Print Server help needed.

[daklander]

A request to the best internet support group.

 

I have an HP Photosmart 2610 all-in-one unit I want to get fully functional via my home network.

I have, at this time, 3 computers, one a Linux box but that's for later. I want to get the two windows boxes fully funtional at this time.

Computer 1) runs Windows 2000 Pro.

Computer 2) runs Windows XP Home.

I have a Vonage router. Connected to it is a Belkin router/print server.

Model: #F5 D7231-4.

The Win2K is connected to the router via cat5 cable. The XP laptop is via wireless.

The printer function of the the all-in-one works from both computers.

Now I need to get the thing working as a scanner across the network.

Standard TCP/IP port setup. The IP address is showing the same on both computers, what I think is the server IP. The port name is different on the two computers.

What other information do you need to help me out here?

 

Again, print function is fine from both computers. I'm looking at scan capabilities.

I have tried dis-abling the firewall built into the router and have no other firewall that I know of on either computer, other than the one built into XP and I've tried dis-abling that also.

[deanmass]

Which machine is the physical host of the scanner?

 

I have used networked printer scanners, but the scanner is usually on a separate IP address on these..

 

My guess is, you can scan from the host machine to a shared folder, and that is as close as you can get, or, remote control the other machine from the one you are on. Since the scanner software is ( I am assuming) USB, I don't see how you can share the scanner unless the scan function is assigned an IP address of its own. Without that, it would not know how to route the scanned material, except via the physical host ( USB cable).

[daklander]

 

Originally posted by deanmass Which machine is the physical host of the scanner? I have used networked printer scanners, but the scanner is usually on a separate IP address on these.. My guess is, you can scan from the host machine to a shared folder, and that is as close as you can get, or, remote control the other machine from the one you are on. Since the scanner software is ( I am assuming) USB, I don't see how you can share the scanner unless the scan function is assigned an IP address of its own. Without that, it would not know how to route the scanned material, except via the physical host ( USB cable).

 

 

You have it.

When connected to a host computer and not going through the server I can scan from both computers. I may have to go back to that.

The reason I went with the server part of the router is I thought it would be easier to access that printer from the third, Linux machine.

What I have is the printer connected to the router/server via usb. The Win2K is hardwired to the router as is the Linux machine. The laptop is wireless.

I cannot scan to a shared folder, that would be acceptable, because neither computer sees the scanner though the printer is there so it must come down to the dedicated IP address and according to Belkin, this server won't mult-task and they suggest purchasing a dedicated print server they make that does, of course.

[deanmass]

...Hmmm...

 

I don't think a print server will do anything for you, except, allow you to have NO computer the the host for the printer...You can get the HP500EX's 3 port IP servers on eBay for under 10 bucks.

 

So, if you setup the scanner to dump its' scans to a folder on the linux box, and leave the linux box on at all times, you can grab stuff from it via SFTP/FTP without having it hanging out on your network in an unsecure fashion. So, this would mean, running Samba on the linux box, mapping a drive from the windows machines, etc.

 

Crazy..

 

Are you still using the Mephis stuff?

[daklander]

Originally posted by deanmass ...Hmmm... I don't think a print server will do anything for you, except, allow you to have NO computer the the host for the printer...You can get the HP500EX's 3 port IP servers on eBay for under 10 bucks. So, if you setup the scanner to dump its' scans to a folder on the linux box, and leave the linux box on at all times, you can grab stuff from it via SFTP/FTP without having it hanging out on your network in an unsecure fashion. So, this would mean, running Samba on the linux box, mapping a drive from the windows machines, etc. Crazy.. Are you still using the Mephis stuff?

 

Yeah, on that one box. I'm running Mepis 6.0. I really do like that distro. When I had it set up before, and both the Windows boxes could scan I couldn't get the Mepis box to find it. If this router/print server setup isn't going to allow the scanner I'll just put the earlier combo back into being and work from toward getting Linux to find the printer on the system. I would guess, as you mentioned, Samba would be the way to go with that, or try access the router via a wireless card instead of hard wire. Maybe, like this wireless laptop, I can find that printer that way. The one issue I had with the way I had if functioning before is, once in a while I'd lose the printer and have to reboot everything PCs and router.

 

Food for thought. Thanks for the input and if anything else crops up, don't hesitate.

[franknputer]

Dak, I'm looking at a couple spec sheets for the 2610, and it says it has built-in networking. Why are you using the Belkin print server?

[Jon Doe]

Yeah, it has built in networking. Just set it up normally on your network. Run the setup/driver install CD on each Windows PC that will use it. The scanner function will then be able to find those machines on it's destination menu when you scan.

 

You'll have to find out if HP supports All-In-Ones in Linux.

[daklander]

 

Originally posted by franknputer Dak, I'm looking at a couple spec sheets for the 2610, and it says it has built-in networking. Why are you using the Belkin print server?

 

 

Well Chris, I thought that it would be easier to get the Linux box going if I had the printer on the wireless router/print server. I also had some printer drop outs that bugged me though they may have been caused from a bad setup on my part. I was wrong about it being better because the scan feature was not funtional through the server and that's a high requirement.

I've put it all back to the way it was, with the printer connected to the router via cat5 cable. Now the hardwired computer is back up as is the laptop connecting via wireless. The computer based fax capabilities are now working again and I just scanned a document from this laptop. Now I'll just have to muck around with Mepis to get that printer usable via the Linux box.

 

Thanks Dean and Chris, sometimes it's just good to throw out stuff to get feedback and get the synapsis' working again. I appreciate the help.

[philbo]

Pardon my ignorance here, but:

 

Why would you want to network a scanner? Can it feed its own documents in? I mean, you have to physically walk up to it with a piece of paper, right? How does being able to start a scan from a remote networked computer help you with that?

 

I'd suggest setting the scanner up to dump all scans into a folder which is shared across the network. That doesn't help with the Linux end, but surely Linux is capable of reading an NTFS file across the network, no?

[deanmass]

Network scanners kick ass...

 

I have a client who uses a Konica small office product, and you can drop a pile of paperwork on it, hit start, choose the recipient, and bam, shows up on a folder on the target machine...Really usefull for contracts, designs, etc. Usually faster thana desktop scanner by far as well.

[philbo]

Ah.... excuse my ignorance.

[daklander]

Thanks Jon Doe, that's what I had done before and after finding out the server try didn't work as I wanted.

HP does support that printer on Linux but I'm having problems getting it recognized. That's not a huge issue at this time because if needed I can access a scanned document across my home network.

 

[b[Philbo, it's not a real necessity but it's nice to be able to scan a single document from this laptop when downstairs, where I do my real estate work. Yes, I do have to run up to the scanner to load the document but then I can do everything else I need from down here and if it's only one page it's easier to scan direct to this computer. If there are multiple pages to scan I carry the laptop up there or use wifey's computer to scan the docs to a shared folder from where I grab them. If I can get the Linux box to scan, as I should, I will then use that and scan them to a shared folder. That computer is what I use for my music related work though I will, at times, grab files from there and work on them from this computer.

I do have a HP R-80 with a sheet feed scanning capability that I want to get working again. (It has a paper feed problem) If I can get that working on the network I will be able to scan multiple documents from here, with the machine feeding and scanning the documents automatically, similar to what Deanmass is referring to but not a quick. It still does a good job and is fast enough for a single user at a time.