HP M208 User Manual

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M208

WORKGROUP

HUB/PRINT SERVER

Installation and Conﬁguration Manual

Manual Version 5.5

Firmware Version 5.5

Microplex Systems Ltd.

8525 Commerce Court

Burnaby, BC V5A 4N3

P/N 79-208-100

No part of this manual shall be reproduced, photocopied, recorded, stor ed in a r etrieval system, translated to another language, or transmitted by any means electronic, mechanical, or otherwise, without written permission from Wyndham Technologies Inc.

No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this manual, Microplex Systems Ltd. assumes no liability for errors contained herein or for incidental or consequential damages in connection with the performance or use of this material.

PostScript and TranScript are trademarks of Adobe Systems, Inc. DEC and Ultrix are trademarks of Digital Equipment Corporation. Hewlett-Packard, HP/UX, LaserJet, and DeskJet are registered trademarks of Hewlett-Packard Company. IBM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines. SCO and the SCO logo are registered trademarks of The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc. Sun Microsystems, and Sun Workstation are registered trademarks, and OpenWindows, NeWSprint, NFS, Sun-2, Sun-3, Sun-4, Sun386i, and SPARCstation, are trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc. Novell and NetWare ar e trademarks of Novell, Inc., AppleTalk is a registered trademark of Apple, Inc., NetBIOS is a trademark of International Business Systems Corp., Windows NT, Windows for Workgroups, and Windows 95 are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

This manual was written, illustrated, and produced using FrameMaker workstation publishing software.

Manual Version: 5.5 Firmware Version: 5.5

Rev: 11/95

Printed in Canada

TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................i

LIST OF FIGURES ......................................................................iv

LIST OF TABLES .........................................................................v

PREFACE .....................................................................................1

Who Should Use This Manual.................................................................. 1

Organization of This Manual.................................................................... 1

General Conventions ................................................................................ 2

Computer Entry and Display Conventions............................................... 3

GETTING TO KNOW THE M208 .................................................5

Overview................................................................................................... 5

M208 Features.......................................................................................... 5

Overview of the Hub Architecture ........................................................... 8

Overview of Print Server Architecture..................................................... 9

Overview of Print Server Installation..................................................... 11

INSTALLING THE M208 ON THE NETWORK ..........................15

Overview................................................................................................. 15

Preparing for Installation........................................................................ 15

Connecting the M208 to the Network .................................................... 17

Connecting Peripherals........................................................................... 17

USING THE HUB ........................................................................19

Overview................................................................................................. 19

M208 Hub Features ................................................................................ 19

Hub Installation ...................................................................................... 20

Hub Configuration.................................................................................. 21

Monitoring the Hub ................................................................................ 24

SNMP Management Features................................................................. 28

Troubleshooting the Hub........................................................................ 28

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP ...................................31

Overview................................................................................................. 31

Host Software ......................................................................................... 31

M208 Configuration ............................................................................... 35

Host Configuration ................................................................................. 42

TABLE OF CONTENTS i

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR NOVELL ................................63

Overview................................................................................................. 63

Host Software ......................................................................................... 63

M208 Configuration ............................................................................... 64

Host Configuration ................................................................................. 65

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR APPLETALK .........................75

Overview................................................................................................. 75

M208 Configuration ............................................................................... 75

Host Configuration ................................................................................. 75

Additional Configuration Options.......................................................... 76

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR WINDOWS ............................79

Overview................................................................................................. 79

TCP/IP Setup.......................................................................................... 80

M208 Configuration ............................................................................... 83

Host Configuration ................................................................................. 84

M208 INTERNAL ARCHITECTURE .......................................... 89

Overview................................................................................................. 89

Destinations ............................................................................................ 89

Models .................................................................................................... 90

Variables................................................................................................. 91

Logpaths ................................................................................................. 92

I/O Ports.................................................................................................. 92

USING THE M208’S COMMAND SET .......................................93

Overview................................................................................................. 93

npsh Overview........................................................................................ 93

npsh Prompt............................................................................................ 94

User Accounts and Permissions.............................................................. 94

Redirecting Output from Commands...................................................... 94

npsh Basic Commands............................................................................ 95

npsh Command Set ................................................................................ 95

USING NPWIN ..........................................................................127

Overview............................................................................................... 127

System Requirements ........................................................................... 127

Installation ............................................................................................ 127

Print Server/Hub Configuration............................................................ 128

ii TABLE OF CONTENTS

Starting a NPWin Session With An Unconfigured Unit ...................... 128

USING THE M208’S ADDITIONAL OPTIONS .........................131

Overview............................................................................................... 131

General Options.................................................................................... 131

TCP/IP Options..................................................................................... 135

Novell Options...................................................................................... 140

Managing With SNMP......................................................................... 141

FTP Daemon......................................................................................... 146

Serial Line IP........................................................................................ 154

IP Routing............................................................................................. 157

TROUBLESHOOTING THE M208 ...........................................159

Overview............................................................................................... 159

Common Problems ............................................................................... 159

TCP/IP Problems.................................................................................. 159

Novell Problems ................................................................................... 163

AppleTalk Problems............................................................................. 167

Windows Problems............................................................................... 167

GETTING HELP WITH THE M208 ...........................................171

Overview............................................................................................... 171

Help Methods Available....................................................................... 171

Technical Support................................................................................. 172

Upgrade Procedure ............................................................................... 173

Warranty............................................................................................... 174

M208 SPECIFICATIONS ..........................................................177

Variable Definitions.............................................................................. 177

Hardware Specifications....................................................................... 179

Software Specifications........................................................................ 192

GLOSSARY ..............................................................................195

APPENDIX A ............................................................................203

Planning Your Print Setup.................................................................... 203

APPENDIX B ............................................................................207

Repeater Specifications ........................................................................ 207

INDEX .......................................................................................209

TABLE OF CONTENTS iii

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Print Server Operating Logic ...........................................10

Figure 2: M208 Diagram .................................................................16

Figure 3: Twisted-Pair Cable Pinouts ..............................................21

Figure 4: npd Overview ...................................................................54

Figure 5: M208 Jumper Settings ...................................................137

Figure 6: Sample Commercial Invoice ..........................................176

Figure 7: Parallel Port Timing .......................................................181

iv LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: npconfig/ezsetup Main Menu ..........................................33

Table 2: npconfig Detailed Configuration Options Sub-Menu.......33

Table 3: Model Types ....................................................................90

Table 4: UTP (RJ45) Connector Pinout .......................................179

Table 5: THICK (Transceiver) Connector Pinouts ......................180

Table 6: Parallel Port Timing .......................................................182

Table 7 PRN Pinout ....................................................................183

Table 8: 9-Pin COM1/COM2 Pinout ...........................................184

Table 9: 5-Pin Serial Device Pinout .............................................185

Table 10: LED Patterns ..................................................................188

Table 11: Run and Auto-Reset Mode Description .........................189

Table 12: TCP/IP Port Numbers ....................................................192

Table 13: Configuration Considerations ........................................203

Table 14: Data and Collision Propagation Delays .........................207

Table 15: AUI Interface (IEEE 802.3 Compliant) .........................208

Table 16: UTP Interface (IEEE 802.2 10Base-T Compliant) ........208

LIST OF TABLES v

vi LIST OF TABLES

PREFACE

Who Should Use This Manual

A system administrator or someone with a good understanding of the protocol involved should perform the installation and conﬁguration procedures in this manual.

Organization of This Manual

This manual covers each aspect of the M208 and contains these chapters: PREFACE on page 1

Contents, organization, and conventions used in this manual.

GETTING TO KNOW THE M208

Description of the M208’s features and an introduction to its architecture and installation

INSTALLING THE M208 ON THE NETWORK on page 15 Description of the M208’s network connectors and I/O ports, along with steps to connect the unit to the network.

USING THE HUB on page 19 Overview and details on installing, conﬁguring, and troubleshooting the hub component of the M208.

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP on page 31 Overview of TCP/IP host software and in-depth details on M208 conﬁguration and various TCP/IP host setups.

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR NOVELL on page 63 Full introduction to Novell host software and to the various print conﬁgurations available with all versions of NetWare.

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR APPLETALK on page 75 Description of a full AppleTalk setup.

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR WINDOWS on page 79 Explanation of print setups in a Windows NT, Windows 95, and WfW environment.

on page 5

PREFACE: Who Should Use This Manual 1

unit host

M208 INTERNAL ARCHITECTURE on page 89 Explanation of the M208’s internal operating architecture and logic.

USING THE M208’S COMMAND SET on page 93 Full reference section based on the M208’s command set.

USING NPWIN on page 127 Explanation of using NPWin to conﬁgure and manage the M208.

USING THE M208’S ADDITIONAL OPTIONS on page 131 Introduction to some of the print enhancements provided by the M208.

TROUBLESHOOTING THE M208 on page 159 Helpful hints and steps to consider when you run into problems in any print setup.

GETTING HELP WITH THE M208 on page 171 Information on Microplex’s service and support procedures including Technical Support, upgrading, and warranty.

M208 SPECIFICATIONS on page 177 Full details about the M208’s hardware and software speciﬁcations.

GLOSSARY on page 195

Deﬁnitions of words, abbreviations, and acronyms used in this manual. APPENDIX A on page 203

Useful information on setting up your printing environment. APPENDIX B on page 207

Repeater speciﬁcations.

General Conventions

These are some of the conventions followed in this manual:

• At the bottom of each page is the name of the chapter, the section, and the page number.

• The header contains an icon to represent which chapter you are currently reading.

• Names of other publications and references to other sections in this manual are in italics.

2 PREFACE: General Conventions

Caution

Cautions are indicated to warn of any undesirable effects an action may cause.

Note

Notes are added to make you aware of certain steps or considerations, and sometimes to provide tips or suggestions.

Computer Entry and Display Conventions

Command syntax and examples are formatted as follows:

• The Courier font in boldface indicates command entries.

$ ping ftp.microplex.com

• Regular Courier font indicates displayed results.

ftp.microplex.com is alive

• Arguments separated by the or symbol ( | ) mean that a choice must be made.

list default com1|com2

• Square brackets [ ] around something indicates that it is optional.

set sysinfo name [

• Command names, entries, and example references are bold along with directories and ﬁle names. Boldface is also used if emphasis is needed.

Enter npwrite when you see...

namestring

]

sends data to the M208 named spike...

• Variable values are shown in italics both in command syntax, output, and in text.

ping

ipname

is alive

Please enter the ipname at the prompt.

• Italics are also used for emphasis.

PREFACE: Computer Entry and Display Conventions 3

4 PREFACE: Computer Entry and Display Conventions

GETTING TO KNOW THE M208

Overview

The purpose of this chapter is to get you acquainted with the M208. It contains an overview of the M208’s features, an overview of the Hub’s architecture, an overview of the Print Server’ s architecture, and an ov erview of basic Print Serv er installations in each of the supported environments.

M208 Features

With the Microplex M208 Workgroup Hub/Print Server, you can easily expand your network and locate laser printers, dot matrix printers, plotters, and other peripherals anywhere on the LAN rather than attaching them directly to a host system. Installation is also quick and simple in any of the supported environments.

Hub/Remote Access Features

• auto-discovery/auto-senses when a device is connected to a port,

• automatically detects network collisions,

• automatically segments a port when the port experiences excessi ve collisions or other undesirble Ethernet activity,

• duplicate address protection: if two units have the same address, both ports are automatically segmented,

• any port can be used as the network connection or to cascade M208s,

• automatic reverse receive parity to correct miswiring,

• extensive monitoring and status reports via the npsh command set,

• SNMP management via MIB II and custom MIBs,

• SLIP support on the serial ports for dial-up or leased line remote access to the local network

• NPWin for Windows-based conﬁguration and management,

GETTING TO KNOW THE M208: Overview 5

Print Server Features

General Features

• one high-speed, IEEE 1284-I compliant parallel port,

• four-speed parallel port to support any peripheral, slow or fast,

• two serial ports,

• multi-level conﬁguration security through passwords and permission levels,

• SNMP support through MIB II, custom MIBs, and custom traps to aid in network management,

• multiple printer destinations for printing ﬂexibility,

• load-balancing so a job can be redirected to an idle printer instead of waiting for a particular one to free up,

• the choice to disable selected Print Server services,

• extra printing functionality such as carriage return insertion to remove some of the processing burden from the host,

• banner/trailer page generation,

• autosensing of job/ﬁle format for ASCII to PostScript conversion or for automatic switching of the printer’s emulation mode,

• header and trailer strings to instruct printers in tray selection, font, pitch, simplex/duplex, and other options,

• logging to keep track of job, user, page count, checksum, and printer error information,

• TCP/IP syslog and SMTP (email) support for additional logging functionality,

• backchanneling for printers to send various PostScript messages about: print-job status, paper out, paper jam, busy, toner out, etc. back through a serial port,

• queuing of all print jobs on LANs or WANs, while supporting up to four printers simultaneously ,

TCP/IP Features

• further conﬁguration security through TCP access lists,

• scrambled print job data to protect the job as it passes over the network,

6 GETTING TO KNOW THE M208: M208 Features

• ability to telnet and ping to another host on the network from the M208 allowing for terminal server capabilities,

• up to 256 simultaneous TCP connections,

• GOSIP RFC-1042 support,

• IP Routing support for communications over separate networks,

• FTP daemon support for printing, unit monitoring, and conﬁguration,

• SLIP support for serial port network communications,

• IP packet fragmentation support,

Novell Features

• support for all versions of NetWare, including NetWare 4,

• simultaneous support of multiple Novell frame types,

• encrypted password support,

• queueing on up to 32 queues over 16 ﬁle servers,

• ability to add a preferred Novell ﬁle server list,

• automatic frame type sensing of all Novell frame types,

AppleTalk Features

• quick printer setup through the Chooser,

• ability to disable certain print destinations on the M208 so they don’t all appear in the Chooser,

• conﬁgurable AppleTalk zones,

NetBIOS Features

• NetBIOS over TCP/IP support for Windows NT, Windows 95, and Windows for Workgroups (WfW),

• simple printer setup,

GETTING TO KNOW THE M208: M208 Features 7

Printer Support

The M208 is compatible with PC’s, UNIX systems, Macintosh computers, minis, and mainframes as long as at least one of the following is present:

TCP/IP

• an LPR client to interact with our Line Printer Daemon on the unit,

• an RSH client (i.e. rsh, remsh, rcmd) to interact with our RSH Daemon,

• the ability to print directly to a TCP port number on our unit; we have a TCP port number mapped to each I/O port on the unit by default (i.e. com1 is 4000),

Other

• NetWare support,

• AppleTalk over EtherTalk support,

• NetBIOS over TCP/IP support,

For a listing of the printing standards supported, please see Standards Supported on page 193.

Overview of the Hub Architecture

The M208 includes a fully managable eight port Ethernet hub. Hubs are stable network devices that perform signal regeneration (including ampliﬁcation, symmetry, and retiming), packet forwarding, and routing. When a hub is presented with a data signal, it automatically regenerates and transmits the data signal to all the other hub ports without any modiﬁcation to the signal.

The M208 has a total of nine Ethernet ports, eight 10Base-T (RJ45) and one AUI port. Any port on the M208 can serve as the network connection for the unit.

Very little conﬁguration is required for the hub as it becomes fully operational as soon the the unit is powered up. To install the hub, simply attach it to the network and connect other Data Terminal Devices (DTEs) to it.

For more information on hub installation and conﬁguration please see USING THE HUB on page 19.

8 GETTING TO KNOW THE M208: Overview of the Hub Architecture

Overview of Print Server Architecture

This section will provide an overview of how the M208’s Print Server component works. To better understand this, it is important to understand I/O ports, destinations and models.

