Issue: Can't replace the PPPClient.exe when upgrading
Descripton: When upgrading PPP the PPPClient.exe fails to overwrite the existing PPPClient.exe because there are serveral users running the PPPClient.exe and the connection won't allow the PPPCleint.exe to be deleted.
Solution: Free the PPPClient.exe from the locked connections by doing the following:
Run the "Novell Remote Manager" by opening a browser and going to https://IPAddressOfServer:8009, select Manage Server, select Volumes, click on the volume name (not the i with a circle around it), continue drilling down by clicking on the folder names (not the folder with the magnifying glass), when you get to the PPPClient.exe click on the paper with the magnifying glass icon next to PPPClient.exe. In the "File lock information by connection:", click on select all and then "Close file for marked connections".
Issue: Command Line Parameters for PPPClient
Descripton: All command line parameters for PPPClient are preceded by a single space on the command line, and do not use a "/" or other delimiter. If a parameter value includes spaces, the entire value should be enclosed in double quotes. Unless specified, multiple parameters can be used simultaneously, separated by a single space. An example that meets all these requirements is "y:\ppp\pppclient.exe nominimize path="c:\ppp temp".
Solution:
NOMINIMIZE
Displays log window on client workstation. This is most useful for troubleshooting, and overrides the global setting in PPPAdmin, Client Options.
PATH=
Followed by a path, optionally enclosed in double quotes. This is used to specify a non-default location for PPPClient to save the configuration files before applying them to the local printers. The default location is c:\.
NOSPOOLER
Prevents PPPClient from restarting the spooler. On version 6.5, the spooler restarts by default only on NT 4, and must do so for most drivers to read the new settings into memory. Some older versions of PPP restart the spooler on other OSes.
2000SPOOLER
Forces a restart on Windows 2000 computers after PPPClient applies the printer settings. Some drivers require this for some settings, to allow the spooler to read the new settings into memory.
XPSPOOLER
Forces a restart on Windows XP computers after PPPClient applies the printer settings. Some drivers require this for some settings, to allow the spooler to read the new settings into memory
NOWATCHER
Forces PPPClient to exit instead of entering Printer Watcher mode after initial configuration of printers. This is used when you don't want PPPClient to continue running on the client machine, watching for printer installs.
PROFILEHELPER
Disables a portion of the Printer Watcher. See roaming profile issue for more information.
WAIT=
Followed by a number, in seconds. When PPPClient detects a new printer installation, it waits 14 seconds before configuring the printer, in order to let the installation finish. If your printer installations are extra slow, you can make PPPClient wait longer to make sure the printer is fully installed before PPPClient tries to configure it.
DELAY=
Followed by a number, in seconds. When PPPClient first runs, it configures all installed printers. If you make PPPClient run at login, and you often have printers installing during login, you can make it delay longer to allow all printers to finish installing before PPPClient configures them.
HideOnInvalidPath
Causes the PPPClient.exe to remain hidden even if it is unable to connect to the configuration file to receive instruction to run open or hidden. The downside to using this option is you don't know the pppclient.exe is not able to find the config file in the <ppp_install_dir>/mem folder. The good side of it is users will never see the pppclient log window. Usually this parameter is used with the WorkingDirectory parameter so that if the server is down that is holding the ppp configuration database the PPPClient.exe will remain running silent (although doing no work) until the next time the user logs in and the server is back up.
WORKINGDIRECTORY=
Followed by a path, optionally enclosed in double quotes. This parameter is used to tell PPPClient where to look for the PPP configuration files. By default, PPPClient looks in its own directory, but if you want to run PPPClient from a local directory, for example, and still keep the configuration files in one location on the server, you could use a command like this:
c:\ppp\pppclient.exe WORKINGDIRECTORY="y:\apps\ppp"
Issue: The Printer Watcher does not recognize newly installed printers on XP.
Descripton: The Printer Watcher waits for a Windows system event that is issued when NDPS or iPrint printers are installed. It also recognizes when iPrint user printers are installed. It relies on a Windows subsystem that issues these system events for other applications to read. In XP, this subsystem is part of the 'Terminal Services' service, and if this service is disabled, the Printer Watcher won't receive these printer install events.
Solution: 1. Enable the Terminal Services service in Windows.
Issue: PPPClient stalls the login script or batch file
Description: Starting with version 6, PPPClient has a feature named Printer Watcher. After configuring all installed printers, PPPClient slips into the background and waits for more printers to be installed in order to configure them. Because of this, PPPClient doesn't exit until the user logs out or shuts down.
Solution:
1. If starting PPPClient from a login script, use the @ symbol instead of the # symbol. @ will allow the script to continue, while # will wait for PPPClient to exit, which won't happen. See Novell TID 2905212 for more information.
