Are both 5110cn's now behaving the same way? or just one?

Have you tried re-installing the PS drivers?

Do the PCL drivers work?

 

Do you have a printer ICON in Printers and Faxes for each printer?

If so, print a settings page for each printer. We're interested in the network settings; IP, SNM, Gtwy

Then open the properties page for each printer, click the Ports tab, then find the line that's check-marked (don't un-check it). It likely begins with "Ntw...",  click the Configure Port box. Compare the settings on the printer settings page with the "Printer Name or IP Address" field. They match?

Yes, both printers are now behaving the same way. I tried reinstalling the PS drivers many times, tried newer and older versions of the driver and still the same thing. I even moved the two Dell 5110cn's to a different server than the rest of the printers and still have the same problem. If I configure the printer from a local workstation through a standard TCP/IP port, and use the PS driver, the problem persists. However, if I change the driver on the local TCP/IP port to the PCL driver, it works. The PCL driver does cause some winspool.drv errors in some applications, however. The settings on both printers seem to be identical.

The PCL driver works only if you configure a local standard TCP/IP port and use the PCL driver. If I install the PCL driver on the shared printer, the printer does not work. The network IP settings for the printers come from DHCP. LPD is set to enable, port9100 is enabled, ftp is disabled, snmp is enabled, e-mail alert is disabled, ews is enabled, IP filetr is off.

OK.... I just picked up on something. You said "Shared"....

Assume this printer is shared from a server? (that's why a local client install works...)

Is the server print spooler running? Are there any jobs hung in the spooler?

Obviously, since the printer works using PCL, you've developed a very strange network issue

What are the network settings for each printer?

Are these printers "pooled"

Yes... a Dell PE2950. The print spooler service is running and there are no jobs hung.

I asked earlier for the Network settings: Let me rephrase.....

 

IP address

Subnet mask

Default Gateway

 

.... for each printer

 

Now, this might sound weird, but unplug the net cable to each printer then PING each of the printer IP addresses. Want to make sure you get a "Request timed out" message for each of the two addresses you've pinged. This will ensure there are no duplicate IP's on the network. Rare in a dhcp environ, but I've seen it happen.

If you DO get a reply from your ping (Reply from xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx: ....) , you have a duplicate IP on your network somewhere that was using the same IP as your printer.

 

Also, are these printers operating in a "pooled" configuration?

 

We are running into the same problem on the network. For some reason Dells print drivers do not work. I have downloaded them all. Try the Lexmark Optra driver. It is the same printer just a different company. We found the drive works perfect.

OK..... but theirs DID work, and stopped suddenly.

 

You see the same thing?

Same models and everything?

IP Address: 10.49.25.16               IP Address: 10.49.25.48

Subnet Mask: 255.255.252.0         Subnet Mask: 255.255.252.0

Default Gateway: 10.49.25.1         Default Gateway: 10.49.25.1

 

Request timed out when the network cable was unplugged from each printer. The printers are not in a pooled configuration.