I/O Ports

The M208 has three I/O ports; one parallel and two serial ports. Printers can be attached to any or all of the three I/O ports. Each I/O port has an internal queuing mechanism that automatically queues print jobs on a ﬁrst-come, ﬁrst-serve basis even if the print jobs come from different network environments (e.g. Novell and TCP/IP).

Destinations

When you send a print job to the Print Server, the print job doesn’t go directly to an I/O port but ﬁrst goes to a destination. A destination can be thought of as logical place on the M208 to send print jobs. Each destination has an I/O port and a model (see below) associated with it. The purpose of our destinations is to allow you the ability to conﬁgure a number of different print setups on the Print Server.

There are six pre-deﬁned destinations on the M208 and each of them, by default, is associated to one of the three I/O ports on the unit (two destinations per I/O port). By default, the destinations have names such as d1prn, d2com1, d3com2, etc. If you like, any of these destination names can be changed to be something more meaningful.

Models

Each destination on the unit also has a model associated with it. The six models (one per destination) can be thought of as a series of mini-ﬁlter that can do special processing to the print job data. For example, a model can be set up to do such things as ASCII to PostScript conversion (a2ps) or carriage return insertion (onlcr).

By default, all six models on the M208 are initially set up to be raw. When raw, they simply pass data through to the I/O port untouched. By default, the models are named m1 through to m6 but can be changed to be something more meaningful.

Models only need to be reconﬁgured when you want to do special processing to all the print jobs that are sent to a particular destination.

GETTING TO KNOW THE M208: Overview of Print Server Architecture 9

Summary

When you are doing a print setup, you must direct print jobs to a particular destination which is mapped to an I/O port to which the printer(s) is attached. The destination’s associated model is then used for any extra processing of the data, if required. Each I/O port has an internal queuing mechanism that automatically queues print jobs on a ﬁrst-come, ﬁrst-serve basis.

For more information on I/O ports, destinations, and models, please see M208 INTER- NAL ARCHITECTURE on page 89.

Figure 1: Print Server Operating Logic

TCP/IP

host

Novell

host

Mac

host

WfW host

M208 Workgroup Print Server

Model

banner/trailer page header string

Destination

d1prn

d2com1

d6com2

This example follows a print job sent to destination

d1prn

is associated with modelm1 and the I/O port

When the data is passed through the associated model, any job processing speciﬁed by the model is performed on the data.

If no additional processing is speciﬁed, the data is passed through to the I/O port untouched.

trailer string CR insertion (onlcr) tab expansion (xtab) ASCII to PostScript descrambling printer switching

d1prn.

prn

PRN I/O port

COM1 I/O port

COM2 I/O port

printer

10 GETTING TO KNOW THE M208: Overview of Print Server Architecture

Overview of Print Server Installation

Not

This section will provide an overvie w of the basic steps required to install the M208 in the various supported environments: Unix, Novell (PSERVER and RPRINTER), NetBIOS over TCP/IP, and AppleTalk.

Before installing the M208, it may be useful to look at Appendix A, Planning Your Print Setup on page 203 for advantages/disadvantages of various conﬁguration

options.

Basic Unix Conﬁguration

The following outlines the basic steps required to add a M208 to a Unix network.

Once the unit is physically attached to the network, you need to: 1 Assign an IP address, netmask, and possibly a default router to the M208. This

can be done in several ways:

• automatically with ezsetup or npconﬁg (Option 1 from the Main Menu).

Please see page 36.

• manually through the network using ARP. Please see page 37.

• manually through the network using RARP. Please see page 38.

• manually through the network using BOOTP. Please see page 39.

• manually through the COM port. Please see page 40.

2 Conﬁgure the print setup on the host to print to this unit. This can be done in sev-

eral ways depending on your host system.

• automatically with ezsetup or npconﬁg (Option 2 from the Main Menu)

Please see page 36.

• manually for a BSD Unix environment. Please see page 47.

• manually for a System V Unix environment. Please see page 51.

• manually for a AIX Unix environment. Please see page 59.

GETTING TO KNOW THE M208: Overview of Print Server Installation 11

Basic Novell Conﬁguration

PSERVER Setup

The following outlines the basic steps required to add a M208 to a Novell network using a PSERVER setup and applies to any Netware version. The M208 replaces a dedicated workstation running PSERVER.EXE or PSERVER.NLM so these are no longer needed.

Once the unit is physically attached to the network, you need to: 1 Enter into a PCONSOLE session. PCONSOLE is used for the entire print setup. 2 Create a new queue. 3 Create a new print server. The name will be is M_xxxxxx where xxxxxx is the last

six digits of the Ethernet address as found on the bottom of the unit.

4 Add a new printer and type in the name of one of the eight default destinations on

the unit. (e.g. d1prn, d2com1,etc.) At the prompt for the type ﬁeld, select DEFINED ELSEWHERE. If this is not available, choose PARALLEL.

5 Associate this printer with the queue deﬁned in Step 2. 6 Reboot the M208 and wait about a minute for it to connect to the ﬁle server.

RPRINTER Setup

The following outlines the basic steps required to add a M208 to a Novell network using a RPRINTER setup and applies to any Netware version. The M208 interacts with an existing PSERVER running PSERVER.EXE or PSERVER.NLM.

Once the unit is physically attached to the network, you need to: 1 Enter into a PCONSOLE session. 2 Create a new queue. 3 Select an existing PSERVER and deﬁne a new remote printer. The printer name

can be anything but the type must be REMOTE OTHER/UNKNOWN.

4 Associate this printer with the queue created in step 2. 5 Exit PCONSOLE. 6 Restart PSERVER. (e.g. PSERVER.NLM) 7 Go to SYS:\LOGIN and create a directory named M_xxxxxx where xxxxxx is the

12 GETTING TO KNOW THE M208: Overview of Print Server Installation

last six digits of the Ethernet address as found on the bottom of the unit.

8 Inside this directory, create a ﬁle called CONFIG. 9 Enter the line:

name

where pservername is the existing PSERVER’s name, printernumber is the

deﬁned number for this printer in that PSERVER, and destname is a M208 destination (e.g. d1prn, d3com2, etc.).

10 Reboot the Print Server and wait about a minute for it to connect to the ﬁle server.

For more information on Novell PSERVER or RPRINTER conﬁguration, please see CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR NOVELL on page 63.

Basic Windows Conﬁguration

The following outlines the basic steps required to add a M208 to a Windows NT Version 3.5 network using the LPR print method.

Once the unit is physically attached to the network, you need to: 1 Ensure that the appropriate network software is installed on your host system. In

the Network Settings dialogue box, make sure you see these in the Installed Net- work Software scroll box:

• MS TCP/IP Printing

• TCP/IP Protocol

• Simple TCP/IP Service

2 Make sure your workstation has an IP address and netmask.

set rprinter add

pservername printernumber dest-

3 Assign an IP address and netmask to the M208. Use a PC or terminal connected to

the Print Server’ s serial port to do this. Please seeManual Configuration Through the COM Port on page 40 for information on completing this step.

4 On your NT workstation, select the Print Manager. 5 Select Create a Printer from the Printer menu. 6 Deﬁne the printer name and driver. In the Print to ﬁeld, select Other... 7 Choose LPR port from the displayed list and select OK. 8 Enter in the name or IP address of the Print Server. 9 Fill in the destination on the Print Server and select OK. The destination will be

GETTING TO KNOW THE M208: Overview of Print Server Installation 13

the name of one of the eight default destinations on the unit. (e.g. d1prn, d3com2, etc.)

For more information on NetBIOS over TCP/IP conﬁgurations, please see CONFIG- URING THE M208 FOR WINDOWS on page 79.

Basic AppleTalk Conﬁguration

The following outlines the basic steps required to add a M208 to an AppleTalk network.

Note

Example

An AppleTalk setup does not require any Print Server conﬁguration; the network parameters are automatically conﬁgured for you once the M208 is booted on the network.

Once the unit is physically attached to the network, you need to: 1 Select Chooser from the Apple Menu. 2 Select the Laserwriter icon.

A list of available printers will appear. By default, the format of each name is

M208name_papname

where M208name is the name of the M208 and papname is

an M208 I/O port. Both names are conﬁgurable.

M_000BF5_prn

is the printer associated with the M208 named M_000BF5 using the parallel port.

3 From the list of printers, select one to print to.

For more information on AppleTalk conﬁgurations, please see CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR APPLETALK on page 75.

14 GETTING TO KNOW THE M208: Overview of Print Server Installation

INSTALLING THE M208 ON THE NETWORK

Overview

The ﬁrst step of your M208 setup is to attach it to the network. This section tells you how to do that and also covers the M208’s network interfaces.

Preparing for Installation

Before unpacking and installing the hardware, read the FCC Warning.

FCC Warning

This equipment generates, uses and can radiate radio frequency energy. If it is not installed and used as directed in this manual, interference to radio communications may result. The equipment has been tested and found to comply with the limits for a Class A computing device pursuant to Subpart B of Part 15 of FCC rules, which are designed to provide reasonable protection against such interference when operated in a commercial environment. Operation of this equipment in a residential area is likely to cause interference. In such a case the user will be required to correct the interference at the expense of the user.

Unpacking the M208

Before unpacking the M208, check the package for any obvious damage resulting from mishandling. If the outside box is damaged, open it and check for any damage to the contents. Immediately report any damage to the shipping company.

Unpack the M208 and check the contents and serial numbers against the packing slip. Immediately report any errors or shortages to your vendor. If everything is in acceptable order, ﬁll out the Warranty Registration/Customer Survey card and mail it in.

INSTALLING THE M208 ON THE NETWORK: Overview 15

Site Requirements

Environment

Prepare to install the M208 in a clean, well-ventilated environment protected from extremes of temperature, humidity, mechanical shock, or vibration. Provide enough space at the front and back of the unit for cable connections.

Location

Prepare to install the M208:

• within four meters (13 feet) of a grounded 115 or 230 VAC outlet,

• within ﬁve meters (15 feet) of any device connected to the parallel port (PRN)

• within 15 meters (50 feet) of any device connected to the serial ports (COM1 or COM2).

Grounding, Power, and Connection

Ensure that the electrical outlet is properly grounded. Power is supplied to the M208 from an external transformer through a two-meter (six-

foot) output cord to a 6 position mini din. The external transformer connects through a two-meter (six-foot) line cord to a 3-prong 115 or 230 VAC outlet.

Figure 2: M208 Diagram

M208 Front View

M208 WORKGROUP HUB / PRINT SERVER

COLACTNETERRSTATPOWER

M208 Rear View

POWER

16 INSTALLING THE M208 ON THE NETWORK: Preparing for Installation

86543217

TRANSCEIVER

Connecting the M208 to the Network

To connect the M208 to the network: 1 Connect Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) and other hubs/backbone to the appro-

priate ports (10Base-T or AUI port). Please see Hub Installation on page 20 for further details.

1 Connect peripherals to the appropriate I/O ports. Please see Connecting Peripher-

als on page 17 for details on each of the M208’s I/O ports.

2 Unpack and plug in the power supply. The connector plugs into the back of the

M208. Watch the lights on the from panel of the M208 as they cycle through the power-on self test. When the test is complete, the PO WER light is on and STAT is ﬂashing.

Connecting Peripherals

A maximum of three devices can be attached to an M208’s I/O ports at the same time; one on the parallel port and two on the serial ports.

Parallel Port Connections (PRN)

One 25-pin female DB-25S connector with an IBM PC compatible pinout are provided on the rear panel for connection to a printer using a parallel port. This port can be conﬁgured with various parameters depending on the attached printer. These parameters include:

• ackmode for printers (usually non-laser printers) that use the trigger of next data transfer rather than the BUSY signal,

• autofeed for printers (usually non-laser printers) that require the be asserted,

• bbmode for simulating an attached printer,

• fastmode for high performance parallel interfaces that can handle an increased transfer rate,

• slowmode for slower parallel interfaces which require slower transfer rates.

•vslowmode for printers that require ever slower data transfer rates.

INSTALLING THE M208 ON THE NETWORK: Connecting the M208 to the Network 17

ACK signal for the

AUT OFD line to

Please see list prn on page 100, set prn on page 112, and PRN Pinout on page 183.

Serial Port Connections (COM1, COM2)

Two 9-pin male DE-9P connectors with IBM PC AT compatible pinouts are provided for connection to printers using serial ports. Each of these ports have various parameters which control such things as:

• parity selection, generation, and detection,

• hardware ﬂow control,

• software ﬂow control,

• character description.

For more information, please see list com1|com2 on page 98, set com1|com2 on page 105, and 9-Pin COM1/COM2 Pinout on page 184.

Note

For best performance, connect RXD lines (Pin 2) to ground on cables connected to equipment that do not drive the transmit data signal (i.e. some printers). This will prevent induced noise from being processed as data.

You have now completed the basic installation of the M208 onto the network and now it must be conﬁgured for use. Please continue with the appropriate chapters for information pertaining to the hub component of the unit and for information pertaining to conﬁguring the M208 for your particular environment:

• USING THE HUB on page 19,

• CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP on page 31,

• CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR NOVELL on page 63,

• CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR APPLETALK on page 75,

• CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR WINDOWS on page 79.

18 INSTALLING THE M208 ON THE NETWORK: Connecting Peripherals

USING THE HUB

Overview

The M208 Workgroup Hub/Print Server includes a fully managable and intelligent eight port Ethernet hub. Hubs (or multi-port repeaters) are stable network de vices that perform signal regeneration (including ampliﬁcation, symmetry , and retiming), packet forwarding, and routing. When a hub is presented with a data signal, it automatically regenerates and transmits the data signal to all the other hub ports without any modiﬁcation to the signal.

Very little conﬁguration is required for the hub as it becomes fully operational as soon the unit is powered up.

M208 Hub Features

The following is a list of features for the hub component of the M208:

• auto discovery/auto-sensing: the M208 automatically senses when a device is connected to a port and begins transmitting data signals to that port,

• auto-port segmentation: the hub will automatically segment a port when the port experiences excessive collisions or sends extremely long (illegal) Ethernet packets,

• intelligent segmentation recovery: if a port becomes segmented due to undesirable Ethernet activity, the port will automatically return to normal operation when the undesirable activity disappears,

• collision detection: when two nodes try to transmit data at the same time, the M208 will transmit a jam signal telling the nodes that a collision has occurred. Once the collision condition is removed, the M208 terminates the jam signal and resumes normal operation,

• cascading hubs: any port can be used to cascade M208s,

• automatic reverse recei ve parity to correct miswiring: the M208 can automatically reverses the polarity of the receive pair if it senses the parity to be incorrect,

• conﬁguration and management in a Windows environment using NPWin,

USING THE HUB: Overview 19

• full hub monitoring capabilities using the npsh command set,

Not

• remote network management via private MIBs: the M208’s private MIB ﬁle contains all the variables and traps required to manage the hub using an SNMP manager,

Hub Installation

You can use any of the network ports to connect the M208 to computers, to other hubs/backbone, or to other Data Terminal Equipment (DTE).

Connectors

The M208 has 9 network connectors: eight 10Base-T (RJ45) connectors, and one A UI connector.

Cable Requirements for Connecting to the Backbone or to Other Hubs

To connect the M208 to the backbone or to another hub, a crossed-over cable is required unless port #1 is used, then a straight through cable can be used as long as the switch next to the port is set accordingly. By default, the switch is set to accept a straight-through cable.

Cabling Requirements for Connecting to DTE’s

To connect other DTE’s to the M208, a straight-through cable is required unless port #1 is used, then a crossed-over cable can be used as long as the switch next to the port is set accordingly.

For the pinouts of the twisted-pair cable, please see Twisted-Pair Cable Pinouts on page 21. For the pinouts of the A UI cable, please see THICK (Transceiver) Connector Pinouts on page 180.

Port #1 is the only port that can be set (using the external switch) to accept either a crossed-over or straight-through cable. Ports #2-8 are internally crossed-over.

