
Printing troubleshooting checklist
- Adobe Acrobat Reader does not start when printing to a PDF using Internet Explorer and Windows XP
- Cannot print some characters on Windows
Simplified Chinese platform with Java 2 runtime environment
- Serial printing not supported
- Print Screen does not work within the Alternate Terminal
interface using Internet Explorer
- Spaces between Hindi characters when printing the screen
- Print Screen on Windows 2000 in a session using monospaced
fonts
- Multi-language limitations on Select Printer
function
- Select Printer feature available on Windows clients only
- Duplicate warning message when no printer is defined on
Windows
- Printing problems under Netscape 4.x and Windows
- 3270 printing problems under Windows platforms or with USB
printers
- 5250 host printing troubleshooting checklist
- 3270 host printing troubleshooting checklist
- Alternate Terminal printing troubleshooting checklist
- Print screen not available on some Unix platforms
- Characters print as square symbols on
Windows Simplified Chinese platform with Java 2 runtime environment (opens different
file)
Adobe Acrobat Reader does not start when printing to a PDF using Internet Explorer and Windows XP
When using Internet Explorer Version 6 + SP1 and Windows XP, Acrobat Reader Version 5 and earlier may not start
when you print to a PDF. To avoid this, use Netscape or upgrade to a later version
of Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Cannot print some characters (including the Euro and
SAA characters) using the Print Screen command
On the Windows Simplified Chinese platform (GB18030 locale) under the Sun Java 2
runtime environment, if you cannot print some characters (including the Euro and the SAA characters)
using the Print Screen command, install the IBM Java 2 runtime environment
(Version 1.3.0-13a).
Serial printing not supported
Host On-Demand does not support printing to serial printers attached to COMx ports.
Print Screen does not work within the Alternate Terminal
interface using Internet Explorer
If the Print Screen feature does not work within the Alternate Terminal interface using Internet Explorer,
try using a later level of the Microsoft JVM, such as level 3165.
Spaces between Hindi characters when printing the screen
When using the print screen facility to print a screen which has composed Hindi
characters, you may notice that there are spaces between the composed Hindi characters.
Print Screen on Windows 2000 in a session using monospaced fonts
If your monospaced Host On-Demand session font, such as MS Gothic or MS Mincho, is
mapped to one of PAGES' fonts, you must set your Windows 2000 printer driver to Don't
Substitute fonts in order to Print Screen. MS Gothic and MS Mincho fonts are mapped to
PAGES' Gothic and PAGES' Mincho fonts by default, which results in incorrect print screen
output.
Multi-language limitations on Select Printer function
When editing the hodmodel.properties and hodpdt.properties files you must enter PDT and
model names exactly as they appear in the PDT or model field of the Printer tab.
The PDT and model fields are translated, so the hodpdt.properties and hodmodel.properties
files must be in the same language as the Host On-Demand clients that are trying to use
the Select Printer function. There can only be one set of printer selection properties
files on a Host On-Demand server, so all the clients using the Select Printer function
must be in the same language as the properties files.
Select Printer feature available on Windows clients only
The Select Printer feature is available only on Windows clients. You will not see a
Select Printer button on the Printer tab when running Host On-Demand on clients other than
Windows.
Duplicate warning message when no printer is defined on
Windows
When no printer is defined on Windows and a print screen-related operation (such as
Page Setup or Print Setup) is attempted on a Host On-Demand version 7.0 client running
with a Java 2-enabled browser, a message appears asking whether the user wants to install
a new printer. If the user selects No, the same message may appear again. This is a
JVM problem; the message is shown by Windows, not by Host On-Demand. The workaround is to press the
No button again.
Printing problems under Netscape 4.x and Windows
If you configure a Host Print session or use the Windows printer function on the
Netscape 4.x browser running on a Windows platform, you must turn the Just In Time (JIT)
compiler on.
3270 printing problems under Windows platforms or with USB
printers
If you are using Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, or a USB printer and are having
problems printing, first try using Windows Native Printer support. For more information, see Help for Printing a Screen.
If Windows Native Printer support does not work, take the following steps to write a batch file to redirect the
output to the printer:
- In the Associated Printer window, right-mouse click on the printer icon and select
Properties.
- Select the Printer tab.
- Select print to a file.
- Set Print to separate files to Yes.
- On the printer definitions, the Print to file line looks like this:
c:\tmp\hodprt.* | c:\tmp\xxx.bat $
where \tmp is some folder that exists that you do not mind putting the files in.
- Make a batch file:
- Open Notepad.
- Copy or type these commands into Notepad.
echo off
copy %1 lpt1
erase %1
exit
- Click File and then Save As.
- Change the Save as type to be All Files.
- Change the encoding to be ANSI.
- In the Filename field, type the file name as xxx.bat
For printing problems under Windows NT or Windows 2000, first try using Windows Native Printer support.For more information, see Help for Printing a Screen
If Windows Native Printer support does not work, take the following steps to write a batch file to redirect the
output to the printer:
- In the Associated Printer window, right-mouse click on the printer icon and select
Properties.
- Click the Printer tab.
- Select print to a file.
- Set Print to separate files to Yes.
- On the printer definitions, the Print to file line looks like this:
c:\hodprnt\hodprt.* | c:\tmp\xxx.bat $
where \tmp is some folder that exists that you do not mind putting the files in.
- Make a batch file:
- Open Notepad.
- Copy or type these commands into Notepad.
echo off
copy %1 lpt1
erase %1
exit
- When you are finished, click File and then Save As.
