New 2003 Installation with RDP Printing Problems

[Guest Mark Stoker]

We have just installed a new 2003 R2 terminal server solution in one of our

retail stores. We are using Wyse S30 terminal with HP P2014 printers

attached via the USB connection. I am using the Windows 2003 driver.

 

Most of the time the users can print fine but we have seen the following

problems.

 

i) If say the printer jams and the user has the intervene the print job

seems the get 'stuck' in the print queue. Re-starting the print spooler

service usally does the job getting it to print.

 

ii) Sometimes when the users logs off the instance of the printer is not

removed. Subsequetly when the user logs back in there are 2 instances of the

printer and they cannot print.

 

This is our 1st 2003 installation (our other 10 stores all run Windows 2000

TS) and the printing is letting us down - any thoughts ?

 

Mark

[Guest Jeff Pitsch]

Re: New 2003 Installation with RDP Printing Problems

 

Unfortunately i did not find that driver in hp's terminal services

compatibility document

(http://h71028.www7.hp.com/ERC/downloads/4AA0-8465ENW.pdf). you may

want to use printer redirection and map it to a compatible driver:

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=239088

 

Jeff Pitsch

Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server

Citrix Technology Professional

Provision Networks VIP

 

Forums not enough?

Get support from the experts at your business

http://jeffpitschconsulting.com

 

Mark Stoker wrote:

> We have just installed a new 2003 R2 terminal server solution in one of our

> retail stores. We are using Wyse S30 terminal with HP P2014 printers

> attached via the USB connection. I am using the Windows 2003 driver.

>

> Most of the time the users can print fine but we have seen the following

> problems.

>

> i) If say the printer jams and the user has the intervene the print job

> seems the get 'stuck' in the print queue. Re-starting the print spooler

> service usally does the job getting it to print.

>

> ii) Sometimes when the users logs off the instance of the printer is not

> removed. Subsequetly when the user logs back in there are 2 instances of the

> printer and they cannot print.

>

> This is our 1st 2003 installation (our other 10 stores all run Windows 2000

> TS) and the printing is letting us down - any thoughts ?

>

> Mark

[Guest Mark Stoker]

Re: New 2003 Installation with RDP Printing Problems

 

 

 

"Jeff Pitsch" wrote:

> Unfortunately i did not find that driver in hp's terminal services

> compatibility document

> (http://h71028.www7.hp.com/ERC/downloads/4AA0-8465ENW.pdf). you may

> want to use printer redirection and map it to a compatible driver:

> http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=239088

>

> Jeff Pitsch

> Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server

> Citrix Technology Professional

> Provision Networks VIP

>

> Forums not enough?

> Get support from the experts at your business

> http://jeffpitschconsulting.com

>

> Mark Stoker wrote:

> > We have just installed a new 2003 R2 terminal server solution in one of our

> > retail stores. We are using Wyse S30 terminal with HP P2014 printers

> > attached via the USB connection. I am using the Windows 2003 driver.

> >

> > Most of the time the users can print fine but we have seen the following

> > problems.

> >

> > i) If say the printer jams and the user has the intervene the print job

> > seems the get 'stuck' in the print queue. Re-starting the print spooler

> > service usally does the job getting it to print.

> >

> > ii) Sometimes when the users logs off the instance of the printer is not

> > removed. Subsequetly when the user logs back in there are 2 instances of the

> > printer and they cannot print.

> >

> > This is our 1st 2003 installation (our other 10 stores all run Windows 2000

> > TS) and the printing is letting us down - any thoughts ?

> >

> > Mark

>

 

Just for interest, what causes the spooler to hang i.e why are they not

compatable ?

[Guest Mark Stoker]

Re: New 2003 Installation with RDP Printing Problems

 

Looking at the HP document the P2010 Printer is listed. However on the HP web

site the P2010 is a 'series' of printers and If you chosse the driver for the

P2010 it gives you the P2014 driver ??