20 USING THE HUB: Hub Installation

Figure 3: Twisted-Pair Cable Pinouts

Not

Twisted-Pair Straight-Through Cable

M208 End DTE End

Signal Pins SignalPins Receive + 1 1 Transmit + Receive - 2 2 Transmit Transmit + 3 3 Receive + Transmit - 6 6 Receive -

Twisted-Pair Crossover Cable

M208 End

Signal Pins SignalPins

Receive + 1 6 Transmit Receive - 2 3 Transmit + Transmit + 3 2 Receive Transmit - 6 1 Receive +

Hub Conﬁguration

The hub component of the M208 becomes fully operationable as soon as the unit is powered up and thus very little conﬁguration is required. However, to facilitate communications with the M208 and to utilize the M208’s print server capabilities, it is necessary to conﬁgure the unit with an IP address.

Other hub conﬁguration options as well as the npsh commands to perform the conﬁguration are detailed below. All hub conﬁguration can also be performed using the included NPWin software utility included with the M208.

In order to use the print server functions of the M208, an IP address must be conﬁg-

Backbone/Hub End

USING THE HUB: Hub Configuration 21

ured on the unit.

NoteNot

Conﬁguring the M208 with an IP address

There are a number of ways to conﬁgure the M208 with an IP address, either automatically with a shell script or manually.

Please see Computer-aided Configuration with ezsetup or npconfig on page 36, Man-

ual Configuration Through the Network with ARP on page 37, Manual Configuration Through the Network with RARP on page 38, Manual Configuration Through the Network with BOOTP on page 39, or Manual Configuration Through the COM Port on page 40, or USING NPWIN on page 127 for step-by-step instructions.

Enabling/Disabling a Port

This feature allows you to manually enable or disable a particular port. By default, all ports are enabled and the M208 will auto-sense when a device is connected to the port and will start sending data signals to the port.

A port that has been manually disabled will not auto-sense when a device is attached to it. You must manually enable any port that has been manually disabled before autosensing will work.

To disable a particular port, please follow the steps below: 1 Login to the M208 as a root user. 2 At the npsh prompt, type the following command:

config hub [

portnum

] [-]enable

where portnum is the number between 1 and 9 of the port that you want to disable.

The conﬁg hub command stores the conﬁguration setting to EEPROM and automatically resets the unit.

Enabling/Disabling Link Integrity on a 10Base-T Port

This feature allows you to stop a port from generating a link integrity signal. This signal informs a hub of the presence of a device connect to it over a twisted-pair cable and of the integrity of that link. By default, link integrity is enabled on all ports.

If you have a non-10Base-T product connected to the hub, you may need to disable the link integrity on that particular port or else the port will experience excessive collisions and auto-partion itself.

22 USING THE HUB: Hub Configuration

To disable link integrity on a speciﬁc port, please follow the steps below:

NoteNoteNoteNot

1 Login to the M208 as a root user. 2 At the npsh prompt, type the following command:

config hub [

portnum

] [-]li

where portnum is the number between 1 and 8 of the port that you want to disable link integrity.

This command is not applicable to port 9 which is the AUI port. If the port LED stays lit even when no device is attached, this indicates that link

integrity has been turned off for that particular port.

Enabling/Disabling Reversing Receive Polarity on a Port

This feature allows you to turn off the automatic re v erse receive polarity on a port. By default, reverse receive polarity is enabled.

If you disable this feature on a port, you must ensure that you are using the correct wiring for the port. Please see Twisted-Pair Cable Pinouts on page 21 for details.

To disable reverse receive polarity of a speciﬁc port, please follow the steps below: 1 Login to the M208 as a root user. 2 At the npsh prompt, type the following command:

config hub [

portnum

] [-]revxpol

where portnum is the number between 1 and 8 of the port that you want to disable reverse receive polarity.

Enabling/Disabling SQE Test on the AUI port

This command is not applicable to port 9 which is the AUI port.

The SQE Test is a signal that tests the signal detection electronics in the transceiver and lets the hub know that the collision detection circuits and signal paths are working correctly. The SQE Test is only applicable to the AUI port and by default, the SQE Test is disabled.

If you are using the AUI port via a external transceiver, the SQE Test signal could be interpreted by the transceiver as a collision and may cause a collision signal to be generated to the rest of the network. Generally , when you are using an external transcei v er on the AUI port, ensure that the SQE Test is disabled.

USING THE HUB: Hub Configuration 23

If you are using the AUI port without an external transceiver, the SQE Test can be

Not

used to verify the integrity of the connection. To enable the SQE Test on port 9, please follow the steps below: 1 Login to the M208 as a root user. 2 At the npsh prompt, type the following command:

config hub 9 sqe

Monitoring the Hub

Monitoring the hub can be done on two levels, by observing the LED lights on the both the front and back panels of the unit and by using the hub monitoring features included in the npsh command set.

Hub Monitoring Using the LEDs

The M208’s hub component has ten LEDs associated with it: two LEDs on the front panel indicating collisions and general hub activity and eight LEDs on the back indicating port activity.

The collision LED (COL) on the front panel will ﬂash when the hub is experiencing transmission collisions. The rate of ﬂash corresponds to the amount of collisions that the hub is experiencing.

The activity LED (ACT) on the front panel will ﬂash when the hub is experiencing network activity. The rate of ﬂash corresponds to the amount of network activity the hub is experiencing.

The port activity LEDs on the back panel will ﬂash when the port is receiving data from the network. The rate of ﬂash corresponds to the amount of data being sent or received by the port.

When a port has been auto-segmented, the port activity LED will ﬂash slowly until the hub terminates the auto-segment condition.

24 USING THE HUB: Monitoring the Hub

Hub Monitoring Using npsh

The command set npsh provides extensive information regarding the operation of the hub including both the general operational status of the hub as well as information speciﬁc to each port. This information is valuable for monitoring the operation of the hub and for troubleshooting your network.

To monitor the operations of the hub as a whole, please follow the steps below: 1 Login to the M208 as a root or guest user. 2 At the npsh prompt, type the following command:

list hub

A screen showing the general operational status of the hub, various counters, and the conﬁguration of each port is displayed.

To monitor the conﬁguration and operational status of a particular port, please follow the steps below:

1 Login to the M208 as a root or guest user. 2 At the npsh prompt, type the following command:

list hub [

portnum

]

where portnum is the number between 1 and 9 of the port that you want to monitor.

A screen showing information speciﬁc to the conﬁguration and operation of the desired port is displayed.

Deﬁnitions of Ethernet Terms in List Hub Output

The following deﬁnes the Ethernet terms used in the output of the List Hub command.

Alignment Errors Displays the number of frames detected with an

Frame Check Sequence (FCS) error and a framing error.

Auto Partitioned Displays whether the port has been auto-partitioned

because of undesirable Ethernet activity.

Auto Partitions Displays the number of instances where the M208

has auto-partitioned this port.

USING THE HUB: Monitoring the Hub 25

Collisions Displays the number of occurrences where the port

has activity on both its receive and transmit pairs. This is a normal event within a CSMA/CD network. Excessive collisions, however, may indicate an overloaded network or a wiring error.

Data Rate Mismatches Displays the number of occurrences where the fre-

quency or data rate of the incoming signal is different from the local transmit frequency.

Enabled Displays whether the port is enabled. If enabled, data

received on another port is transmitted on the transmit pair. If disabled, the transmit pair is inactive while the receive pair is active.

FCS Errors Displays the number of frames detected on a port

with an invalid Frame Check Sequence (FCS).

Frame Too Longs Displays the number of frames that exceed the maxi-

mum valid packet length of 1518 bytes.

Last Scr Address Displays the value of the Ethernet source address

ﬁeld of the last valid frame it received.

Late Events Displays the number of instances where a collision is

detected after the LateEvent Threshold in the frame. This attribute will be counted by both the Late Events attribute as well as the Collisions attribute.

Link Integrity Test Displays whether the port has the link integrity test

enabled.

Link Status Displays whether the port passed the link status test. Loop Back Test Displays whether the AUI port passed the loop back

test.

MJLP Error Displays whether the M208 has a MAU Jabber

Lockup Protection (MJLP) error. A MJLP error is where the port transmits for a period longer than the maximum packet length.

Operating Status Displays the operation status of the M208, either

operational or failure.

26 USING THE HUB: Monitoring the Hub

Readable Frames Displays the number of valid frames received by the

port.

Readable Octets Displays the number of valid octets received by the

port.

Rx Polarity Reversed Displays whether the receive polarity has been auto-

matically reversed on the port. This occurs when the receive pair is miswired.

Runts Displays the number of instances where activity is

detected with a duration greater than the ShortEventMaxTime but less than the minimum valid frame time.

Short Events Displays the number of instances where activity is

detected with a duration less than ShortEventMaxTime. This is a normal event in a CSMA/CD network.

Source Address Displays the number of Ethernet source address

changes on the received packets.

SQE Test Displays whether the AUI port has the SQE Test

enabled.

Src Address Match Displays a conﬁrmation that the Ethernet address on

the last frame received matches that of the previous frame. This indicates that either the DTE has been changed or the port is connected to another hub.

Total Errors Displays the total number of errors detected by the

M208.

Total Frames Displays the total number of valid frames receiv ed on

all the ports of the M208.

Total Octets Displays the total number of octets received on all the

ports of the M208.

Transmit Collisions Displays the number of transmit collisions detected

by the M208 on all of the ports.

Very Long Events Displays the number of times the transmitter is active

in excess of the MAU jabber lockup protection timer.

USING THE HUB: Monitoring the Hub 27

SNMP Management Features

The M208 includes a private Management Information Base (MIB) ﬁle that contains a number of variables and traps that can be used to conﬁgure, monitor and manage all aspects of the unit. The M208 supports both MIB II and private MIBs, allowing it to be a fully managed agent using a SNMP manager such as HP’s OpenView, Sun’s Sun- Net Manager, and Castle Rock’s, SNMPc.

The MIB is included in a ﬁle called mplxmib.txt that can found on the host software disk. This ﬁle can also be downloaded from the Microplex FTP site (ftp.microplex.com: support/m208/misc/mplxmib.txt) or can be accessed via the Microplex Web site (http://www.microplex.com/).

For a complete description of SNMP, the MIB ﬁle, and how to set up an SNMP user, please see Managing With SNMP on page 141.

Troubleshooting the Hub

This section covers some basic troubleshooting tips regarding the operation of the hub component of the M208. For information on troubleshooting the print server component of the M208, please see TROUBLESHOOTING THE M208 on page 159.

Basic Troubleshooting Tips

• Ensure that the connections are secure and the hub is powered-up,

• If a transceiver is connected to the AUI port, make sure the SQE test is turned off. If you connect a transceiver to the AUI port and the SQU test is turned on, excessive collisions, short events, or dropped packets between the M208 and the device connected to the AUI port can occur,

• Ensure that you have a valid network topology and that you are complying with standard Ethernet practices regarding length of cable runs, number of hops, etc.

Additional Troubleshooting Tips

• If you plug a device into one of the RJ45 ports (Hub to DTE) and the LED does not turn on, try plugging it into port one and setting the selector switch to the crossed-over position (X). If this works, either use port one or change to a straight-through cable.

28 USING THE HUB: SNMP Management Features

• If you plug another hub into one of the RJ45 ports (Hub to Hub) and the LED does not turn on, try plugging it into port one and setting the selector switch to the straight-through position (||). If this works, either use port one or change to a crossed-over cable.

• If you plug a device into one the RJ45 ports (DTE to Hub) and the LED turns on but does not ﬂicker when you know the device should be receiving data from another active device, make sure that reverse receive polarity is enabled for the port or correct the receive pair.

USING THE HUB: Troubleshooting the Hub 29

30 USING THE HUB: Troubleshooting the Hub

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP

Not

Overview

If you are setting the M208 in a TCP/IP environment, this chapter will help you with all aspects of the setup process. The provided host software is introduced and then steps are given for conﬁguring the M208 for communications ov er the network and for printing. Since TCP/IP encompasses a wide variety of system types, the common ones are covered in detail to help you get printing in a TCP/IP environment.

Host Software

The TCP/IP software provided includes two setup programs, source code, interface ﬁles, and various printing-related programs such as:

• a2ps for ASCII to PostScript conversion,

• onlcr for carriage return insertion,

• banner for banner page generation,

• chr for echoing ASCII characters and strings to standard output,

• npscramble for print job scrambling,

• npd for bi-directional communications when printing,

• npwrite for direct socket printing.

chr is the only mandatory binary when using one of the interface scripts for printing. The extra processing binaries (a2ps, onlcr, banner) can be conﬁgured for the host to perform or they can each be set on the M208 alleviating the host of these extra tasks.

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Overview 31

To be utilized on a host, they must be used in conjunction with an interface ﬁle. Otherwise, please see USING THE M208’S COMMAND SET on page 93 for information on the commands necessary to set these features on the M208. By setting these features on the M208, the compilation of chr may be the only one required.

Compiling Host Software

Some compilation may be needed before adding print setups to your host unless you have SunOS 4.1.x, Solaris 2.x, or SCO Unix. Pre-compiled binaries are provided for these. npconﬁg can be used to do the compilation or you can try and compile each program independently. For the npconﬁg method, please:

1 Select Detailed Conﬁguration Options . . . from the npconﬁg Main Menu. 2 Select Manage Host Software . . . from the Options Sub-Menu. 3 Select Compile Host Software and answer the prompts until compiled.

For more information on all of this provided host software, please see the next subsections.

ezsetup and npconﬁg

ezsetup and npconﬁg are the two installation programs provided; one is for a very quick, simple setup and the latter is for a more detailed conﬁguration or for maintaining and troubleshooting the M208. Both programs help you conﬁgure your M208 and direct print jobs to it.

ezsetup provides two choices only; these are the same as the ﬁrst two choices of npconﬁg’s Main Menu. Within minutes, you will have conﬁgured the M208 so it can

be recognized on the network and your host will be able to send print jobs successfully to it.

If you want to spend more time manipulating the extra capabilities of the M208 and your host’s conﬁguration, use npconﬁg. It can be used to conﬁgure a print destination on your host and it can also be used as a M208 management utility allowing you to monitor, change, and troubleshoot the unit.

Both setup scripts create individual log ﬁles, /tmp/ezsetup.log and /tmp/npcon- ﬁg.log, which simultaneously log a copy of all of the commands executed as you run through each of these scripts.

Please refer to Table 1: npconfig/ezsetup Main Menu, and Table 2: npconfig Detailed Configuration Options Sub-Menu for an explanation of the menus.

32 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Software

Table 1: npconﬁg/ezsetup Main Menu

Option Description

Conﬁgure New Unit Add a M208 to your network. This option provides for: IP

name, IP address, hardware address, netmask, and for root and guest passwords. (ezsetup as well)

Conﬁgure Host Setup Conﬁgure a print destination on the host including com-

munication mechanism and processing options. (ezsetup as well)

Detailed Conﬁguration Options . . See Table 2: npconfig Detailed Configuration Options

Sub-Menu. Check Current Print Server Status Display current status of a M208 and associated I/O ports. Cancel a Print Job in the Print

Server

Table 2: npconﬁg Detailed Conﬁguration Options Sub-Menu

Option Description

Display current status of a M208, current print jobs within

it, and a prompt for a print job to be cancelled.

Select Print Server Select the M208 you want to conﬁgure. Conﬁgure Print Server’s Des-

tinations. . .

Conﬁgure M208 destination settings: name, I/O port, backchannel, model, logpath, state, alternate destination, and service(s).

Conﬁgure Print Server’s Models . . .

Conﬁgure M208 model settings: name, type, banner page, carriage return insertion (onlcr), tab expansion (xtab), descrambling, ASCII to PostScript conversion (a2ps), and header and trailer strings.