- Change the Save as type to be All Files.
- Change the encoding to be ANSI.
- In the Filename field, type the file name as xxx.bat
- Use Windows Explorer to create a folder called c:\hodprnt.
- Add a shortcut on your desktop that points to the c:\hodprnt folder on your hard drive.
- When you print, double click on the shortcut. This opens the folder on your hard drive
with the Host On-Demand print files.
- Double click on the file you want to print, open the file in Word, Notepad, WordPad, or
your favorite text editor, and then print the file.
5250 host printing troubleshooting checklist
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Host On-Demand uses Host Print Transforms. |
If you cannot print correctly, try the following:
- If you are receiving printouts that are blank or have garbage characters,
make sure that the model and manufacturer of the printer match the printer defined in the
Host On-Demand printer session and the iSeries system. To check the model and
manufacturer on the AS/400, do the following:
- Enter the following command from the command line using a 5250 display session with the
printer session started
Wrkcfgsts *dev qpa
or
Wrkcfgsts session_name
- Choose OPT 8 = Work with device.
- Select the QPA or session that you are working with.
- Choose Opt 5 = Display and press enter.
- Page down and on the nineth line you will see the manufacturer and model of the printer.
- If the manufacturer type and model of the printer defined on the AS/400 and the Host
On-Demand session match, check with the manufacturer to determine which drivers work with
the list that Host On-Demand provides.
- You may want to have a Host On-Demand level 3 transport trace and a copy of the printout
printed to a file in case you plan to contact IBM.
- If you cannot connect with the 5250 printer session and receive the error message
"The printer definition table cannot be found. Either correct the problem or choose another table,"
the problem could be that the session properties for the destination address and/or port address
are incorrect. Make sure they are pointing to the correct destination and port address you wish to
use (i.e. a Redirector machine and port being used or the destination host machine address and port).
Also check the Printer properties tab on the session for the manufacturer and model properties to see
that they are set to match with a printer manufacturer and model that the iSeries/AS/400 recognizes. For example,
a locally attached HP LaserJet 4050 PCL printer works correctly with an "HP LaserJet III" type printer
defined within the Host On-Demand 5250 printer session connecting to the iSeries/AS/400.
If you need to call IBM support, please have the following information handy:
- Host On-Demand version
- your telnet server information
- client platforms
- the type of printer you are using
- if your printer is locally or network attached
- the number of users who are experiencing this problem
- if you are using Customized Objects with a 5250 printer session
- if you are using SSL with printer sessions
- how your session was created, such as using the Deployment Wizard
- if you were able to print before now
3270 host print troubleshooting checklist
Things to check if you are not printing correctly using TN3270:
- You may want to try upgrading your JVM level.
- Try printing from another browser.
- If you are using LUs in the configuration of Host On-Demand, check to see you have
TN3270E.
- If you are printing using the native windows printing as the default, use Other and
explicitly select
the printer.
- If you are using a printer definition table (PDT), make sure that you are using the
correct PDT for the brand of printer that you are trying to print to.
- Try printing to a file rather then directly to the printer. Then, open the file in
a application that you can print from to see if the printout is different from the
original printout.
- If you are using the Alternate Terminal interface, try printing without Alternate Terminal enabled.
- If you have a networked attached printer, check to see if you can connect the printer or
a printer locally to your PC and print. See if there is a difference with the printout
from the original printout.
- You may want to have a Host On-Demand level 3 transport trace and a copy of the printout
printed to a file in case you plan to contact IBM.
If you need to call IBM support, please have the following information handy:
- Host On-Demand version
- your telnet server information
- client platforms
- browser and JVM level
- if your printer is locally or network attached
- if you are trying to do a print screen
- the type of printer you are using
- if you are using a PDT
- if you are using LUs (Explicit or Implicit); if so, the type of server you are using for the LUs
- if Alternate Terminal is enabled
- if you are using SSL
- if you are using associated printer sessions
- if you are using Native Windows printing
- the number of users affected by this problem
- the printer buffer size in the Host On-Demand configuration
Alternate Terminal printing troubleshooting checklist
Use the following checklist for contacting customer service if you experience printing
problems using the Alternate Terminal interface.
- Host On-Demand Version
- Telnet server
- Client platforms
- Browser and JVM level
- Local or Networked attached printers
- Are you trying to do a print screen?
- What type of printer are you using? (HP, Lexmark, etc)
- How was the printer session created?
- Has printing worked before now?
Check the following when using the Alternate Terminal interface if you are not printing correctly.
- Check to see if you can print without Alternate Terminal enabled.
- Upgrade the JVM level to the latest level.
- Try printing from another browser.
- Try setting Parameter OldPrintScreen value=true.
- Request a transport layer trace, level 3.
Print screen not available on some Unix platforms
The Print Screen function of Host On-Demand uses a programming interface provided by
Java. It works on most platforms, but it does not work on some Unix-based operating
systems, such as Linux. The implementation of the programming interface uses the Unix lp
command, which is not available on some Unix-based operating systems.
Following is the workaround for this problem:
- Log into the system as a superuser.
- Open a terminal session to input commands from prompt.
- Change directory to the directory where lpr command is stored. Typically, it is
/usr/bin. If this is so, type
cd /usr/bin
- Create a symbolic link with the ln command. Type
ln -s lpr lp
- Log out.
- Log in to the system as a user and start a Host On-Demand display session.
- Click File > Print Screen.
- Delete the string specified for Banner Page Title. By default, it is specified like
Print Screen.
- Click OK.
