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NETWORK PRINTER PROBLEM

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7 replies

by jlagattuta

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I HAVE A NETWORK WITH APPROX 200 PC'S. EACH PC IS DIRECTED TO A SPECIFIC PRINTER, OR SOMETIMES TWO PRINTERS. TODAY I HAVE A PRINTER PRINTING A SINGLE LINE OF NON-ASCII CHARACTERS ON EACH PAGE, NONSTOP. I PULLED THE 8 PC'S DIRECTED TO THIS PRINTER OFF THE NETWORK, CANCELLED THE PRINT JOB ON THE PRINTER, REMOVED THE PRINTER NETWORK CABLE, CLEARED THE BUFFER. WHEN I RECONNECT THE PRINTER NETWORK CABLE THE JOB STARTS PRINTING JUNK AGAIN. HOW CAN I DETERMINE WHAT PC IS TALKING TO THIS PRINTER? (WITHOUT PULLING ALL 200 PC'S AND PLUGGING IN ONE AT A TIME!) ALL HELP APPRECIATED. THANKS

7 replies

by skidoggeruk

Sounds like somebody is sending to it with a bad/incorrect printer driver.

If it is networked from a server as a share you could isolate it from there. Sounds like you have people printing direct to the print server though. If it is not server based, you could consider doing so, in the hope of eliminating this problem in the future.

You scould try to find out who has print jobs outstanding.... That could take a long time though.

Good Luck

by jlagattuta

Thanks - I was trying to avoid calling the many pc users to ask if they were having print job problems. I may have to do that though.

by bratt

Try using a sniffer to analys traffic going to the printer this may narrow it.

by clesafe

First which make of Printer are you talking about?
Secondly have you tried the printers self test to confirm that it is ok? if not try it.
Third i think somebody on the network is using wrong drivers to print. Which you can bypass if you can give a new printer ID for the network. Then wait for a user to cancel the job from his end.

by jlagattuta

Thanks - by changing the printer IP the "junk" has stopped. My original IP is still being hammered, but I can now take the time to find the offender directly. This was a good "bandaid" though.

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