Is there anything you can do from the printer control panel to access and change
the printer's IP address?

Is there some set of buttons you can push to print a status page?

As a long shot, you might download and try HP's "Install Network Printer
Wizard". It allows you to access the network card by its MAC address and set up
the IP address. But this pre-supposes that the printer supports native TCP/IP.
If it does not, I am at a loss.

For sure, the printer is capable of PostScript, like nearly all of the DEC laser
printers.

I know nothing about this specific printer, but maybe some of the brainstormed
thoughts above can help you... Ben Myers

On Sun, 01 Jul 2007 22:58:50 GMT, "Todd Vargo" wrote:

>My wife bid on a working Digital PrintServer 17/600 model LPS17-A2
>(w/ethernet interface card) and won the auction. So we drove 3 hours (one
>way) to procure her prize. Come to find out, all we get with this "working"
>printer is the printer itself. No software! No books! Nothing! Apparently,
>the current admin was not around when the unit was installed in 1994 and has
>no idea what his predecessor did with the software or manuals. He assured me
>we just connect it to the ethernet and away you go. Yea, right.
>
>Windows 98 and XP have printer drivers for it but first I need to find it on
>the network to complete the connection. The display on the printer shows a
>MAC address but nothing in the printer drivers help me to locate it on the
>network.
>
>I've been scouring the internet in search of software needed to set it up on
>the network and for useful information. The few bits and pieces of
>information I found say to use the PathWorks software that came with it to
>set it up on the network. I managed to find some PathWorks updates but
>without the original software the updates prove to be useless. One poster
>from 1998 or 2001 in a similar situation (exact same printer with no
>software) but received no responses.
>
>I'm hoping there is someone out there who has knowledge of this unit, still
>has the original software and hopefully some pointers to help me get it
>operational on my network. I would even be happy if I could locate an
>interface card to connect it to a standard printer port. Otherwise, we just
>bought an extremely heavy paperweight.

Todd Vargo wrote:
> My wife bid on a working Digital PrintServer 17/600 model LPS17-A2
> (w/ethernet interface card) and won the auction. So we drove 3 hours (one
> way) to procure her prize. Come to find out, all we get with this "working"
> printer is the printer itself. No software! No books! Nothing! Apparently,
> the current admin was not around when the unit was installed in 1994 and has
> no idea what his predecessor did with the software or manuals. He assured me
> we just connect it to the ethernet and away you go. Yea, right.
>
> Windows 98 and XP have printer drivers for it but first I need to find it on
> the network to complete the connection. The display on the printer shows a
> MAC address but nothing in the printer drivers help me to locate it on the
> network.
>
> I've been scouring the internet in search of software needed to set it up on
> the network and for useful information. The few bits and pieces of
> information I found say to use the PathWorks software that came with it to
> set it up on the network. I managed to find some PathWorks updates but
> without the original software the updates prove to be useless. One poster
> from 1998 or 2001 in a similar situation (exact same printer with no
> software) but received no responses.
>
> I'm hoping there is someone out there who has knowledge of this unit, still
> has the original software and hopefully some pointers to help me get it
> operational on my network. I would even be happy if I could locate an
> interface card to connect it to a standard printer port. Otherwise, we just
> bought an extremely heavy paperweight.

When the PrinterServer 17 boots, it is fairly brain dead. It requires a
host on the network to download its operating software to it.

This software is traditionally downloaded via MOP from a VMS host. I
think the PrintServer 17 can also download via TFTP.

I am not sure where you would find the software now. It used to be
available from digital.com, then Compaq, etc. I don't seem to be able
to find it just now.

It should also be available on older CONDIST CD sets.

Take a look at
ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/Alpha/...ps/v51-ssb.zip and see if
that helps you.


Good luck!


--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Scheers, Applied Synergy, Inc.

Voice: 817-237-3360 Internet: chris@applied-synergy.com
Fax: 817-237-3074

In article , "Todd Vargo" writes:
> My wife bid on a working Digital PrintServer 17/600 model LPS17-A2
> (w/ethernet interface card) and won the auction. So we drove 3 hours (one
> way) to procure her prize. Come to find out, all we get with this "working"
> printer is the printer itself. No software! No books! Nothing! Apparently,
> the current admin was not around when the unit was installed in 1994 and has
> no idea what his predecessor did with the software or manuals. He assured me
> we just connect it to the ethernet and away you go. Yea, right.
>
> Windows 98 and XP have printer drivers for it but first I need to find it on
> the network to complete the connection. The display on the printer shows a
> MAC address but nothing in the printer drivers help me to locate it on the
> network.

