Print Server Questions..

[kb0nly]

Got some questions that some of you may have come across previously, i have installed plenty of wired and wireless print servers to existing networks, but i just had a phone call today about a problem that i have to troubleshoot this weekend.

It involves an All-In-One Lexmark printer, a 3350, connected via USB to the owners desktop and he wants to use it from his laptop around the home. No problem i thought, just share it from the desktop and done, but nope, he wants to be able to use it from the laptop without the desktop being on, which means print server. But, the next question is, "can i use the one touch features or scan normally with the print server", hmm, i guess i haven't tried that with a USB All-In-One yet. Usually i recommend one of the higher end models with a built in ethernet connection, the printer has it's own print server and is ready to be connected directly to the router/switch/hub, and all the functions work on all computers.

I personally have an X1185 All-In-One and have wondered about that myself but didn't want to spend the money buying a print server only to find out i can't copy or scan anymore.

So anyone out there tried this and have suggestions of what to use. The goal is to put a USB All-In-One printer on the network and allowing all computers FULL use of it, copy, scan, print, etc.

[thebigphish]

You may be out of luck. I had a grand notion that i wanted to use our Savin (Ricoh) 9927DP w/ finisher for the all in one functions on our network (ala print, scan, fax) which it is capable of doing. I did run into some problems thought with that ideal.

1) In order for the 1 touch buttons to work, it required a TSR on the computer to interpret the commands.

2) The ethernet functionality changed the computers interaction with the MFD

3) Scanning and copying across the network was a miserable waste in resources

The 9927 had 2 separate ethernet cards, 1 scanner & 1 printer, and also an LPT. Connecting the 9927 to the ethernet disabled the LPT and also made it a network printer, rather than a local 1. The scanner required a bizarre setup on the network, then became an SMTP device that only a few software solutions would like. I had to have a SMTP daemon running on each computer to make it work, as a demand scanner, but i was unable to get the 'scan to' destination button to work on more than one system, as it required a preset 'scan to' server to handle all the requests made by it. The two different subsystems also created some SMTP havoc on my subnets as the scanner would send out 10x as many requests as the printer, and was hammering the subnet with packets..driving up times all over the place...gave up and VLAN'ed it by it self at the router and left it.

All in all you will likely be unable to get what you want, you can have 1 computer connected directly to the MFD that will accomplish all the 1 touch requests, but i HIGHLY doubt that you will be able to get ANY computer to do that on a networked solution. If you get a network enabled model (like our Ricoh) then you will be able to get a demand scanner, fax & printer/copier solution...but you will give up the "one touch" functionality at a price. That may be your best bet. A networked system, ethernet based and each function being IP driven, rather than a "1 plug USB" solution.
Connect the All in One to a primary computer, set up file sharing (what ever you like) and do all your scans and stuff from that one, and set up the printer as a shared resource...If you set it up that way, you should be able to share the printer / fax portions out to all those who need it. If you think about it logistically, you will need to be at the MFD to load the paper in to for scanning, how often is scanning done unattended? Put it next to the powerhouse, share the other stuff, and tell them that the 1 touch stuff is not feasible on other computers.
sorry bud.

[kb0nly]

Even after years of working on computers its posts like yours that i like to read! Always nice to hear from someone that has "been there before", and i certainly don't claim to know it all.

You just confirmed what i was thinking, not worth all the trouble dealing with it.

I have a couple customers that i do tech support for that run HP all in one's that have a network port built in, they work great over the network, you just load the software on each machine and they can all use it's complete functions. However it's a bit more sophisticated in that you can put something in to scan and then on the printers display you select which system you want the scan to go to, it's a lot of setup work but works super once it's done. Kinda neat to toss something in the scanner in one office and instantly send it to the computer of the person who needs it. Makes document managing easier. I forget the model number of it, but it's a huge heavy SOB that i had to move once, has a nice big color lcd display on it, can take all types of digital memory cards to directly edit and print photos without use of the computer, it's a full copy machine and fax, etc.. I hate to think what it costs though.

