Vista -- Loss of Network Printers on Reboot.

[John Monahan]

I have just installed a TrendNet TE100-P21 Print server to handle a few
printers on a small home network. It's a mix of XP and a Vista (Business)
machine. The XP machines communicate with the printers fine.

However I have a problem with the Vitas machine.
After reading many reports here is as far as I get:-

Add a local printer, first click on "Add a Network,wireless etc. printer".
This gets Vista to list/register the print server ports. Cancel, then go to
"Add a local printer", Use an existing port, On the dropdown menu the Print
server and ports are listed.
I picked :-
\\Print_server\PS-70284F-P3 (Client Side Rendering Provided)

Then I picked the appropriate HP driver etc. I can test print the installed
printer with no problem.

However when I reboot the Vista machine the printer is inactive. Printing
even a test page hangs it. I have to do the whole thing again. Note my
print server has a fixed IP address at all times (as does the Vista box).

I have read many reports like this and found nothing that works.

Why is it XP is no problem yet Vista is? No wonder people don't want to
switch to Vista!

Please help I spent a day on this already.

 

[GTS]

Turn off SNMP on the printer port properties on the Vista machine. This
often resolves the problem.

 

[John Monahan]

Thanks for suggestion GTS, however SNMP is already off - in fact by default
with Vista it is off by default. In fact I tried turning it on. Did not work
either.

It seems that once I setup the printer I cannot change any of the properties
once it is set as a network driven printer! For example I cannot stop
"bidirectional mode", ports etc.

Any other suggestions -- ANYBODY.

 

[Kerry Brown]

In the port settings create a Standard TCP/IP port using the IP address of
the print server and use that port. I'm pretty sure that print server will
work as Standard TCP/IP port 9100 printer.

 

[John Monahan]

Kerry that did not work. For one thing the print server has 3 printers
attached..So just pointing the Vista dialog to the standard TCP address does
not define which printer.
If instead I define the port 192.168.0.191 and underneath the port (as
listed on the connect network printer option dialog) I still cannot
communicate with the printer. The only way I can actually get this to print
is via that
(Client Side Rendering Provided) thing mentioned below.

I'm not sure what you mean by using port 9100. If I use 192.168.0.191 as
the server and 9100 as the port, still no recognition of the printer.

 

[Kerry Brown]

Look at the instructions for setting up a 2000/XP computer in the FAQ here:

http://trendnet.com/langen/downloads/list_subcategory.asp?SUBTYPE_ID=874

The screens look a little different in Vista but the basic process is the
same. I see no mention of Vista anywhere on the support site. The print
server may not be compatible with Vista. All of the downloads available are
more than a year old. This indicates to me that the product is EOL and may
not be supported any more. Have you checked with TrendNet?

 

[John Monahan]

Thanks again Kerry, I have been to that site a few times. No luck.
I have sent e-mails to TrendNet support listed there - with no replies.
I think you may be right. Even though elsewhere on the TrendNet site they
say the TE100-P21
is Vista compatible, this may be false advertising on their part.
I would warn others to avoid getting this print server for Vista (in fact
probably any of the company products)
based on my experience. I.e. no support etc.

Questions:-
HAS ANYBODY GOT A TRENDNET PRINT SERVER TO WORK WITH VISTA
ANYBODY LIKE TO RECOMMEND A MULTIPORT PRINT SERVER FOR VISTA

 

[John Monahan]

Answering my own question!
Finally figured this thing out. ...
If you wish to install a TrendNet Print server TE100-P21 on Vista and NOT
have it go Offline on reboot
Add printer.
Add A local printer
Create A new port -- Use dropdown menu and pick "LPR Port"
On the next dialog box add for address of "lpd:" the IP address of TrendNet
Server (Static) in my case
192.168..0.191
On second line "Name of printer or printer queue" enter the Print Server
port name. For my parallel port
for example I used one of the 3, "PS-70284F-UP".
The rest is standard stuff ...printer MFG/, model etc.

The trick was to set it up as a LPR port. This is some kind of UNIX printer
designation.
BTW, I still cannot configure the printer from the supplied CD on Vista.
Configure the unit on XP. Set the
IP address etc. That is also how you find those strange port numbers.

Finally don't waste time getting help from TrendNet product support. They
are hopeless and don't reply to support e-mails as listed on their web site.

 

[Kerry Brown]

Glad to hear you got it working.