Generally for models 17 and 20 we used reverse LAT to connect over
the ethernet. The LAT address is made up from the MAC address. I'm
not sure if either of these supported IP.

Are you looking for this??
Software
Product
Description

__________________________________________________ _________________

PRODUCT NAME: PrintServer Software SPD 48.09.04

OVERVIEW

The PrintServer Software provides printing services across a wide
range
of operating environments to Digital's PrintServer printers. This
Soft-
ware Product Description (SPD) will give a broad overview of the
func-
tionality provided by the software for the PrintServer printers, how-
ever, the feature set for each platform may vary. These variances
will
be noted as exceptions throughout the SPD. The platforms supported at
the release of this document are:

o HP-UX[R]

o IBM[R]-AIX[R]
o NetWare[R]

o OpenVMS VAX and AXP

o OSF/1[R] AXP

o SCO[TM] UNIX[R]

o SCO UNIX/DECadvantage

o SunOS

o ULTRIX

o AT&T[R] Unison

o Windows NT[TM]

DIGITAL April 1994

AE-PXW9E-TK
This SPD documents PrintServer Software, V5.0 features for the Net-
Ware, OpenVMS, and ULTRIX operating environments and PrintServer
Soft-
ware, V4.2 features for the HP-UX, IBM-AIX, OSF/1, SCO UNIX, SCO UNIX
/DECadvantage, SunOS, AT&T Unison, and Windows NT operating environ-
ments. This SPD will revise every 30 days as all PrintServer Software
Version 5.0 products are released.

DESCRIPTION

The PrintServer Software is a layered product that enables one or
both
of the following:

o Suitably configured systems to communicate within an Ethernet net-
work to a PrintServer 17, PrintServer 17/600, PrintServer 20,
turbo
PrintServer 20, PrintServer 32, PrintGate/32, PrintServer 40, or
PrintServer 40 plus and to use printing and accounting services

o Suitably configured systems within an Ethernet local area network
(LAN) to initialize (boot) and provide support functions for the
PrintServer 17, PrintServer 17/600, PrintServer 20, turbo
PrintServer
20, PrintServer 32, PrintGate/32, PrintServer 40, and PrintServer
40 plus

In general, there are two primary components included in the
PrintServer
Software: print client software and supporting host software.

The print client software consists of the following components:

o Print filters or interface programs to process requests from one
or more printer queues that provide print options to select
PrintServer
features and page setup

o Network software to transmit print requests and associated data
over

etc etc
phil

"Chris Scheers" wrote in message
news:46886EB0.9000808@applied-synergy.com...
> Todd Vargo wrote:
> > My wife bid on a working Digital PrintServer 17/600 model LPS17-A2
> > (w/ethernet interface card) and won the auction. So we drove 3 hours
(one
> > way) to procure her prize. Come to find out, all we get with this
"working"
> > printer is the printer itself. No software! No books! Nothing!
Apparently,
> > the current admin was not around when the unit was installed in 1994 and
has
> > no idea what his predecessor did with the software or manuals. He
assured me
> > we just connect it to the ethernet and away you go. Yea, right.
> >
> > Windows 98 and XP have printer drivers for it but first I need to find
it on
> > the network to complete the connection. The display on the printer shows
a
> > MAC address but nothing in the printer drivers help me to locate it on
the
> > network.
> >
> > I've been scouring the internet in search of software needed to set it
up on
> > the network and for useful information. The few bits and pieces of
> > information I found say to use the PathWorks software that came with it
to
> > set it up on the network. I managed to find some PathWorks updates but
> > without the original software the updates prove to be useless. One
poster
> > from 1998 or 2001 in a similar situation (exact same printer with no
> > software) but received no responses.
> >
> > I'm hoping there is someone out there who has knowledge of this unit,
still
> > has the original software and hopefully some pointers to help me get it
> > operational on my network. I would even be happy if I could locate an
> > interface card to connect it to a standard printer port. Otherwise, we
just
> > bought an extremely heavy paperweight.
>
> When the PrinterServer 17 boots, it is fairly brain dead. It requires a
> host on the network to download its operating software to it.
>
> This software is traditionally downloaded via MOP from a VMS host. I
> think the PrintServer 17 can also download via TFTP.
>
> I am not sure where you would find the software now. It used to be
> available from digital.com, then Compaq, etc. I don't seem to be able
> to find it just now.
>
> It should also be available on older CONDIST CD sets.
>
> Take a look at
> ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/Alpha/...ps/v51-ssb.zip and see if
> that helps you.

