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Printer Sharing Device question
I picked up a gadget: a Dresselhaus SmartPrint "Printer Sharing System."
I think that it's called a "printer server." It allows four computers to share one printer. I assume that it assigns the connection first-come-first-served. I want to use it with a printer and a scanner, so this device would combine two computers into a second device: a manual switchbox, which would connect either the printer or the scanner. The Dresselhaus works fine with printers, but not with the scanner (which works perfectly with a second manual switchbox in place of the Dresselhaus. So, I'm assuming that the Dresselhaus isn't very bi-directional -- that is, it'll handle typical stuff from the printer to the computer (like "hey, my buffer is full -- stop sending or I'll punch you out you *******."). But it won't do more. But the Dresselhaus has a two-position slide switch buried behind a hole. I have no idea what this switch does. Maybe it's my solution -- enabling 2-way communication. I've not been able to find any information on the web about this gizmo, and Mr. Dresselhaus is no longer making these things. Can anyone shed some light on this device and the mysterious switch? Thanks. Richard |
#2
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Printer Sharing Device question
Richard Steinfeld,
If your are using a multi-function printer (MFP), you will need to check with the manufacturer website or unit instruction manual, and see if it can be used over a network. Even if it is connected to a print server. Some limited the scanner functions to the PC, that the unit is connected to, because the scanner drivers do not have networking capability. This might be true also for some stand-alone scanners. -- Have A Good Day, Rich/rerat (RRR News) message rule Previous Text Snipped to Save Bandwidth When Appropriate "Richard Steinfeld" wrote in message ... I picked up a gadget: a Dresselhaus SmartPrint "Printer Sharing System." I think that it's called a "printer server." It allows four computers to share one printer. I assume that it assigns the connection first-come-first-served. I want to use it with a printer and a scanner, so this device would combine two computers into a second device: a manual switchbox, which would connect either the printer or the scanner. The Dresselhaus works fine with printers, but not with the scanner (which works perfectly with a second manual switchbox in place of the Dresselhaus. So, I'm assuming that the Dresselhaus isn't very bi-directional -- that is, it'll handle typical stuff from the printer to the computer (like "hey, my buffer is full -- stop sending or I'll punch you out you *******."). But it won't do more. But the Dresselhaus has a two-position slide switch buried behind a hole. I have no idea what this switch does. Maybe it's my solution -- enabling 2-way communication. I've not been able to find any information on the web about this gizmo, and Mr. Dresselhaus is no longer making these things. Can anyone shed some light on this device and the mysterious switch? Thanks. Richard |
#3
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Printer Sharing Device question
Rich/rerat wrote:
Richard Steinfeld, If your are using a multi-function printer (MFP), you will need to check with the manufacturer website or unit instruction manual, and see if it can be used over a network. Even if it is connected to a print server. Some limited the scanner functions to the PC, that the unit is connected to, because the scanner drivers do not have networking capability. This might be true also for some stand-alone scanners. Yes. That makes sense, Rich. My printers are all plain printers. But the scanner is the parallel port, pseudo-printer type. Of course, being that it's a scanner, it's pretty big at sending lots of data back in the other direction to the computer. The manufacturer's attitude is that the product is extremely driver intensive, and that if you want to use it with Windows XP, you're SOL because they won't be bothered to write a driver seeing as how the product is past its "end of life." It is a relief to me to know that the manufacturer is so responsible that they will inform me that my printer has expired and I should not bother to use it. However, the scanner disagrees, and is still scanning away happily. It said, "Rumors of my death have been highly exxagerated," (it aspires to be a successful novelist). These high-handed *******s are named "Visioneer," and they make (and support???) printers under various names, such as Memorex and god-knows-what-else). Mine has one of ther own alternate brand names on it, "Colorado Primascan." I have found that, despite what Visioneer says on their phone recording, my scanner seems to work perfectly under Windows XP with its last-known Windows 9x driver. To keep things sane, however, I'm not going to attempt to use the scanner as a pass-through device with a printer connected after it. A simple two-way switch seems to be more mentally stable, keeping as it does so well, the Hatfields from the McCoys. After five attempts to get through their confrontational automated phone system, I finally got a human to answer; she put me through into the "support" cue, whch determined that my perfectly-good scanner was past its "end of life," and then hung up on me. Needless to say, when my Visioneer scanner finally has reached its "end of life" y'all know which company's scanner I will not buy. But I'm still wondering what that buried switch does inside my Dresselhaus SmartPrint box. Anyone know? Richard |
#4
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Printer Sharing Device question
Richard Steinfeld wrote:
