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Printing to RCS-networked printers requires a few more steps
than printing to your own printer. Most notably, you first need
to connect to sambasrv, the server that
connects Windows machines to the networked campus printers and
to RCS files and directories.
Note that if you are using Windows XP, you can (and should)
print to public printers using the more convenient pmanager server.
However, to use a private networked printer, WinXP
users still need to use sambasrv, as described below.
Authentication
First, be sure you have supplied your RCS userID and
password in the Windows login dialog box, displayed at Windows
startup.
Installing the Plain Text Password Patch
You must install the plain text password
patch and reboot your system to use Sambasrv to map a
network drive or print to RCS network printers.
Similarly, Macintosh users must also enable plain text
passwords in order to use Sambasrv.
Connecting to the RCS Network through sambasrv
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On a Rensselaer laptop: just
double-click the RCS File and Print icon on
the desktop. In the connect window that appears, check either
(or both) of the boxes that allow you to connect to your RCS
home directory or to the RCS public areas. Click
OK.
[If you have a WinXP laptop issued in fall 2003 or later,
your RCS icon does not connect to Sambasrv, but connects
instead to an AFS client that allows you to share RCS files
without Sambasrv. If you use WinXP and need to use Sambasrv
for printing to a private printer, connect by mapping your
network drive as described in the section below.]
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On a desktop computer or non-Rensselaer
laptop: you will need to map a network drive using
one of the methods below.
- To install the same icon that is on the Rensselaer
laptops, follow the instructions for Mapping a Network
Drive , which will guide you through downloading the
GETSMB program for your system.
-
Alternatively, to map the drive "manually," right-click
on the My Computer icon on your PC's
desktop and select the Map Network Drive
... option from the menu that appears. The Map
Network Drive window will appear, prompting you for the
Drive and Path (or Folder) of the desired disk
resource. The Drive letter will default to the next
available drive, but you may select any available drive
letter. Then type in the desired network path as
follows:
To connect to RCS public areas, type
\\sambasrv\public.
To connect to your RCS home directory, type
\\sambasrv\userID
(substituting your own RCS userID, e.g. smithj9).
The system may prompt you to enter a password. If
so, enter your RCS password and click on the
OK button.
Installing the Printer Driver
Before installing a printer driver, you will need to know
two things:
- The network name of the printer you wish to install; for
example, tr2018lw (the black & white
LaserWriter in Troy 2018)
- The recommended printer driver for the chosen
printer.
To find this information, see the list of public
printers. For almost all the black & white, one-sided
printers on campus, we recommend the driver Apple LaserWriter
16/600 PS. (This driver is on the hard drive for the laptops
and most other Windows computers.) A few printers have special
features: for example, the printer in the VCC Print Room,
called vcblw, is an HP5000 N that prints two-sided on B-size
(11"x17") paper. To take advantage of such special features,
you will need to install the printer driver for that particular
model printer.
For detailed instructions on installing the printer driver,
click the link to the left that matches your operating system.
Note that the instructions for Windows XP are included only for
those wishing to connect to a private printer. If you want to
print to a public printer, follow the instructions for
pmanager.
You can use your application's Print dialog box to print to
any RCS-networked printer that has been added to your system.
To see which printers you have, click the Start menu and select
Settings, then Printers.
Checking the Print Queue
Currently, you need to connect to the RCS UNIX system in
order to check the print queues of the various networked
printers. To make the connection, double-click the
SecureCRT icon to start a secure telnet
session to one of the remote UNIX hosts. After you start
SecureCRT, a Connect window will appear. Select a hostname from
the list and click OK. You will then be prompted for your RCS
userID and password.
Once you are connected, enter the command
lpq at the UNIX prompt, using the
-P option to specify the name of the printer
you used. For example, if you sent your job to vclw, the
double-sided printer in the VCC Print Room, the command would
be:
lpq -P vclw
When you have finished your remote session, type logout and
then close the SecureCRT window.
NOTE: SecureCRT is pre-installed on Rensselaer laptops. If
you want to install SecureCRT, click on the Software tab above,
and then select SecureCRT. There is a $10 charge.
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printer-friendly