Yes, this is the software I need. Unfortunately, the printer is being
persnickety. The software displays a printer not found message. When I power
on the printer, it performs a warm-up count down then displays it's MAC
address with some other numbers below it. The display only has room for two
lines of text.

xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx
2.1 1.0 1.0

I don't know what the numbers in the second row mean but after a long while,
a "?54" was displayed on the bottom line. This is all it did until today.
Based on some pages I had read, I took a guess at the IP address and set the
print driver to 192.168.2.54.

At some point after a number of power cycles and waiting, and doing other
tasks, I lost track of what I did last, but when I looked at the display and
it showed it was ready. I managed to a print test page and several other
pages perfectly. The test-setup page does not display include the MAC or IP
address (that would make too much sense).

I don't know what actually made it start working but then the ultimate test
came. I toggled the power switch off and now I'm back to where I started
from. The software displays a printer not found message again and the
printer displays the same output above only the ?54 is no longer being
displayed.

I have concluded that pressing buttons on the panel do nothing while the MAC
address is being displayed. But once it displayed the ready message, the
buttons did something.

Thanks to everyone for your help.

--
Todd Vargo
(Post questions to group only. Remove "z" to email personal messages)

wrote:
> Are you looking for this??
> Software
> Product
> Description
>
> __________________________________________________ _________________
>
> PRODUCT NAME: PrintServer Software SPD 48.09.04
>
> OVERVIEW
>
> The PrintServer Software provides printing services across a wide
> range
....

Thanks, I have read this overview page several times in my searches. What I
was not finding is the software that went with it, but now I have it from
one of the other helpful posters. Unfortunately, I am still unable to print
even with the software.

--
Todd Vargo
(Post questions to group only. Remove "z" to email personal messages)

In article , "Todd Vargo" writes:
>
> I don't know what actually made it start working but then the ultimate test
> came. I toggled the power switch off and now I'm back to where I started
> from. The software displays a printer not found message again and the
> printer displays the same output above only the ?54 is no longer being
> displayed.
>

54 could be MOP download failure (I'm streching here). What are you
using for MOP support? On VMS MOP has a default setup that logs
enough information to OPCOM to analyze a MOP failure if the VMS
systems sees the MOP broadcast.

"Bob Koehler" wrote in message
news:iijAp+k4p$pc@eisner.encompasserve.org...
> In article , "Todd
Vargo" writes:
> >
> > I don't know what actually made it start working but then the ultimate
test
> > came. I toggled the power switch off and now I'm back to where I started
> > from. The software displays a printer not found message again and the
> > printer displays the same output above only the ?54 is no longer being
> > displayed.
> >
>
> 54 could be MOP download failure (I'm streching here). What are you
> using for MOP support? On VMS MOP has a default setup that logs
> enough information to OPCOM to analyze a MOP failure if the VMS
> systems sees the MOP broadcast.

You'll have to forgive me. I don't what MOP is or how VMS works.

Anyway, after a lot more reboots, I finally turned it off and went to sleep.
This morning it worked after a couple boots but only printed a few pages
until the paper jammed. It has not worked since. I did manage to find out
that the numbers on the lower line represents the firmware version.

--
Todd Vargo
(Post questions to group only. Remove "z" to email personal messages)

In article , "Todd Vargo" writes:
>
> You'll have to forgive me. I don't what MOP is or how VMS works.
>

MOP is an ethernet protocol for dowloading software. It's analogous
to BOOTP and TFTP on the IP stack, but runs directly on the ethernet
as its own protocol.

Ethernet devices will send out a MOP boot request and servers which
know the MOP protocol can be setup to respond with the necessary
software. The MOP server on VMS can log lots of things to the
operator's log and an operator-enabled terminal. The default
settings will tell you every MOP boot request seen and the files
sent for every request honored.

Check with the SPD somebody posted earlier to see if the LP17
boots strickly off PROM, requires a MOP download, or can use IP
to boot.

Todd Vargo wrote:
>
> "Bob Koehler" wrote in message
> news:iijAp+k4p$pc@eisner.encompasserve.org...
> > In article , "Todd
> Vargo" writes:
> > >
> > > I don't know what actually made it start working but then the ultimate
> test
> > > came. I toggled the power switch off and now I'm back to where I started
> > > from. The software displays a printer not found message again and the
> > > printer displays the same output above only the ?54 is no longer being
> > > displayed.
> > >
> >
> > 54 could be MOP download failure (I'm streching here). What are you
> > using for MOP support? On VMS MOP has a default setup that logs
> > enough information to OPCOM to analyze a MOP failure if the VMS
> > systems sees the MOP broadcast.
>
> You'll have to forgive me. I don't what MOP is or how VMS works.