 

"Jeff Pitsch" wrote:

> Unfortunately i did not find that driver in hp's terminal services

> compatibility document

> (http://h71028.www7.hp.com/ERC/downloads/4AA0-8465ENW.pdf). you may

> want to use printer redirection and map it to a compatible driver:

> http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=239088

>

> Jeff Pitsch

> Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server

> Citrix Technology Professional

> Provision Networks VIP

>

> Forums not enough?

> Get support from the experts at your business

> http://jeffpitschconsulting.com

>

> Mark Stoker wrote:

> > We have just installed a new 2003 R2 terminal server solution in one of our

> > retail stores. We are using Wyse S30 terminal with HP P2014 printers

> > attached via the USB connection. I am using the Windows 2003 driver.

> >

> > Most of the time the users can print fine but we have seen the following

> > problems.

> >

> > i) If say the printer jams and the user has the intervene the print job

> > seems the get 'stuck' in the print queue. Re-starting the print spooler

> > service usally does the job getting it to print.

> >

> > ii) Sometimes when the users logs off the instance of the printer is not

> > removed. Subsequetly when the user logs back in there are 2 instances of the

> > printer and they cannot print.

> >

> > This is our 1st 2003 installation (our other 10 stores all run Windows 2000

> > TS) and the printing is letting us down - any thoughts ?

> >

> > Mark

>

[Guest Jeff Pitsch]

Re: New 2003 Installation with RDP Printing Problems

 

And of course I may simply have missed it. :) Are you using the

correct version of the driver? That can be just as important. Not all

print drivers are compatible with terminal services because of the

multi-user nature of terminal services. What your experiencing sounds

like a classic case of a bad print driver.

 

Jeff Pitsch

Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server

Citrix Technology Professional

Provision Networks VIP

 

Forums not enough?

Get support from the experts at your business

http://jeffpitschconsulting.com

 

Mark Stoker wrote:

> Looking at the HP document the P2010 Printer is listed. However on the HP web

> site the P2010 is a 'series' of printers and If you chosse the driver for the

> P2010 it gives you the P2014 driver ??

>

> "Jeff Pitsch" wrote:

>

>> Unfortunately i did not find that driver in hp's terminal services

>> compatibility document

>> (http://h71028.www7.hp.com/ERC/downloads/4AA0-8465ENW.pdf). you may

>> want to use printer redirection and map it to a compatible driver:

>> http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=239088

>>

>> Jeff Pitsch

>> Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server

>> Citrix Technology Professional

>> Provision Networks VIP

>>

>> Forums not enough?

>> Get support from the experts at your business

>> http://jeffpitschconsulting.com

>>

>> Mark Stoker wrote:

>>> We have just installed a new 2003 R2 terminal server solution in one of our

>>> retail stores. We are using Wyse S30 terminal with HP P2014 printers

>>> attached via the USB connection. I am using the Windows 2003 driver.

>>>

>>> Most of the time the users can print fine but we have seen the following

>>> problems.

>>>

>>> i) If say the printer jams and the user has the intervene the print job

>>> seems the get 'stuck' in the print queue. Re-starting the print spooler

>>> service usally does the job getting it to print.

>>>

>>> ii) Sometimes when the users logs off the instance of the printer is not

>>> removed. Subsequetly when the user logs back in there are 2 instances of the

>>> printer and they cannot print.

>>>

>>> This is our 1st 2003 installation (our other 10 stores all run Windows 2000

>>> TS) and the printing is letting us down - any thoughts ?

>>>

>>> Mark

[Guest Mark Stoker]

Re: New 2003 Installation with RDP Printing Problems

 

Jeff

 

There only seems to be 1 version of the software on the HP site

(http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareIndex.jsp?lang=en&cc=uk&prodNameId=3322573&prodTypeId=18972&prodSeriesId=3322555&swLang=8&taskId=135&swEnvOID=1005)

 

I have set up the same printer on our test server and so far I have not been

able to make it crash.

 

The users on the live system have also reported very long log off times (up

to 10mins) when they try and log off the terminal after experiencing the

printer problem.

 

We have other users with identical set-up's that have experienced no

problems at all.

 

Very frustrating !!

