have, because the > other end of the cable happily connects with my PC. > > Parrallel port cables have always been a Centronics plug (the one has small metal wires at each end of the socket to hold it in place) at the printer end and a DB25 connector at the other end. If this printer expects something different Fuji are not following standards - they could be doing this so that you have to buy their cable, but that's not really on! I suppose they could have a DB25 on each end but you'd need to make sure they don't expect any cores of the cable to be crossed and if so you could use a serial comms DB-25 to DB-25 cable if you have the correct Female/Male plugs on it. Having a DB-25 socket on the printer would normally mean it is a serial not a parrallel port however - so it sounds as if Fuji are trying to force you to buy their cable. > The failure to print with USB might just be a problem with using > USBPRT.SYS, a thing that I've never tried to use before. (That is, I've > never had a USB-connected printer.) > Don't forget you need the standard print support AS WELL AS the USB printer support loaded in config.sys - i.e. do not rem out or remove print01.sys! Here's all my USB statements in case this helps: DEVICE=J:\OS2\BOOT\USBPRT.SYS DEVICE=J:\ECS\BOOT\USBRESMG.SYS BASEDEV=PRINT01.SYS BASEDEV=USBUHCD.SYS BASEDEV=USBUHCD.SYS BASEDEV=USBUHCD.SYS BASEDEV=USBUHCD.SYS BASEDEV=USBEHCD.SYS BASEDEV=USBD.SYS BASEDEV=USBMSD.ADD /REMOVABLES:8 /FLOPPIES:1 > I haven't yet tried it with a network connection. To do that I'll have > to move the printer to my Windows computer, because Windows is needed to > change the IP address. (As supplied, it has an address of > 169.254.212.83, a rather strange-looking choice.) I'll try that tomorrow. > This is the APICA address range - the address that Windows (and later versions of eCS) allocate if a device is set to DHCP and no DHCP server is found on the network. Anything in the range 169.254.x.x with a subnet mask of 255.255.0.0 (i.e. class B address) can talk together on this "default" network. > The printer driver installation from the PPD file appeared to go OK. > (The utility to do that is in the "Printers" folder in eCS 2.0). The > supplied CD includes 30 different PPD files, for two versions of WinXP > and 15 different languages, but as far as I can tell they're all > identical and do not seem to have any Windows dependencies. After > running the PPD import utility, my list of available printer drivers > includes a "Xerox Phaser 3125 PS", which at least is the right label. > > Note by the way this is modifying the IBM OS/2 postscript driver. If this does not work, you could still try eCUPS. >> The Brother HL-2170W is $199 not $169 and doesn't have a parallel >> connector which I need as eCS is not recognizing any USB ports. >> > > I wonder whether that's related to my problem. I have a vague suspicion > that I do have a working printer driver, but a faulty "USB printer" > interface. On the other hand, I do have a working USB disk interface. > > See my comment above - you haven't removed Printo1.sys have you ?? If your USB hardware is working (which it is if you can access external USB attached hard drives or memory keys) and you have both print01.sys and usbprt loaded - do you see the USB printer port as a selectable port when you use the WPS printer creation option? If so things "should" work - of course as long as the printer and printer driver are compatible (which can be proved by using a parrallel connection if you have one). If you have the options I'd get parrallel working first, then USB, then network as they get more complex as you go along. > By the way, the Officeworks salesman told me that I would have to buy a > USB cable since there wasn't one in the box. I said that was OK, I'd use > the parallel port cable. When I opened the box it was the other way > around: USB cable included, parallel printer cable not included. (But it > did include power cords for 3 different countries!) So what you're told > about what is and is not included might not be right; you can't tell > without opening the box. > > That's typical ! The outside of the box "should" say what's inside! -- Cheers/eCS2.0 Ed Please checkout my podcasts at: http://eComStationAustralia.podbean dot com or via iTunes To subscribe - click this: http://eComStationAustralia.podbean dot com/feed -------------------------------------------------- http://www./melbpc/ - The Melbourne OS/2 SIG === **= Email 4 ==========================** Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2010 08:10:36 +1000 From: Mike O'Connor Subject: Re: 3rd option Ed Durrant wrote: > Br-Script is Brother's version of Postscript, as far as I know for all > basic functions the same as Postscript, just may have some additional > capabilities to Apple's Postscript. Hi Ed, I think you meant to say Adobe's POSTSCRIPT, not Apple's! Regards, Mike -- Failed the exam for -------------------- MCSE - Minesweeper Consultant and Solitaire Expert -------------------- Personal replies to any of : mikeoc (at) internode (dot) on (dot) net mikeoc (at) austarnet (dot) com (dot) au majilok (at) gmail (dot) com [Please ZIP any attachments, other than GIF/JPG or plain-text] If