Conﬁgure Print Server’s I/O Ports . . .

Conﬁgure M208 I/O port settings: state, timeout, handshaking, parity, and speed.

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Software 33

Table 2: npconﬁg Detailed Conﬁguration Options Sub-Menu

Option Description

Conﬁgure Print Server’s Log-

Conﬁgure M208 logpath settings: name, type, and port.

paths . . . Conﬁgure Print Server’s

Add and remove users. Change user passwords and user types.

Users . . . Conﬁgure Print Server’s Nov-

ell Options . . .

Conﬁgure and list the M208 Novell settings: name, frame type, and PSERVER password. List M208 PSERVER and RPRINTER conﬁguration.

Conﬁgure Print Server’s Network Options . . .

Conﬁgure M208 IP address, netmask, routing entries, frame type, and RARP and BOOTP settings. Restore unit to default settings. List all network-related settings.

Manage Print Server’s System Information . . .

Display and modify system information of a M208: M208 name, contact name, location string, log details, descramble key, license key, and module(s).

Conﬁgure Print Server’s Permanent Settings . . .

For Print Server settings, query current status and store

changes to/from EEPROM and factory defaults. Debug Print Server . . . Use M208 debug commands. Begin and start I/O port tests. Manage Host Software . . . Install manual pages, compile source code, and install binaries

and scripts provided on the host software media. Remote Host Security . . . Specify TCP hosts/networks that can communicate with the

M208.

34 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Software

M208 Conﬁguration

When the M208 is ﬁrst installed on a TCP/IP network, you are unable to communicate with it since its network parameters are not initialized. During conﬁguration, the following parameters are initialized and saved in EEPROM:

• IP address (mandatory),

• netmask or sub-netmask(mandatory),

• root user password (recommended for security),

• guest user password (recommended for security).

Initializing these parameters permits conﬁguration of all remaining settings through any of these ﬁve ways:

1 computer-aided conﬁguration with ezsetup or npconﬁg, 2 manual conﬁguration with a terminal connected to COM1, 3 manual conﬁguration through the network with RARP, 4 manual conﬁguration through the network with BOOTP, 5 manual conﬁguration through the network with ARP.

Once you have completed any one of these methods, you will notice the STAT LED ﬂashing on once per second. This means the M208 is conﬁgured and recognizable on the network. At this point, you can then conﬁgure a host for printing by continuing with Host Configuration on page 42. This will complete your entire print setup unless you want to enhance it.

If you want to continue with any of the following procedures, please ﬁnd them as indicated in other sections of this manual:

• Add to or change conﬁguration of your M208. Please see USING THE M208’S COMMAND SET on page 93.

• Utilize more advanced features of the Print Server. Please see USING THE M208’S ADDITIONAL OPTIONS on page 131.

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: M208 Configuration 35

Computer-aided Conﬁguration with ezsetup or npconﬁg

NoteNot

If you choose computer-aided conﬁguration, you must log on to your system as root or superuser and use the host software diskette or tape supplied with your M208. If the software is not provided, or you need a different medium, contact your vendor.

To conﬁgure the M208 with the aid of a script, you must: 1 Insert the host software medium into the drive. 2 Login as root user. 3 cd to a directory with at least three megabytes of free space. 4 Transfer the compressed tar ﬁle from the media onto the host:

tar xvf /dev/

devicename

devicename is usually fd0 for a diskette.

5 Uncompress this ﬁle. Enter:

uncompress npdist.tar.1.Z

6 Untar this ﬁle. Enter:

tar xvf npdist.tar.1

A list of ﬁles displays and scrolls up on the screen as tar executes and se v eral ﬁles and sub-directories are created.

7 Assign an IP address and IP name to the M208 in your host table (/etc/hosts,

hosts nis map, or DNS name tables).

8 Run ezsetup or npconﬁg. Enter:

./ezsetup or ./npconfig

If running the host software on an HP/UX system, you need to explicitly set the Korne shell by adding “

ksh” before “./ezsetup” or “./npconfig”.

9 Enter the number for Conﬁgure New Unit from the Main Menu. 10 Follow the prompts.

For more information, please see ezsetup and npconfig on page 32.

36 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: M208 Configuration

Manual Conﬁguration Through the Network with ARP

Not

To manually conﬁgure the M208 using the network, go to a host terminal and do the following:

1 Log on to your system as root user. 2 Assign an IP address and IP name to the M208 in your host table (/etc/hosts,

hosts nis map, or DNS name tables).

3 Find the Ethernet address for the M208 on the bottom of the unit. It must be

entered as part of this procedure.

4 Use the arp command to add an entry in the host's arp able. This is the most com-

mon syntax for this command:

Syntax

arp -s

ipname ethernetaddress

where ipname is the M208’s IP name or IP address and ethernetaddress is that of the M208.

If this syntax doesn’t apply, look in your host’s reference manual to ﬁnd the proper syntax for the arp command.

5 telnet to the M208. This will bring up a login screen.

telnet

ipname

6 Log into the Print Server as root. 7 At the password prompt, press <Enter>. No password is required at this point as

the M208 is still unconﬁgured. This WARNING message is normal at this point so you can ignore it:

STORED AND CURRENT VALUES DIFFER

You should now see a prompt displayed that has the M208 IP address followed by a colon, then root.

ipaddress

:root>

8 Store the new IP address and netmask in EEPROM so that the M208 can remem-

ber its conﬁguration after reboots. Enter:

store tcpip

ifnum

addr

ipaddress

store tcpip

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: M208 Configuration 37

ifnum

mask

netmask

Not

ifnum is the index to a particular Network Interface. ifnum will always be 1 for the M208 since there is only one network interface, Ethernet.

9 [Optional, but recommended] Conﬁgure root and guest user passwords with the

following commands.

set user passwd root set user passwd guest

newrootpasswd

newguestpasswd

10 Save these conﬁgurations to EEPROM. Enter:

save

11 Verify the IP address and netmask. Enter:

list stored tcpip

These are now stored in EEPROM.

12 Logout of the Telnet session with quit. Then reboot the M208 by powering the

unit off, then on.

13 Test the equipment and conﬁguration after installation is complete. Enter at the

shell prompt on your UNIX machine:

ping

ipname

Manual Conﬁguration Through the Network with RARP

The RARP daemon provides a mechanism for dynamic IP address assignment. When a RARP-conﬁgured TCP/IP host boots, it broadcasts a RARP request for an IP address. Your network must have this daemon running on some host. If you do not know whether your network has one, please ask your system administrator or conﬁgure the M208 with one of the other methods in this section.

To conﬁgure the M208 with RARP, you need to: 1 Make an entry in the /etc/ethers ﬁle for the new M208.

Example

00:80:72:00:AB:CD spike

entry for the M208 named spike which has this Ethernet address.

2 Start the RARP daemon if it isn’t running. Send a HUP signal to it with the kill

command:

kill -HUP pid

38 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: M208 Configuration

3 Reboot the M208. After the ST AT LED ﬂashes regularly, wait another ten seconds

to allow the RARP process to complete.

4 Test the new IP address by trying a ping with the new IP name:

ping

ipname

5 [Optional, but recommended] At this point, set up the user passwords. Please see

set user on page 117.

If no response is given by the M208, the RARP process probably failed. Reboot the unit and try one of the other methods mentioned in this section.

Manual Conﬁguration Through the Network with BOOTP

BOOTP is a protocol for conﬁguring the M208 as it boots. During the boot sequence, the M208 can broadcast a BOOTP request and if a BOOTP server is running on the network conﬁgured to respond to the requesting device, it will provide the M208 with its IP address, netmask, default router, and a time server from which to query the current time (GMT) and the timezone in which the M208 is located.

By default, the M208 will broadcast a BOOTP request when it boots. The following command can be used to control this request:

store tcpip

ifnum

opts [[-]rarp] [[-]bootp]

On the BOOTP server, there must be an entry in /etc/bootptab similar to this:

M208:\

:sm=

netmask

:\ :hd=/usr/boot:\ :bf=null:\ :gw=

default router

:\ :ht=ethernet:\ :ha=

network address

:ip=

ipaddress

:ts=

time server

:to=

timezone

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: M208 Configuration 39

: (in seconds from GMT)

:\ (e.g. 0080720000DC)

Manual Conﬁguration Through the COM Port

NoteNot

A terminal, PC, or laptop can be connected to one of the M208’s COM ports for conﬁguration purposes. A straight-through serial cable is normally needed unless a PC is attached; in this case, a null modem cable can be used. Please see Serial Cable Schematic on page 186 for more details.

To conﬁgure the M208 through the serial ports, you need to: 1 Conﬁgure your terminal settings according to the following speciﬁcations, unless

the COM port’s parameters have been modiﬁed on the M208:

Baud rate: 9600 Data bits: 8 Stop bits: 1 Parity: NONE Receive handshake: XON/XOFF Transmit handshake: XON/XOFF

2 Turn on the M208 power. Wait until the STAT LED ﬂashes regularly and then

press the <Break> key on your terminal once. If you see garbage characters on the screen, check the baud rate and parity settings

of the terminal. If you aren’t getting anything, it may be your cable.

3 Press <Enter> for the local host (i.e. the M208) when the prompt appears asking

for an Internet address to login to.

4 Login as root when asked for a login name. 5 Press <Enter> at the password prompt. No password is required at this point, as

the M208 is still unconﬁgured.

6 Store the new IP address and netmask in EEPROM so that the M208 can remem-

ber its conﬁguration after reboot. Enter:

store tcpip store tcpip

ifnum is the index to a particular Network Interface. ifnum will always be 1 for

ifnum ifnum

addr

mask

ipaddress netmask

the M208 since there is only one network interface, Ethernet.

7 [Optional, but recommended] Conﬁgure root and guest user passwords with the

following commands:

set user passwd root set user passwd guest

40 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: M208 Configuration

newrootpasswd

newguestpasswd

8 Save these conﬁgurations to EEPROM. Enter:

save

9 Verify the IP address and netmask. Enter:

list stored tcpip

These are now stored in EEPROM.

10 After conﬁguration, turn the M208 off, then on. This reboots the M208 and auto-

matically logs you out of the terminal session.

11 Test the equipment and conﬁguration after installation is complete. Enter at the

shell prompt on your UNIX machine:

ping

ipname

Restoring to Factory Defaults

If at any time you’d like to restore the M208’s network settings to their original state, you can do so with an npsh command or by utilizing jumpers within the M208 itself. Please see Restoring To Factory Defaults on page 135 for more details on this process.

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: M208 Configuration 41

Host Conﬁguration

When setting up a print destination on a Unix host, you have the option to utilize a computer-aided script such as ezsetup or npconﬁg or to do all of the appropriate steps manually .

If you decide to go with one of the provided installation scripts, select Conﬁgure Host Setup from the Main Menu of either program to conﬁgure a print setup on your host. It will step you through some questions and then perform all of the necessary setup commands for you. Please see ezsetup and npconfig on page 32 for more information on these scripts.

The rest of this section introduces you to different printing methods, with the spooler and without, and discusses each of the manual steps for these environments:

• BSD,

• System V,

• Sun NeWSprint and Adobe TranScript,

• AIX,

• PC.

Direct Printing Without the Spooler

Before conﬁguring the spooling system, test that basic communications are working with the M208 and attached printers. Perform tests by sending print jobs directly to the M208 and bypassing the spooler altogether. You can send print jobs directly to the M208 with either npwrite or rsh/rcmd/remsh.

The rsh/rcmd/remsh program provides the same functions as the npwrite program except that the rsh/rcmd/remsh program exits with an error code when the network connection is down. npwrite continually tries until the job is completed. Remember this behavior when you are manually modifying your interface script because some spooler systems simply send a message about the error but the job gets ﬂushed. The npr.if interface script gives you examples of how this behavior should be handled.

npwrite

The data transfer program npwrite is provided with the host software shipped with the M208. It sends data to the unit over a TCP connection. Data is read from a ﬁle or , if no

42 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Configuration

ﬁle is speciﬁed, from standard input. The format of the data is not altered by this program so make sure it is in printer-ready format.

The syntax for npwrite is:

Syntax

npwrite

where:

ipname M208 IP name or IP address. portname I/O port on the M208 (i.e. prn, com1, com2). ﬁlenames [optional]. Filename(s) to be printed. If no ﬁlename is speciﬁed, data

Example

npwrite 192.75.11.32 prn testfile.txt npwrite spike com2 testfile.txt cat testfile.txt | npwrite 192.75.11.32 prn

where spike and 192.75.11.32 are the M208’s IP name and IP address. For more information on npwrite, please refer to the online manual pages. If the

npwrite binary is not available for your UNIX machine, use rsh/rcmd/remsh instead.

rsh/rcmd/remsh

The rsh/rcmd/remsh programs are remote command ex ecution clients that talk to the rshd server in the M208. rsh, rcmd, and remsh are actually the same programs but

have different names on different UNIX systems; some systems may even have another name for remote command. Enter man rshd to display the online manual pages for information on the remote shell server for your version of UNIX.

ipname portname [filenames

is read from standard input.

]

The Print Server provides lp, lpstat, and cancel programs for print services through the rshd server. The lp command reads data from standard input and sends it to the speciﬁed port as follows:

• on SCO UNIX, either of the following:

Example

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Configuration 43

rcmd spike lp -d d1prn < testfile.txt cat testfile.txt | rcmd spike lp -d d1prn

• on Sun UNIX, either of the following:

Not

Example

rsh spike lp -d d1prn < testfile.txt cat testfile.txt | rsh spike lp -d d1prn

where spike is the M208’s IP name and d1prn is the destination.

Printing Via the Spooler

Once you know your communications are correct and you can successfully print directly to the Print Server, you can integrate the spooler.

Interface scripts play important roles in BSD spooling environments and especially with System V print spoolers. BSD systems also provide a remote printing method that utilizes the spooler but needs no script or host software at all.

The following sections elaborate on different spooling environments and provide the manual steps for full host conﬁguration in various en vironments. ezsetup or npconﬁg, in most cases, can be used instead to simplify the setup process. Please see ezsetup and npconfig on page 32 for further details.

npr.if Interface Script

The npr.if interface script provided works in most environments, but it can be replaced by a custom interface script if you have other requirements. It is usually a UNIX script which reads parameters from the command line, processes the job according to the parameters, and sends it to the destination.

Two interface scripts, nprbsd.if and nprsysv.if, are shipped in raw state. These inter- face scripts can be named anything you would like. Load the appropriate one for your system spooler type and use it in this state if the M208 can do sufﬁcient processing. The M208 itself contains enough processing options, when they are turned on, to handle most processing needs without the need for host software. Some of these options include ASCII to PostScript conversion (a2ps) and carriage return insertion (onlcr). Therefore, host software may be unnecessary and you can turn off all processing options on the host. Please see Host Software on page 31 to ﬁnd out more about these options.

If you require high-speed printing, use one of the interface scripts with host processing turned on. This removes processing load from the Print Server and increases print-

44 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Configuration

ing throughput. Both ezsetup and npconﬁg utilize the appropriate interface script by renaming it to

nprprintername.if, where printername is the name of the printer on the host. To install one of these scripts manually, please refer to the section that applies to your host: the BSD UNIX section starting on page 47 or the System V UNIX section starting on page 51.

Custom Interface Scripts

If an interface script is to be used for your print setup, you have three choices: 1 Use npr.if provided in the host software. 2 Use a pre-deﬁned script for your particular printer. 3 Use a script you have created yourself.

The npr.if method is explained throughout this section. However, if you have a pre- deﬁned printer script or a script of your own, there are certain modiﬁcations you must make in order for it to work with the M208.

The important part of an interface script is where it sends the print job. With the M208, the data must be captured and sent over the network for printing, since your printer is no longer locally attached. There are two possible ways to make this happen with your current script:

1 Encapsulate your script’s code with brackets ( ) and after the closing bracket, add

a command to send the data to the M208 for printing.

