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The setup;
School I do some consulting for has a Win2000 server. It was set up by a "volunteer" 5-6 years ago (I chose not to inqiure of its license status...).
We (the school, and me, their tech) do not know the password(s).
We had a copier/printer running...
To set up a PC to print to that Copier/Printer, we would enter the IP number of the WIn2K server in the printer setup, and it would install the driver to the PC (Win XP), and print to it.. apparently (?) through the Win2K server.
That copier/printer died. It's been replaced.
The Win2K server (since we don't have the admin password and can't contact the person that does...) doesn't have the driver for the new one.
What is the Win2K server "doing" in this setup (if you can even tell from my somewhat vague description...), and can I replicate this service using my OS 10.3.9 Server at that school site?
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You can share printers to Windows computers from OS X. Possibly with the same functionality although my 10.3 Server is a little rusty. It's much easier if you don't have to worry about an Active Directory domain.
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Well, what I can say for sure is that nothing besides printing to the (old) copier went to heck with that server turned off...
I'm not sure it was as simple as printer sharing...
The Win2K server ALSO seems to be supplying the driver (ie, that driver is not installed on the Win XP machine, and once "pointed" to the Win2K server, picks it up and doesn't ask for a Driver disk, etc).
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ztirfritz;
Thanks for the link!
I'd RATHER get this Win2K machine gone, since it's probably pirated, and really serves no function now.. but it might be good to be able to tinker with the Win2K server for some learnin'...
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The web page that the W2k server uses has some scripts that also install the drivers on the client machines. The configuration on the printers allows you to included drivers for different OS versions and even other platforms so that it can install the drivers for Windows 98, W2k, XP, and Vista. It makes administration easy because if a user asks you to configure a network printer for them you can just send them a link. They click on the link and it installs and configures the printer for them. Slicker than snot. It actually works pretty reliably, a rarity for Windows.
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Caveat: I had this set up on my XServe in 10.2 for a long time, then it suddenly stopped working once I upgraded to 10.3 Server from Windows machines. Jobs just die when they get to the spool for some reason. I spent a long time troubleshooting it, but to no avail. YMMV. It might work better if your machine started out with 10.3 in the first place.
Actually, the printer driver thing still does work. I believe if the printer's PPD is on the Mac, then it just passes it on to the Windows client automagically.
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"I believe if the printer's PPD is on the Mac, then it just passes it on to the Windows client automagically."
See... THAT would be awesome!
I will tinker with the OS X Print Server and see if I can make that auto-magically happen...
FIrst I have to get the Mac drivers for the damn new copier working... I am not liking Konica-Minolta's support so far.
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I have a half dozen Konica-Minoltas in my facility. They have been reliable mechanically, but yeah their support for software, firmware etc. is almost non-existent. You have to go through a maintenance vendor to get anything like that.
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After a few hours on K-M's web site, I found a note that "disabled features in the print dialog under OS X 10.5" is a "known issue we'll have a fix for in a few months"...
The article was dated January 17...
So it's nice to know they're right on top of things!