2. If starting PPPClient from a batch file (.com or .bat), simply putting in the path and filename to PPPClient will make the batch file to wait for the program to finish. Use the Start command, and the batch file will continue without waiting for the program to finish. Example: start y:\pppclient.exe.
Issue: Distribute PPPro Client Package fails to copy PPPClient.exe
Description: This tool performs a basic file copy to the remote location. As such, if the pppclient.exe file is in use, or running on client computers from that location, the file may not be overwritten. Unless you are upgrading your PPPClient.exe file, this is not a problem, since the PPPClient.exe file is not altered when making changes to printer configurations. If you are upgrading or updating your software, PPPClient.exe will need to be overwritten.
Solution:
1. Peform the distribution after hours when no end-users are logged in or using the PPPClient.exe file.
2. If the number of clients using the file is small, NetWare Remote Manager (NRM) has a 'close file' feature that allows you to close the client connection to the file without interrupting the end-user. To use this, open NRM (http://server:8008), click Connections, click on one of the users with the file open, select pppclient.exe, click close file next to each connection. This usually works great for our customers and ourselves, but no guarantees! Talk to Novell support for more details about the implications of this action.
Issue: PPPClient prevents the roaming profile from uploading at logout
Description: When using roaming profiles and starting PPPClient with a Zen application as unsecure or secure system user, the user gets an error at logout indicating that PPPClient is using the registry and that Windows cannot upload the profile. The Printer Watcher feature in PPPClient watches one portion of the registry in order to determine when an iPrint "user" printer is installed, since Windows does not generate a printer install event for this type of printer. Because PPPClient was started in this case by the system user, the roaming profile upload is attempted before PPPClient is told to exit during logout. Thus, PPPClient is still watching the registry when the profile upload is attempted.
Solution:
1. When running PPPClient as a system user, iPrint "user" printers will generally not be used. A command line parameter named 'PROFILEHELPER' was created to prevent the Printer Watcher from watching for iPrint "user" printers, thus alleviating the above problem. Proper usage is y:\pppclient.exe PROFILEHELPER. This parameter may be used in conjunction with any other command line parameters.
Issue: PPPAdmin gives error 'Invalid Data Type' after clicking Continue
Description: In PPPAdmin, after making settings on a printer, clicking Ok, and then clicking Continue, an error message pops up. The title of the box is PPP Administrator, and the message is Invalid Data type for '
'. The settings are not saved, but a printer license may be used, and you may now have difficulty configuring the printer again. This problem is most likely an issue with the buffer size PPP is using to read certain printer settings into memory. Newer printer drivers generally require larger buffer sizes, and occasionally a driver will be found that requires a larger buffer size than your version of PPP is designed to handle.
Solution:
1. Download and use the latest release of PPP (http://www.printerpropertiespro.com/download), since it should account for all current printer drivers and their required buffer sizes.
2. If you are using the latest version and still get this error, please contact technical support.
Description: When attempting to save a printer configuration in PPPAdmin, this error message appears and the configuration is not saved, and the timestamp is not updated or set. PPPAdmin creates a temporary configuration after clicking Continue during the configuration creation process. Then when you click Apply, that temporary configuration overwrites the original configuration, if any, in the printer_profile directory. If the original configuration files are in use when PPPAdmin tries to overwrite them, this error will occur. This happens most often when PPPClient is in the process of using those files when PPPAdmin is trying to overwrite them, and this can make the error seem sporadic.
Solution:
1. Try again. You may need to click Cancel and redo your configuration, but if you try again when the files are not in use, the error should not occur.
2. Use PPPAdmin during low user login periods or after hours. This will increase the chances that no clients are using the files.
3. Install PPP to a directory where normal users don't have access in order to run PPPAdmin and create your configurations. Then use the Distribute Client Package option in PPPAdmin to send the config files and PPPClient.exe to a location where users do have access, and start the client from there. Note that with this option you need to redistribute the settings each time a change is made in PPPAdmin.
Issue: The Location and Comments fields don't update on the client until after reboot.
Description: Many printer drivers load some settings into memory when the spooler service starts (NT/2K/XP), and are only updated in memory by using the driver user interface on the workstation. Location and Comments fields are two common properties that usually get read into memory. When PPPClient applies the new configuration, the settings in memory don't get update until the computer reboots (or until the spooler restarts) and reads the new settings into memory.
Solution:
1. For noncritical settings, like Location and Comments, we recommend you wait for a computer reboot to display them. In most cases this is not a problem.
2. For more critical settings, we provide two command line parameters that allow you to force a spooler restart on the client machine after the PPP settings have been applied. The parameters are 2000SPOOLER and XPSPOOLER. Here's an example of usage: y:\ppp\pppclient.exe 2000SPOOLER. After the spooler restart, the settings should be in memory and available. Note that this option is recommended only when absolutely necessary, since restarting the spooler can sometimes create new problems on a computer.