2 Use npd as the print method.

Both of these methods are explained on the next page.

Modifying Your Script

If you choose to simply edit the script, you need to understand how an interface ﬁle works. The structure of any standard interface ﬁle should be as follows:

process options ( generate printer setup characters generate banner page data for each file

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Configuration 45

translate data to printer format ) |

communication program

where communication program is the command executing rsh/rcmd/remsh or npwrite so the print job is redirected over the network to the M208.

Example

(

FILE=$6 #the spool file is found in the sixth parameter on System V cat $FILE | onlcr #filter the job ) | rcmd spike lp -d d3com1

where spike is the name of the M208 and the print jobs are being sent to its destination d3com1 by remotely executing the M208’s lp print command.

Please see npwrite on page 42, rsh/rcmd/remsh on page 43, and lp on page 102 for more details on each command’s syntax.

Note

Even if you have a very simplistic script, it’s important that you enclose your script with brackets and then add in a communication program at the end.

Using npd and Your Own Script

If npd is the print method you would like to use with your interface script, you need to start the npd daemon on your host and then incorporate it into your print setup. Please see npd Pseudo-device Interface on page 54 to ﬁnd out more about npd and how to get it started.

Once you have this daemon running, you can go ahead and work it into your printer conﬁguration. For BSD systems, this requires an lp= ﬁeld in your printcap entry along with the standard if= ﬁeld for the name of your interface script. The lp= ﬁeld is ﬁlled in with the name of the npd devicefile used in npd’s startup command. If you have a System V setup, the -v option in the lpadmin command will equal the npd devicefile.

46 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Configuration

BSD UNIX

BSD systems allow you to print remotely or to print with an interface ﬁle for a locally attached printer. This is conﬁgured within the /etc/printcap database.

lpd Remote Printing

The lpd daemon spools ﬁles locally, then sends them to an M208 acting as a remote printer. As interf ace scripts cannot be used with this spooling method, processing must be done by the Print Server.

This method should be used in the following conditions:

• your UNIX host supports BSD 4.3 LPD protocol,

• no bi-directional communication is required between the printer and printing application,

• you want to avoid using special host software.

In BSD printing, two ﬁles are sent to the Print Server, a data ﬁle and a control ﬁle. The control ﬁle contains information about originating user and host. However, since the control ﬁle may not arrive before the data ﬁle in the current LPD standards, fully detailed banner pages cannot be guaranteed.

Setting up lpd Remote

To manually add an M208 printer as a remote printer entry on your BSD UNIX host, you need to add an entry to the /etc/printcap ﬁle and then create its associated ﬁles and directories.

Here is an example of what the printcap entry should look like followed by a description of the commands necessary to create these entries:

Example

ps|PostScript printer on spike’s com2 port:\ :lp=:\ :rp=d3com2:\ :rm=spike:\ :sd=/usr/spool/lpd/spike/ps:\ :lf=/usr/spool/lpd/spike/ps/log:\ :af=/usr/spool/lpd/spike/ps/acct:

where ps is the printer name sending jobs to the destination d3com2 on the M208 named spike.

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Configuration 47

To create the necessary entries for this example, these commands are needed:

cd /usr/spool/lpd mkdir spike mkdir spike/ps touch spike/ps/log spike/ps/acct chown -R daemon.daemon spike chmod -R g+rwX,o+rX spike

Once this is done, you can then start this printer.

lpc start ps

To send a print job, use this syntax:

Syntax

BSD Interface Script Printing

lpr -P

printername filename

If you decide not to go with a remote printer setup, you can use an interface ﬁle instead. This interface script is speciﬁed in /etc/printcap with the if= entry instead of the rm= and rp= entries. The script is called by the lpd daemon with the following syntax:

Syntax

nprbsd.if -w

where: nprbsd.if Name of the interface script.

width Width of page in characters. length Length of page in lines. indent Number of characters of indent from left margin. login Login name of person originating the print request. host Name of host where the print job originates. acct_file File where accounting data is stored.

Setting up an Interface Script

width

-l

length

-i

indent

-n

-h

host acct_file

To manually set up your host with an interface ﬁle, you need to add an entry to the /etc/printcap ﬁle and then create and edit its associated ﬁles and directories.

Here is an example of what the printcap entry should look like followed by a descrip-

48 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Configuration

tion of the commands necessary to create these entries:

Example

hp:\ :sh:pw#80:mx#0\ :lp=/dev/spike.com2:\ :sd=/usr/spool/lpd/spike/com2:\ :lf=/usr/spool/lpd/spike/com2/log:\ :af=/usr/spool/lpd/spike/com2/acct:\ :if=/usr/spool/lpd/spike/com2/npr.if:

where hp is the printer name sending jobs to the M208 named spike through the interface ﬁle npr.if.

To create these entries, please do the following: 1 Create the printer’s spooling directory and associated ﬁles.

cd /usr/spool/lpd mkdir spike mkdir spike/com2 touch spike/com2/log spike/com2/acct chown -R daemon.daemon spike chmod -R g+rwX,o+rX spike

2 Copy the nprbsd.if ﬁle from the host software medium to the spooling directory.

Copy the ﬁle as npr.if or name it something more meaningful.

cp nprbsd.if /usr/spool/lpd/spike/com2/npr.if cd /usr/spool/lpd/spike/com2 chown daemon.daemon npr.if chmod g+rwX,o+rX npr.if

3 Edit the npr.if variables to suit your system environment. Look for the comment

section beginning with “EDIT THESE VARIABLES” and at the end of this large comment block, you will ﬁnd these:

Note

When deﬁning these variables, remember that each is case sensitive. Please deﬁne them as seen in these descriptions. In addition, a further description of these variables is included in the large comment block before them.

NPDIR_PATH (mandatory) Deﬁne the directory location of chr, banner,

onlcr, a2ps, and npscramble binaries. Usually /usr/local/bin.

Note

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Configuration 49

These binaries must be copied over from the host software medium. Please see

Host Software on page 31 for more details. COMM_PROG (mandatory) Specify a communication program to transfer

data to the M208 (i.e. npwrite, rsh). If the program is npwrite, deﬁne the UNIT_PORT variable. Otherwise, deﬁne the LP_DEST variable.

PRINTER_TYPE (mandatory) Specify printer type (i.e. raw, ascii, ps, hp, pcl-

ps, gen7170). UNIT_NAME (mandatory) Deﬁne the M208 IP name. UNIT_PORT (conditional) Specify the M208 port name (i.e. prn, com1,

com2). Use only when COMM_PROG is deﬁned as

npwrite. LP_DEST (conditional) Specify M208 destination name. Use only when

COMM_PROG is deﬁned as rsh.

Example

Note

#END_MARK_1 NPDIR_PATH=/usr/local/bin COMM_PROG=rsh UNIT_NAME=spike LP_DEST=d3com2 PRINTER_TYPE=hp BANNERPAGE=1 #START_MARK_1

Additional variables can also be deﬁned within this variable section as indicated by BANNERPAGE=1. Some other options are ASCII to PostScript conversion, carriage return insertion, and scrambling. By setting a particular variable to a 1, this option is then turned on and a 0 turns it off. These too are described further in the beginning of npr.if.

4 Create the lp= device that is used as a locking mechanism for contending print

jobs.

touch /dev/spike.com2 chmod go+rw /dev/spike.com2

5 Start the print spooler.

lpc start hp

50 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Configuration

6 Try printing with the following syntax:

Syntax

System V UNIX

Printing in a System V environment requires the use of an interface ﬁle. It also consists of:

• the lp printer interface program,

• the lpsched printing scheduler,

• a set of programs that act as interfaces between scheduler and printing device.

The scheduler copies the ﬁle into a spooling directory and calls the interface program when the job is ready to go to the M208. It processes the job according to the script’s settings and then sends it over to the M208 for printing.

The interface script is usually kept in /usr/spool/lp/admins/lp/interfaces and carries the same name as the associated printer. It is copied there from the original interface ﬁle in /usr/spool/lp/model when the lpadmin command is executed.

The interface script is called with the following syntax:

Syntax

ps203

where:

lpr -P

printername filename

reqid username title copies options file1

...

ps203 Name of the interface script which is also the printer name on the host.

reqid Print job identiﬁcation. username ID of the user requesting the job. title Title of the print job if desired. copies Number of copies of each ﬁle to be printed. options Additional switches for extra job processing options. file1 Spool ﬁle. ... Indicates additional spool ﬁles.

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Configuration 51

Setting up an Interface Script

The following steps are the manual instructions for setting up your host with npr.if:

Note

The example commands provided represent a print setup involving a printer named hp, an M208 named spike, and a printer attached to the M208’s com2 port.

1 Copy the nprsysv.if ﬁle from the host software medium to the model directory.

Copy the ﬁle as npr.if or name it something more meaningful.

cp nprsysv.if /usr/spool/lp/model/npr.if

2 Edit the npr.if variables to match your system requirements. Look for the com-

ment section beginning with “EDIT THESE VARIABLES” and at the end of this large comment block, you will ﬁnd these:

NPDIR_PATH (mandatory) Deﬁne the directory location of chr, banner,

onlcr, a2ps, and npscramble binaries. Usually

/usr/local/bin.

These binaries must be copied over from the host software medium. Please see Host Software on page 31 for more details.

COMM_PROG (mandatory) Specify a communication program to transfer

data to the M208 (i.e. npwrite, rsh, rcmd, remsh). If the

program is npwrite, deﬁne the UNIT_PORT variable. Oth-

erwise deﬁne the LP_DEST variable.

PRINTER_TYPE (mandatory) Specify printer type (i.e. raw, ascii, ps, hp, pcl-

ps, gen7170). UNIT_NAME (mandatory) Deﬁne the M208 IP name. UNIT_PORT (conditional) Specify the M208 port name (i.e. prn, com1,

com2). Use only when COMM_PROG is deﬁned as

npwrite. LP_DEST (conditional) Specify M208 destination name.

Use only when COMM_PROG is deﬁned as rsh, rcmd, or

remsh.

52 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Configuration

Example

#END_MARK_1 NPDIR_PATH=/usr/local/bin COMM_PROG=rcmd UNIT_NAME=spike LP_DEST=d4com2 PRINTER_TYPE=hp BANNERPAGE=1 #START_MARK_1

Note

Syntax

3 Create the dummy output device ﬁle used as a locking mechanism between con-

tending print jobs.

touch /dev/spike.com2 chmod go+rw /dev/spike.com2

4 Install a new printer specifying printer name, interface script name, and dummy

device created in Step 3.

/usr/lib/lpadmin -php -mnpr.if -v/dev/spike.com2

5 Start the scheduler.

lpsched

6 Enable the printer and allow it to accept requests.

enable hp accept hp

7 Try printing a ﬁle with the following syntax:

lp -d

printername filename

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Configuration 53

npd Pseudo-device Interface

The npd pseudo-tty daemon is used when bi-directional communications is required between the printer and printing application, and when changes to the printer’s interface script are undesirable.

Some applications like Sun NeWSprint and Adobe TranScript work best with a bidirectional communications channel to the printer because they can provide more details on the printer status. For example, PostScript printers can send error messages back to the application as they occur. npd is used in this case making use of the TCP protocol and pseudo-tty device drivers.

Figure 4: npd Overview

TCP/IP Host

The spooler

processes the job

and passes it to the

printer device.

/dev/m208.prn

54 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Configuration

npd watches over this device and sends any print jobs over to the M208.

M208

printer

Starting npd

Syntax

Starting the npd daemon is all that is needed to utilize npd. Integrating any special applications can then be done anytime thereafter.

Use the following syntax to start npd:

npd

devicefile ipname portname

where:

deviceﬁle Name for a pseudo-tty pair’s slave device acquired by npd. ipname M208 IP name or IP address. portname M208 I/O port name (i.e. prn, com1, com2).

Note

Example

npd locks

The deviceﬁle cannot exist prior to starting npd and this particular npd daemon cannot be running already. It is possible to have more than one daemon running on the same host, however, as long as they are not using the same devicefile.

npd /dev/spike.com2 spike com2

starts an npd daemon utilizing /dev/spike.com2 to send print jobs to the printer attached to com2 on the M208 named spike.

By default, npd looks in the /dev directory to ﬁnd a free pseudo-tty pair (/dev/pty?? and /dev/tty?? ﬁles). However, if your UNIX system has these ﬁles in a different directory, you can specify the directory pathname with a -p option.

npd -p /dev/pty /dev/spike.com2 spike com2

where /dev/pty is the directory to be searched for a free pseudo-tty pair. Some systems such as HPUX place the master and slave devices in separate directo-

ries (e.g. /dev/ptym and /dev/pty). Specify where each of the pairs reside with the pm and -ps options.

npd -pm /dev/ptym -ps /dev/pty /dev/spike.com2 spike com2

where /dev/ptym is the directory searched to ﬁnd a free pseudo-tty pair’s master device and /dev/pty is the directory used for locating the pseudo-tty pair slave device.

As npd acquires an exclusive lock on the M208 port, it is possible to lock out other daemons that may reside on other UNIX hosts. Therefore, npd is designed to timeout and release the lock if the pseudo-tty pair is idle for a speciﬁed time (30 seconds is the

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Configuration 55

default). You can modify this value with the -t option.

Example

npd -t 60 /dev/spike.com2 spike com2

for the timeout to occur in 60 seconds.

Testing npd

Once npd has been started, it’s a good idea to test and see if npd is working before trying to print through the spooler. This is one test method.

Example

cat test.txt > /dev/spike.com2

redirects the cat output of test.txt to the npd device /dev/spike.com2 which is then sent to the M208 named spike.

Modifying a Host to Use npd

If you want the npd daemon to start every time you reboot your UNIX machine, edit your .rc ﬁle to include the appropriate npd startup command line (from the previous section). After npd starts, integrate the print spooler into this pseudo-tty setup.

In BSD print spooler systems, modify the lp= ﬁeld in the appropriate printer entry in the /etc/printcap ﬁle. Set lp= to the devicefile argument of the npd program.

On System V systems, the -v option in the lpadmin command will equal the device- ﬁle.

Stopping npd

Whenever an npd daemon starts, it makes a log entry in the /usr/adm/npdlog ﬁle. The contents of this ﬁle have the following naming information:

pid ipname port masterfile slavefile devicefile

where:

pid Process ID of npd daemon. ipname M208 IP address or IP name serviced by npd. port M208 I/O port used by npd (i.e. prn, com1, com2). masterfile Master device used by npd. slavefile Slave device used by npd.

56 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Configuration

devicefile Name linked to the slavefile by npd.

Example

153 spike com2 /dev/ptyq1 /dev/ttyq1 /dev/spike.com2

is the log entry for the npd daemon using process ID 153. You can acquire the process ID of the npd daemon that needs to be stopped and then

execute the following kill command for that process:

Syntax

kill -TERM

Applications Using npd

Sun NeWSprint

Sun NeWSprint page accounting works with PostScript printers. It utilizes the bidirectionality of the M208’s serial ports to get this status back to the host.

If the printer is attached to one of the parallel ports, no page information comes back from the printer. This causes Sun NeWSprint to assume a communication problem and disable the queue. To avoid this, remove the af= ﬁeld in the /etc/printcap entry and set the HANDLER_INTERFACE variable to PARALLEL in the .param ﬁle located in the printer’s spooling directory.

Add a new Sun NeWSprint printer entry with the add_np_printer program. The pseudo-tty device is a serial interface. Therefore, when this program prompts you for a device interface, select Serial and device sufﬁx a for any port on the unit.

pid

After NeWSprint creates the necessary spooling directory and entry in the /etc/printcap ﬁle, set the lp= ﬁeld in the new entry to the devicefile argument of the npd pro-

gram.