MOP is the Maintenance Operation Protocol. It is not an IP-subprotocol, it is
comprised of four specific Ethernet packet types (60-01, 60-02, 60-03 and
60-04). It does not provide a data layer that facilitates routing and so must be
transparently bridged between LAN segments at fairly high priority.

MOP is not unique to VMS.

Up until and including DECnet Phase-IV, it was facilitated by the DECnet
Executor and so is often confused as being part of DECnet (it isn't). More
recently, the LANACP can be configured to provide downline load via MOP using
the LAN Control Program (LANCP); however, LANACP does not provide for upline
dump. Remote console capability was built into LANCP to allow for those sites
who choose not to run DECnet, but still need to support older devices like
terminal servers, printservers and such.

MOP provides for:

- Downline loading of software ("booting")
- Downline loading of data (parameters)
- Upline dumping of data to be analyzed (usually contents of memory in the case
of a software problem)
- Remote console
- one other function I no longer recall

The IP parallels would (loosely) be BOOTP and/or TFTP for loading and dumping,
plus TELNET.

--
David J Dachtera
dba DJE Systems
http://www.djesys.com/

Unofficial OpenVMS Marketing Home Page
http://www.djesys.com/vms/market/

Unofficial Affordable OpenVMS Home Page:
http://www.djesys.com/vms/soho/

Unofficial OpenVMS-IA32 Home Page:
http://www.djesys.com/vms/ia32/

Unofficial OpenVMS Hobbyist Support Page:
http://www.djesys.com/vms/support/

"Bob Koehler" wrote in message
news:2PV$AUF6IOh$@eisner.encompasserve.org...
> In article , "Todd Vargo"
writes:
> >
> > You'll have to forgive me. I don't what MOP is or how VMS works.
> >
>
> MOP is an ethernet protocol for dowloading software. It's analogous
> to BOOTP and TFTP on the IP stack, but runs directly on the ethernet
> as its own protocol.
>
> Ethernet devices will send out a MOP boot request and servers which
> know the MOP protocol can be setup to respond with the necessary
> software. The MOP server on VMS can log lots of things to the
> operator's log and an operator-enabled terminal. The default
> settings will tell you every MOP boot request seen and the files
> sent for every request honored.
>
> Check with the SPD somebody posted earlier to see if the LP17
> boots strickly off PROM, requires a MOP download, or can use IP
> to boot.

My router does not provide MOP or VMS but the printer has booted and printed
twice using the IP address and print driver alone. The DEC software does not
find the printer unless the printer display gets out of the MAC address
display (POST) mode. I'm pretty sure that both times it was a fluke because
it no longer gets past display of the firmware version display any more.

--
Todd Vargo
(Post questions to group only. Remove "z" to email personal messages)

"David J Dachtera" wrote in message
news:468AAE51.C910F85E@spam.comcast.net...
> Todd Vargo wrote:
> >
> > "Bob Koehler" wrote in message
> > news:iijAp+k4p$pc@eisner.encompasserve.org...
> > > In article , "Todd
> > Vargo" writes:
> > > >
> > > > I don't know what actually made it start working but then the
ultimate
> > test
> > > > came. I toggled the power switch off and now I'm back to where I
started
> > > > from. The software displays a printer not found message again and
the
> > > > printer displays the same output above only the ?54 is no longer
being
> > > > displayed.
> > > >
> > >
> > > 54 could be MOP download failure (I'm streching here). What are
you
> > > using for MOP support? On VMS MOP has a default setup that logs
> > > enough information to OPCOM to analyze a MOP failure if the VMS
> > > systems sees the MOP broadcast.
> >
> > You'll have to forgive me. I don't what MOP is or how VMS works.
>
> MOP is the Maintenance Operation Protocol. It is not an IP-subprotocol, it
is
> comprised of four specific Ethernet packet types (60-01, 60-02, 60-03 and
> 60-04). It does not provide a data layer that facilitates routing and so
must be
> transparently bridged between LAN segments at fairly high priority.
>
> MOP is not unique to VMS.
>
> Up until and including DECnet Phase-IV, it was facilitated by the DECnet
> Executor and so is often confused as being part of DECnet (it isn't). More
> recently, the LANACP can be configured to provide downline load via MOP
using
> the LAN Control Program (LANCP); however, LANACP does not provide for
upline
> dump. Remote console capability was built into LANCP to allow for those
sites
> who choose not to run DECnet, but still need to support older devices like
> terminal servers, printservers and such.
>
> MOP provides for:
>
> - Downline loading of software ("booting")
> - Downline loading of data (parameters)
> - Upline dumping of data to be analyzed (usually contents of memory in the
case
> of a software problem)
> - Remote console
> - one other function I no longer recall
>
> The IP parallels would (loosely) be BOOTP and/or TFTP for loading and
dumping,
> plus TELNET.
>
> --
> David J Dachtera
> dba DJE Systems
> http://www.djesys.com/
>
> Unofficial OpenVMS Marketing Home Page
> http://www.djesys.com/vms/market/
>
> Unofficial Affordable OpenVMS Home Page:
> http://www.djesys.com/vms/soho/
>
> Unofficial OpenVMS-IA32 Home Page:
> http://www.djesys.com/vms/ia32/
>
> Unofficial OpenVMS Hobbyist Support Page:
> http://www.djesys.com/vms/support/

