The following table lists the parameters for configuring a printer from PCONSOLE .
Table 6. Printer Configuration Parameters in PCONSOLE
You must be an operator or user of a print server that services a printer to be able to see the printer's status.
Use the following procedure to view a printer's status.
From the Available Options menu, select Printers.
The Printers window appears with a list of active printers.
Select the desired printer from the list.
The Printer <name> Configuration window appears.
Choose Printer Status: (See Form).
A Status window appears showing the various status elements for printers.
Modify the printer's status as needed.
Here are the status fields shown in the Status window:
Status Shows the current status of this port driver and printer. Possible statuses include the following:
Not connectedWaiting for formOut of paperPrinting jobPausedStoppedOff-linePrivatePrinter is waiting for a print jobRunningReady to go down
NOTE: The port driver (NPRINTER) status for a defined but unattached serial printer is Waiting for job even though the printer is not attached, and the printer status is Running. If a print job is put into the queue for this printer, the port driver status changes to Printing job but the printer status changes to Offline.Defined but unattached parallel printers show a status of Not connected.
Printer control Introduces a window with the following options: Pause printer Places the current print job on hold. Only a print queue operator can perform this action. The printer will remain idle until it receives a Start printer command. Stop printer Stops the printer and returns the print job to the print queue. The printer will remain idle until it receives a Start printer command. Start printer Changes the status of this print job from On hold to Active, which will start printing again if the correct form is mounted and the printer is active. Form feed Causes the printer to advance to the top of the next page. Mark top of form Causes a line of asterisks (*) to be printed across the page. This option is useful when you are trying to align the page on a printer. Abort print job Allows you to cancel this print job and immediately stop printing. Rewind printer Pauses the printer and sets the print job to start printing at the beginning after you start the printer.
Service mode Determines how forms needed for print jobs affect the order in which the print server processes those jobs. Selecting this field displays the list of modes from which you can select.
Printer forms include information about the length and width of different types of paper used in your printer. You can designate printer forms to prevent your print jobs from printing on the wrong paper. The print server operator is notified when a form change is needed. Printer forms are configured in PRINTDEF.
When a print job requests a printer form other than the form currently mounted in the printer, the print server does not service the job until a print server operator reports that the new form is mounted. A print server operator can use PCONSOLE, PSC, or NetWare Administrator to mount the new form.
The following service mode options determine how often the print server requires you to change printer forms:
Change forms as needed
The priority of each print queue and the order of print jobs in the print queue determine which print job to service next. You might have to change forms often.
Minimize form changes within print queues
The print server requires you to mount a new form for a print job before servicing print jobs with the currently mounted form in a print queue with a lower priority.
Minimize form changes across print queues
The print server services all print jobs requiring the currently mounted form before requesting a form change. Print jobs in lower priority print queues that require the mounted form are serviced before print jobs in a high priority print queue that require a different form.
Service only currently mounted form
The print server never requests a form change. If no print job requiring the current form is available, nothing is printed.
Mounted form Shows the number of the form that is currently mounted in the printer. Only print jobs that specify this printer form number can be printed until a new printer form is mounted with the Mount Form button.
The remaining fields include information about the print job currently being printed on this printer. Most of this information can only be changed by going to the print queue and selecting this print job from the list of jobs.
NetWare server Indicates the server on which the print queue holding the job resides.
Print queue Indicates the print queue from which this print job is being serviced.
Description Indicates the name of the file being printed unless a different name was assigned to the job.
Print job number Displays the print job ID.
Form Shows which printer form this print job is using. This print job cannot be printed unless this Form matches the Mounted Form field above the Current Job Information.
Copies requested Indicates the number of copies of this print job that the User who submitted it requested to be printed.
Finished Indicates how many bytes of this copy have been printed.
Size of one copy Indicates the size of each copy of this print job.
Percent complete Indicates how much of this print job is completed, which is determined both by the size of one copy and the number of copies requested for this print job.
You must be an operator or user of a print server that services a printer to be able to change the type of printer you are using.
From the Available Options menu, select Printers.
The Printers window appears with a list of active printers.
Select the desired printer from the list.
The Printer <name> Configuration window appears.
Choose Printer Type.
A window appears showing the connection types available.
Choose the correct printer type from the connection types listed.
For printers that attach directly to the network, select type Other/Unknown. (For example, HP IIIsi or 4si, COMPAQ PageMarq 20, GENICOM 7170, or Talaris 1794 Printstation.)
Modify the configuration for the type of printer you have selected.
See Configuring Printers for information on parameters for parallel printers. For detailed information on other printer types, use Help.
This section explains how to assign multiple print queues and printers on Novell Directory ServicesTM servers. You can use PCONSOLE to do the following:
From the Available Options menu, select Printers.
The Printers window appears with a list of active printers.
Select the first printer you want a queue assigned to, highlight Print queues assigned, and press <Enter> .
A list of print queues currently assigned to this printer appears.
To assign a printer to a print server, choose a print server under Print Servers, highlight Printers, and press <Enter> .
A list of printers currently assigned to this print server appears. Press <Insert> to browse and select a printer from available container objects.
NOTE: You will need to unload and then load the print server before the printer configurations you have just assigned will take effect. See Using PSERVER.NLM
Printer forms can be designated in an effort to prevent your printer from printing a print job on the wrong paper. When the print server detects a print job in the queue, and that print job calls for a form different from the one currently mounted in the intended printer, the print job will not be serviced until a new form is mounted. Each printer form has a unique name and number.
Mounting a printer form consists of two elements:
Changing the paper NetWare has no way of determining whether the paper was actually changed or not. It relies on information it receives from the operator.
Mounting the form through the software This is the information that NetWare receives from the operator and that is required in order for printing to continue.
To mount a printer form, you need the following prerequisites:
For information on creating printer forms with PRINTDEF, see Creating or Modifying Printer Forms For information on creating printer forms with NetWare Administrator, see Creating Printer Forms
To mount a printer form with PCONSOLE, use the following procedure.
Enter PCONSOLE and choose a specific printer from the Printers option of the Available Options menu.
Highlight the Printer status field and press <Enter> .
Highlight the Mounted form field in the printer information screen and type the number of the form you wish the printer to service. Then press <Enter> .
Print jobs using that form in the print queue will now print.
Printer forms also can be mounted in NetWare Administrator, at the print server console, and from the command line using PSC. Procedures for each method are described in Working With Print Device Definitions and Printer Forms