Troubleshooting
Problem
This document provides information on the capabilities and limitations of printing when using IBM iSeries Access for Windows and Client Access Express for Windows.
Resolving The Problem
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Important Note: This document discusses System i Access for Windows and iSeries Access for Windows. These names essentially refer to the same product; however, the functionality and name changed over the last several releases. For the purposes of this document, the terms System i Access, and iSeries Access may be used interchangeably. Where a difference is important, the version of the product is used to identify the differences. |
This document was last updated on 23 October 2013.
Capabilities of System i Access for Windows and iSeries Access for Windows Printing
| o | With the currently supported versions of System i Access and iSeries Access for Windows, PC5250 printer sessions can be configured to connect to the system using TCP/IP. For instructions on configuring a PC5250 printer session profile when using V7R1M0 (7.1) System i Access for Windows (5770XE1), V6R1M0 (R610) IBM System i Access for Windows (5761XE1) or V5R4M0 (R540) iSeries Access for Windows (5722XE1), please refer to the following document: N1018716: System i Access for Windows: Configuring a PC5250 Printer Session |
| o | System i Access for Windows and iSeries Access for Windows both contain the IBM AFP and SCS printer drivers that can be used to print to printers on the IBM System i products system. However, these printer drivers are not a part of the typical installation. Selective Setup is no longer available as of V6R1M0 (R610) System i Access for Windows. In this case, the IBM AFP and SCS printer drivers can be installed by selecting a custom installation or by using Add or Remove Programs under the Microsoft Windows Control Panel, selecting "IBM System i Access for Windows V6R1M0", and clicking on the "Change" button. If running V5R4M0 (R540) iSeries Access for Windows or earlier, the IBM AFP and SCS printer drivers can be installed by selecting a custom installation of iSeries Access for Windows or by running Selective Setup. Note: The latest version of the IBM AFP printer driver is available through the following document: N1018815: AFP Printer Driver Update |
| o | Up to 26 PC5250 display and printer sessions (session IDs A - Z) can be configured on each PC, though system memory might limit this further. If more than 26 sessions are needed on a particular PC, an alternative should be pursued, such as configuring PC5250 printer sessions on multiple PCs or printing directly to any LAN attached printer using Remote Output Queues (RMTOUTQs) or *LAN 3812 PJL or SNMP device descriptions. |
| o | The printer writer for a PC5250 printer session must be started from the client PC by launching and connecting the printer session, rather than using the Start Print Writer (STRPRTWTR) command. Also, the PC5250 printer session may be minimized, but must remain active and connected to the system for the writer to remain active and to be able to print spooled files. |
| o | PC5250 printer sessions do not support printing with the Spool the data (SPOOL) parameter set to *NO. PC-attached printing and LAN-attached printing of all sorts (including RMTOUTQs, *LAN 3812 device descriptions, and PC5250 printer sessions) require generating a spooled file by printing with the SPOOL parameter set to *YES. Note: SPOOL(*NO) is allowed only with printers that are twinax attached through a local or remote workstation controller. |
| o | PC5250 printer sessions can print to ASCII printers that are attached to a PC; however, they cannot print to PC-attached SCS or AFP printers. |
| o | PC5250 printer sessions can be configured to use Host Print Transform (HPT) or a Printer Definition Table (PDT) file; however, these are not an option for any Host-based or Windows-only printers. *AFPDS spooled files can only be printed through a PC5250 printer session when configured to use HPT. |
| o | There is limited control over how spooled files print (including, but not limited to, the font selection, drawer selection and orientation) when a PC5250 printer session is configured to use the Windows printer driver without using HPT or a PDT file. |
| o | Starting with V4R2M0 (R420), System i Access and iSeries Access, do not support Network Print to a System i system. However, this can be done by using IBM iSeries NetServer print shares -- with or without having iSeries Access for Windows installed on the client PC. |
| o | System i Access does not support printing to an SCS or AFP printer from Microsoft MS-DOS. This support cannot be obtained from iSeries NetServer because iSeries NetServer does not use any code on the PC and therefore does not have a way to convert the ASCII printer data stream to an SCS or AFP printer data stream. This limitation can be circumvented by using a Windows version of the application, if possible, or by printing from the MS-DOS application to an ASCII text file and then printing that file from a Windows application (such as Notepad or WordPad). |
