Troubleshooting Guide

Table of contents

Printing troubleshooting checklist

  1. Adobe Acrobat Reader does not start when printing to a PDF using Internet Explorer and Windows XP
  2. Cannot print some characters on Windows Simplified Chinese platform with Java 2 runtime environment
  3. Serial printing not supported
  4. Print Screen does not work within the Alternate Terminal interface using Internet Explorer
  5. Spaces between Hindi characters when printing the screen
  6. Print Screen on Windows 2000 in a session using monospaced fonts
  7. Multi-language limitations on Select Printer function
  8. Select Printer feature available on Windows clients only
  9. Duplicate warning message when no printer is defined on Windows
  10. Printing problems under Netscape 4.x and Windows
  11. 3270 printing problems under Windows platforms or with USB printers
  12. 5250 host printing troubleshooting checklist
  13. 3270 host printing troubleshooting checklist
  14. Alternate Terminal printing troubleshooting checklist
  15. Print screen not available on some Unix platforms
  16. 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:

  1. In the Associated Printer window, right-mouse click on the printer icon and select Properties.
    1. Select the Printer tab.
    2. Select print to a file.
    3. Set Print to separate files to Yes.
    4. 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.

  2. Make a batch file:
    1. Open Notepad.
    2. Copy or type these commands into Notepad.
        echo off
        copy %1 lpt1
        erase %1
        exit
    3. Click File and then Save As.
    4. Change the Save as type to be All Files.
    5. Change the encoding to be ANSI.
    6. 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:

  1. In the Associated Printer window, right-mouse click on the printer icon and select Properties.
    1. Click the Printer tab.
    2. Select print to a file.
    3. Set Print to separate files to Yes.
    4. 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.

  2. Make a batch file:
    1. Open Notepad.
    2. Copy or type these commands into Notepad.
        echo off
        copy %1 lpt1
        erase %1
        exit
    3. When you are finished, click File and then Save As.
    4. Change the Save as type to be All Files.
    5. Change the encoding to be ANSI.
    6. In the Filename field, type the file name as xxx.bat
  3. Use Windows Explorer to create a folder called c:\hodprnt.
  4. Add a shortcut on your desktop that points to the c:\hodprnt folder on your hard drive.
  5. When you print, double click on the shortcut. This opens the folder on your hard drive with the Host On-Demand print files.
  6. 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

Note: Host On-Demand uses Host Print Transforms.

If you cannot print correctly, try the following:

If you need to call IBM support, please have the following information handy:

3270 host print troubleshooting checklist

Things to check if you are not printing correctly using TN3270:

If you need to call IBM support, please have the following information handy:

Alternate Terminal printing troubleshooting checklist

Use the following checklist for contacting customer service if you experience printing problems using the Alternate Terminal interface.

Check the following when using the Alternate Terminal interface if you are not printing correctly.

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:

  1. Log into the system as a superuser.
  2. Open a terminal session to input commands from prompt.
  3. Change directory to the directory where lpr command is stored. Typically, it is /usr/bin. If this is so, type
     cd /usr/bin
  4. Create a symbolic link with the ln command. Type
     ln -s lpr lp
  5. Log out.
  6. Log in to the system as a user and start a Host On-Demand display session.
  7. Click File > Print Screen.
  8. Delete the string specified for Banner Page Title. By default, it is specified like Print Screen.
  9. Click OK.

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