you are missing a response from me - check Tweed Heads WX status at: http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDR663.loop.shtml#skip -------------------------------------------------- http://www./melbpc/ - The Melbourne OS/2 SIG === **= Email 5 ==========================** Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2010 10:24:58 +1000 From: Ed Durrant Subject: Re: 3rd option Mike O'Connor wrote: > Ed Durrant wrote: >> Br-Script is Brother's version of Postscript, as far as I know for >> all basic functions the same as Postscript, just may have some >> additional capabilities to Apple's Postscript. > > Hi Ed, > > I think you meant to say Adobe's POSTSCRIPT, not Apple's! > > Regards, > Mike > Yes you're right Adobe's not Apple's - however some of the confusion came as the first postscript printers that worked with OS/2 were Apple printers! -- Cheers/eCS2.0 Ed Please checkout my podcasts at: http://eComStationAustralia.podbean dot com or via iTunes To subscribe - click this: http://eComStationAustralia.podbean dot com/feed -------------------------------------------------- http://www./melbpc/ - The Melbourne OS/2 SIG === **= Email 6 ==========================** Date: Tue, 29 Jun 2010 20:41:06 -0400 From: madodel Subject: Re: 3rd option Ed Durrant wrote: > Mike O'Connor wrote: >> Ed Durrant wrote: >>> Br-Script is Brother's version of Postscript, as far as I know for >>> all basic functions the same as Postscript, just may have some >>> additional capabilities to Apple's Postscript. >> >> Hi Ed, >> >> I think you meant to say Adobe's POSTSCRIPT, not Apple's! >> >> Regards, >> Mike >> > Yes you're right Adobe's not Apple's - however some of the confusion > came as the first postscript printers that worked with OS/2 were Apple > printers! > Also Apple owns the CUPS printer driver, used by Mac OSX, Linux and thanks to Paul, eCS-OS/2. http://www.cups dot org Mark -------------------------------------------------- http://www./melbpc/ - The Melbourne OS/2 SIG === **= Email 7 ==========================** Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2010 11:05:49 +1000 From: Mike O'Connor Subject: Re: 3rd option Ed Durrant wrote: >> Hi Ed, >> >> I think you meant to say Adobe's POSTSCRIPT, not Apple's! >> >> Regards, >> Mike >> > Yes you're right Adobe's not Apple's - however some of the confusion > came as the first postscript printers that worked with OS/2 were Apple > printers! > > Yes, I know, My first non-D.M. printer at $2,500 was an Apple Laserwriter Select 310 in 1993 (PS1), when $2500 was a decent amount of money, relative to salary of the day! Regards, Mike -- Failed the exam for -------------------- MCSE - Minesweeper Consultant and Solitaire Expert -------------------- Personal replies to any of : mikeoc (at) internode (dot) on (dot) net mikeoc (at) austarnet (dot) com (dot) au majilok (at) gmail (dot) com [Please ZIP any attachments, other than GIF/JPG or plain-text] If you are missing a response from me - check Tweed Heads WX status at: http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDR663.loop.shtml#skip -------------------------------------------------- http://www./melbpc/ - The Melbourne OS/2 SIG === **= Email 8 ==========================** Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2010 11:08:26 +1000 From: Mike O'Connor Subject: Re: 3rd option madodel wrote: > Ed Durrant wrote: >> Yes you're right Adobe's not Apple's - however some of the confusion >> came as the first postscript printers that worked with OS/2 were >> Apple printers! >> > Also Apple owns the CUPS printer driver, used by Mac OSX, Linux and > thanks to Paul, eCS-OS/2**. http://www.cups dot org > > Mark ** thankfully! :-) Regards, Mike -- Failed the exam for -------------------- MCSE - Minesweeper Consultant and Solitaire Expert -------------------- Personal replies to any of : mikeoc (at) internode (dot) on (dot) net mikeoc (at) austarnet (dot) com (dot) au majilok (at) gmail (dot) com [Please ZIP any attachments, other than GIF/JPG or plain-text] If you are missing a response from me - check Tweed Heads WX status at: http://www.bom.gov.au/products/IDR663.loop.shtml#skip -------------------------------------------------- http://www./melbpc/ - The Melbourne OS/2 SIG === **= Email 9 ==========================** Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2010 12:42:45 +1000 From: Peter Moylan Subject: Re: 3rd option Ed Durrant wrote: > Peter Moylan wrote: >> I wanted to try a parallel port connection, but the parallel port >> connector is not compatible with the only parallel port cable I >> have. Did the standard for parallel port connectors change when I >> wasn't looking? It shouldn't have, because the other end of the >> cable happily connects with my PC. >> > Parrallel port cables have always been a Centronics plug (the one has > small metal wires at each end of the socket to hold it in place) at > the printer end and a DB25 connector at the other end. Ah, that explains one thing. My cable must have been wired as an extension cable, since it has DB25 at both ends. (One of each sex.) Well, I'm overdue for some exercise, so I'll walk down to Dick Smith's later today. >> The failure to print