Windows 95/98/Me Printing: TCP/IP

This section explains how to install the IB-21E for the Windows 95/98/Me environment. This section covers the following topics:

Microsoft Windows encompasses a wide range of client versions; from Windows 3.1 to Windows 2000, and thus a wide range of printing capabilities. The various versions of Windows in combination with the IB-21E offer the network printing capabilities described below.

LPR (Line Printer Remote) Printing to a Windows LPR spooler over TCP/IP connection.
IPP (Internet Printing Protocol) Printing over the Internet or intranet using the Internet Printing Protocol.
E-mail printing Sending e-mail to the mail server from which the IB-21E retrieves the e-mails (print jobs).
Novell NetWare Printing to a NetWare print queue when a NetWare server is present. For details on NetWare printing, see NetWare Printing.
NetBEUI Peer to peer printing using the NetBEUI protocol. Printers are available in Windows Network Neighborhood. NetBEUI printing is fully detailed in Windows 95/98/Me Printing: NetBEUI.
Windows Printer Sharing Printing to a shared network printer which is configured on another Windows PC.

The CD-ROM includes the AdminManager utility which may be used to configure the printing environment for any of the above methods. To install AdminManager, refer to Installing the Software Utilities.

Alternatively, the Quick Setup Wizard included in the CD-ROM may be used for configuration of the most common items. Refer to the Quick Configuration Guide supplied either on the CD-ROM and in hard copy format.

Which Print Method to Use?

The optimum Windows printing configuration for you depends upon your particular environment including user and administrator experience and preferences. 

Configuring the PC for TCP/IP

To see if your Windows PC has the TCP/IP protocol already installed, proceed as follows:

  1. Select Windows Start, Settings, then Control Panel.
  2. Double click Network.
  3. Click the Configuration tab and locate TCP/IP -> .....

Figure 1. TCP/IP Protocols in Network Protocols

If TCP/IP -> (Network adapter name) is not in the list, click on Add to install it. For details on installing network services and protocols in Windows, refer to the Windows documentation or Help.

You can verify the IP address, subnet mask, and gateway currently set for your PC by selecting TCP/IP -> (Network adapter name) and clicking Properties.

Configuring the IP Address Using AdminManager

To configure the IP address for the IB-21E, you can choose from several methods (described in IP Address Configuration), including using the AdminManager. In this section, we use AdminManager to configure the IP addresses. If you have not already installed AdminManager from the CD-ROM, refer to Installing the Software Utilities.

Before proceeding, make sure that the IB-21E network interface card is properly installed in the printer. If you have not already done so, refer to Installing the IB-21E Interface Card in the Printer. In the following, it is assumed that TCP/IP is active in the network.

  1. Select Windows Start, Programs, and IB-2x Tools, and run AdminManager.
  2. On the list displayed (below), highlight (click) the interface card you want to configure.

If you do not see the interface card on the list, try clicking or selecting Search from the File menu.

Figure 2. Selecting the Target IB-21E
  1. From Setup, select Enter Initial IP Address. The IP Address Setup window (below) will open.

Figure 3. IP Address Setup Window

  1. In Ethernet Address, enter the Ethernet address of the network interface card, e.g. '00:c0:ee:10:00:0d.' This information can be obtained by referring to the label on the back panel of the interface card. It is also printed on the printer status page. To print a status page, refer to the printer operation guide.
  2. In IP Address, enter the IP address to allocate for the network interface card, e.g. '192.168.110.171.'
  3. Click OK.

Subnet Mask Address and Gateway Address

Once the initial IP address has been set, you can enter the subnet mask address and default gateway address. Proceed as follows:

  1. From the Setup menu, select Protocols. The Protocol Setup window (below) will open. Click the TCP/IP tab.

Figure 4. TCP/IP Tab

  1. In Figure 4. above, enter the Subnet Mask and Default Gateway addresses. If you are unsure of the correct subnet mask and the first number in the IP address is from 192 to 254, then use 255.255.255.0 as the subnet mask. For the default gateway address use the IP address of the router for that network segment. If it is not a routed network, the default gateway address may be left blank.
  2. Check Use TCP/IP Protocol.
  3. Uncheck Use DHCP/BOOTP and Use RARP unless you intend to use DHCP, BOOTP or RARP  to assign the IP address.
  4. Click OK. A Summary of configuration changes is displayed. 
  5. Click OK. A confirmation for resetting the interface card is displayed.
  6. Click Yes to finalize the procedure. The network interface card is ready to connect to the Windows TCP/IP printer port.

To create a TCP/IP printer port. See Creating a KPrint Port for TCP/IP Printing below.