Example

The modiﬁed /etc/printcap entry looks like this for a PostScript printer named ps attached to com2 on the M208 named spike:

# entry for a PostScript printer on a serial port ps|PostScript|PostScript on spike’s com2 port:\ :lp=/dev/spike.com2:\ :sd=/b/newsprint/lpd/spike/com2:\ :lf=/b/newsprint/lpd/spike/com2/log:\ :af=/b/newsprint/lpd/spike/com2/acct:\ :if=/b/newsprint/lpd/if:\ :gf=/b/newsprint/lpd/gf:\ :nf=/b/newsprint/lpd/nf:\

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Configuration 57

:tf=/b/newsprint/lpd/tf:\ :rf=/b/newsprint/lpd/rf:\ :vf=/b/newsprint/lpd/vf:\ :cf=/b/newsprint/lpd/cf:\ :df=/b/newsprint/lpd/df:\ :of=/b/newsprint/lpd/of:\ :mx#0:\ :sf:\ :sb:\ :br#19200:\ :xc#0177777:\ :ms=-parity,ixon,-opost,-ixany:

Note

If you are using a PostScript printer, remember to include :sh:\ in this entry to suppress the standard LPD header.

Adobe TranScript

Adobe TranScript page accounting works with PostScript printers. It utilizes the bidirectionality of the unit’s serial ports to get this status back to the host.

If the printer is attached to one of the parallel ports, no page information comes back from the printer. This causes Adobe TranScript’s pscomm to assume a communication problem and disable the queue. To avoid this, replace the pscomm program with Microplex’s equivalent npcomm.sh program in the .options ﬁle which redirects the data to the M208. npcomm.sh is found in the host software.

Create and edit this .options ﬁle in the printer’s spooling directory with global read permissions. This setup uses rsh/rcmd/remsh or npwrite to talk to the unit.

Add the following variable deﬁnitions in this .options ﬁle:

NPDIR_PATH Deﬁne the directory location of npcomm.sh program. Usually

PSCOMM Redeﬁne the communication program used by psint.sh to use

RCMD Specify the name of the remote shell command to use for trans-

/usr/local/bin.

npcomm.sh instead of pscomm.

ferring data to the M208 (i.e. rsh). UNIT_NAME Deﬁne the M208 IP name or IP address. LP_DEST Specify the M208 destination name. Use the mkprinter.sh program to add a new Adobe TranScript printer entry. For now,

58 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Configuration

use /dev/ttypa as the device interface for any port on the M208. When the program creates the spooling directory and entry in /etc/printcap ﬁle, set the lp= ﬁeld to the deviceﬁle argument from npd.

Example

Note

AIX

For a PostScript printer named ps attached to com1 on the M208 named spike:

ps|PostScript|PostScript on spike’s com1 port:\ :lp=/dev/spike.com1:\ :sd=/usr/spool/lpd/spike/com1:\ :lf=/usr/adm/printers/ps-log:\ :af=/usr/adm/printers/ps-acct:\ :br#19200:rw:fc#0000374:fs#0000003:\ :xc#0:xs#0040040:mx#0:sf:sb:\ :if=/usr/local/lib/ts/psif:\ :of=/usr/local/lib/ts/psof:\ :gf=/usr/local/lib/ts/psgf:\ :nf=/usr/local/lib/ts/psnf:\ :tf=/usr/local/lib/ts/pstf:\ :rf=/usr/local/lib/ts/psrf:\ :vf=/usr/local/lib/ts/psvf:\ :cf=/usr/local/lib/ts/pscf:\ :df=/usr/local/lib/ts/psdf:

Using :sh:\ in this entry will suppress headers and also prevent TranScript from printing out banner pages if they are set in the .options ﬁle.

IBM has a unique print spooler system that uses the qdaemon program. Use the following steps to interface with the M208 using rsh:

Note

These steps and associated examples refer to a setup with a queue named queue2, a queue device named lp0, printing to the destination d1prn on the M208 named spike.

1 Create a device. Enter:

smit pdp

2 Select Printer/Plotter and then Add a Printer/Plotter. Follow the prompts until

SMIT executes the “mkdev” command to create this device.

Note

Select “parallel” as the interface even if you ha v e a printer attached to the M208’s serial port.

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Configuration 59

Select p as the port number. Select ppa0 as the adapter. Select a printer type that best matches what you are using. Select a device lp0. If this device is not available, go back and select “Remove a

Printer/Plotter” and remove lp0 making it available for your next run through. AIX has a limit of four physical devices. If you run out, IBM suggests deleting the device after completing a print setup thus making it available for future setups.

3 Create a new queue. Enter:

mkque -q queue2

4 Create a queue device to do the one-to-one mapping with the printer and specify

the backend program for the qdaemon to send print jobs to. Enter:

mkquedev -d lp0 -q queue2 -a ‘backend = /usr/lib/lpd/ piobe’

Note

Sometimes /usr/lpd/piobe is the location of this backend program.

5 Create a virtual printer. This associates the queue, queue device, printer/plotter

name, data type, and printer/plotter type. Enter:

mkvirprt -q queue2 -d lp0 -n lp0 -s pcl -t hplj3

-s is usually pcl but can also be ps (Postscript) or asc (ASCII). This does not seem to affect the output on the printer so it may be best to use pcl.

6 Change the pio-ﬁle for your queue. This will be located in /usr/lib/lpd/pio/cus-

tom and will be called queue2:lp0 after the queue and queue device names. Change the line beginning with 307 mo::. Enter:

307 mo::rsh spike lp -d d1prn

This ﬁle is only created after the mkvirprt command has been executed in Step 5. This step redirects the print job over the network to the M208.

For destinations other than d1prn, please see Destinations on page 89.

7 Run chvirprt since the print setup has been altered and needs updating. Enter:

chvirprt -q queue2 -d lp0

If you need to delete an entire print setup, use the rmvirprt command.

60 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Configuration

This is the /etc/qconﬁg entry created for this particular setup:

Example

queue2: queue stanza

device = lp0 by mkquedev (queue device) up = TRUE printer’s ready to go

lp0: queue device stanza

backend = /usr/lib/lpd/piobe for local printing

For further information on these commands, please see your AIX system documentation.

Other TCP/IP Print Methods

NCSA

NCSA is a freeware package available on the Internet at

zaphod.ncsa.uiuc.edu in the directory /PC/Telnet/msdos/contributions. The ﬁle is tel23bin.zip. It contains an lpr client for DOS that is compatible with the Print Server.

You can send jobs to the M208 with the following command syntax:

Syntax

lpr -S

ipname

-P

where ipname is the M208 IP name or IP address and destname is the name of a M208 destination.

Example

lpr -Sspike -Pd4com2

destname

sends a print job to d4com2 on the M208 named spike.

FTP’s PC/TCP

FTP Software markets a package called PC/TCP which provides an lpr client for DOS that is compatible with the M208.

Jobs can be sent to the M208 directly with the following command syntax after an entry has been made for the Print Server in the host table:

Syntax

lpr -S

ipname

-P

destname

where ipname is the M208’s IP name or IP address and destname is the name of an M208 destination.

Example

lpr -Sspike -Pd4com2

sends a print job to d4com2 on the M208 named spike.

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Configuration 61

Note

FTP’s package also provides Windows printing along with several other software packages on the market. These are just two possible applications that will work with the M208. Please see the user manuals of the appropriate applications for more information.

Direct Socket Printing

The M208 provides a socket interface for custom printing applications. Programs can open a TCP connection to a TCP port on the Print Server. The speciﬁed port number corresponds to a destination on the M208, and data is processed according to the model associated with this destination. Please see list pserver on page 100, list dest on page 99, and list model on page 100 for more details.

npwrite is a sample program that performs this way . It is included in the host software shipped with your M208. For examples, please refer to Direct Printing Without the Spooler on page 42.

FTP Daemon

The FTP Daemon provides an additional method to submit print jobs to the M208. For a complete discussion of printing and other M208 functions using the FTP Daemon, please see FTP Daemon on page 146.

Now that your TCP/IP host is conﬁgured for printing, please look to the following for further conﬁguration options:

• Add to or change conﬁguration of your M208. Please see USING THE M208’S

COMMAND SET on page 93 and USING NPWIN on page 127.

• Utilize more advanced features of the M208. Please see USING THE M208’S

ADDITIONAL OPTIONS on page 131.

62 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP: Host Configuration

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR NOVELL

Overview

This chapter introduces the M208’s conﬁguration possibilities along with the various methods of printing available within a Nov ell environment. The M208 works with different NetWare versions, including version 4, and we provide setup steps for each.

Host Software

NetWare’ s PCONSOLE is generally used to change passwords, add print servers, add remote printers, and add queues to be serviced. It can be used for both a PSER VER or RPRINTER setup. To install a M208 in a Novell environment, PCONSOLE is used for the entire installation. The following pages give step-by-step examples of installing the M208 in various Novell environments.

Even though the entire print set-up is done through PCONSOLE, you may want to communicate directly with the M208 in order to modify settings, monitor the unit, etc. To communicate with the M208, the optional host software, npsh.exe is included. npsh.exe is a DOS executable program that can be run from a DOS prompt on a NetWare workstation.

npsh.exe, does these things:

npsh nvplist Lists all of the M208’s on the network; each name is

in the format M_xxxxxx (where xxxxxx equals the last six digits of the unit’s Ethernet address) by default regardless of whether it is conﬁgured as a PSERVER or an RPRINTER. This name is conﬁgurable.

npsh

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR NOVELL: Overview 63

unitname

unitname command

Starts a Telnet-like session with the named Print Server allowing you to conﬁgure, monitor, and troubleshoot the unit with its built-in command set.

Initiates a single command with guest access only to the unit instead of entering into a complete session.

To communicate with the unit using npsh.exe, you need to:

Not

1 From a DOS prompt on a Novell workstation, begin annpsh session with the unit.

npsh

unitname

Starts a Telnet-like session with the named M208 with guest access only.

2 To obtain root access to the unit, type:

supervisor

A standard login screen is displayed prompting you for the login name and password.

3 Login to the unit as a root user.

root

Root users require the use of a password as conﬁgured in the unit’s user list.

4 Enter the password. If this password is not yet set, press enter at the password

prompt. Otherwise, enter the password that is already stored on the unit.

password

You are now logged in to the unit as a root user and can access any npsh command on the unit.

Note

Because npsh.exe makes use of broadcasts, you may have problems communicating across a router.

Please see User Accounts and Permissions on page 94, USING THE M208’S COM- MAND SET on page 93 and USING NPWIN on page 127 for further details.

M208 Conﬁguration

The M208 conﬁguration in a Novell en vironment is much simpler than that required in a TCP/IP one. No addresses, masks, or router entries are necessary and in most cases, the M208 can simply be connected to the network, turned on, and then conﬁgured for printing from a Novell station through PCONSOLE. The only parameters that you may want to set is a PSERVER password or possibly the frame type. Please see store pserver on page 120. This type of conﬁguration is done using npsh.exe as detailed in the previous section.

64 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR NOVELL: M208 Configuration

Host Conﬁguration

The M208 can act as either a PSERVER or as a RPRINTER in a Novell environment. It supports encrypted passwords and it is capable of servicing up to 16 ﬁle servers and 32 queues as a PSERVER. One M208 can handle eight RPRINTER setups.

PSERVER Bootup

When booting as a PSERVER, the M208 gets a server list from the ﬁrst ﬁle server it contacts. The unit then contacts those servers on that list to see if there is a queue that needs servicing. The queues are then be polled every 5 seconds (by default) by the Print Server to see if there are any jobs queued.

RPRINTER Bootup

When booting as a RPRINTER, the M208 again gets a server list from the ﬁrst ﬁle server it contacts. For each server found on that list, it then looks for a ﬁle called SYS:\LOGIN\M_xxxxxx\CONFIG where xxxxxx is the last six hexadecimal digits in the Ethernet address found on the bottom of the unit. This ﬁle contains one set rprinter command for each RPRINTER serviced by the M208 since the RPRINTER settings do not hold their effect through a power cycle.

Note

If the M208 loses a connection to a ﬁle server (as a PSERVER) or to a PSERVER (as a RPRINTER), it will automatically reconnect when that server becomes available again.

Following is the conﬁguration steps for a PSERVER setup, a RPRINTER setup, as well as the options available for NetWare 4 environments.

PSERVER Setup (Pre-NetWare 4)

This procedure conﬁgures the Novell ﬁle server to use an M208 as a PSERVER in a non-NetWare 4 environment. Please see NetWare 4 Options on page 71 for more on a NetWare 4 setup.

Note

The M208 replaces a dedicated workstation running PSERVER.EXE or PSERVER.NLM on the ﬁle server, so these are no longer needed.

To set up the unit as a PSERVER in a non-NetWare 4 environment, you need to:

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR NOVELL: Host Configuration 65

Step Action Result of Action

1 Log in to Novell as supervisor. Gives you supervisor rights. 2 Enter PCONSOLE. PCONSOLE’s Main Menu displays. 3 Select PRINT QUEUE INFORMA-

List of currently-deﬁned queues comes up.

TION.

4 Press <Insert> to add a queue. Asks for new queue’s name. 5 Type in this new name in any format

New queue is added to list.

you like and press <Enter>.

6 Press <Escape>. Returns to PCONSOLE’s Main Menu. 7 Select PRINT SERVER INFORMA-

A list of existing print servers displays.

TION.

8 Press <Insert> to add a server. Prompts for the server’s name. 9 Type the name of the M208. By

This new server is added to the list.

default, it isM_xxxxxx where xxxxxx equals the last six digits of the unit’s Ethernet address. (e.g. M_000BF5)

10 Select it and press <Enter>. PRINT SERVER INFORMATION menu

comes up.

11 Select PRINT SERVER CONFIGU-

This menu displays.

RATION.

12 Select PRINTER CONFIGURA-

A list of conﬁgured printers is displayed.

TION.

13 Select the ﬁrst item listed as NOT

INSTALLED and press <Enter>.

The PRINTER N CONFIGURATION window comes up where N equals the selected printer.

66 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR NOVELL: Host Configuration

Step Action Result of Action

14 Type in the name of one of the eight

default destinations on the unit for the

Cursor sits at the Type ﬁeld with a printer name now assigned.

Name ﬁeld (e.g. d1prn, d3com2, etc.) and go to the Type ﬁeld.

15 Press <Enter> at this ﬁeld and then

select DEFINED ELSEWHERE.

16 Press <Escape> and select Yes to

save changes.

Comes back to the PRINTER N CONFIGURATION window.

Gives you the option to deﬁne more printers.

17 Press <Escape> again. Returns to PRINT SERVER CONFIGU-

RATION menu.

18 Select QUEUES SERVICED BY

A list of deﬁned printers displays.

PRINTER.

19 Select one of these printers. A list of queues comes up. It will be empty

the ﬁrst time you use it.

20 Press <Insert>. Displays a list of available queues. 21 Select the queue created earlier to ser-

Asks for a priority.

vice this printer and press <Enter>.

22 Press <Enter> to select the default.

Comes back to queue list.

This is ﬁne for most cases.

23 Press <Escape> back to Main Menu Main Menu displays. 24 Reboot the M208 by unplugging and

plugging it back in.

Unit will boot up and see the new queue that it has to service. This may take a minute.

25 Check CURRENTLY ATTACHED

SERVERS once you have gone into

You should see the M208’s name displayed (e.g. M_000BF5).

view the appropriate queue.

26 Press <Escape> until you have exited

The conﬁguration is complete.

PCONSOLE.

RPRINTER Setup (Pre-NetWare 4)

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR NOVELL: Host Configuration 67

This procedure associates an existing PSERVER with a remote M208 acting as a RPRINTER in a pre-NetWare 4 environment. It is the PSERVER’s responsibility to get jobs from the queue and to pass them off to the M208 acting as the remote printer . Unlike a PSERVER set-up, the M208 does not deal directly with the queues.

