NetPrint 1000
Hello everyone,
I've spent the past several hours getting my NetPrint print servers to work on my network & print from Windows XP.
Guess what? I've got the solution.
I have both the NetPrint 50 model and the NetPrint 1000 model. I only got the NetPrint 50 to work. I think my NetPrint 1000 may be shot. Also realize that there were a number of company acquisitions (DPI / Digital Product Inc., Osicom, Sorrento), so there is little to no information left on the Internet regarding these print servers.
Here is what you need to know:
1.) Take the cover off the print server. On the left and right sides there is a little tab that holds the case together. Get a flat-head screwdriver and apply it to either the left or right side along the seam.
2.) Jumper pins. On the NetPrint 50 you want: Auto; 10BaseT. On the NetPrint 1000 you want: 10BaseT; Auto; Tx; Factory (Jumper 10). Remember, I couldn't get my NetPrint 1000 working.
3.) IP Address. The NetPrint print servers use BOOTP to obtain an IP address. Realize - this is an older version of DHCP, but NOT the same thing as DHCP. Some DHCP servers are backwards compatible and support BOOTP. Fat chance, though. My wireless router only has a DHCP server. So, obtaining an IP address automatically is likely far too difficult / impossible. What you will need to do is assign an IP address to the unit. We cannot use DHCP to do this, and we cannot remotely access the unit (web server / Port 80 is not listening on my units). To assign an IP address to your unit, open up a DOS / CMD prompt (Start->Run; type: "cmd" and hit OK). We will be using the ARP command, which stands for Address Resolution Protocol. This is the protocol that translates between IP addresses and MAC addresses.
a.) Select an IP address you want to assign to the unit
b.) Ok, now look at the bottom of your unit and find the MAC address; it begins with two zeros.
Now enter this command:
arp -s 192.168.0.16 00-40-AF-18-61-40
replace 192.168.0.16 with the IP address you want to assign to the unit. Replace 00-40-AF-18-61-40 with the MAC address found on the bottom of our unit.
What we just did was tell your computer that anytime we send data to that IP address, it will actually send it to that MAC address, which is your unit. Ok, good job.
Now type: arp -a
and you should see and verify your entry. If you made a mistake, type: arp -d 192.168.0.16 to remove your entry.
Now, your NetPrint print server has no idea it's just been assigned an address. And it won't know to respond to that IP address unless we make it listen on that IP address. This is easy to do. All you have to do is ping the unit. Don't worry if the unit does not reply to your pings. Simply pinging it will make it realize it needs to listen on that IP address. So, type this command:
ping 192.168.0.16
Done. It's now listening on the IP address you just assigned it.
4.) Setup Printer in Windows XP. Ok, go to Control Panel -> Printers and Faxes. Add a Printer, select a Local Printer (uncheck plug-and-play). When it asks you to select a Printer Port (it will default to LPT1)... select Create New Port -> Standard TCP/IP Port. Hit Next. Now it will ask you for the Printer IP Address and Port Name: Enter the IP address you just assigned to your unit; the Port Name can be anything you want... this is just a string that uniquely identifies this printer port on your computer and it has nothing to do with the printer or print server itself (I used "RyansNetPrint"). If it asks you for what type of Network card, just select Generic. Select the Printer driver for the printer you have hooked up to your NetPrint print server.
5.) Setup LPR & Queue Name. We need to reconfigure this for it to work. Ok, Now under Control Panel->Printers and Faxes - right-click on your newly created printer and hit Properties. Click on the Ports tab. Highlight your newly created printer port (ie, RyansNetPrint) and the Configure Port button. Windows defaults the Protocol to RAW. This won't work on your NetPrint print servers. You need to select LPR. Now, the one last thing you need to do is enter the proper Queue Name. The Queue Name format is: "PORTn" Where n is the Port Number (probably 1 or 2) on your NetPrint print server where you connected your printer cable. My NetPrint 50 only has one port, so my Queue Name is "PORT1". This is where I found the Queue Name information: "http://www.brooksnet.com/faq/210-04.html". Realize - I couldn't get my NetPrint 1000 to work properly. I think it uses different Queue Names. For instance, I tried "PORT10001", "10001", etc... to no avail. I gave up and used my NetPrint 50 since it worked easily with the instructions I just gave you.
Now hit OK, click on the General tab, and click Print Test Page. Walaa!
Hope this helps you. Took me a long time to figure all this out.
Ryan
PS. the arp -s command is only peformed on your local computer. When you ping your unit. When you reboot yoru computer, the arp -s record your created will disappear. So, they key here is - my wireless router remembers what IP address goes to what MAC address (because I pinged it). Now, if my wireless router is powered off - it forgets that information. So - if you reboot your wireless router / network router / switch / hub... you will need to reenter the arp -s command and ping your NetPrint print server again to assign the IP address again. Not perfect, but it works.
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