DOS print jobs printing twice

[crisc]

Hi all,
Whenever anyone in a group of Windows 2000 PCs prints a DOS print job to a their network printer, it prints that job twice. "Normal" non-DOS print jobs print normally. All the PCs have the same setup, using a "net use .... /persistent:yes" statement to maintain the LPT1 capture.
It wasn't always doing this, only within the last couple weeks have they noticed it. Nothing obvious has changed since this began.
I haven't been able to look at the printer itself, but I suspect its not a setting on the printer, as it would print twice for ALL jobs, not just DOS ones. Can anyone think of why this might be happening?

 

[Bozz]

Printing to another printer would tell you if it was the printer itself. I had a similar problem on one printer on a network but no others.

Ian Boys
DTE Systems Ltd

 

[crisc]

I've confirmed that when they print DOS jobs to another network printer, it only prints once. I'm just stumped on what might be causing DOS to print twice while other jobs to print once.
I suppose its time to start swapping parts.

 

[Bozz]

Does doing a DIR > LPT1 (perferably on a small directory) print once of more?

Lets think logically about this. If ALL users have the same effect then it's probably not a "funny" on the individual PC's. Is it really a network printer of is it shared on a workstation? If a true network printer then check its status printout. If it's shared then check any defaults. Could it be an issue with re-doing the NET USE line, after all, the /Persistent:yes should be just that, persistent?

Just brainstorming, hope it helps.

Ian Boys
DTE Systems Ltd

 

[crisc]

Thanks Bozz, I think I've covered those bases since first posting.
It is a "real" network printer, (not shared thru a PC) though it is using an external Jetdirect device for networking, while most of the other printers use internal NICs. Not sure if this makes a difference, but worth mentioning.
I haven't tried a DIR > LPT1, but I did go into the DOS editor and try printing random text from it, which prints twice. I've mapped my own PC to this printer, and its coming out twice as well.
It has to be something goofy on that printer, a setting or something. Its at a different facillity, so it isn't immediately accessable to me.

 

[TonHu]

Have you tried resetting the Jetdirect printserver, it is afterall a sort of computer, that can go bazurk all by itself ;-)

HTH
TonHu

 

[crisc]

Haven't tried that yet, TonHu, but I'll keep it in mind, thx.

 

[crisc]

OK, first off, I was wrong about the external print server. It was internal.

Easy solution once I was able to get in front of it. In the printer's built-in menu, I found a setting "copies=2". I changed this to 1, problem solved. 32-bit jobs must supercede this setting, as I've stated, only the DOS jobs had been printing twice.

None of the people who use this printer have the ability or inclination to mess with the printer's menu and change this, so I'm not sure how it happened in the first place, but that's a concern for another day...

 

[Bozz]

Must try that on my printer with the same problem. I can see the logic to it only happening to the DOS jobs now.

Ian Boys
DTE Systems Ltd

 

[TonHu]

According to a man called Murphy ;-)... possibility of a crashed printjob that had enough guts to set the setting and store it as well

HTH
TonHu