Note

As a RPRINTER, the M208 does not use a login ID. In addition, a non-M208 PSERVER (e.g. PSERVER.NLM) must be running for RPRINTER to operate.

A RPRINTER set up requires the use of a conﬁguration ﬁle. This ﬁle is required to tell the M208 to act as a RPRINTER upon boot up since RPRINTER settings do not hold their effect through a power cycle. Once the unit boots up, the Print Server contacts ﬁle servers it knows about and on each one, looks for the ﬁle SYS:\LOGIN\M_xxxxxx\CONFIG where xxxxxx is the last six digits (in hexadecimal) of the Ethernet address as found on the bottom of the unit. If it ﬁnds this ﬁle, it reads in each entry as if it were an npsh command entered right on the unit.

Note

To ensure that the M208 contacts the ﬁle server that contains the CONFIG ﬁle, set up the appropriate ﬁle server as a preferred ﬁle server. Please see Setting Preferred File Servers on page 140 for more information.

Caution

If you are using a conﬁguration ﬁle and you have changed the name of the M208, you must change the name of the directory containing this ﬁle.

To set up the unit as a RPRINTER in a pre-Netware 4 environment, you need to:

Step Action Result of Action

1 Log in to Novell as supervisor. Gives you supervisor rights. 2 Enter PCONSOLE. PCONSOLE’s Main Menu displays. 3 Select PRINT QUEUE INFORMA-

List of currently-deﬁned queues comes up.

TION.

4 Press <Insert> to add a queue. Asks for new queue’s name. 5 Type in this new name in any format

New queue is added to list.

you like and press <Enter>.

68 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR NOVELL: Host Configuration

Step Action Result of Action

6 Press <Escape>. Returns to PCONSOLE’s Main Menu. 7 Select PRINT SERVER INFORMA-

TION.

8 Select one of the print servers and

press <Enter>.

9 Select PRINT SERVER CONFIGU-

RATION.

10 Select PRINTER CONFIGURA-

TION.

11 Select or create a printer name which

you want to install as a remote printer and press <Enter>.

12 Put the cursor on the Type ﬁeld and

press <Enter>.

13 Select REMOTE

OTHER/UNKNOWN.

14 Ignore the other ﬁelds and press

<Escape> to save these changes.

15 Press <Escape> until you are at the

PRINT SER VER CONFIGURA TION menu again.

A list of existing print servers displays.

Display’s PRINT SERVER INFORMATION menu.

Brings up this menu.

Displays a list of printers associated with the print server.

PRINTER N CONFIGURATION window displays where N equals the selected printer.

A list of options comes up.

This displays in the Type ﬁeld.

Takes you back to the list of printers.

Displays this menu.

16 Select QUEUES SERVICED BY

PRINTER.

17 Select the printer you previously

A list of deﬁned printers for this print server is shown.

An empty queue list comes up.

deﬁned and press <Enter>.

18 Press <Insert>. A list of available queues displays. 19 Select the queue you want this printer

Prompts you for a priority.

to service and press <Enter>.

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR NOVELL: Host Configuration 69

Step Action Result of Action

20 Press <Enter> to use the default.

Returns you to the queue list.

Usually this is ﬁne.

21 Press <Escape> until you have exited

You’re now at the command prompt.

PCONSOLE.

22 Start PSERVER. Starts the PSERVER so the M208 can ser-

vice it as an RPRINTER.

23 In SYS VOLUME on the ﬁle server,

You will be at this prompt.

change to the \LOGIN directory.

24 Create a directory named after the

This directory is created.

M208. By default, this will be M_xxxxxx where xxxxxx is the last six digits of the unit’s Ethernet address. (e.g. M_000BF5)

25 Within this directory, create a ﬁle

A blank ﬁle displays.

called CONFIG and open it for editing.

26 Enter the line:

pservername printernumber destname

where pservername

set rprinter add

One entry is written in the ﬁle. One entry is required for each RPRINTER serviced by the M208.

equals the existing PSER VER’ s name, printernumber equals the deﬁned number for this printer in that PSERVER, and destname equals an M208 destination (e.g. d1prn, d3com2, etc.).

27 Reboot the M208 to enable these

changes.

The M208 will boot up and read this entry from the CONFIG ﬁle and set itself to act as an RPRINTER.

70 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR NOVELL: Host Configuration

NetWare 4 Options

NetWare 4 introduces NDS and some new frame types. The M208 can be used in a NetWare 4 environment with either of these options:

• Set the M208 up as a PSERVER replacing a dedicated workstation running

PSERVER.EXE or PSERVER.NLM on the ﬁle server. The M208 replaces these loadable PSERVER’s so they are no longer needed.

• Set the M208 up as a RPRINTER interacting with an existing PSERVER.

Note

If following a PSERVER setup, bindery emulation is required. Included in this sub-section are the steps for a PSERVER setup since the steps have

changed now that bindery emulation is required. A RPRINTER setup is not included since the only changes from a pre-NetWare 4 RPRINTER setup are some name changes in PCONSOLE.

To conﬁgure the unit as a PSERVER in a NetWare 4 environment, you need to:

Step Action Result of Action

1 Log in to Novell as supervisor. Gives you supervisor rights. 2 Enter PCONSOLE. PCONSOLE’s Main Menu displays. 3 Press F4. Puts you into bindery emulation mode and

displays Main Menu.

4 Select PRINT QUEUES. List of currently-deﬁned queues comes up. 5 Press <Insert> to add a queue. Asks for new queue’s name. 6 Type in this new name and press

New queue is added to list.

<Enter>.

7 Press <Escape>. Returns to PCONSOLE’s Main Menu. 8 Select PRINT SERVERS. A list of existing print servers displays. 9 Press <Insert> to add a new print

server.

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR NOVELL: Host Configuration 71

Prompts you for the name of the print server.

Step Action Result of Action

10 Type the name of the M208. By

This new server is added to the list.

default, it isM_xxxxxx where xxxxxx equals the last six digits of the unit’s Ethernet address. (e.g. M_000BF5)

11 Select this new print server and press

<Enter>.

PRINT SERVER INFORMATION menu displays.

12 Select PRINTERS. A list of deﬁned printers comes up. 13 Press <Insert> to add a printer to the

list.

14 Type in the name of one of the eight

Prompts you for the printer name, type, and some additional ﬁelds.

Cursor moves to this ﬁeld.

default destinations on the unit for the Name ﬁeld (e.g. d1prn, d3com2, etc.) and go to the Type ﬁeld.

15 Press <Enter> at this ﬁeld and then

Brings you back to the printer’s window. select DEFINED ELSEWHERE. If DEFINED ELSEWHERE is not available, choose PARALLEL.

16 Press <Enter> on the Print Queues

List of available queues is displayed. Assigned ﬁeld.

17 Press <Insert> to display all queues;

You are prompted for a priority select the one you deﬁned earlier and press <Enter>.

18 Select a priority and press <Enter>.

Priority 1 should be ﬁne.

19 Press <Escape> until you are back to

Printer’s window displays with ﬁelds now

ﬁlled in.

Main Menu is displayed. Main Menu.

20 Reboot the Print Server by unplug-

ging and then plugging it back in.

Unit resets and realizes its new conﬁgura-

tion. It then attaches to the queue after 30

seconds or so.

72 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR NOVELL: Host Configuration

Step Action Result of Action

21 Check the CURRENTLY

ATTACHED SERVERS once you have gone into view the appropriate queue.

22 Press <Escape> until you are out of

PCONSOLE.

If you want to continue with any of the following procedures, please ﬁnd them as indicated in other sections of this manual:

• Add to or change conﬁguration of your M208. Please see USING THE M208’S COMMAND SET on page 93 and USING NPWIN on page 127.

• Utilize more advanced features of the M208. Please see USING THE M208’S ADDITIONAL OPTIONS on page 131.

• Troubleshoot Novell installation and printing problems. Please see Novell Problems on page 163.

You should see the M208’s name displayed (e.g. M_000BF5).

You will be back at the command line and the M208 is now conﬁgured.

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR NOVELL: Host Configuration 73

74 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR NOVELL: Host Configuration

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR APPLETALK

Overview

This chapter will cover the few steps required to get your print jobs printing to an M208 in an AppleTalk over EtherTalk environment.

Note

The M208 does not support LocalTalk.

M208 Conﬁguration

An AppleTalk setup does not require any Print Server conﬁguration; the network parameters are automatically conﬁgured for you once the M208 is booted on the network. If you wish to modify some of the M208’s default settings, you can use the built-in npsh command set. Please see USING THE M208’S COMMAND SET on page 93 for more on the available commands.

Note

There is no host software provided for the Macintosh. To do any conﬁguration on the unit, you must rely on:

• npsh commands available through a telnet session. These commands could be issued from a Macintosh workstation if you a running program like NCSA Telnet and MacTCP is installed on your system.

• a Novell workstation running the host software npsh.exe.

• a Windows workstation running the NPWin software utility,

• a terminal, PC, or laptop connected to one of the serial ports on the M208.

Host Conﬁguration

Once you have physically attached the M208 to the network, the following steps will get your Apple host printing to the M208:

1 Select Chooser from the Apple Menu. 2 Select the appropriate print driver icon (e.g. Laserwriter icon).

A list of available printers will appear. By default, the format of each name is

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR APPLETALK: Overview 75

M208name_papname

where M208name is the name of the M208 and papname is

an M208 I/O port. Both names are conﬁgurable.

Example

M_000BF5_prn

is the printer associated with the M208 named M_000BF5 using the parallel port.

Note

The Print Server’s default name is M_xxxxxx where xxxxxx equals the last six digits of the unit’s Ethernet address found on the bottom of the unit.

3 From the list of printers, select one to print to.

You have now conﬁgured your AppleTalk system to print to the M208.

Additional Conﬁguration Options

AppleTalk Zones

If the M208 does not come up in the correct AppleTalk zone, you can conﬁgure a particular zone name on the unit. To do this, start an npsh session with the unit and enter the following command:

store pserver apple zone [ reset

where zonename is the zone where you want the M208 to appear. To clear the AppleTalk zone, type the command without entering a zonename and

press <Enter>.

zonename

]

Changing M208 Name

By default, the M208’s name is

M208name_papname

where M208name is the name

of the M208 and papname is an M208 I/O port. The npsh command, list pserver, will give you a listing showing both the M208 name and the papname.

The following example details the steps necessary to change the name that appears in the Chooser from M_000BF5_prn to Sales_laser.

1 Start an npsh session with the unit. 2 Enter the name that you would like to appear for the M208 (e.g. Sales). This will

make up the ﬁrst part of the name in the Chooser.

76 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR APPLETALK: Additional Configuration Options

store pserver name Sales

Note

This new name will also affect Unix, Novell and NetBIOS setups.

3 Enter the name that you would like to appear for the papname (e.g. laser). This

will make up the second part of the name in the Chooser.

store pserver applepap prn name laser

4 Reset the unit so the changes take effect.

reset

Removing Excess Printers from the Chooser

When you ﬁrst install an M208 in an AppleT alk en vironment, you will notice that four printers show up in your Chooser; one printer for each destination on the M208 that has AppleTalk services enabled.

If you want to limit the number of printers showing up in the Chooser , you need to disable the AppleTalk service from the related destination’s list of services. To do this, start an npsh session with the unit and follow the steps below:

1 Display a listing of the M208’s characteristics across all protocols.

list pserver

2 Look at the Apple Pap section of the listing to learn the destination name that

corresponds with the unnecessary printer’s papname.

3 For each printer that you do not want to appear in the Chooser, disable the Apple-

Talk service from the corresponding destination’s list of services. Type the following command:

Note

set dest

You can also turn off any other services that are not required by this destination

destname

service -appletalk

bin the same way.

4 Repeat the previous step until you have remo v ed the AppleTalk service from each

of destinations that correspond to the papname of the unnecessary printers.

5 Save the changes to EEPROM.

save

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR APPLETALK: Additional Configuration Options 77

Disabling the AppleTalk Module

If you have several Microplex M208s in your network and only some of them are servicing AppleTalk networks, it is a good idea to turn off the entire AppleTalk module from the particular M208. This will not only save on M208 resources but will ensure that only appropriate M208s show up in the Chooser.

To disable the AppleTalk module, start an npsh session with the unit and follow the steps below:

1 Remove AppleTalk from the available protocols.

set sysinfo module -appletalk

2 Save the changes to EEPROM.

save

If you want to continue with any of the following procedures, please ﬁnd them as indicated in other sections of this manual:

• Add to or change conﬁguration of your M208. Please see USING THE M208’S COMMAND SET on page 93 and USING NPWIN on page 127.

• Utilize more advanced features of the M208. Please see USING THE M208’S ADDITIONAL OPTIONS on page 131.

78 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR APPLETALK: Additional Configuration Options

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR WINDOWS

Overview

This chapter discusses the M208’s support for Windows. The M208 provides support for Windows NT, Windows for Workgroups (WfW), and Windows 95. Examples are provided for each of these environments.

In a Windows environment, TCP/IP is the data transfer protocol used for printing. This means that IP addresses and netmasks are required in your Windows stations along with the appropriate TCP/IP software. This chapter will also discuss how you set this up in your environment.

Print Methods Overview

A Central Host

The recommended print method for a Windows environment is to have a central host act as a spooler for jobs before they are sent to the Print Server/printer. The reason for this is that the central workstation has the ability to store the spooled jobs while they are waiting to go to the Print Server/printer . The W indo ws Print Manager would rather see the data get spooled centrally rather than having to hold on to the data until the Print Server/printer can accept it.

An example of this setup would be an Windows NT host which allows WfW stations to spool to it. The NT host would have the only print setup going to the Print Server/printer directly and it would be shared across the network. In this way, the WfW station could send jobs to this shared printer on the NT host. All WfW jobs would ﬁrst spool to the NT host before being sent to the Print Server/printer for printing.

Print Setup Possibilities

There are two print methods available with the M208 in a Windows environment:

LPR - Berkeley’s Line Printer Protocol which uses TCP/IP to transfer data to the Print Server’s built-in Line Printer Daemon.

NetBIOS -NetBIOS over TCP/IP used to transfer data to the Print Server.

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR WINDOWS: Overview 79

NetBIOS is further broken down into these two setup procedures:

“net use” - Microsoft’s shared resource feature. Print Manager - Microsoft’s management tool for printing.

Choosing one of these methods depends entirely on what’s available with your particular Windows software. The following is a list of what is supported in each:

Windows NT and NT/AS - LPR and NetBIOS (“net use” and Print Manager) Windows for Workgroups - NetBIOS (“net use” and Print Manager) Windows 95 - NetBIOS (Print Manager)

Note

Basic Setup Steps

Regardless of which method you choose, TCP/IP will always be used in some way.

In each of these environments, the basic setup steps required to get you printing from one of these hosts are to:

1 Ensure that you have the appropriate network software installed on your W indo ws

host.

2 Conﬁgure the Windows host with an IP address and netmask. 3 Conﬁgure the M208 with an IP address and netmask. 4 Create a printer and select a method of printing to the M208 (e.g. LPR).

TCP/IP Setup

Setting Up TCP/IP Services on Your Windows Stations

The following section gives step-by-step directions on how to install the necessary network software in the supported environments.

Windows NT LPR Network Software Installation

1 Go to the Main program group. 2 Double click on Control Panel. 3 Double click on Network.

80 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR WINDOWS: TCP/IP Setup

4 A dialogue box will appear showing your current network settings. Under

Installed Network Software, check to see if MS TCP/IP Printing shows. If it doesn’t, you’ll need to perform the following steps.

5 Select Add New Software. 6 Select TCP/IP Protocol and Components. 7 Click on Continue. 8 Select TCP/IP Printing Support from the TCP/IP components list that displays.