 

Mark

 

"Jeff Pitsch" wrote:

> And of course I may simply have missed it. :) Are you using the

> correct version of the driver? That can be just as important. Not all

> print drivers are compatible with terminal services because of the

> multi-user nature of terminal services. What your experiencing sounds

> like a classic case of a bad print driver.

>

> Jeff Pitsch

> Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server

> Citrix Technology Professional

> Provision Networks VIP

>

> Forums not enough?

> Get support from the experts at your business

> http://jeffpitschconsulting.com

>

> Mark Stoker wrote:

> > Looking at the HP document the P2010 Printer is listed. However on the HP web

> > site the P2010 is a 'series' of printers and If you chosse the driver for the

> > P2010 it gives you the P2014 driver ??

> >

> > "Jeff Pitsch" wrote:

> >

> >> Unfortunately i did not find that driver in hp's terminal services

> >> compatibility document

> >> (http://h71028.www7.hp.com/ERC/downloads/4AA0-8465ENW.pdf). you may

> >> want to use printer redirection and map it to a compatible driver:

> >> http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=239088

> >>

> >> Jeff Pitsch

> >> Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server

> >> Citrix Technology Professional

> >> Provision Networks VIP

> >>

> >> Forums not enough?

> >> Get support from the experts at your business

> >> http://jeffpitschconsulting.com

> >>

> >> Mark Stoker wrote:

> >>> We have just installed a new 2003 R2 terminal server solution in one of our

> >>> retail stores. We are using Wyse S30 terminal with HP P2014 printers

> >>> attached via the USB connection. I am using the Windows 2003 driver.

> >>>

> >>> Most of the time the users can print fine but we have seen the following

> >>> problems.

> >>>

> >>> i) If say the printer jams and the user has the intervene the print job

> >>> seems the get 'stuck' in the print queue. Re-starting the print spooler

> >>> service usally does the job getting it to print.

> >>>

> >>> ii) Sometimes when the users logs off the instance of the printer is not

> >>> removed. Subsequetly when the user logs back in there are 2 instances of the

> >>> printer and they cannot print.

> >>>

> >>> This is our 1st 2003 installation (our other 10 stores all run Windows 2000

> >>> TS) and the printing is letting us down - any thoughts ?

> >>>

> >>> Mark

>

[Guest TP]

Re: New 2003 Installation with RDP Printing Problems

 

Hi Mark,

 

This printer is a host based printer, and as such is not a good

TS printer (unless you are using a 3rd party universal printer

driver solution). It will use much more CPU and bandwidth for

each print job when compared to a printer that has the native

ability to understand & process PCL or PS.

 

Another down side of host based printers is that you do not

have the flexibility to map to a more basic driver like the HP

LaserJet 4. Mapping to a basic driver is a common technique

if the manufacturer-supplied driver is not TS compatible. The

basic drivers often produce smaller print jobs as well and are

fine for many business document needs.

 

I did a quick test for you to illustrate what I mean. I opened a

43KB text file in notepad, and printed it to the P2014 host

based driver. The document was 12 pages.

 

The amount of print data that downloaded to my workstation

was 1,487KB!! In addition, CPU usage on the TS was heavy

during the entire time the print job was downloading to the client.

 

Next I printed the same file from Notepad to an HP P2015

PCL 5 driver.

 

The amount of print data that downloaded to my workstation

was only 128KB!! There was a brief spike in CPU usage while

the 12 pages were spooled from notepad, but then it went

back to 0% afterwards.

 

If you have several users printing on your TS, using a host

based printer could quickly bring the server to a crawl because

of the CPU and/or bandwidth used.

 

The above test was relatively basic. Real world printing will

involve multiple fonts, colors, some graphics, which will amplify

the problem.

 

NOTE: When I ran the test with the P2014 I noticed strange

behavior. After the notepad print job completed downloading

I noticed many "phantom" print jobs accumulating in my local

print queue. In just 30 seconds I had over 100 jobs sitting there.

 

When I attempted to log off of the server it took several

*minutes*, hanging on "Executing C:\WINDOWS\system32\wlnotify.dll".

Normally logoffs are instant. I have extended messages enabled

on this test server or else I would not have known where in the

logoff process it was hanging.

 

Based on my own direct observations and your description of

problems I would say this driver is *not* TS compatible.