Settings made under Advanced, Printing Defaults are not applied on the client.
Description: Most drivers have a General tab with a Printer Preferences button, and an Advanced tab, with a Printing Defaults button. Both locations allow you to configure the same settings. If you use the Advanced tab, Printing Defaults button, some or all of you driver settings may not be distributed to the client computers.
Solution:
1. Use the General tab, Printing Preferences button for all driver configurations.
The IPP URLs are different in PPPAdmin than on my installed IPP printers.
Description: For IPP printers, the URL used may be modified in various ways. The most common is to force them to use the master IP address or DNS name of a cluster, rather than allowing them to adopt the name or address of the node the NDPS Manger was running on when they were installed. If this is forced by encoding the IP or DNS name into the HTML used to install the printers, it may work fine for the printers themselves, but PPPAdmin could still show the node name or IP of the node currently running the NDPS Manager. This creates a problem for PPP, since the printers are installing with different URLs, and the names don't match up with PPPAdmin.
Solution:
1. Novell recommends using the /DNSNAME switch when loading NDPSM.NLM especially in clustered environments to give a common IP or DNS name to the printer installs and the Manager itself. See Novell TID 10069798 for more information. Using the /DNSNAME switch will ensure PPPAdmin uses the same IPP URL that the installed printers will be using.
2. After implementing the /DNSNAME, remove the iPrint printers from PPPAdmin (click on "-" icon in toolbar) and re-enable the printer so that PPPAdmin will query the new DNS name of the printer from eDirectory.
PPPClient only distributes some of the settings to the client computer.
Description: When PPPClient runs on a client machine, only some of the settings are applied to the printer. Sometimes in this situation the printer seems to work okay, and other times the printer gives errors when printing or viewing driver properties. The most common cause of this problem is a driver difference between the machine used to create the configuration and the machine where the configuration is applied. If PPPAdmin or PPPClient applies the configuration correctly to the same machine used to create the configuration, then this is most likely your problem. Sometimes the NDPS RPM doesn't completely update workstation drivers, or only some of the driver files are updated, and many drivers need an exact match in order to receive a PPP configuration.
Solution:
1. Ensure the drivers on all client machines are the same as the driver used on your admin machine used to create the PPP configuration. Sometimes it is necessary to examine the individual driver files to ensure a match. Also, you may need to delete the driver from a client machine completely and allow NDPS to reinstall it. To do this, go to the Printers window in Windows 2K/XP, click File, Server Properties, then locate and remove the problem driver from the workstation. NDPS will reinstall it if using the RPM.
PPPClient gives an error "Registry editing has been disabled by your administrator".
Description: PPPClient requires access to the registry in such a way that if you have used policies to disable the use of registry editing tools, you will receive this error and the printer settings will not be applied.
Solution:
1. If possible, remove policies that disable registry editing tools to allow PPPClient to work.
2. If this is not possible, create a NAL object to run PPPClient, and start it as a system user. This way, even though the logged in users won't have access to the registry, PPPClient will still have the necessary acess.
iPrint user printers aren't being configured, even though PPPClient runs normally.
Description: PPPClient seems to run normally, but the iPrint user printers don't get their configuration. This can also sometimes happen with the iPrint workstation printers. For a description of the difference between iPrint user and workstation printers, see Novell TID 10085484. PPP requires that a configuration intended for an iPrint user printer be created on a printer installed as a user printer. Workstation printers must also be used to create configurations intended for iPrint workstation pritners. A common error is for an admin to create a configuration using a workstation printer, and then deploy that configuration to computers with user printers, which will appear to work normally, but none of the settings will be applied. This can be prevented by setting the iprint.ini file (see Novell TID referenced above) to always use the same type of printers, workstation or user.
Solution:
1. PPP recommends setting the iprint.ini file to either 0 or 2, to force either workstation or user printers. If this setting is at 1, local Windows administrator accounts will get workstation printers, while local Windows user accounts will get user printers.
2. After changing the iprint.ini, or ensuring you have the same type of printer installed on both the admin and client workstations, a new configuration must be created using the proper type of printer to correct the problem.
After updating a driver, PPP doesn't configure it properly, or the printer doesn't work.
Description: PPP creates configurations that are very specific to the version of the driver you create them with. If you update the printer drivers on your workstations, or change them to a completely different driver, this can cause a problem with the PPP configuration, unless it is updated as well.
Solution:
1. After updating or changing the driver, but before applying a PPP configuration to it, you should delete the current configuration in PPPAdmin and make a completely new one.
2. If your driver update is not a cut-over, or all at once, you might find it useful to create a new NDPS agent for the same printer, with a different name. Then you can make a separate PPP config for that agent, and install the new printer to users at your leisure, while using separate PPP configs on the separate drivers at the same time.
