This is related to a (now expired) thread I started earlier this year.
http://forums.techguy.org/networking...-computer.html
We have an embedded server (embedded in the sense that it's running a propriety OS shell which we cannot add to or modify) for our POS system. When we print reports from it, they go to an attached local printer via USB. The printer is a basic workgroup-class LaserJet with both ethernet and USB interfaces. (Actually, the printer doesn't have built-in USB; we're using a USB-to-Parallel adapter to the printer's parallel port. The server does not require bidirectional communication with the printer.)
On the frequent occasions when we are operating the server remotely from the offices on another floor, it would be *very* handy if we could redirect print jobs to a networked LaserJet in those offices, rather than having to run up and down the stairs to retrieve the printouts from the server room.
What I would like to do is attach a device to the server's USB port that could intercept those USB print jobs and route them over the LAN to the desired network printer (either to the one by the server or to a printer in the offices). Ideally, the device would have an Embedded Web Server to allow one to change the destination printer selection with a Web browser. (Preferably, the selection would also automatically change back to the server room printer after a few minutes.)
There are a lot of solutions for sharing a single USB printer with multiple networked PCs, but I have not found any for doing the reverse: sharing a single USB print-job source with multiple networked printers. (There also exist solutions for sharing some other USB sources, such as scanners and drives, over the network, but those would not help us.)
Does anyone know if such a device or similar exists? (It would have to be a self-contained device or perhaps even a tiny Linux PC, because we cannot install additional software on the server itself.)
For that matter, does anyone even know whether any LaserJets can accept print jobs over the network connection if the job originated as a USB job? (These reports are generated for a pretty generic line printer, so presumably the jobs don't contain model-specific dependencies. Even though the server's selected driver is for a LJ 4050 series, when we used the same server software on earlier server hardware that had parallel instead of USB, it also functioned fine for us when connected to LJ 6mp, LJ 2100, and LJ 2300 series printers. Hopefully, the USB driver produces jobs that are equally device-independent. I suspect that the current software still uses the same driver as the old version, but now sends the job to a virtual rather than physical LPT1 parallel port which then gets routed to the USB driver.)
Failing that. . .can anyone suggest where else I might inquire about this?
http://forums.techguy.org/networking...-computer.html
We have an embedded server (embedded in the sense that it's running a propriety OS shell which we cannot add to or modify) for our POS system. When we print reports from it, they go to an attached local printer via USB. The printer is a basic workgroup-class LaserJet with both ethernet and USB interfaces. (Actually, the printer doesn't have built-in USB; we're using a USB-to-Parallel adapter to the printer's parallel port. The server does not require bidirectional communication with the printer.)
On the frequent occasions when we are operating the server remotely from the offices on another floor, it would be *very* handy if we could redirect print jobs to a networked LaserJet in those offices, rather than having to run up and down the stairs to retrieve the printouts from the server room.
What I would like to do is attach a device to the server's USB port that could intercept those USB print jobs and route them over the LAN to the desired network printer (either to the one by the server or to a printer in the offices). Ideally, the device would have an Embedded Web Server to allow one to change the destination printer selection with a Web browser. (Preferably, the selection would also automatically change back to the server room printer after a few minutes.)
There are a lot of solutions for sharing a single USB printer with multiple networked PCs, but I have not found any for doing the reverse: sharing a single USB print-job source with multiple networked printers. (There also exist solutions for sharing some other USB sources, such as scanners and drives, over the network, but those would not help us.)
Does anyone know if such a device or similar exists? (It would have to be a self-contained device or perhaps even a tiny Linux PC, because we cannot install additional software on the server itself.)
For that matter, does anyone even know whether any LaserJets can accept print jobs over the network connection if the job originated as a USB job? (These reports are generated for a pretty generic line printer, so presumably the jobs don't contain model-specific dependencies. Even though the server's selected driver is for a LJ 4050 series, when we used the same server software on earlier server hardware that had parallel instead of USB, it also functioned fine for us when connected to LJ 6mp, LJ 2100, and LJ 2300 series printers. Hopefully, the USB driver produces jobs that are equally device-independent. I suspect that the current software still uses the same driver as the old version, but now sends the job to a virtual rather than physical LPT1 parallel port which then gets routed to the USB driver.)
Failing that. . .can anyone suggest where else I might inquire about this?