help

[amezri]

OMG. Does anyone know how to get printer sharing to ACTUALLY WORK?!

I have a PC downstairs connected directly to the router and I thin the printer sharing is set up correctly. I have no ide who to even check. It's Win XP running Windows Firewall.

And I'm trying to connect with all the other wireless machines in the house but it just won't work. Schrodinger is running Norton Internet Security, Talyn and my mom's laptop are running Comodo.

GLARGH. It did work a long time ago when it was firt setup but now it's doesn't.

I could have had this resume printed an hour ago if I wasn't trying to get this thing to work.

Comments

[amy13.livejournal.com]

as long as you guys ae all on a "network" together all you should have t do is make sure sharing is enabled on the machine the printer is physically connected to... then add the printer as a "network" printer on your other machines.

[amy13.livejournal.com]

and WOW was that riddled with typos or what? sheesh.

[amezri.livejournal.com]

I did that. They are all on the same network and set to the same workgroup and it did work at one point. It's just suddenly decided not to any more. :(

[larissa-j.livejournal.com]

And I'm trying to connect with all the other wireless machines in the house but it just won't work. Schrodinger is running Norton Internet Security, Talyn and my mom's laptop are running Comodo.

It should connect machine to host not the other way around. If the other machines do not have sharing set up, you won't be able to connect. Also, have you restricted permissions down to accounts or left sharing open to everyone?

Are you receiving a specific error when you attempt to connect to the printer from certain machines or is the printer not visible at all?

If you unplug the router from the internet and disable the firewall on the host, can you connect to the printer/host? What about if you disable both firewalls?

(then it's a firewall config problem)

Are all the machines in the same workgroup? (I know it's a dumb question but my roomate did this to us recently, so there you have it)

If your printer has an ethernet port, I'd suggest plugging it directly into the router and adding a port on all machines via TCP/IP. If not, then go with printer sharing.

[amezri.livejournal.com]

Carbunkle is set up for sharing the printer that is attached. The machines are all set up in the same workgroup. I have to turn the firewall off on the machines trying to print to Carbunkle in order for them to even see the machine. The printer doesn't have an ethernet port... that would have made it way easier.

The sharing has been left open to everyone, I think because I can't figure out how to lock it down. The other machines have to have sharing setup? Never did that before and it has worked, it's just that the connection is dodgy.

The funny thing is I tried this an hour ago and neither the printer nor the machine would show up when I go to add the printer. Then 10 minutes later, the workgroup shows in the list and just now Carbunkle and the Lexmark show up. So it let me set it up on Schrodinger as a usable printer.

I just ran a test print and it works.

Of course now my firewall just kicked back on (I set it to disable for 5 minutes). Test printed again and it seems to have gone through.

Maybe the account isn't authenticating on Carbunkle? Except that can't be the problem because it just printed. So it seems I probably have my firewalls setup wrong...

*headdesk*

[larissa-j.livejournal.com]

The sharing has been left open to everyone, I think because I can't figure out how to lock it down.

You can try going into sharing and remove the option for "everyone" and then add accounts by machine\username (this would be the hostmachine\username).
If you do this, you also need to add the users to your local machine. They don't need to be administrators. They won't be adding/removing ports or changing driver settings, right?

The other machines have to have sharing setup? Never did that before and it has worked, it's just that the connection is dodgy.

no. sorry. I meant that if you were trying to 'see' the folders on the other machines from the host, you needed to have sharing setup.

I thought you were going

HOST --->machine

and not

Machine--->HOST

If you were attempting to locate folders on the nonhost machine, sharing would have needed to be enabled on those machines as well.

Nevermind it's not important.

If I remember, NIS, will prompt (if you have verbose messages turned on) you for action when another computer attempts to connect to your machine.

You can try turning on NIS, and seeing if NIS prompts to create a rule.

I'm not familiar with the other firewall programs, but you can check if file/printer sharing is an option. It should be turned on by default in XP in the Windows Firewall but I can't remember. It's been almost 18 months since I ran XP.

*iz an idiot and posted in the wrong spot the first time*

[larissa-j.livejournal.com]

Hold on. Schrodinger isn't running NIS *headdesk*

must have more caffeine on Saturdays

Yikes.

Is it working now or did the firewall(s) shut everything down again?

I'm going to get more caffiene so I can think straight and hopefully this will work itself out

ugh

[amezri.livejournal.com]

Schrodinger *is* running NIS (Carbunkle, the host machine, is not). However, NIS didn't prompt when when it tried to connect. It might be because I'd allowed it before?

With the firewall on I get an error saying,

Windows cannot print due to a problem with the current printer setup. Try one or more of the following:
* Check the printer by printing a test page from Windows.
* Make sure the printer is turned on and online.
* Reinstall the printer driver.

So. I guess it is a firewall issue.

[larissa-j.livejournal.com]

Schrodinger *is* running NIS (Carbunkle, the host machine, is not).

*facepalm*

Told you I needed more caffeine.

[amezri.livejournal.com]

It's all good. I haven't even eaten breakfast yet.

I should really look into that.

[amezri.livejournal.com]

I think I fixed it! Basically removed all the firewalls related to my internal IP range (I think several of them were blocking the file sharing) and now it seems to have fixed itself.

HOORAY!

Thanks for the assist. Talking it out with someone else was really helpful ^^

[larissa-j.livejournal.com]

I think I fixed it! Basically removed all the firewalls related to my internal IP range (I think several of them were blocking the file sharing) and now it seems to have fixed itself.

HOORAY!

Yes! Congrats.

Thanks for the assist. Talking it out with someone else was really helpful ^^

*laughs* I'm not sure if I helped or was just more confusing. :) Anyway, no problem.