I want PPP to configure a printer one initial time, and let the user change it after that.
Description: By default, PPPClient configures all installed printers each time it runs. This means that if a user makes changes to his or her printer, they will be set back to the PPP configuration next time PPPClient starts, which is generally every time they login. You can set PPPClient to configure a printer only one time, and then leave the printer alone, allowing the user to make any changes desired without overwriting them.
Solution:
1. Turn off the global option 'Distribute All Printer Properties Always' in PPPAdmin under Client_Options. This automatically makes PPPClient configure all printers only one time, and if a printer has already been configured before you change this setting, PPPClient will leave it alone.
2. You then have the option to make individual configurations distribute every time, regardless of the global setting. With a printer selected on the left, check the box on the right labeled Distribute Always, to make that particular configuration apply its settings every time PPPClient runs.
3. With a configuration set to not distribute always, you might need to make a change and distribute it. This is what the Version number is used for. Make the change in your configuration and then increment the Version number. This will tell PPPClient to distribute that configuration one more time, and then leave the printer alone again.
4. Note that deleting and reinstalling a printer on the workstation will also cause PPPClient to configure it one time.
I get an error in PPPAdmin stating that I cannot configure the printer due to "OS Language Restraints".
Description: When clicking on Configure Printer Properties in PPPAdmin for a specific printer, you get an error stating that PPPAdmin cannot configure the printer due to OS Languague Restraints. Most of the time, this error comes from what we have dubbed a "dangler" in the registry. It's a registry key for that printer that should have been removed, but wasn't, which can occasionally happen while configuring printers due to the frequent installation and uninstallation of different printers.
Solution:
1. Since this problem is specific to the machine you are using, another machine that has never had the printer installed should allow you to configure the printer normally.
2. On the machine you're using, you can also go into the registry and delete the dangler with the following steps:
3. Delete the printer from your machine.
4a. For iPrint User printers, go to HKEY_Current_User\Printers\Connections and delete any registry keys that show the name of this printer.
4b. For iPrint Workstation printers or NDPS printers, go to KEY_Local_Machine\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers and delete any registry keys that show the name of this printer.
5. Reinstall the printer and see if PPPAdmin will now configure it.
Changes made to the NDPS Printer Settings tab are not deployed to the clients.
Description: When configuring a printer in PPPAdmin, changes made on the NDPS Printer Settings tab are not deployed to the clients. This is the same for all tabs supplied by NDPS (i.e. anything starting with NPDS). This is normal behavior because the NDPS settings must be managed in NWAdmin. PPP cannot control these NDPS settings.
Solution:
1. Select the printer in NWAdmin and open the details.
2. Click on the Configuration page.
3. Select the [Default Printer Configuration], and click Modify.
4. Make settings as desired and save.
The PPPClient log window shows an error about a printer driver mismatch.
Description: Every printer driver has its own way of saving settings, and even different versions of the same driver often save settings in different ways. For this reason, it's important that PPP does not apply settings to a printer that were not made for that printer. With version 7, PPPAdmin records the printer driver name as part of the configuration, and PPPClient verifies that the printer driver being configured has the same name, to avoid any problems.
Solution:
1. Verify that the printer being configured is using the exact same driver and version as the printer which was used to make the configuration.
2. It might be necessary to remove the driver from one or both of the admin and client machines and reinstall it.
3. Removing the driver consists of uninstalling printers with that driver, opening the File, Server Properties dialog in Windows Printers area, and removing the driver from the Drivers tab.
PPPAdmin says I have run out of licenses, but I know I don't have that many printers configured.
Description: Sometimes you may notice at the bottom of PPPAdmin that all of your licenses are used, or you may receive this message when trying to enable a new printer, but you know that you don't currently have that many printers enabled and configured in PPPAdmin.
Most often, this happens because a printer was once Enabled in PPPAdmin, and afterwards deleted from NDS, without first being "cleared" from PPPAdmin. A printer must be cleared from PPPAdmin to free up its license, and if that printer has been deleted from NDS, it won't show up in the PPPAdmin printer browser window, and therefore cannot be cleared.
Solution:
1. PPPAdmin contains a utility named Printer Validation, which compares all enabled PPP printers with existing NDPS printer agents. If it finds a PPP printer that no longer exists in NDS, it will be automatically cleared from PPP. Just run the Printer Validation utility from the Tools menu in PPPAdmin and follow the prompts.
2. It is also good practice to "clear" printers from PPPAdmin when you no longer need them to be configured by PPP. To clear a printer, select it in the printer browser window on the left, and then click the red minus (-) sign in the toolbar. This will remove all configurations for that printer and free up the license it was using.
