AIX Printer Tips: Network Print to IBM 3930 from AIX


Contents

About This Document
Overview and Prerequisites
Installing the Ethernet Backpack
Steps to Configure Printer
Creating Queues from AIX
Printing and Status
Printing with FTP and TFTP

About This Document

This document describes how to print from an RS/6000 running AIX to an ethernet-attached IBM 3930 page printer with the integrated ethernet attachment.

This document is supported under AIX 3.2.5 and AIX 4.


Overview and Prerequisites

The IBM 3930 Page Printer Models 03D and 03S support both direct connection and ethernet network attachment when equipped with the Ethernet Attachment Feature. The printer supports both 10BASE2 and 10BASE5 Ethernet connections. The Ethernet Interface on the 3930 is described in the 3930 Page Printer, Models 03D and 03S, Programming Reference for ASCII Attachment, GA24-4381-01, on Page 63 and following. The AIX system must have either an integrated ethernet adapter or one of the standard ethernet cards.

The interface supports the following network applications:

The manual describes how to print from HP-UX and BSD systems, but does not mention AIX. This document describes how to print to the printer with tftp, ftp, and lpr/lpd. SNMP is used by NetView and is not covered in this document.

Installing the Ethernet Backpack

Installing the Ethernet Attachment Feature is described in Chapter 6 of 3930 Page Printer, Models 02d, 02S, 03D, and 03S User's Guide SA24-4392-01.

The basic installation steps are as follows (use with manual):

  1. Turn off the printer (Section 1).
  2. Set Host Interface Card DIP switches to RS-422A interface (Section 2).
  3. Verify the BNC or ThickNet jumper positions (Section 4).
  4. Connect the Ethernet Cable to the Backpack before installing (Section 5).
  5. Place backpack in holes on rear of printer (Sections 6-9).
  6. Attach RS422, DC, and two ground wires to back of 3930 (Sections 10-13).
  7. Load new diskettes into drives (Section 14-19).
  8. Enter Disk Utilities (Page 14-1).

Steps to Configure Printer

It is important that your printer be assigned an address by the company network coordinator. Be sure to have this number before you proceed.
  1. Change Host Interface to ethernet.
  2. Assign Ethernet Addresses, and Internet Subnet mask. See Section 12-21 for details.
Confirm that the test page has printed out the correct IP address.

Creating Queues from AIX

The setup of the ethernet adapter is beyond the scope of this document. It is important that you have either a 10Base2 or 10Base5 ethernet adapter and have tcp/ip running on your system.

For creating queues in AIX to print to the 3930, the easiest way is to use the remote printing subsytem. This system uses a print queue backend called rembak to print to the printers lpd.

Add the printer host name into the /etc/hosts file or on the network name server before proceeding.

The 3930 LPD does not function in the capacity to format data in any way and does not accept any command line flags. This means that the file must be formatted before being sent from the AIX system. In AIX 4, this capability is built into the operating system by creating a remote queue with local formatting. In AIX 3 you must trick the system. One way to do this is to use double queues. First you create a remote queue that prints directly to the printer. Next you create a virtual printer that prints to a file. Finally you modify the virtual printer to send the output to the remote queue.

The 3930 LPD does not care what you call the queue name on the LPD server in your setup. Experiment and decide what give you a status line that you like the best.

Test the interface

ping 3930_hostname

Resolve network issues, if any, before continuing.

Remote Queue setup steps in AIX 3.2

  1. smitty spooler
  2. Choose: Manage Remote Printer Subsystem
  3. Choose: Client Services
  4. Choose: Remote Printer Queues
  5. Choose: Add a Remote Queue
  6. Fill in the following:
  7. Hit enter or Do to add the queue.

Virtual Printer setup steps in AIX 3.2

  1. Create a new empty lock file. This can be done by redirecting nothing into a file by starting the command with a greater-than sign as shown below. Another way to do this is to copy /dev/null to the new file. If the file doesn't exist already, you can use the touch /dev/lpx1 command to create the file.
      > /dev/lpx1
    
  2. Create a virtual printer.
      mkvirprt
    
  3. Choose: Printer or Plotter Attached to Local Host.
  4. For Device enter lpx1 (lock file name).
  5. Choose: Printer Type: Hewlett-Packard LaserJet IIIsi.
  6. Add queue names and respond to header and trailer questions.
  7. Change the virtual printer mo attribute as follows:

Queue setup steps in AIX 4

In AIX 4, the process of setting up a remote queue and a virtual printer can be done in one step as described here:
  1. smitty mkpq
  2. Choose: remote

  3. Printer Attached to Remote Host
  4. Choose: Local filtering before sending to print server
  5. Choose: Printer manuf.

  6. IBM - or - HP. If you have installed the drivers from the supplied diskette, you can use IBM.
  7. Choose: Printer model

  8. 3930 - or - Hewlett-Packard LaserJet IIIsi
  9. Enter the following items:
  10. Hit enter or Do to add the queue.

Printing and Status

Print to the queues with any of the standard AIX print commands. The status of remote queues consists of two lines. Line one is the status of the queue on AIX. Line two is the status of the job on the printer. Some of the queue status commands are: To see only the local queues, use:

Printing with FTP and TFTP

We will assume the hostname is ibm3930 and that this name has been entered into the /etc/hosts file or on the nameserver. To FTP and TFTP, enter the name also in the user .netrc file. To print a file using interactive tftp do:
  1. tftp

  2. AIX will give a tftp> prompt.
  3. tftp> connect ibm3930

  4. Connect to the 3930.
  5. tftp> binary

  6. Faster transfer mode
  7. tftp> put /etc/qconfig

  8. Send the file.
  9. tftp> quit

  10. Back to the command line
Using tftp with a single command line: Printing with ftp interactively


Network Print to IBM 3930 from AIX: AIX Printer Tips: 3930net.html ITEM: FAX
Dated: 99/01/29~00:00 Category: zap
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