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HPNP and getone getmany (SNMP)

I've always had mixed feelings about this. On the one hand, I'd applaud HP for using SNMP because who needs another proprietary method to query a device? That part is good.

But to not print based on this is a little less clear. If the print server had a problem, well, it isn't going to print, right? The spooler would realize that and so would the user, so I don't see how using SNMP status adds anything here. Possibly the printer app (hpnpf in this case) could query SNMP if it found that it actually could NOT print and put that in its log files as additional troubleshooting data.

That's how I would have done it, anyway.

From: Jeff Liebermann <jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us>
Newsgroups: comp.unix.sco.misc
Subject: Re: Can't print to HP Printserver
Date: Wed, 13 Oct 1999 10:56:01 -0700
Message-ID: <4cUEODUzMn4O33h+=ahSMHo8ZKaN@4ax.com> 

On Wed, 13 Oct 1999 11:06:16 -0500, Ric Pennington <ricp@summit-soft.com>
wrote:

>Try renaming getone in the /etc directory

Let me explain *HOW* that works.  getone is the program that retreives
SNMP information from a network device.  HPNP uses getone to detemine if
the print server is ready for action.  However, HPNP was inscribed in the
days before 3 port servers and therefore *ASSUMES[1]* that the print
server has only one printer port.  It therefore only check the first port
to see if the attached printer is ready to print.  It ignores the other
two ports.

If you take the printer on the first port offline, HPNP will not print to
the other two ports until the first port printer is back online.

By renaming getone, the incredibly stupid HPNP program assumes that SNMP
is not installed on the system, and to therefore not bother asking the
print server if it's ready for action.  It just *ASSUMES[1]* that it's
allways ready.

Incidentally, if you need some entertainment, try:
        getmany IP_of_print_server public iso
On some printers, it will even tell you how many pages are left in the
paper bin.

[1]Assumption:  The mother of all screwups.

-- 
Jeff Liebermann  150 Felker St #D  Santa Cruz CA 95060
(831)421-6491 pgr (831)426-1240 fax (831)336-2558 home
http://www.cruzio.com/~jeffl   WB6SSY
jeffl@comix.santa-cruz.ca.us   jeffl@cruzio.com

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