Shared Printer Problem Fixed hp1350-printer

I found an article that fixed my shared printer problem .. all this time I presumed it was a Linux problem. Turns out, the problem was with the HP Windows Drivers for my HP PSC 1350 hanging off a WinXP computer. Hmmm

The solution was posted at LinuxQuestions.org by By 'munstah' way back in 2006-02-26 07:37 .. I am using Ubuntu Linux vs SUSE but the problem and solution applies as the HP driver problem rested on the Windows XP computer end.

He wrote:

"This brain-dump may help to troubleshoot printing problems that may arise when printing to a shared Windows printer, but it will not explain how to set up a printer in the first place or how to connect to an smb printer. The network used here is set up as a workgroup.

Facts:

• SuSE Linux 10.0 2.6.13-15-default
• KDE release 3.4.2 level "b"
• Printer set up under CUPS 1.1.23 as "smb://IP-server/sharename" using hpijs1300
• Windows XP SP2 connected to a workgroup
• HP PSC1350 (Canadian version of PSC1300) shared as "hp1350" from Windows PC

Symptoms:

• Shared printer works perfectly fine when printed to from other Windows workstations.
• When printing from Linux, the printer starts to react, but then stalls without printing a single line. The main LED blinks, print-jobs cannot be deleted under Windows. Turning the printer on and off does not solve the problem.
• No error messages in Windows. Printer shows job as "Remote Downlevel Document - printing-size (example!) 0.15kb/3.03MB"
• Print job cannot be deleted under Windows. To regain control of printer it has to be deleted, the PC has to be rebooted and the printer must be reconfigured
• The print-job also stalls under Linux, CUPS status reports "reconnecting to printer in 60 seconds" but no change in condition after several minutes wait-time.
• In contrast to Windows the print job can be paused and deleted.
• Trying different printer drivers in CUPS does not change the symptoms.
• Installing the printer using the description on instead of the native Linux-KDE tools does not change the symptoms
• The printer works immediately when connected directly to the Linux box

Solution:

The problem seems to be caused by the way the HP driver monitors the printer port. An additional complication can be the fact that Macromedia Shockwave associates "spl"-files as shockwave player files. This I found out step by step when trying to find a more effective way to regain control of the printer under Windows and with the help of the article on http://citrixfaq.msterminalservices.org/faqs2.cfm?id=74&category=2%2C3&sortby=date

Attention:

• - you must have local administrator rights on the PC to perform the changes
• - better back up your Windows system before proceeding
• Step 1: deleting the stuck print job under Windows:
• - the spooler service must be stopped first: Start - Control Panel - Administrative Tools - Services - Print Spooler -"Stop"
• - leave the window open, it will be needed later
• - navigate to systemfolder (eg C:\WINDOWS) \system32\spool\PRINTERS
• -- two files will be shown there: xxxx.shd and xxxx.spl
• -- see if the spl file is described as "Shockwave Splash file": if yes, the registry key must be removed, see Step 2
• -- delete the two files, close the window
• Step 2: this step is only required if the spl-file is set to open with Shockwave (see above)
• - run regedit and navigate to "HK classes root - .spl"
• - highlight this folder and delete it
• STEP 3:
• - if it's not already open run regedit now:
• - navigate to: "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\Windows NT x86\Drivers\Version-3\hp psc 1300 series"
• -- Note: the number in "Version-" may be different on your system!
• - right click the key and select "Export" to back it up to a location of your choice
• - look for the "Monitor"-key on the right hand side, double-click it, note down the value (most likely "hpzsnt10") and delete it
• - double-click the "Dependent Files"-key and delete the line that reads "hpzsnt10.dll"
• - exit the registry editor
• - in Windows Explorer navigate to the equivalenty of "C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86\hppsc_1300_series7216" and rename "hpzsnt10.dll" to "hpzsnt10.dl~"
• - do the same for "C:\WINDOWS\system32\spool\drivers\w32x86\3"
• - start the spooler service again

The printer now should react promptly to jobs sent from Linux."
and it's just that easy ..

And some of ask, why am I running a Windows PC anyway? Well, in this case, my MagicJack phone is hanging off it and they don't have a Linux version of it (yet). Hmmm.