 

-TP

 

Mark Stoker wrote:

> We have just installed a new 2003 R2 terminal server solution in one

> of our retail stores. We are using Wyse S30 terminal with HP P2014

> printers attached via the USB connection. I am using the Windows 2003

> driver.

>

> Most of the time the users can print fine but we have seen the

> following problems.

>

> i) If say the printer jams and the user has the intervene the print

> job seems the get 'stuck' in the print queue. Re-starting the print

> spooler service usally does the job getting it to print.

>

> ii) Sometimes when the users logs off the instance of the printer is

> not removed. Subsequetly when the user logs back in there are 2

> instances of the printer and they cannot print.

>

> This is our 1st 2003 installation (our other 10 stores all run

> Windows 2000 TS) and the printing is letting us down - any thoughts ?

>

> Mark

[Guest Mark Stoker]

Re: New 2003 Installation with RDP Printing Problems

 

TP

 

Thanks for the details explanation (and your time). Yes, the driver does

seem to be the root of the problem.

 

I'm just looking at the 'ThinPrint' solution which seems to involve

by-passing the driver.

 

Regards

 

Mark

 

"TP" wrote:

> Hi Mark,

>

> This printer is a host based printer, and as such is not a good

> TS printer (unless you are using a 3rd party universal printer

> driver solution). It will use much more CPU and bandwidth for

> each print job when compared to a printer that has the native

> ability to understand & process PCL or PS.

>

> Another down side of host based printers is that you do not

> have the flexibility to map to a more basic driver like the HP

> LaserJet 4. Mapping to a basic driver is a common technique

> if the manufacturer-supplied driver is not TS compatible. The

> basic drivers often produce smaller print jobs as well and are

> fine for many business document needs.

>

> I did a quick test for you to illustrate what I mean. I opened a

> 43KB text file in notepad, and printed it to the P2014 host

> based driver. The document was 12 pages.

>

> The amount of print data that downloaded to my workstation

> was 1,487KB!! In addition, CPU usage on the TS was heavy

> during the entire time the print job was downloading to the client.

>

> Next I printed the same file from Notepad to an HP P2015

> PCL 5 driver.

>

> The amount of print data that downloaded to my workstation

> was only 128KB!! There was a brief spike in CPU usage while

> the 12 pages were spooled from notepad, but then it went

> back to 0% afterwards.

>

> If you have several users printing on your TS, using a host

> based printer could quickly bring the server to a crawl because

> of the CPU and/or bandwidth used.

>

> The above test was relatively basic. Real world printing will

> involve multiple fonts, colors, some graphics, which will amplify

> the problem.

>

> NOTE: When I ran the test with the P2014 I noticed strange

> behavior. After the notepad print job completed downloading

> I noticed many "phantom" print jobs accumulating in my local

> print queue. In just 30 seconds I had over 100 jobs sitting there.

>

> When I attempted to log off of the server it took several

> *minutes*, hanging on "Executing C:\WINDOWS\system32\wlnotify.dll".

> Normally logoffs are instant. I have extended messages enabled

> on this test server or else I would not have known where in the

> logoff process it was hanging.

>

> Based on my own direct observations and your description of

> problems I would say this driver is *not* TS compatible.

>

> -TP

>

> Mark Stoker wrote:

> > We have just installed a new 2003 R2 terminal server solution in one

> > of our retail stores. We are using Wyse S30 terminal with HP P2014

> > printers attached via the USB connection. I am using the Windows 2003

> > driver.

> >

> > Most of the time the users can print fine but we have seen the

> > following problems.

> >

> > i) If say the printer jams and the user has the intervene the print

> > job seems the get 'stuck' in the print queue. Re-starting the print

> > spooler service usally does the job getting it to print.

> >

> > ii) Sometimes when the users logs off the instance of the printer is

> > not removed. Subsequetly when the user logs back in there are 2

> > instances of the printer and they cannot print.

> >

> > This is our 1st 2003 installation (our other 10 stores all run

> > Windows 2000 TS) and the printing is letting us down - any thoughts ?

> >

> > Mark

>