with USB might just be a problem with using >> USBPRT.SYS, a thing that I've never tried to use before. (That is, >> I've never had a USB-connected printer.) >> > Don't forget you need the standard print support AS WELL AS the USB > printer support loaded in config.sys - i.e. do not rem out or remove > print01.sys! Here's all my USB statements in case this helps: > > > DEVICE=J:\OS2\BOOT\USBPRT.SYS > DEVICE=J:\ECS\BOOT\USBRESMG.SYS > BASEDEV=PRINT01.SYS > BASEDEV=USBUHCD.SYS > BASEDEV=USBUHCD.SYS > BASEDEV=USBUHCD.SYS > BASEDEV=USBUHCD.SYS > BASEDEV=USBEHCD.SYS > BASEDEV=USBD.SYS > BASEDEV=USBMSD.ADD /REMOVABLES:8 /FLOPPIES:1 > > I have all of those. In fact, by coincidence I have exactly the same set as you do, except that I've specified /FLOPPIES:0 because I got sick of having an unused drive letter in my "Drives" folder. For now I've moved the printer next to my laptop so that I can test it with Windows, and configure an IP address that's compatible with my LAN. I'm waiting for a download to finish; plugging in the printer triggered an automatic 1.8 MB download of a USB printer driver. (1.8 MB?? The last time I wrote a device driver it was not much more than half a dozen pages of source code.) If that works I'll try to set up the printer as a network printer. (Hmm, better count my ethernet cables before visiting Dick Smith.) I'll report back on what happened. >> I wonder whether that's related to my problem. I have a vague suspicion >> that I do have a working printer driver, but a faulty "USB printer" >> interface. On the other hand, I do have a working USB disk interface. >> >> > See my comment above - you haven't removed Printo1.sys have you ?? > If your USB hardware is working (which it is if you can access > external USB attached hard drives or memory keys) and you have both > print01.sys and usbprt loaded - do you see the USB printer port as a > selectable port when you use the WPS printer creation option? Initially, when I first did the "install printer" operation, there was no USB port among the available options. I had to click on the "Install new printer driver" button, then right-click on one of the existing ports and select "Install", and then select "USB". After that "USB_PRINTER" appeared in the list of available ports. Hmm, while retrying that sequence in order to remember what I did I got the message "No new USB printers found, a new USB port not created. To create a new USB printer port connect the printer to the USB port and repeat the installation procedure." Of course that message is correct now that I've moved the printer to another computer, but I have a feeling that I got the same message yesterday. Once I clicked "OK" to the error popup, I got a new popup saying "The ports that you selected were successfully installed", and USB disappeared from the list of available ports, which is a bit confusing. Perhaps I need to delete that USB printer port, then reconnect the printer, and then go through the port creation process all over again. I'll try that after I've done the network stuff. >> By the way, the Officeworks salesman told me that I would have to buy a >> USB cable since there wasn't one in the box. I said that was OK, I'd use >> the parallel port cable. When I opened the box it was the other way >> around: USB cable included, parallel printer cable not included. (But it >> did include power cords for 3 different countries!) So what you're told >> about what is and is not included might not be right; you can't tell >> without opening the box. >> >> > That's typical ! The outside of the box "should" say what's inside! > The box only has the printer features, not what else is included. At least, that's for the English version. There does appear to be a parts list in Japanese, but I can't read Japanese. -- Peter Moylan peter at pmoylan dot org http://www.pmoylan dot org -- Peter Moylan peter at pmoylan dot org http://www.pmoylan dot org -------------------------------------------------- http://www./melbpc/ - The Melbourne OS/2 SIG === **= Email 10 ==========================** Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2010 15:48:02 +1000 From: Ed Durrant Subject: Re: USB Printer support (Was:(3rd. Option)) Peter Moylan wrote: >> Parrallel port cables have always been a Centronics plug (the one has >> small metal wires at each end of the socket to hold it in place) at >> the printer end and a DB25 connector at the other end. >> > > Ah, that explains one thing. My cable must have been wired as an > extension cable, since it has DB25 at both ends. (One of each sex.) > Well, I'm overdue for some exercise, so I'll walk down to Dick Smith's > later today. > > > I have all of those. In fact, by coincidence I have exactly the same set > as you do, except that I've specified /FLOPPIES:0 because I got sick of > having an unused drive letter in my "Drives" folder. > > For now I've moved the printer next to my laptop so that I can test it > with Windows, and configure an IP address that's compatible with my LAN. > I'm waiting for a download to finish; plugging in the printer triggered > an automatic 1.8 MB download of a USB printer driver. (1.8 MB?? The last > time I wrote a device driver it was not much