Limitations Specific to Windows 7, Windows 2008 R2 and 64-Bit Versions of Windows
| o | System i Access 6.1 with Service or System i Access 7.1 Required According to the Microsoft Windows Operatings Systems and IBM i Access for Windows web page, Windows 7 (Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate) and Windows 2008 R2 require IBM i Access for Windows 6.1 (5761XE1), with service pack SI35607 or later, or IBM i Access for Windows 7.1 (5770XE1). For more information, please refer to the following document: N1012327: V6R1M0 System i Access for Windows and Service Pack SI35607 Needed for Windows 7 PCs and the Using IBM i Access with Windows Operatings Systems web page, which is available at: http://www-03.ibm.com/systems/power/software/i/access/windows/os.html |
| o | Drag-and-Drop feature of System i Navigator on 64-Bit Windows Update: System i Access for Windows 6.1 service pack SI41053 and IBM i Access for Windows 7.1 service pack SI41054, and later code levels, contain an enhancement that now allows the drag-and-drop and copy-and-paste functions within System i Navigator to work to 64-bit versions Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7. However, even with this enhanced functionality, the Windows desktop may need to be refreshed for the actual file name to show up on the current desktop view. Without this enhancement, there is a limitation with the drag-and-drop feature of System i Navigator for copying and moving files from the IBM i server to the PC desktop when using a 64-bit version of Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7. This limitation includes copying the text from IBM i spooled files to text files on a PC, and includes both the Drag-and-Drop method and the Manual method. One way to circumvent this issue is to right click on a spooled file and select Export from the pop-up or context menu as discussed in the Export method below. For more information, please refer to the following document: N1013017: System i Navigator Drag And Drop Limitations on 64-bit Operating Systems |
| o | AFP Printer Driver for Windows 7 IBM i Access Version of the AFP Printer Driver Update: Informational APAR II14522: IBM I ACCESS FOR WINDOWS SUPPORT FOR WINDOWS 7 AND WINDOWS SERVER 2008 R2 states that the AFP Printer Driver component contains support for Windows 7 in IBM i Access for Windows 6.1 service pack SI41053 or later, and in IBM i Access for Windows 7.1 service pack SI41054 or later, on 32-bit versions of Windows. The 64-bit AFP printer driver is available in 7.1 service pack SI42424 or later. The IBM i Access for Windows version of the AFP printer driver can be downloaded from the IBM i Access FTP site: ftp://public.dhe.ibm.com/as400/products/clientaccess/win32/afpprinter/ The IBM i Access for Windows version of the AFP printer driver includes a cwbaffax.zip file which adds support for using the AFP printer driver with Facsimile Support/400 (FAX/400) and Enhanced Services. Note: The /amd64/ver030102 directory on this FTP site includes a cwbaffax.zip file that can be used with the 32-bit or 64-bit AFP printer driver for AMD and Intel Xeon processors Ricoh Production Print Solutions AFP Printer Driver for Windows The Ricoh Production Print Solutions AFP Printer Driver for Windows is available on the InfoPrint Solutions web site at: http://www.infoprint.com/internet/dcfdata.nsf/vwWeb/P4000384 This version of the AFP printer driver contains a supports the following operating systems: Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012, Windows Vista, Windows XP The Ricoh Production Print Solutions AFP Printer Driver for Windows does not include the cwbaffax.zip file, and does not support using the AFP printer driver with Facsimile Support/400 (FAX/400) and Enhanced Services. Warning: If you need to use the AFP printer driver with Facsimile Support/400 (FAX/400) and Enhanced Services, then you must use the IBM i Access version of the AFP printer driver and not the Ricoh Production Print Solutions AFP Printer Driver for Windows. Note: For more information, please refer to the following document: N1018815: AFP Printer Driver Update |
| o | AFP Workbench Viewer Update: Information APAR II14522 now states that AFP Workbench Viewer component is supported in IBM i Access for Windows 6.1 service pack SI41053 or later, and in IBM i Access for Windows 7.1 service pack SI41054 or later, on 32-bit versions of Windows. The 64 bit AFP viewer currently does not support AFP documents with external resources. Full support is expected in the next 6.1 and 7.1 service packs. For more information, please refer to the following document: N1013702: AFP Workbench Viewer Update |
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Historical Number
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Modified date:
18 December 2019
UID
nas8N1019636