Changing the IP Address

To change the IP address for the network interface card after the initial installation, perform the same procedure as Configuring the IP Address Using AdminManager above except entering the new IP address in addition to the subnet mask and default gateway in step 2.

Creating a KPrint Port for TCP/IP Printing

KPrint is a utility that creates a TCP/IP port in Windows based on the IP address given to the IB-21E network interface card. The IB-21E supports two methods for TCP/IP printing, Windows LPR (Line Printer Remote) spooler and IPP (Internet Printing Protocol), as well as the e-mail printing (See E-mail Printing.). These ports will appear in Windows Printers folder. See Figure 10.

Once installed, you can use the KPrint utility to create the port in Windows for any IB-21E present in the network. If you have not already done so, install the KPrint utility following the procedure in Installing the Software Utilities.

Using LPR:

  1. Run the KPrint Add Port wizard by selecting Windows Start, Programs, and KPrint, and clicking Add KPrint Port.
  2. In the KPrint Add Port Wizard (below), select Print by using LPR. 

Note: Print by using E-Mail is available for the IB-21E only.

Figure 5. Selecting LPR or IPP for TCP/IP Printing

  1. Click Next.
  2. In IP address or host name below, enter the IP address of the IB-21E to connect. If you click Search, the IB-2x Search window opens. This will search and list all available IB-2x printers in the network. Select the IB-21E printer you want to connect the TCP/IP port.

 

Figure 6. Specifying IP Address for the Port

  1. Click OK. Destination printer port name is displayed.

Figure 7. Destination Printer Port Name

  1. Change the port name if desired. The default name is 'IP address:lp.'
  2. Click Next. Confirm the configuration.
  3. Click Finish. The TCP/IP port is created in Windows and KPrint quits automatically.
  4. Proceed to Installing the Printer in Windows 95/98/Me.

Using IPP (Internet Printing Protocol):

  1. Follow steps as 1 through 4 of Using LPR: above.
  2. In the KPrint Add Port wizard, select IPP. This creates a port which will appear in Windows' Add Printer Wizard. See Figure 10.
  3. Click Next. If you are using a proxy server for Internet access, check Yes, ...; if not, check No, .... If Yes, enter the proxy server address in Address and its port number in Port number.

Figure 8. Proxy Information

  1. Click Next. In Printer URL, specify the URL of the printer. This is represented by its IP address, followed by '/ipp.'

Figure 9. Specifying the Printer URL

  1. Click Next. Confirm the configuration.
  2. Click Finish. The port has been created and KPrint quits automatically.
  3. Proceed to Installing the Printer under Windows 95/98/Me below.

Installing the Printer in Windows 95/98/Me

After you have successfully created a KPrint port in Windows, you are ready to point the printer driver to print to the port. Before proceeding, make sure that:

  1. If you have not already done so, install the printer driver for the printer. For details, see Installing the Printer Drivers.
  2. Select Windows Start, Settings, and Printers.
  3. In the Printers folder, right click the printer driver that will be used to print to the LPR or IPP port and select Properties.
  4. Click the Details tab. Click the pull-down menu for Print to the following port and select the LPR or IPP port you have created above.

Figure 10. Specifying the IPP Port

  1. Click OK.

To print from an application, select the printer driver in the application's Print menu. The printer driver allows you to fully utilize the software and hardware features of the printer.

Sharing the Printer in Windows

Windows printer sharing involves a Windows machine functioning as a host. This host acts as a print server; spooling jobs sent from Windows clients to the shared printer and forwarding them to the physical printer. Any Windows machine (after Windows 3.1) may function as either a client or a host or both.

The protocols used from client to host and from host to printer do not need to be the same. For example, if a Windows NT machine is configured to share an LPR printer, clients running only IPX or NetBEUI can still send jobs to that printer share. The Windows NT host will accept the jobs over IPX or NetBEUI and send them to the printer over TCP/IP. This capability provides tremendous flexibility in Windows network printing architecture.

To share the IB-2x printer with other Windows computers, the File and printer sharing for Microsoft Networks service must be installed in Windows. To verify this, use the following procedure:

  1. Select Windows Start, Settings, and Control Panel, and double click Network.
  2. Verify that File and printer sharing for Microsoft Networks is installed.

Figure 11. Network Properties

  1. On the same screen, click the File and Print Sharing button and click the appropriate checkbox to allow printer sharing.

  2. Select Windows Start, Settings, and Printers; right click on the printer, and select Sharing.

Figure 12. Sharing the Printer

  1. Click on Shared As and enter the desired shared name, e.g. 'KYOCERAMITA.'

  2. Click OK. The printer is shared.