You may also want to select Connectivity Utilities.

9 Click on Continue.

Windows NT NetBIOS Network Software Installation

1 Go to the Main program group. 2 Double click on Control Panel. 3 Double click on Network. 4 A dialogue box will appear showing your current network setting. Under

Installed Network Software, check to see if NetBIOS TCPIP->Streams Environment appears. If not, you’ll need to add this new software by clicking on the Add New Software Button.

Windows For Workgroups NetBIOS Network Software Installation

1 Make sure that you have the Microsoft TCP/IP-32 group in your Program Man-

ager. If you do not have the ﬁle, wfwt32.exe, you can download it from:

• Compuserve in “MS Software Library”

• Microsoft’s FTP site, ftp.microsoft.com, under “Softlib/MSLFILES”

• Microplex’s FTP site, ftp.microplex.com, under “support/misc”

2 Once this is placed in a directory on you WfW station, you will need to double

click on the Network Setup icon in the Network Group.

3 Click on Drivers. 4 Since the TCP/IP services will not yet be listed here, click on Add Protocols. 5 Select Unlisted. 6 Specify the directory where the ﬁle exists. A new TCP/IP-32 program group will

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR WINDOWS: TCP/IP Setup 81

then be created which will include FTP, Telnet, etc.

Note

At this point, you will be prompted with a dialogue box asking for the TCP/IP network settings (i.e. IP address and netmask) for this WfW station. Fill these in at this time.

Windows 95 NetBIOS Network Software Installation

1 Make sure that File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks is installed in

your Network setup. If not, you’ll need to perform the following steps.

2 Open Settings:Control Panel folder. 3 Double click on the Network icon. 4 Select Add. 5 Select Service. 6 Select File and Printer Sharing for Microsoft Networks from the list. 7 Click OK. 8 Click OK again since this service will now show in the list to the left.

Conﬁguring TCP/IP On Your Windows Workstations

Since TCP/IP is used as the data transfer protocol, IP addresses and netmasks must be assigned to your Windows workstation(s) if you haven’t already done so.

If you are not familiar with IP addresses and are sure that this network will not go onto the Internet, the following are some sample settings to use:

IP Address Netmask

Host 1 192.1.1.1 255.255.255.0 M208 192.1.1.2 255.255.255.0 Host 2 192.1.1.3 255.255.255.0 and so on...

The following sections will detail how you conﬁgure TCP/IP settings on the different Windows platforms.

82 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR WINDOWS: TCP/IP Setup

Windows NT IP Address and Netmask Conﬁguration

1 Go to the Main program group. 2 Double click on Control Panel. 3 Double click on Network. 4 Select TCP/IP Protocol from Installed Network Software list. 5 Click on the Conﬁgure button. 6 A dialogue box will come up asking for network settings. Fill in the IP address

and netmask for this workstation and then click OK.

Windows for Workgroups IP Address and Netmask Conﬁguration

Conﬁguring an IP address and netmask for the WfW workstation is part of the procedure involved in installing NetBIOS Network Software. Please see Windows For Workgroups NetBIOS Network Software Installation on page 81 for more details.

Windows 95 IP Address and Netmask Conﬁguration

1 Open the Settings:Control Panel folder. 2 Double click on the Network icon. 3 Under the Installed Network Software list, select the entry dealing with the

TCP/IP Protocol.

4 Click on Conﬁgure. 5 A dialogue box will come up asking for network settings. Fill in the IP address

and netmask for this workstation and then click OK.

M208 Conﬁguration

Since TCP/IP is being utilized, the M208’s conﬁguration involves storing an IP address and a netmask. This is normally handled with the arp command but in the case of Windo ws NT and WfW, this does not work reliably . Therefore, the best way to store an IP address and a netmask is to connect a terminal, PC, or laptop to one of the M208’s serial ports. This will log you into the unit where you can store the IP address and netmask.

To conﬁgure a M208 with its network settings, please see Manual Configuration

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR WINDOWS: M208 Configuration 83

Through the COM Port on page 40 for detailed instructions. Once you have conﬁgured the unit, you will notice the STAT LED ﬂashing on once

per second. This means the M208 is conﬁgured and recognizable on the network. At this point, you can now conﬁgure your host.

Host Conﬁguration

Now that your workstation(s) and the M208 have IP addresses and netmasks, you can now conﬁgure a print setup. There are several methods available depending on what Windows package you are using. If you experience Windows-related printing problems after completing these setups, please see TROUBLESHOOTING THE M208 on page 159 for more information.

Windows NT Version 3.5x

LPR Method

1 Create a print path and printer; select Main. 2 Select Control Panel. 3 Select Printers which loads up the Print Manager. 4 Select Create a Printer from the Printer menu.

5 Deﬁne the printer name and driver; in the Print to ﬁeld, select Other....

6 Choose LPR port from the list that comes up and select OK. 7 Fill in the host name or IP address of the M208. 8 Fill in the destination or queue on the M208 (e.g. d1prn) and select OK.

where: destination Is a pre-deﬁned destination or queue on the M208 that is automat-

ically mapped by default to an I/O port. For example, destination

d1prn is automatically mapped to the PRN port. Please see Des- tinations on page 89 for a more detailed description. Please note

that destinations are case sensitive and are lowercase by default.

This printer is now available for printing and will interact with the M208’s built-in

84 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR WINDOWS: Host Configuration

Line Printer Daemon using TCP/IP.

NetBIOS Using Print Manager Method Note

Note

In order to use this method, you must ﬁrst conﬁgure the M208 with a Microsoft Networks Workgroup name. This can be done by telneting to the M208, starting an npsh session with the unit, and issuing the following command:

store pserver smb workgrp

workgroupname

where workgroupname is the name of the Microsoft Networks Workgroup that you want the M208 to be included in (e.g. Engineering).

You must reset the M208 for this command to take affect. 1 Ensure that the network connection is functioning properly between the Windo ws

NT workstation and the M208. Try to ping or telnet to the unit.

2 Open Print Manager. 3 Select Connect Network Printer from the Printer menu or click on the appro-

priate toolbar item.

4 A list of network services will appear. Double click on the Microsoft Windows

Network.

5 A list of known workgroups will appear. Double click on the workgroup name

that you previously conﬁgured the M208 under (e.g. Engineering).

6 Double click on the M208 once the list of registered devices in this workgroup

appears.

7 A list of destinations (e.g. d1prn) with NetBIOS service enabled will appear.

These are read directly from the M208. Select one of them.

8 Print Manager will then ask to install a local printer driver. Click on OK. 9 A dialogue box appears providing a list of possible printer drivers. Once you

select one, click on OK.

This printer is now available for printing using NetBIOS over TCP/IP.

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR WINDOWS: Host Configuration 85

Windows for Workgroups (WfW)

NetBIOS Using Print Manager Method Note

Note

store pserver smb workgrp

workgroupname

where workgroupname is the name of the Microsoft Networks Workgroup that you want the M208 to be included in (e.g. Engineering).

You must reset the M208 for this command to take affect. 1 Ensure that the network connection is functioning properly between the Windo ws

workstation and the M208. Try to ping or telnet to the unit.

2 Open Print Manager. 3 Select Connect Network Printer from the Printer menu or click on the appro-

priate toolbar item.

4 A list of known workgroups will appear. Double click on the workgroup name

that you previously conﬁgured the M208 under (e.g. Engineering).

5 Double click on the M208 once the list of registered devices in this workgroup

appears.

6 A list of destinations (e.g. d1prn) with NetBIOS service enabled will appear.

These are read directly from the M208. Select one of them.

7 Click OK.

This printer is now available for printing using NetBIOS over TCP/IP.

Windows 95

NetBIOS Using Print Manager Method Note

This setup assumes that you have already created a local printer using the Add a New Printer icon in the Settings:Printer folder. You can use any port here such as LPT1

or LPT2 when creating this printer.

Note

86 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR WINDOWS: Host Configuration

In order to use this method, you must ﬁrst conﬁgure the M208 with a Microsoft Net-

works Workgroup name. This can be done by telneting to the M208, starting an npsh session with the unit, and issuing the following command:

Note

store pserver smb workgrp

workgroupname

where workgroupname is the name of the Microsoft Networks Workgroup that you want the M208 to be included in (e.g. Engineering).

You must reset the M208 for this command to take affect. 1 Ensure that the network connection is functioning properly between the Windo ws

workstation and the M208. Try to ping or telnet to the unit.

2 Open the Settings:Printer folder. 3 Double click on the target printer that you created earlier. 4 Select Properties from the Printer menu. 5 Select the Details tab and click on the Add Port... button. 6 Select the Browse button. 7 A list of network services will appear. Double click on the Entire Network. 8 A list of known workgroups will appear. Double click on the workgroup name

that you previously conﬁgured the M208 under (e.g. Engineering).

9 Double click on the M208 once the list of registered devices in this workgroup

appears.

10 A list of destinations (e.g. d1prn) with NetBIOS service enabled will appear.

These are read directly from the M208. Select one of them.

11 Click on OK to exit the Browse for Printer dialogue box. 12 Click on OK to exit the Properties dialogue box.

This printer is now available for printing using NetBIOS over TCP/IP. If you want to continue with any of the following procedures, please ﬁnd them as indi-

cated in other sections of this manual:

• For problems related to Windows printing, please see TROUBLESHOOTING THE M208 on page 159.

• Add to or change conﬁguration of your M208. Please see USING THE M208’S COMMAND SET on page 93 and USING NPWIN on page 127.

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR WINDOWS: Host Configuration 87

• Utilize more advanced features of the M208. Please see USING THE M208’S ADDITIONAL OPTIONS on page 131.

88 CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR WINDOWS: Host Configuration

unit

M208 INTERNAL ARCHITECTURE

host

Overview

This chapter will provide a more detailed description of the internal operating architecture of the M208 including: destinations, models, variables, logpaths, and I/O ports.

Destinations

The M208 provides six printer destinations that are used by all hosts. A destination can be thought of as logical place on the M208 to which hosts send their print jobs. Destinations allow you the ability to conﬁgure a number of different print setups on the M208.

Destinations map a name, with a nine-character maximum, to the I/O ports and by default, each I/O port comes with two destinations mapped to it. The default destination names are:

unit host

d1prn d2com1 d3com2 d4prn d5com1 d6com2

Any of the six destinations can be matched to any of the three I/O ports, and each destination uses one of the deﬁned models for processing. The destination list is limited to a maximum of six entries, and is conﬁgured through the npsh interface on the Print Server. Default destination names can also be changed to something more meaningful.

An alternate destination can also be conﬁgured so that a print job goes to another printer if the deﬁned printer is busy, in error, or off-line.

Destination deﬁnitions include: name, I/O port, backchannel, model used, logpath, state, service(s) supported, and alternate destination.

See also: list dest on page 99, set dest on page 107, Making An Alternate Print Desti-

nation on page 133, Manipulating the M208’s Services on page 133, and USING NPWIN on page 127.

M208 INTERNAL ARCHITECTURE: Overview 89

unit host

Models

Each destination on the M208 also has a model associated with it. The six models (one per destination) can be thought of as a series of mini-ﬁlter that can do special processing to the print job data. These processing options include:

• banner page generation,

• header string insertion,

• trailer string insertion,

• tab expansion (xtab),

• carriage return insertion (onlcr),

• ASCII to PostScript conversion (a2ps),

• print job descrambling.

The default model names are m1 to m6 and each comes mapped to a particular destination. By default, the model settings are raw, that is,they simply pass data through to the I/O port untouched. This provides a clean slate to begin your conﬁguration. Model names can be changed to be something more meaningful.

Note

The models are not capable of multiple copies and throughput may decrease if onlcr or a2ps is enabled.

Each model deﬁnition includes: name, type, and some of these processing parameters, if any.

See also: list model on page 100, set model on page 110, Setting Up Special Job Pro- cessing on page 132, and USING NPWIN on page 127.

Table 3: Model Types

Setting Inclusions

raw No content sensing. Jobs are assumed to match the printer

type, or else the printer does the autosensing and switching.

90 M208 INTERNAL ARCHITECTURE: Models

Variables

Table 3: Model Types

Setting Inclusions

pcl-ps For printers that cannot autosense the print job format and

switch modes by themselves. Precedes each job with a string to switch from PostScript to PCL, or vice versa, depending on job content. These strings must be speciﬁed in the setup command.

a2ps Convert ASCII jobs to PostScript or pass PostScript jobs

directly to PostScript printers.

Variables are actually utilized within the M208’s models and are useful for deﬁning lengthy header or trailer strings. This might be necessary for certain printer switch strings, for example. Each variable consists of a combination of escape codes and text for this printer control.

Variables are used to make efﬁcient use of the limited space in these header and trailer strings. Only nine elements can be included in these strings. Each element can be one of the following:

unit host

letter

code 0x40 variable $FF Therefore, you could make up a series of variables and specify each of these (up to

nine) in the header or trailer string. Each variable could then contain up to 14 elements of its own.

Please see Variable Definitions on page 177 for a description of all pre-deﬁned variables. You can also create your own variables to add to this list.

See also: list var on page 102, set var on page 117, list model on page 100, set model on page 110, and USING NPWIN on page 127.

M208 INTERNAL ARCHITECTURE: Variables 91

unit host

Logpaths

The term logpath comes from the UNIX syslog logging system. With the M208, each destination can report statistics on: user, page count, job name, and printer errors. In addition, a checksum calculation can be obtained to conﬁrm data integrity when a job is sent to the printer.

Logging occurs either through a printer or terminal connected to an I/O port, or through a Telnet session to a particular TCP port. A logpath can also be conﬁgured to report statistics via email to a particular user. This can then be sa ved to a ﬁle if desired. In addition, messages can be logged to SYSLOGD on a particular TCP/IP host.

Each logpath is associated with a particular destination and the six default logpath names range from l1 to l6. Logpath names can be changed to be something more meaningful.

Logpath deﬁnitions include: name, log port, and log type. See also: list logpath on page 100, set logpath on page 108, Capturing Printer Feed-

back on page 134, and USING NPWIN on page 127.

I/O Ports

The M208 comes with three I/O ports: one IEEE 1284-I compliant parallel port and two serial ports. These ports have several parameters such as ﬂow control and baud rate, that can be manipulated to best suit your attached peripherals. These parameters are conﬁgured using the set commands while list commands display each port’s settings. Please refer to the following commands for the indicated information:

• To learn more about the I/O port parameters, please see:

Connecting Peripherals on page 17.

• To look at current I/O port settings, please see: list com1|com2 on page 98 and list prn on page 100.

• To change I/O port settings, please see: set com1|com2 on page 105 and set prn on page 112.

92 M208 INTERNAL ARCHITECTURE: Logpaths

HP M208 User Manual

Specifications and Main Features

Frequently Asked Questions

User Manual

TABLE OF CONTENTS

LIST OF FIGURES

LIST OF TABLES

PREFACE

Who Should Use This Manual

Organization of This Manual

General Conventions

Computer Entry and Display Conventions

GETTING TO KNOW THE M208

Overview

M208 Features

Overview of the Hub Architecture

Overview of Print Server Architecture

Overview of Print Server Installation

INSTALLING THE M208 ON THE NETWORK

Overview

Preparing for Installation

Connecting the M208 to the Network

Connecting Peripherals

USING THE HUB

Overview

M208 Hub Features

Hub Installation

Monitoring the Hub

SNMP Management Features

Troubleshooting the Hub

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR TCP/IP

Overview

Host Software

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR NOVELL

Overview

Host Software

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR APPLETALK

Overview

CONFIGURING THE M208 FOR WINDOWS

Overview

TCP/IP Setup

M208 INTERNAL ARCHITECTURE

Overview

Destinations

Models

Variables

Logpaths

I/O Ports