The manufacturer's attitude is that the product is extremely driver intensive, and that if you want to use it with Windows XP, you're SOL because they won't be bothered to write a driver seeing as how the product is past its "end of life." It is a relief to me to know that the manufacturer is so responsible that they will inform me that my printer I meant "scanner." has expired and I should not bother to use it. However, the scanner disagrees, and is still scanning away happily. It said, "Rumors of my death have been highly exxagerated," (it aspires to be a successful novelist). These high-handed *******s are named "Visioneer," and they make (and support???) printers I meant "scanner." under various names, such as Memorex and god-knows-what-else). But they are still high-handed printers. Richard |
#5
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Printer Sharing Device question
Richard Steinfeld wrote:
I picked up a gadget: a Dresselhaus SmartPrint "Printer Sharing System." I think that it's called a "printer server." It allows four computers to share one printer. I assume that it assigns the connection first-come-first-served. It's probably not a print server, at least not in the common usage of that term these days. In the years before networks were common, the way to share a printer was to attach it to a switchbox. Parallel cables from all the computers would run to the switchbox, and a single cable from it to the printer. Manual switcheboxes sucked for various reasons, which is why they died out. Put a little extra circuitry in the switchbox, and you could have it automatically detect which computer was trying to print and switch to that one. As you might expect, multiple people trying to print sometimes had problems, and cable length was sometimes a problem, and even with all the wiring you still didn't have a network that could share files. Just share a printer, poorly. I want to use it with a printer and a scanner, so this device would combine two computers into a second device: a manual switchbox, which would connect either the printer or the scanner. It's unlikely it will work with a scanner. It's built to handle printing only, and probably was designed in the days before bidirectional parallel was conceived. The Dresselhaus works fine with printers, but not with the scanner (which works perfectly with a second manual switchbox in place of the Dresselhaus. Did you know that manual switchboxes will void the warranty on some printers? Parallel was not meant to be hot-switched, although you can often get away with it. So, I'm assuming that the Dresselhaus isn't very bi-directional -- that is, it'll handle typical stuff from the printer to the computer (like "hey, my buffer is full -- stop sending or I'll punch you out you *******."). But it won't do more. But the Dresselhaus has a two-position slide switch buried behind a hole. I have no idea what this switch does. Maybe it's my solution -- enabling 2-way communication. I've not been able to find any information on the web about this gizmo, and Mr. Dresselhaus is no longer making these things. The slide switch probably configures some type of handshake. The odds of it working with your scanner are no better than without the switch. You can try it; at worst, it'll damage your scanner and then you can get one that communicates via USB to avoid the problem. Or you could move your printer from the parallel port with a real print server; some are inexpensive ($30). Then use the scanner alone on the parallel port. -- Warren Block * Rapid City, South Dakota * USA |
#6
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Printer Sharing Device question
Warren Block wrote:
The slide switch probably configures some type of handshake. The odds of it working with your scanner are no better than without the switch. You can try it; at worst, it'll damage your scanner and then you can get one that communicates via USB to avoid the problem. Or you could move your printer from the parallel port with a real print server; some are inexpensive ($30). Then use the scanner alone on the parallel port. Thanks for the thorough explanation, Warren. You're undoubtedly right about the device. Its build quality is beautiful, the workmanship is excellent -- the thing is really strong, and it's made in USA. This alone, I think, says "old." I think it's pre bi-directional, too. As far as hot switching goes, I would not flip either switch after a print job had been started. The printers I want to use are both old enough to not have USB ports; just parallel. Will this solution work in that case? Richard |
#7
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Printer Sharing Device question
Richard Steinfeld wrote:
As far as hot switching goes, I would not flip either switch after a print job had been started. If you flip a switch with power on to either the switchbox or the printer, that's hot-switching. Maybe with power on to the computer also, depending on how the switchbox is wired. The printers I want to use are both old enough to not have USB ports; just parallel. Will this solution work in that case? A network print server? Yes. A print server with a parallel port can be treated as a parallel-to-Ethernet converter. Wait--"both"? You have two printers? You could use two print servers, or a multi-port print server. The old HP JetDirect EX Plus 3 had three parallel ports; you may find one of those used. There's a multi-port print server from DLink, probably others. Replacing the scanner may be the most practical solution. If you take that option, a good reference is http://www.sane-project.org. Check which brands of scanners are supported by this open-source project. Those that are supported are ones where the vendor isn't hostile to open source, which also indicates they're not hostile to users in general. Note the entries for Visioneer, and compare to Epson. -- Warren Block * Rapid City, South Dakota * USA |
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