Thanks. That's a lot of reading material.

--
Todd Vargo
(Post questions to group only. Remove "z" to email personal messages)

In article <1hyii.8003$Rw1.3866@newssvr25.news.prodigy.net>, "Todd Vargo" writes:
>
> My router does not provide MOP or VMS but the printer has booted and printed
> twice using the IP address and print driver alone. The DEC software does not
> find the printer unless the printer display gets out of the MAC address
> display (POST) mode. I'm pretty sure that both times it was a fluke because
> it no longer gets past display of the firmware version display any more.

MOP is not a routable protocol, and VMS in an operating system, not a
network protocol.

Perhaps the LP17 boots from some kind of ROM instead of MOP. You
need to find and read the LP17 SPD.

Todd Vargo wrote:
> "Chris Scheers" wrote in message
> news:46886EB0.9000808@applied-synergy.com...
>> Todd Vargo wrote:
>>> My wife bid on a working Digital PrintServer 17/600 model LPS17-A2
>>> (w/ethernet interface card) and won the auction. So we drove 3 hours
> (one
>>> way) to procure her prize. Come to find out, all we get with this
> "working"
>>> printer is the printer itself. No software! No books! Nothing!
> Apparently,
>>> the current admin was not around when the unit was installed in 1994 and
> has
>>> no idea what his predecessor did with the software or manuals. He
> assured me
>>> we just connect it to the ethernet and away you go. Yea, right.
>>>
>>> Windows 98 and XP have printer drivers for it but first I need to find
> it on
>>> the network to complete the connection. The display on the printer shows
> a
>>> MAC address but nothing in the printer drivers help me to locate it on
> the
>>> network.
>>>
>>> I've been scouring the internet in search of software needed to set it
> up on
>>> the network and for useful information. The few bits and pieces of
>>> information I found say to use the PathWorks software that came with it
> to
>>> set it up on the network. I managed to find some PathWorks updates but
>>> without the original software the updates prove to be useless. One
> poster
>>> from 1998 or 2001 in a similar situation (exact same printer with no
>>> software) but received no responses.
>>>
>>> I'm hoping there is someone out there who has knowledge of this unit,
> still
>>> has the original software and hopefully some pointers to help me get it
>>> operational on my network. I would even be happy if I could locate an
>>> interface card to connect it to a standard printer port. Otherwise, we
> just
>>> bought an extremely heavy paperweight.
>> When the PrinterServer 17 boots, it is fairly brain dead. It requires a
>> host on the network to download its operating software to it.
>>
>> This software is traditionally downloaded via MOP from a VMS host. I
>> think the PrintServer 17 can also download via TFTP.
>>
>> I am not sure where you would find the software now. It used to be
>> available from digital.com, then Compaq, etc. I don't seem to be able
>> to find it just now.
>>
>> It should also be available on older CONDIST CD sets.
>>
>> Take a look at
>> ftp://ftp.digital.com/pub/DEC/Alpha/...ps/v51-ssb.zip and see if
>> that helps you.
>
> Yes, this is the software I need. Unfortunately, the printer is being
> persnickety. The software displays a printer not found message. When I power
> on the printer, it performs a warm-up count down then displays it's MAC
> address with some other numbers below it. The display only has room for two
> lines of text.
>
> xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx
> 2.1 1.0 1.0
>
> I don't know what the numbers in the second row mean but after a long while,
> a "?54" was displayed on the bottom line. This is all it did until today.
> Based on some pages I had read, I took a guess at the IP address and set the
> print driver to 192.168.2.54.
>
> At some point after a number of power cycles and waiting, and doing other
> tasks, I lost track of what I did last, but when I looked at the display and
> it showed it was ready. I managed to a print test page and several other
> pages perfectly. The test-setup page does not display include the MAC or IP
> address (that would make too much sense).
>
> I don't know what actually made it start working but then the ultimate test
> came. I toggled the power switch off and now I'm back to where I started
> from. The software displays a printer not found message again and the
> printer displays the same output above only the ?54 is no longer being
> displayed.
>
> I have concluded that pressing buttons on the panel do nothing while the MAC
> address is being displayed. But once it displayed the ready message, the
> buttons did something.
>
> Thanks to everyone for your help.
>

