Wednesday, August 11, 2004
I give up!
Ok, today I received the Brother HL-1435 printer I ordered a few days ago along with a Netgear PS121 print server. Since it arrived 4 hours or so ago, I have been struggling to get everything working. Here's where I stand and what I've done, in case anyone can help:
1. I followed all the Netgear instructions, including installing their software for the server and then installing the printer. Couldn't get the printer to print.
2. I then used the Brother setup disk to install the printer in USB mode and connected it straight to my PC. That worked.
3. Emboldened by this, I reconnected the printer to the server and used the Brother CD to install the "server" version of the install files. Couldn't print via the server.
4. I pinged the print server, got no response. Just to make sure I pinged the router and Jie's laptop and both of those responded. So, for some reason I can't ping the print server. Can't do it from Jie's laptop either.
5. I finally uninstalled the Netgear and Brother software and started from scratch using the XP utilities, installing the printer as an LPR port. When I specify the IP address (from the DHCP clients table in the Linksys router), and the server name it tells me it can't find the device. If I continue with the installation anyway it won't print.
6. If I press the dignostics button on the back of the print server it does print a test page on the printer like it's supposed to do, but instead of actually printing anything it just cycles through a blank page. I don't know if that's good or bad.
So, I seem to have communication problems between my PC and the server (since I can't ping it), but I have communication (or perhaps miscommunication) between the server and the printer. Any suggestions?
I'm going to give up for the night and try again when I'm fresh.
Update:Nevermind, I searched the Netgear website and found that GDI printers are not compatible with their print server (and my new printer is GDI). That doesn't explain why I can't ping the server, which is still suspicious, but it means that I am unlikely to get the printer to work even if I get the server talking.
1. I followed all the Netgear instructions, including installing their software for the server and then installing the printer. Couldn't get the printer to print.
2. I then used the Brother setup disk to install the printer in USB mode and connected it straight to my PC. That worked.
3. Emboldened by this, I reconnected the printer to the server and used the Brother CD to install the "server" version of the install files. Couldn't print via the server.
4. I pinged the print server, got no response. Just to make sure I pinged the router and Jie's laptop and both of those responded. So, for some reason I can't ping the print server. Can't do it from Jie's laptop either.
5. I finally uninstalled the Netgear and Brother software and started from scratch using the XP utilities, installing the printer as an LPR port. When I specify the IP address (from the DHCP clients table in the Linksys router), and the server name it tells me it can't find the device. If I continue with the installation anyway it won't print.
6. If I press the dignostics button on the back of the print server it does print a test page on the printer like it's supposed to do, but instead of actually printing anything it just cycles through a blank page. I don't know if that's good or bad.
So, I seem to have communication problems between my PC and the server (since I can't ping it), but I have communication (or perhaps miscommunication) between the server and the printer. Any suggestions?
I'm going to give up for the night and try again when I'm fresh.
Update:Nevermind, I searched the Netgear website and found that GDI printers are not compatible with their print server (and my new printer is GDI). That doesn't explain why I can't ping the server, which is still suspicious, but it means that I am unlikely to get the printer to work even if I get the server talking.