more than half a dozen > pages of source code.) If that works I'll try to set up the printer as a > network printer. (Hmm, better count my ethernet cables before visiting > Dick Smith.) I'll report back on what happened. > > > Yes and before you go - make sure you have a spare ethernet port on your network switch as well - that's caught me out before, but I was able to revert to using one of the spare ports on my WiFi router. It's amazing how quickly the network ports go - I don't have 8 PCs, but one port in the switch connects to the router, there are two network connected printers, one connection for my main system (this one), one for my VMWare ESXi server set up that doubles as my test system and then I need a port for when I have to connect my works laptop and another for my netbook and then there's my two VOIP phones (through a dual-port ATA, so that only needs one port - and bang there goes all the 8 ports on the switch! > Initially, when I first did the "install printer" operation, there was > no USB port among the available options. I had to click on the "Install > new printer driver" button, then right-click on one of the existing > ports and select "Install", and then select "USB". After that > "USB_PRINTER" appeared in the list of available ports. > > That sounds right. > Hmm, while retrying that sequence in order to remember what I did I got > the message "No new USB printers found, a new USB port not created. To > create a new USB printer port connect the printer to the USB port and > repeat the installation procedure." Of course that message is correct > now that I've moved the printer to another computer, but I have a > feeling that I got the same message yesterday. Once I clicked "OK" to > the error popup, I got a new popup saying "The ports that you selected > were successfully installed", and USB disappeared from the list of > available ports, which is a bit confusing. > Yes this is some recent logic - the USBprinter monitor (USBMON.EXE) spots what is connected and creates a USB port (with the identification it gets from the printer). Check that you are starting usbmon.exe in the startup folder. I think there are two usbmon.exe files that do different things, the program object that I have in my startup folder has no directory shown to the file, so it must be the one that is found first - in \OS2 not \OS2\BOOT. By the icon on each of these same named EXEs - the one in \OS2 is to spot USB printers and the one in \OS2\BOOT is to spot new USB mass storage devices. > Perhaps I need to delete that USB printer port, then reconnect the > printer, and then go through the port creation process all over again. > I'll try that after I've done the network stuff. > > I would do that - deleting the port and letting it re-install (under the control of usbmon.exe) may well fix everything up! -- Cheers/eCS2.0 Ed Please checkout my podcasts at: http://eComStationAustralia.podbean dot com or via iTunes To subscribe - click this: http://eComStationAustralia.podbean dot com/feed -------------------------------------------------- http://www./melbpc/ - The Melbourne OS/2 SIG === **= Email 11 ==========================** Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2010 19:08:10 +1000 From: Alan Duval Subject: Re: 3rd option Peter Moylan wrote: > I've just bitten the bullet and bought a Fuji Xerox 3125N printer. I > have other things to do today, so it's still in the box, but I'll report > back soon on how well it worked (or didn't work). > I decided to buy the Fuji Xerox 3125N printer today. Won't have any time to try installing it till the weekend so I hope you can sort out things in the meantime. If you can't get it working with eCS I'll take mine back for a refund. Officeworks had only 2 in the shop as it's a clearance line. Regards, Alan Duval -------------------------------------------------- http://www./melbpc/ - The Melbourne OS/2 SIG === **= Email 12 ==========================** Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:25:10 +1000 From: Peter Moylan Subject: Re: USB Printer support (Was:(3rd. Option)) Ed Durrant wrote: > Peter Moylan wrote: >>> Parrallel port cables have always been a Centronics plug (the one >>> has small metal wires at each end of the socket to hold it in >>> place) at the printer end and a DB25 connector at the other end. >> >> Ah, that explains one thing. My cable must have been wired as an >> extension cable, since it has DB25 at both ends. (One of each sex.) >> Well, I'm overdue for some exercise, so I'll walk down to Dick >> Smith's later today. It turns out that Dick Smith doesn't sell printer cables any more. (Salesman: "All the printers use USB now." Me: "Yes, but USB isn't working on my new printer. That's why I need the cable.") I was intending to phone around possible other suppliers, but in the end I used up the entire afternoon trying to install a Windows network printer driver. It's been a major struggle - for most of that time, Windows couldn't find the printer, apparently because a Windows printer had not been installed - but at last my printer has a fixed IP address (192.168.1.250). After that hurdle, Windows installation was fairly easy. Well, semi-easy. It would have been