I originally asked about multiplexors running LaserJet printers from a
SPARCstation. Thank you very much for all your responses.
A lot of people responded with suggestions that I made a mistake in the
printcap which caused all the problems I described. We are no longer using the
large printcap, but I took another look at it and finally I found that there
were some blank spaces at the end of some of the lines in the definitions
(There are far too many people here who edit the file). From what I can tell
from checking lpc status, this cleared up a lot of problems.
The dilemma is that I have been forced into figuring out the cheapest possible
way to print from a PC in one office to a PC in another office. Sun has told
me straight out that this is not supported, and we can't go down a road like
that again....
Some sun-managers have responded with a lot of comments about HP JetDirect
cards. This was my original idea. But we found that the card for the HP III
(which is the type of almost all our printers) will not support a pre-10BaseT
network on the RJ-45 port, and it does not have an AUI port. We would have to
upgrade our hubs, as well as our wiring-- or buy new printers.
I know that serial printing is going to be slow, but right now we have
nothing. We have existing serial cabling that goes from many of the offices to
one central location. We also have SPARCstations that nobody is using (yes!).
If anyone has actually used a multiplexor from Artecon, Aurora
Technologies, or Central Data to run multiple printers, I would really
appreciate your comments.
When we have a solution installed, I'll summarize again.
--------------------------------
| Elmar Kurgpold |
| Network Administrator |
| USC Law Center |
| ekurgpol@develop-law.usc.edu |
| (213)740-5709 |
| (213)740-5502 FAX |
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