Microsoft KB Archive/50123

What to Do If a Network PostScript Printer Won’t Print

PSS ID Number: Q50123 Article last modified on 11-02-1994

4.00 5.00

MS-DOS

SUMMARY

When you are printing across a network to a PostScript printer, be aware of the following things:

1. Some networks require a “%!” be the first two characters of a PostScript file. This is not a problem in Word Version 5.00, but with Word Version 4.00, the .INI file must be edited and a %! added to a blank line at the beginning of the file. Please note that this must be a blank line, do not add the %! to the beginning of the first line. In PostScript, an % sign denotes a comment, and would comment out the first line of the .INI file.

2. With most networks, you must load the POSTSCRP.INI file into Word, do a CTRL+PGDN to get to the bottom of the .INI file, and remove the extra diamond sign (CTRL+D, ASCII 4) from the file. The other diamond sign is the standard Word “End of file” marker.

3. On printers where for network reasons, the network administrator may not want the permanent state of the printer changed (Word’s .INI file creates a dictionary in the printer’s memory), put a percent (%) sign at the beginning of the first four lines that do not have a % in the .INI file. The same can be done in Word 4.00 by putting a % at the beginning of the first two lines of the .INI.

4. With networks that have problems with the .INI and print files being separate files, use Steps 2 and 3 on the .INI file, and Transfer Merge the print file to the end of the .INI file. Send this merged file to the printer via the network. Use the following method:

   1. Edit the POSTSCRP.INI file, taking out the extra diamond sign, and add the % signs mentioned in Step 3.

   2. Create a print file using Word’s Print File feature.

   3. Copy the .INI and the print file to the port that is routed to the printer. For example, assuming the print file is named TEST.PRN and the port that is rerouted is LPT1:, the syntax would be as follows:

      COPY POSTSCRP.INI+TEST.PRN LPT1:

      This solves most PostScript printing problems with networks.

5. For the NEC LC-890, if the printer does not print with a parallel connection, try using the PostScript Interactive mode as a testing measure. This shows if the Interactive mode seems to have a better connection than the Postscript Batch mode. Change the time-out period on the printer to the smallest value that does not stop printing. Note that Word does not usually support this mode, and the printer stays “Online Processing” until the time-out period has expired. This may cause a few problems for others on the network, which is why you will want to select the smallest value that does not cut off part of the print of the document.

6. If the network spooler creates any kind of header pages or separator pages, you will want to have these disabled.

KBCategory: kbprint kbnetwork KBSubcategory: Additional reference words: ============================================================================= Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1994.