easy with WinXP, but apparently Windows 7 is incompatible with the printer. I resolved that by downloading a couple of WinXP DLLs from the web. Meanwhile, I have suddenly discovered that I do have a printer cable. It looked as if the printer cable from my old HP Deskjet (retired because of the cost of ink) could only be removed with the aid of sidecutters. It finally clicked that the other end of the cable, including connector, was accesssible once I opened a panel. I'll try that option tomorrow. I've succeed in installing the printer to my W*** laptop as a USB printer. It's interesting that the driver sees it only as a PCL printer. The Windows 7 driver doesn't seem to recognise Postscript. Perhaps that's a sign that I need to use a PCL driver in OS/2. The printer does claim to recognise Postscript 3, but W7 doesn't use that option. Meanwhile, I finally have, after much struggle with unresponsive Windows software, allocated a fixed IP address to my printer. For several hours the installer was unwilling to find the printer on the LAN, but I finally discovered how to enter the MAC address manually. I now have a network printer that's accessible from my Windows 7 laptop. I've been trying to document the steps, for the benefit of later explorers, and once I've finished the job I'll publish the result here. The hard part, in Windows, is trying to get Windows to find the printer on the LAN. (It turns out that you have to manually specify the MAC address.) Once that hurdle is passed, things go smoothly. Well, relatively smoothly. The WinXP installer hasn't heard of Windows 7, so I had to search the net for a couple of "obsolete" files. Now that the printer is a network object on the LAN, I need to learn how to install a network printer in OS/2. I've never done that before. The "Install Printer" program offers two options: standard printer, and IBM LAN printer. My printer doesn't fall into either of those categories. I'll try the "IBM LAN" option tonight, but I'm not confident. Oh well, nothing ventured nothing gained. > Yes and before you go - make sure you have a spare ethernet port on > your network switch as well - that's caught me out before, but I was > able to revert to using one of the spare ports on my WiFi router. Not a problem for me. My router has 4 ethernet ports, but because of the layout of my house my two desktop computers (eCS desktop, Win7 laptop) are both using wireless. That leaves ethernet port 1 for my server (OS/2), port 2 for the new printer, and ports 3 and 4 unused. My router is also a VoIP adapter, so I don't need an extra port for my phone. I can see how someone like you can use up 8 ports, but for me 4 ethernet ports are more than I need, because of my heavy use of wireless. One of these days I should do a review of how I do wireless LAN with OS/2. For anyone interested, I've used both the DWL-G730AP and ASUS WL-330gE wireless access points with complete satisfaction. The first of these is the better, in my opinion, but it blew up for some unknown reason. I'm mildly annoyed that the ASUS device shows a light in the middle of the night, but that's a minor point. > Check that you are starting > usbmon.exe in the startup folder. I think there are two usbmon.exe > files that do different things, the program object that I have in my > startup folder has no directory shown to the file, so it must be the > one that is found first - in \OS2 not \OS2\BOOT. By the icon on each > of these same named EXEs - the one in \OS2 is to spot USB printers > and the one in \OS2\BOOT is to spot new USB mass storage devices. I have two relevant objects in my Startup folder. The "Removable Device Monitor" starts C:\ECS\BOOT\USBMSDD.EXE, so that obviously only monitors removable hard disks. The "USBPRT Auto monitor" runs USBMON.EXE with a parameter of USBPRT. -- Peter Moylan peter at pmoylan dot org http://www.pmoylan dot org -------------------------------------------------- http://www./melbpc/ - The Melbourne OS/2 SIG === **= Email 13 ==========================** Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:30:40 +1000 From: Peter Moylan Subject: Re: 3rd option Alan Duval wrote: > Peter Moylan wrote: >> I've just bitten the bullet and bought a Fuji Xerox 3125N printer. I >> have other things to do today, so it's still in the box, but I'll report >> back soon on how well it worked (or didn't work). >> > I decided to buy the Fuji Xerox 3125N printer today. Won't have any > time to try > installing it till the weekend so I hope you can sort out things in > the meantime. > If you can't get it working with eCS I'll take mine back for a > refund. Officeworks > had only 2 in the shop as it's a clearance line. > > So far I've only managed to get it working with Windows. Finally, however, I've managed to install it as a network printer, which gives me hope that an OS/2 option will work. I've never actually had experience with installing an OS/2 network printer, but I'm optimistic that I'll figure it out, and I'm documenting every step. -- Peter Moylan peter at pmoylan dot org http://www.pmoylan dot org -------------------------------------------------- http://www./melbpc/ - The Melbourne OS/2 SIG === **= Email 14 ==========================** Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:39:00 +1000 From: Peter Moylan Subject: Re: USB Printer support (Was:(3rd. Option)) Damn, I used to know how to do this. Can anyone remind me how to install a network printer? I already have the correct driver, I believe, I just need to know how to specify a port that's an IP address. -- Peter Moylan peter at pmoylan dot org http://www.pmoylan dot org -------------------------------------------------- http://www./melbpc/ - The Melbourne OS/2 SIG === **= Email 15 ==========================** Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2010 20:59:16 +1000 From: Ed Durrant Subject: The future of printing perhaps ? I just watch a video podcast from Geekbeat.TV (Cali Lewis) where she commented on the HP ePrint product range with the HP Photosmart e-All in one model D110a (don't HP like long model names!) - which is currently available in the US at about US$99. The key point about this is that it is wireless connected to the internet and any e-mail attachment sent to it via e-mail (via the HP mail server) gets printed on the printer - they say no set up required and no drivers. This sounds great for OS/2-eCS if it's true - its real market is for iPOD/iPAD/Blackberry etc. but if it can handle e-mail then all we need is a small daemon that e-mails what we send to a print queue. The website talks of Windows and Mac compatibility but that may be just for the scanning feature or if you wish to print using the old methods via USB rather than via the web. Certainly an interesting approach is a relatively cheap colour printer (MFC). http://www.shopping.hp dot com/store/product/product_detail/CN731A%2523B1H -- Cheers/eCS2.0 Ed Please checkout my podcasts at: http://eComStationAustralia.podbean dot com or via iTunes To subscribe - click this: http://eComStationAustralia.podbean dot com/feed -------------------------------------------------- http://www./melbpc/ - The Melbourne OS/2 SIG === **= Email 16 ==========================** Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:12:28 +1000 From: Ed Durrant Subject: Re: USB Printer support (Was:(3rd. Option)) Peter Moylan wrote: > Ed Durrant wrote: > >> Peter Moylan wrote: >> >>>> Parrallel port cables have always been a Centronics plug (the one >>>> has small metal wires at each end of the socket to hold it in >>>> place) at the printer end and a DB25 connector at the other end. >>>> >>> Ah, that explains one thing. My cable must have been wired as an >>> extension cable, since it has DB25 at both ends. (One of each sex.) >>> Well, I'm overdue for some exercise, so I'll walk down to Dick >>> Smith's later today. >>> > > It turns out that Dick Smith doesn't sell printer cables any more. > (Salesman: "All the printers use USB now." Me: "Yes, but USB isn't > working on my new printer. That's why I need the cable.") I was > intending to phone around possible other suppliers, but in the end I > used up the entire afternoon trying to install a Windows network printer > driver. It's been a major struggle - for most of that time, Windows > couldn't find the printer, apparently because a Windows printer had not > been installed - but at last my printer has a fixed IP address > (192.168.1.250). After that hurdle, Windows installation was fairly > easy. Well, semi-easy. It would have been easy with WinXP, but > apparently Windows 7 is incompatible with the printer. I resolved that > by downloading a couple of WinXP DLLs from the web. > > Meanwhile, I have suddenly discovered that I do have a printer cable. It > looked as if the printer cable from my old HP Deskjet (retired because > of the cost of ink) could only be removed with the aid of sidecutters. > It finally clicked that the other end of the cable, including connector, > was accesssible once I opened a panel. I'll try that option tomorrow. > > I've succeed in installing the printer to my W*** laptop as a USB > printer. It's interesting that the driver sees it only as a PCL printer. > The Windows 7 driver doesn't seem to recognise Postscript. Perhaps > that's a sign that I need to use a PCL driver in OS/2. The printer does > claim to recognise Postscript 3, but W7 doesn't use that option. > > Meanwhile, I finally have, after much struggle with unresponsive Windows > software, allocated a fixed IP address to my printer. For several hours > the installer was unwilling to find the printer on the LAN, but I > finally discovered how to enter the MAC address manually. I now have a > network printer that's accessible from my Windows 7 laptop. I've been > trying to document the steps, for the benefit of later explorers, and > once I've finished the job I'll publish the result here. The hard part, > in Windows, is trying to get Windows to find the printer on the LAN. (It > turns out that you have to manually specify the MAC address.) Once that > hurdle is passed, things go smoothly. Well, relatively smoothly. The > WinXP installer hasn't heard of Windows 7, so I had to search the net > for a couple of "obsolete" files. > > Now that the printer is a network object on the LAN, I need to learn how > to install a network printer in OS/2. I've never done that before. The > "Install