Had a workorder last week to swap out a printer, an HP8150 for an HP8150. Yeah, like for like, but the W/O said it was a lease roll so that is understandable. Told the client that my area of responsibility ends at the Ethernet jack. They are responsible for printer setup (or they can get standard desktop to do it). But hey, if you need help you can call me. (OCS is notorious for going above and beyond the call of duty -- as I say it, my job is to spoil the client so they do not want anyone else touching the equipment.)
So they called just a few minutes ago. I pop open a web browser on the company laptop, set the address to the printer's IP, BAM! I'm in looking at an HP8150. Client says the new printer is a Xerox Phaser 5500. Oh..... "OK. You can pull the connection from the old printer and put it into the new." He does, I lose my connection, the IP is not set on the new. Talk him into the menu on the printer, he is compentent and gets to the network settings, it's set for DHCP and is displaying an address. He gives me the last byte, I put it into the browser, BAM! I'm looking at a Xerox 5500. Turn off the DCHP, save. Still in, so I set the IP address to the correct fixed address, save. No connection. Set the browser to the fixed IP address -- ha! There you are! "The printer is set correctly -- let's check the print server...."
I also have access to the print server, at least to the extent of being able to look and change IP addresses (for LAN upgrades where the subnet changes.) I see his printer, the driver is for the HP. "You need to call corporate helpdesk to change the driver in the server -- I don't have access to that part." I give him the phone number and wish him luck.
Waited a half hour -- the server is still the same. It's bugging me so I go to set up to print direct. Set up a TCP/IP port, need to set the print driver, hit the Xerox site.... hmmmmm.... seems it uses PCL6, same as the HP. Cool, I have that already set up. Tie it to the just created port, send my test page ("If you can read this you are connected to the network and OCS is good. If you have a problem printing it is neither a network nor an OCS problem.") Call the client, she has the page I printed. She has a trouble ticket opened to Standard Desktop. I tell her that the HP driver will likely work. She tries. It does. "You're up -- but still need the correct driver installed so don't close your ticket with standard desktop."
Posted by Paladin at December 20, 2006 10:26 AM