Local printing to USB inkjet printer

[Guest]

I'm running as a client with Terminal Server. I'm running XP professional
and using the remote desktop application to a Windows 2003 server with full
version of Terminal Server.

I can map printing back to one of my printers but not the other. I works to
my rather aged laser printer, which is parallel attached. Problem with that
is that a lot of the print comes to it as a graphic and being old it doesn't
have much memory so the print often fails or is very slow.

I'd prefer to print to my HP Inkjet printer that is USB attached. But it
doesn't show up as an option. I've tried to make it my default, but that
didn't help.

I read some things that led me to believe that only parallel attached
printers will work. But that seems like a flaw, as more & more printers are
USB attached.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Vera Noest [MVP]]

Redirection of USB connected printers is supported.
Some USB printers create their own custom port, for example DOT4.
If that is the case with your printer, follow the directions in
this article to enable printer redirection:

302361 - Printers That Use Ports That Do Not Begin With COM, LPT,
or USB Are Not Redirected in a Remote Desktop or Terminal Services
Session
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=302361

If your printer still doesn't show up in your Terminal Server
session, you'll need the help of the Administrator of the Terminal
Server.
Check the EventLog on the TS to find the reason why the printer
isn't autocreated. Most likely, the printer cannot find a matching
driver for the printer. If so, do *not* install a 3th party driver
on the server, as most of these are not 100% TS-compatible and have
a habit of crashing the printer spooler or the whole server.
In stead, map the printer to a native driver by creating (on the
Terminal Server) a custom ntprintsubs.inf file. Details here:

239088 - Windows 2000 Terminal Services Server Logs Events 1111,
1105, and 1106
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=239088

 

[Guest]

Mine was set as a DOT port, so I set the redirect. Then I logged out & in of
TS and still didn't work. I reviewed the event log and yes, it's having
trouble finding the driver.

I've read the referenced document, but I'm a little confused:

1) Is the contents of the redirect code (i.e. the [Printers]... code)
actually the content of the ntprintsubs.inf file they had in the example?

2) My printer is an HP Photosmart 1215, and I have no idea what driver on
the server might be a suitable substitute, the article didn't give much help
on determining even what drivers are out on the server. It mentioned to
actually install the printer on the server, but the server is 1000 miles away
from me.

 

[Vera Noest [MVP]]

I'm afraid that you are not going to find a native driver which
gives your more than plain text (at best!).
As I wrote, do *not* install the driver on the server, this is
bound to cause problems.

For the sake of demonstration, if you want to map your printer to a
HP LaserJet 4 driver, you would have to add a line like this in
your ntprintsubs.inf:

"HP PhotoSmart 1215" = "HP LasetJet 4"

But honestly, I don't expect that you will get anything useful out
of this printer within a TS session.

--
Vera Noest
MCSE, CCEA, Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server
http://hem.fyristorg.com/vera/IT
--- please respond in newsgroup, NOT by private email ---

Mine was set as a DOT port, so I set the redirect. Then I
logged out & in of TS and still didn't work. I reviewed the
event log and yes, it's having trouble finding the driver.

I've read the referenced document, but I'm a little confused:

1) Is the contents of the redirect code (i.e. the [Printers]...
code) actually the content of the ntprintsubs.inf file they had
in the example?

2) My printer is an HP Photosmart 1215, and I have no idea what
driver on the server might be a suitable substitute, the article
didn't give much help on determining even what drivers are out

Redirection of USB connected printers is supported.
Some USB printers create their own custom port, for example
DOT4. If that is the case with your printer, follow the
directions in this article to enable printer redirection:

302361 - Printers That Use Ports That Do Not Begin With COM,
LPT, or USB Are Not Redirected in a Remote Desktop or Terminal
Services Session
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=302361

If your printer still doesn't show up in your Terminal Server
session, you'll need the help of the Administrator of the
Terminal Server.
Check the EventLog on the TS to find the reason why the printer
isn't autocreated. Most likely, the printer cannot find a
matching driver for the printer. If so, do *not* install a 3th
party driver on the server, as most of these are not 100%
TS-compatible and have a habit of crashing the printer spooler
or the whole server. In stead, map the printer to a native
driver by creating (on the Terminal Server) a custom
ntprintsubs.inf file. Details here:

239088 - Windows 2000 Terminal Services Server Logs Events
1111, 1105, and 1106
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=239088

--
Vera Noest
MCSE, CCEA, Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server
http://hem.fyristorg.com/vera/IT
--- please respond in newsgroup, NOT by private email ---