"Access denied, unable to connect" on all network printers

[Andronium]

The status for all of my network printers on a W2K Pro box are all showing up as "Access denied, unable to connect". I have no problem connecting to them (nor disconnecting and re-adding them) and I can look at the properties, but when I open up an individual printer I can't look at the queue list because of the above message. The print server is an NT4 Server. I checked the printer permissions and I have full control of all of them. I'm in the domain admin group, and none of the other domain admins are having this problem.

Any ideas?

 

[jkraut]

Have you found a resolution to this? I just ran into the same problem within my network. Any info would be apprecitated.

Thanks

 

[Andronium]

Nope, no resolution. Apparently it's a mystery... nobody responded and I'm still having the problem. I've searched the newgroups and I've found many posts on this problem going back a couple of years, but none of them have any responses or solutions.

 

[pbxman]

Are you using Windows 2000 SP2?
Pbxman
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[Andronium]

I am, yes.

 

[Guest_imported]

I am having the same problem on a WIN2K SP-2 server in a WINNT 4.0 domain. The server is a dedicated file/print server that also has NAV CE 7.5 Server installed. It seems to have started recently, but it could be that we just never noticed it. Currently we are leaning towards network issues being the culprit. Do you have broadcast problems on your network?

 

[Andronium]

In my case I don't believe it's broadcase problems because it is a constant problem with my machine, while my coworkers have identical hardware/OS/software and they don't have the problem using the same network.

 

[pbxman]

This is strange how it starts happening out of the blue. We have no problems on our TCP/IP only-network. Are any of you using Netware or IPX/SPX protocol?

What kind of printers are connected to the print server?
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[Andronium]

We are TCP/IP only also, with no Netware. Most of the printers are a variety of HP laserjets, but there are a couple of lexmarks which have the same problem.

 

[pbxman]

Are you using IPX protocol? Some setting is different between yours and your other admin machines.

Have you verified identical permissions between you and the other admins?

This is a strage problem that doesn't seem to be documented anywhere really. Im going to keep looking into this..
Pbxman
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[Andronium]

Nope, straight TCP/IP.

What permissions are you referring to? The permissions on the printers are stored centrally on the print server, so since all of us are domain admins, we all have identical permissions. Is there something else that I should look at?

 

[NZWar]

Hi,

I have seen similar problems to this. It has to do with the drivers which are installed on NT4. The way NT/2000 works is that it just directly connects to the shared printer not installing it's own drivers. On the one printer where i had this problem i ended up connecting the machines via a TCP/IP print server directly to the printer. I think what you could do is install the driver on the local machine use
&quot;net use lpt1: \\<servername>\<printersharedname> /persistent:yes&quot;


This will then get around the problem as the workstation thinks the printer is attached to lpt1 and will use it's drivers instead of the NT4 ones which are incompatible with 2k.

Hope this helps

 

[pbxman]

Great tip, NZwar - i'd just like to add on to your post since it reminded me of another possible cause/solution to their problem...

If using a print server for centralized print management - the drivers for each OS should already be setup on the server itself, and downloaded to the clients as they add the network printers.

Adding drivers locally on the print server itself for all OSes on the network should be a feature used on all print servers. That way, when the user adds a printer through the wizard, they choose the network printer thay need access to, and the print server installs the correct driver for the OS. This is done on the print server itself by right-clicking on the shared printer, and addind the additional drivers for each OS involved.

Just something else for them to check since you mentioned local drivers. If your suggested workaround works, the permanent fix would be to load all drivers needed for each printer on the print server itself so the clients properly download them. You should have the Win2K drivers loaded on the print server for your 2K clients as well as the NT4 drivers for all printers..as NZwar states - they are different drivers.

Also - If using HP printers - look into downloading HP WebJet Admin (its free), and offers web-based printer management from IE.

Good tip, NZwar!
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[jkraut]

I found something that fixed it on my PC's. Try changing the local security policy for - Additional restrictions for anonymous connections to None. Rely on default permissions (under Security Options), and reboot. You may have to delete and re-add the printer.

 

[Andronium]

My security policy was already set like you say, jkraut.

As for using LPT1, I don't have any problems printing, just looking at the queue, so this won't help me. I don't get any errors when trying to print. I need to be able to look at the queue for the TCP/IP printers on the print server. If it is a 2K/NT driver issue, how can I get the client to use a 2K driver without setting up another printer on the same port with a 2K driver?

 

[pbxman]

Andronium,

Seems like the easiest way would be to install the drivers on your print server, and have them re-add the network printer so they'd download the new driver automatically. If not, im sure you could copy the driver locally, and have them choose a new driver in the print properties (if they have permissions to do so).
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