Jim Cummins wrote:
Hi Craig:
I tried to post this to the WAMUG list on [email protected] but it
bounced (what's the address now for mailing? I just get digests).
However, I saw in the archive that you answered a similar query a couple
of weeks ago so maybe you can help.
We run off our teaching material on a HP2200 (version 4.0) USB shared
printer using an iMac as a server on Murdoch's LAN. It's started locking
up on files with large graphics (particularly TIFF), even though we have
printed versions of these before (originally created in Office 2000X but
now running in Word for Office 2004) . I tried moving the file to the
iMac: apart from launching Office 2004 for the first time and installing
a few fonts it printed off with no problems. However, when I went back
to my own terminal and tried printing the file, again the printer
stopped the job and showed a red light-I guess indicating buffer
overload. I've tried re-installing the printer, re-booting the iMac
server, rebuilding the permissions etc. but it doesn't seem to make much
difference. This seems to be an Appletalk problem. Any ideas?
In all honesty, I know little about shared USB printers. The sharing can
be done in two ways:
- By a custom driver on both the client and printer server
- By a driver on the printer server that presents the printer as a
network PostScript printer and acts as a RIP for incoming PS data.
Cheap printers usually use the former. Pro printers sometimes use the
latter, though often you buy the driver as a separate product. Which it
is can be important - if it's acting as a RIP, you need to make sure the
RIP isn't exceeding any preset memory or disk scratch space limits, for
example.
I wouldn't assume this is an AppleTalk problem at all. First, it's not
clear that AppleTalk is being used - if the printer is being discovered
over ZeroConf (rendezvous) it could just as easily be using TCP/IP.
Second, it's not clear that the problem is with the network
communication rather than with the sending or more likely receiving
software.
I'd start by looking through the system logs (see Console.app) for
anything informative. Also see if you can print to the printer using the
network client driver from the print server (ie "network print" to the
same computer).
Some more details about what method of sharing is used would be helpful.
What drivers did you need to install on the client? How do you add /
select the network printer in the client? What does the printer
configuration utility say about the printer on the client? And on the
server?
--
Craig Ringer