In my case i will just keep everything as it has been for years now, the printer is on the main desktop and if i need to print something from the laptop i just print it to a .pdf document or file to store it temporarily until the next time the desktop is running, or i toss the file to the network storage drive and come back to it later. As you mentioned i have to be in this spot to scan or fax anyway, so it never really became an issue to me, i don't need to scan stuff to the laptop, even if i did i could scan on the desktop and select a shared folder on the laptop as the destination for the saved file.

I just got to thinking about it all when that guy asked me, in all my years i haven't ever tried putting one of these all in ones on a print server. But that's because they used to cost a lot of money, now you can walk into wally world and get an all in one for $40-$60 depending on brand name and questions about them are becoming more common.

What i'm actually thinking about doing now is putting a cheap second printer on the network, you can get an inkjet printer for like $20 now days anyway, and a used print server from ebay for about the same price or less, and just put a black cartridge in it, make it strictly for black text printing from the laptop when i need to crank out an invoice, etc. Would print faster than the all in one anyway. I could go really retro and dig out the old 9 pin printer in the basement, still have ribbons for it.. lol

[thebigphish]

Even after years of working on computers its posts like yours that i like to read! Always nice to hear from someone that has "been there before", and i certainly don't claim to know it all.

been down that road MANY MANY times with this setup!

What i'm actually thinking about doing now is putting a cheap second printer on the network, you can get an inkjet printer for like $20 now days anyway, and a used print server from ebay for about the same price or less, and just put a black cartridge in it, make it strictly for black text printing from the laptop when i need to crank out an invoice, etc. Would print faster than the all in one anyway. I could go really retro and dig out the old 9 pin printer in the basement, still have ribbons for it.. lol

Highly reccomend this. I actually had several different workarounds for this.

1) i used to have a netgear firewall / router / printserver (for the LIFE of me i can't find the number) that was nice. Switched 4x10/100 E, 1 WAN, 1 LPT that was shared as a network printer to all the computers on the subnet. Made it very easy, the IP address for the printer was the same as the router, so that all the computers on that could hit it. I had that hooked up to an AP, so all the wireless systems could print to it allso - very easy setup. To go a step further, it was the big savin monster i spoke about...but it was in a secured location. To prevent people just dumping reams of info out it, i set the printer to only be available during the hours the office was open, so it would sit idle all night...but if you logged in as an admin, you could always use it.

2) Netgear PS101 (or PS110) print servers for each printer. Very inexpensive (saw them online for like 20 bucks). Each printer gets its own IP and ethernet connection, so that you can set up each computer to print to IP (thus taking the neccessity for 1 computer to be online all the time on the network with it's resources shared - out of the question) In doing that, if the MFD/scanner is network enabled ,you can set up CERTAIN programs (paperport for one) to scan off the network IP also, making it an 'unassociated' shared resource. Also very nice.

3) if you have a bsd or a linux box. Share the printers.

I reccomend keeping a reliable printer on the network for little things, i have a bunch of Lexmarks spread all over our system tfor that purpose. Cheap, color and reliable. It works for invoices and trouble tickets (which our local system requires).

and in terms of retro?
okidata ML321! (and for S&Gs the penultimate pimp machine - an apple color stylewriter 2400 - complete with scanner adapter, on a apple IIgs w/ 7mhz trans-warp card)

those three things will NEVER die.

[kb0nly]

Speaking of never dying...

I have that old serial printer in the basement, which i know if i hook up will work right off no questions asked, but since i put that thing in storage i have gone through three inkjet printers in that time frame. Don't know why, but the darn things just keep dying, granted we are talking about super cheap models, but that serial printer was a $5 find at a garage sale years ago and it outlasted them all, even after spending time sitting in the closet, then going into service, then sitting in the basement, three moves, etc.

The main reason why i had that printer, and might go back to it, is i used to buy boxes of the tractor feed invoices with the carbon copy, for which of course you need the inpact of the older printer to carry through to the the copy. Only problem is i ran out of the forms now and the place i used to buy them from closed.