Yes, as you mention in another post, the three numbers on the second
line are firmware versions for various components of the printer.

The ?54 error means that the printer did not get a response to its
request for a download.

The download will consist of two main parts: (1) the software for the
printer and (2) the configuration for the printer.

Until the printer is downloaded and configured, it will not have an IP
address. The address is part (optional, I believe) of the configuration.

I think the network interface on this printer is 10mb, half duplex.
Assuming you are using twisted pair to talk to this, are you using a
switch which will honor this setting?

--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Chris Scheers, Applied Synergy, Inc.

Voice: 817-237-3360 Internet: chris@applied-synergy.com
Fax: 817-237-3074

Chris Scheers wrote:
> Todd Vargo wrote:
> > Yes, this is the software I need. Unfortunately, the printer is being
> > persnickety. The software displays a printer not found message. When I
power
> > on the printer, it performs a warm-up count down then displays it's MAC
> > address with some other numbers below it. The display only has room for
two
> > lines of text.
> >
> > xx-xx-xx-xx-xx-xx
> > 2.1 1.0 1.0
> >
> > I don't know what the numbers in the second row mean but after a long
while,
> > a "?54" was displayed on the bottom line. This is all it did until
today.
> > Based on some pages I had read, I took a guess at the IP address and set
the
> > print driver to 192.168.2.54.
> >
> > At some point after a number of power cycles and waiting, and doing
other
> > tasks, I lost track of what I did last, but when I looked at the display
and
> > it showed it was ready. I managed to a print test page and several other
> > pages perfectly. The test-setup page does not display include the MAC or
IP
> > address (that would make too much sense).
> >
> > I don't know what actually made it start working but then the ultimate
test
> > came. I toggled the power switch off and now I'm back to where I started
> > from. The software displays a printer not found message again and the
> > printer displays the same output above only the ?54 is no longer being
> > displayed.
> >
> > I have concluded that pressing buttons on the panel do nothing while the
MAC
> > address is being displayed. But once it displayed the ready message, the
> > buttons did something.
> >
> > Thanks to everyone for your help.
> >
>
> Yes, as you mention in another post, the three numbers on the second
> line are firmware versions for various components of the printer.
>
> The ?54 error means that the printer did not get a response to its
> request for a download.
>
> The download will consist of two main parts: (1) the software for the
> printer and (2) the configuration for the printer.
>
> Until the printer is downloaded and configured, it will not have an IP
> address. The address is part (optional, I believe) of the configuration.
>
> I think the network interface on this printer is 10mb, half duplex.
> Assuming you are using twisted pair to talk to this, are you using a
> switch which will honor this setting?

Thanks for the explanation on ?54. Your assistance is very much appreciated.

I don't get the ?54 any more (even with ethernet wire unplugged). Now it
just displays 0B01.0086 with the number of copies below it, but sometimes
this code is different. Right now it's in this state. The usual warm-up
(fans running, paper trays initializing, etc.) has become just a constantly
clicking relay inside. Who knows what it will do tomorrow? We just got boned
on this printer. I wonder if we can still get it serviced and what that
would cost.

--
Todd Vargo
(Post questions to group only. Remove "z" to email personal messages)

Todd Vargo wrote:
> [snip]
> We just got boned on this printer.

Ah, yes ... The hazards of these things falling into the hands of sellers who
think that de-facto standards can be applied as universally (and retro-actively)
as true industry standards, and vendors' various takes on how to apply them.

"As is" and all that, y'know.

Probably could have gotten a good used LaserJet for what that thing cost to ship
it.

--
David J Dachtera
dba DJE Systems
http://www.djesys.com/

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