Printer" program offers two options: standard printer, and IBM > LAN printer. My printer doesn't fall into either of those categories. > I'll try the "IBM LAN" option tonight, but I'm not confident. Oh well, > nothing ventured nothing gained. > > >> Yes and before you go - make sure you have a spare ethernet port on >> your network switch as well - that's caught me out before, but I was >> able to revert to using one of the spare ports on my WiFi router. >> > > Not a problem for me. My router has 4 ethernet ports, but because of the > layout of my house my two desktop computers (eCS desktop, Win7 laptop) > are both using wireless. That leaves ethernet port 1 for my server > (OS/2), port 2 for the new printer, and ports 3 and 4 unused. My router > is also a VoIP adapter, so I don't need an extra port for my phone. > > I can see how someone like you can use up 8 ports, but for me 4 ethernet > ports are more than I need, because of my heavy use of wireless. > > One of these days I should do a review of how I do wireless LAN with > OS/2. For anyone interested, I've used both the DWL-G730AP and ASUS > WL-330gE wireless access points with complete satisfaction. The first of > these is the better, in my opinion, but it blew up for some unknown > reason. I'm mildly annoyed that the ASUS device shows a light in the > middle of the night, but that's a minor point. > > >> Check that you are starting >> usbmon.exe in the startup folder. I think there are two usbmon.exe >> files that do different things, the program object that I have in my >> startup folder has no directory shown to the file, so it must be the >> one that is found first - in \OS2 not \OS2\BOOT. By the icon on each >> of these same named EXEs - the one in \OS2 is to spot USB printers >> and the one in \OS2\BOOT is to spot new USB mass storage devices. >> > > I have two relevant objects in my Startup folder. The "Removable Device > Monitor" starts C:\ECS\BOOT\USBMSDD.EXE, so that obviously only monitors > removable hard disks. The "USBPRT Auto monitor" runs USBMON.EXE with a > parameter of USBPRT. > > Hi Peter - I am a little worried about your comment that Windows 7 doesn't see the printer and that you downloaded some WinXP DLLs and added them to the system - that's likely to come back and bite you. the fact that the software could find the printer until you entered the MAC address suggests to me that you have the PC and the printer on a different IP subnet. My recommendation is that you go to the Fuji Xerox website and download the latest windows 7 driver and software for the printer. De-install what you installed so far and then install the new code. As for OS/2 Network printing. I will assume you will be using LPD - to do this go into TCPCFG2 (i.e. start TCPCFG2 at the commandline), go to the printing tab and enter the required data (print server name and printer queue name). Now restart the system and in the printer setup folder when you add a printer one of the possible ports should be LPD - if you look at its properties it will be the same as you set in TCPCFG2. Now select the correct printer driver and set up the printer like any other local printer. Somewhere I think we need to start the LPR or LPD or SLPR service. - Can someone clarify this please - is this the LPD in the autostart services section of TCPCFG2 ?? -- Cheers/eCS2.0 Ed Please checkout my podcasts at: http://eComStationAustralia.podbean dot com or via iTunes To subscribe - click this: http://eComStationAustralia.podbean dot com/feed -------------------------------------------------- http://www./melbpc/ - The Melbourne OS/2 SIG === **= Email 17 ==========================** Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2010 21:14:40 +1000 From: Ed Durrant Subject: Re: The future of printing perhaps ? Ed Durrant wrote: > I just watched a video podcast from Geekbeat.TV (Cali Lewis) where she > commented on the HP ePrint product range with the HP Photosmart e-All > in one model D110a (don't HP like long model names!) - which is > currently available in the US at about US$99. > > The key point about this is that it is wireless connected to the > internet and any e-mail attachment sent to it via e-mail (via the HP > mail server) gets printed on the printer - they say no set up required > and no drivers. > > This sounds great for OS/2-eCS if it's true - its real market is for > iPOD/iPAD/Blackberry etc. but if it can handle e-mail then all we need > is a small daemon that e-mails what we send to a print queue. Or actually an e-mail port driver, that we can select for a particular print queue. > > The website talks of Windows and Mac compatibility but that may be > just for the scanning feature or if you wish to print using the old > methods via USB rather than via the web. > > Certainly an interesting approach is a relatively cheap colour printer > (MFC). > > > http://www.shopping.hp dot com/store/product/product_detail/CN731A%2523B1H > -- Cheers/eCS2.0 Ed Please checkout my podcasts at: http://eComStationAustralia.podbean dot com or via iTunes To subscribe - click this: http://eComStationAustralia.podbean dot com/feed -------------------------------------------------- http://www./melbpc/ - The Melbourne OS/2 