Printer script failing....please help

[contactdellthornhill]

So, this issue is so frustrating that I'm ready to pull my hair out.

The scenario:
We have a Windows 2003 print server with 33 printers attached to it.
Native Windows 2000 Active Directory domain
We just migrated all the printers to a dedicated server. We'll call
the old server PS_old and the new server PS_new

And then have a logon script that connects the printers after we build
them with our custom, unattended setup. The script uses RUNDLL32 and
PRINTUI.DLL like this:
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /n \\PS_new\printer1
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /n \\PS_new\printer2
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /n \\PS_new\printer3
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /n \\PS_new\printer4
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /n \\PS_new\printer5
....
rundll32 printui.dll,PrintUIEntry /in /n \\PS_new\printer33

Pretty quaint, right?

So here's the problem. On PS_new, the script always fails on printer
17 and when I try to run the script on the old server (the printers
are still attached), it always fails on printer 6. Printers 17 and 6
are not the same printer and they do not use the same driver. When we
migrated to PS_new, we used new drivers for all the printers.

Incidentally. If I manually goto start>run and browse to \\PS_new and
try to install the printers by just double clicking on the printer
icon, I can only do sets of 5-8 printers. If I highlight all the
printers and just hit enter, the spooler and sometimes explorer
crashes on the local machine.

I noticed that the printers on PS_new and PS_old are publishing the
printers in Active Directory with the same share name. I suspect this
to be a problem, but I need confirmation.

So far I've tried using Visual Basic Scripts:
printerPath = "\\PS_new\printer1"
objNetwork.AddWindowsPrinterConnection printerPath

Different switches on the printui.dll ( /ga and /u )

delaying the script between adding printers

Here's the real kicker; the problem isn't consistent. Sometimes the
script goes through without a hitch. Sometimes I can run it five or
more times without it crashing. But when it fails once, it fails
every time after that.

I've done a ton of research and searching and everything and I'm still
at square one. I can't even rule anything out. So, any suggestions
would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[Guest]

Hi,

It seems that you have an Active Directory issue. I could suggest you to
isolate your print server from AD then retry to migrate your printers. Be
careful with the printers shadow done by the older install.
In other way, would be to create your PCL and PS printers from the Windows
2003 ressources kit tools.
Do not forget to clean the drivers content for a clean install, then
reinstall at least one PCL and 1 PS print in LPT1 port to make it work. When
it's done create by script the port, the printer and configuration.
I hope this will help.

My english used to be better, do not forget to post if needed.

CYA