Print server on LinkStation HD-H160

[BobNY]

   

I have the above LinkStation with an HP-1012 LaserJet attached to the rear port.  The print server has worked flawlessly for about 1 year.  Over the past 6 months, I've had problems with it.  When I try to print from any computer, the computer almost acts like it freezes while waiting for my document to print.  The document will eventually print but it can take as long as 5 minutes before the printer starts.  Also, when I look for the attached printer on my network, it no longer shows up.    I've talked to tech support and we've setup the LinkStation with a static IP address.  Still the same problem.  We've also disconnected the LinkStation from the router and attached it directly to the computer ... same problem.  However, the printer will work perfectly when connected directly to the computer.  My only assumption is there's a problem with the print server function but so far, after many different troubleshooting procedures, neither I nor tech support have been able to track down the cause.

 

Any ideas??? 

[Paul]

Flash the firmware on the unit and set it back to factory defaults. 

[BobNY]

   Could you explain how to do that?  I've tried re-installing the software that came with the LinkStation already and that didn't help

[Paul]

You can copy and paste the link below for the firmware flash

http://forums.buffalotech.com/buffalo/board/message?board.id=0101&message.id=277&query.id=17805#M277

 

 setting the unit back to factory requires you to log into the web interface and go to maintenance then maintenance instillation and set the unit back to factory defaults. 

[thequickone]

   

I have suffered the same sort of problem for about a month now. After a bit of really frustrating searching around, including on these forums, I have found a fix that worked for me. I cannot take credit for the actual fix, please see the article at the following link:

 

http://www.alexfalkenberg.com/2009/10/06/linkstation-windows-printing-problem-solved/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.alexfalkenberg.com/2009/10/06/linkstation-windows-printing-problem-solved/

 

Follow the instructions in the article and the linked Microsoft Support HOW-TO page, and you should be up and printing again.

 

One note; when you get as far as specifying your "Name or address of server providing lpd:" and "Name of printer or print queue on that server", you will enter the networking name (HS-DHGL###) and "lp", respectively. I am running XP Pro SP3, and there may be minor variance in what these fields are called on other versions of Windows. No slashes, forward, reverse, or otherwise, should be entered into these fields.

 

On a positive note, this also appears to get rid of the annoying "Remote Downlevel Document", or whatever it was called, being left in the print queue all the time. Not that it ever made much difference...

 

On a negative note, it appears I formatted/reformatted, initialized, updated firmware, etc., and deleted all my shared files for nothing. If you did the same during your troubleshooting, and are having strange circular reference problems with "pictures" and/or "usbdisk1" folders on your NAS, disable "PCast" and reformat your drive(s) again to fix this error.

 

Finally, two closing comments:

1. BUFFALO, shame on you for incorporating such a flimsy print server into so many of your products. This print server / utility barely supports Windows printing, which is without a doubt the most common method of printing in the technical world. We as consumers should not have to rely on private individuals to patch your shoddy software/hardware. However, now that someone has fixed the problem for you, how about you incorporate this fix in a firmware / software update for all your consumers that are suffering now, or soon will be?

2. Thank you, Alex Falkenberg / alexfalkenberg.com for providing a fix to my and likely so many other BUFFALO NAS users' printing problems.

 

My setup: NAS - BUFFALO LinkStation Live HS-DH500GL, firmware 2.11v101b (2.10 before this incident), USB Disk 1 - BUFFALO DriveStation HD-CE1.0TU2

 

I hope this helps!!

[alexfalkenberg]

   Thanks for the kind words; very glad it worked for you. fwiw, I've had no printing problems at all since doing this. I have no doubts at all that tons of people are affected by it; I very strongly agree with the "shame on you, Buffalo" sentiment as well (as noted in my blog post).