SIG === **= Email 18 ==========================** Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2010 22:28:37 +1000 From: Peter Moylan Subject: Re: USB Printer support (Was:(3rd. Option)) Ed Durrant wrote: > Peter Moylan wrote: >> >> Meanwhile, I finally have, after much struggle with unresponsive >> Windows software, allocated a fixed IP address to my printer. For >> several hours the installer was unwilling to find the printer on >> the LAN, but I finally discovered how to enter the MAC address >> manually. I now have a network printer that's accessible from my >> Windows 7 laptop. I've been trying to document the steps, for the >> benefit of later explorers, and once I've finished the job I'll >> publish the result here. The hard part, in Windows, is trying to >> get Windows to find the printer on the LAN. (It turns out that you >> have to manually specify the MAC address.) Once that hurdle is >> passed, things go smoothly. Well, relatively smoothly. The WinXP >> installer hasn't heard of Windows 7, so I had to search the net for >> a couple of "obsolete" files. >> > Hi Peter - I am a little worried about your comment that Windows 7 > doesn't see the printer and that you downloaded some WinXP DLLs and > added them to the system - that's likely to come back and bite you. > the fact that the software could find the printer until you entered > the MAC address suggests to me that you have the PC and the printer > on a different IP subnet. > > My recommendation is that you go to the Fuji Xerox website and > download the latest windows 7 driver and software for the printer. > De-install what you installed so far and then install the new code. Good advice. I see now that Fuji Xerox does indeed have some Windows 7 drivers. All that I have cared about so far is the ability to set a permanent IP address for the printer, rather than the address that the DHCP server (in my router) allocated. I don't really care about the quality of Windows printing. I just want it to work with eCS. The situation was that the printer had a preconfigured address of 169.254.212.83 My router's DHCP server allocated an address of 192.168.1.3 The Windows computer, whose address was 192.168.1.2, couldn't see it. That is so obviously on the same subnet that I have to put it down to Windows stupidity. I then entered the MAC address in the Windows utility, plus the IP address 192.168.1.3 and the subnet mask 255.255.255.0. Now Windows could see it. The only new information was the MAC address. Finally, I changed the IP address to 192.168.1.250. Windows could still see it. In addition, Firefox on both the Windows machine and the OS/2 machine were able to view the printer status page on http://192.168.1.250. That's clear evidence that we were always on the same subnet. > As for OS/2 Network printing. I will assume you will be using LPD - > to do this go into TCPCFG2 (i.e. start TCPCFG2 at the commandline), > go to the printing tab and enter the required data (print server name > and printer queue name). Now restart the system and in the printer > setup folder when you add a printer one of the possible ports should > be LPD - if you look at its properties it will be the same as you set > in TCPCFG2. Now select the correct printer driver and set up the > printer like any other local printer. Now we get to the tricky bit. I didn't know what to enter for the print server name and the printer queue name, so I entered "3125N" for both. When I rebooted there was no LPD among the port options. I have the impression that your instructions were for the "print sharing" option. I haven't yet had the courage to install Samba, so I'm not trying to create a workgroup. Instead, I'm trying to create a printer with a fixed IP address on the local subnet 192.168.1.*. So far, I haven't figured out how to do that. (OK, I should try the help files. But I've already spent a solid hour on the Windows help files. It turns out that if you click "Help" on the Xerox driver, it makes you download a browser plugin that checks for a legal Windows installation, which in turn downloads another program that scans your hardware ... Big Brother is here already. After jumping through all these hoops, you get messages about what all the icons mean, which is no help at all. The Microsoft help articles allow you to respond that this was completely unhelpful, but the Xerox help files don't offer this option.) -- Peter Moylan peter at pmoylan dot org http://www.pmoylan dot org -------------------------------------------------- http://www./melbpc/ - The Melbourne OS/2 SIG === **= Email 19 ==========================** Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2010 07:37:02 -0600 From: Chuck McKinnis Subject: Re: USB Printer support (Was:(3rd. Option)) I use IPSPOOL for network printers. It supports printing to port 9100 very well. http://hobbes.nmsu.edu/download/pub/os2/system/drivers/printer/ipspool104.zip -- Chuck McKinnis Sandia Park, NM http://www.7cities dot net/~mckinnis/ For it is easier for a camel to go through a needle's eye, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Luke 18:25 -------------------------------------------------- http://www./melbpc/ - The Melbourne OS/2 SIG ===