printserver not seen on network

[felix]

I'm installing an HP Officejet K80 with a Jetdirect 170X printserver
onto a home network where the hub is a DSL wireless gateway/router.

The printer is connected to the printserver with a parallel cable, and
pressing the test button prints pages giving an IP address. However, I
can't ping this IP address from my PC!
The printserver is connected to the hub using a tested and working
RJ45 cable, and lights are coming up on the hub and the printserver to
confirm connection.

So, no ping. When I try a tracert on the printserver's address, I get
the hub's ip ok, then another ip I don't know, then a timeout. Using
HP Network setup software also fails to find the printer.

 

[Fred McKenzie]

<< The printer is connected to the printserver with a parallel cable, and
pressing the test button prints pages giving an IP address. However, I
can't ping this IP address from my PC!
The printserver is connected to the hub using a tested and working
RJ45 cable, and lights are coming up on the hub and the printserver to
confirm connection. >>

Felix-

Forgive me if I'm showing my ignorance, but isn't one of the ports on a hub
different from the others? If your printserver happens to be connected to the
port intended to be fed from the network, it is possible that could be your
problem. Perhaps a cross-over cable would work with that port. Otherwise, try
connecting to a different port and see if anything changes.

Fred

 

[Warren Block]

I'm installing an HP Officejet K80 with a Jetdirect 170X printserver
onto a home network where the hub is a DSL wireless gateway/router.

The printer is connected to the printserver with a parallel cable, and
pressing the test button prints pages giving an IP address. However, I
can't ping this IP address from my PC!
The printserver is connected to the hub using a tested and working
RJ45 cable, and lights are coming up on the hub and the printserver to
confirm connection.

So, no ping. When I try a tracert on the printserver's address, I get
the hub's ip ok, then another ip I don't know, then a timeout. Using
HP Network setup software also fails to find the printer.

Sounds like a routing problem. You leave out many important details,
like what operating system you are running, the IP address shown on the
test page, and the IP address of your computer. If your router does not
provide DHCP, that would explain the routing problem--the default IP
address of the JetDirect isn't in the same network as your computer.
(Old JetDirects used to default to something like 192.0.0.192; can't
recall what the 170X does.)

Assuming you're running some type of Windows, install the JetAdmin
software from the 170X CD. If it didn't come with JetAdmin, you may be
able to download it from HP's web site. Install and run it, and it will
locate the JetDirect and let you assign an IP address to it. Choose an
address that is in the same network as your computer. Typically, the
first three octets of the address should match.

 

[felix]

Sounds like a routing problem. You leave out many important details,
like what operating system you are running, the IP address shown on the
test page, and the IP address of your computer. If your router does not
provide DHCP, that would explain the routing problem--the default IP
address of the JetDirect isn't in the same network as your computer.
(Old JetDirects used to default to something like 192.0.0.192; can't
recall what the 170X does.)

Assuming you're running some type of Windows, install the JetAdmin
software from the 170X CD. If it didn't come with JetAdmin, you may be
able to download it from HP's web site. Install and run it, and it will
locate the JetDirect and let you assign an IP address to it. Choose an
address that is in the same network as your computer. Typically, the
first three octets of the address should match.

Thanks for the advice. I'm a networking neophyte so I'm struggling a
bit to understand stuff.
My router address is 192.168.0.1, and the printserver is 10.33.4.230,
so i can see that's a problem.
So, I've now installed JetAdmin - but it can't find the printserver. I
get a 'no devices found' message.
I'm running XP home, and my router does provide DHCP (although I don't
know what this means, alas . . .)
Any suugestions gratefully accepted.

 

[felix]

Success!
I changed the router's IP to match the printserver IP, and the whole
thing worked fine.
Now, should I change them back to the original IP's first three
octets? Or does it not matter at all?

 

[Warren Block]

Success!
I changed the router's IP to match the printserver IP, and the whole
thing worked fine.
Now, should I change them back to the original IP's first three
octets? Or does it not matter at all?

Probably it just assigned a new address to your computer. Since they're
both in the same network, it works. You should be fine leaving it
alone.

I'd suggest giving the print server a static IP address instead of
letting it pick one dynamically with DHCP. You can do that by using
telnet to connect to the JetDirect:

telnet 10.x.y.z
ip:10.a.b.c
quit

(Approximately--a slash "/" and return will show you the menus on the
JetDirect.)

 

[Warren Block]

So, I've now installed JetAdmin - but it can't find the printserver. I
get a 'no devices found' message.

There's a "Discover" menu option, where it searches the local network
through ARP or SNMP for JetDirect devices. Once you've assigned an IP
address to the JetDirect, you can discard JetAdmin and just telnet
directly to the JetDirect.

 

[felix]

I'd suggest giving the print server a static IP address instead of
letting it pick one dynamically with DHCP. You can do that by using
telnet to connect to the JetDirect:

telnet 10.x.y.z
ip:10.a.b.c
quit

(Approximately--a slash "/" and return will show you the menus on the
JetDirect.)

Great, I've done all that and it prints fine.

Now I have the problem that it'll print, but not scan, and I get a sys
tray icon saying Officejet: Error. Have treated this as a software
problem and re-installed it in several configs, but still get
print-only.
Might it be a network problem? The default gateway on the printserver
is 10.33.4.254. If I change this to the address of the router,
10.33.4.1, next time I look it's changed back again to 254. I'm
wondering if this means there'll only be one-way traffic.

 

[Warren Block]

Now I have the problem that it'll print, but not scan, and I get a sys
tray icon saying Officejet: Error. Have treated this as a software
problem and re-installed it in several configs, but still get
print-only.

Some multi-function devices don't support network functions other than
printing. Or it could be some other software problem.

Might it be a network problem? The default gateway on the printserver
is 10.33.4.254. If I change this to the address of the router,
10.33.4.1, next time I look it's changed back again to 254. I'm
wondering if this means there'll only be one-way traffic.

No. If you can print to it, the network settings are correct. Default
router (or gateway) is the setting that tells the device where to look
if the IP address it's trying to talk to isn't in the local network.