Panasonic 8420 Operating Instructions Manual

							 
51 Connecting the Printer to a Network 
To connect a twisted pair cable to the printer: 
1 
With the printer turned off, connect the RJ-45 cable to 
the RJ-45 socket on the back of the printer. 
2 
Turn on the printer and then the computer. 
For Ethernet speed setting, see “Network Port Setup” on page 107.
The printer supports the shielded twisted pair cable (Category 5 shielded 
twisted pair cable) that plugs into the RJ-45 jack on the back of the printer. 
• 
To prevent possible interference and assure continued FCC compliance, 
do not remove the cover from the D-sub connector and always use   
shielded  
 twisted pair wire with RJ-45 jack. Any unauthorized changes or 
modifications to this device could void the FCC class A compliance of this 
device. 
To connect the cable to RJ-45 jack on the printer: 
With the printer turned off, connect the cable from the Token 
Ring MAU (Media Attachment Unit) to RJ-45 jack on the back 
of the printer. 
NOTE:
 
• 
A Media Attachment Unit (MAU) is a network hub for a Token Ring 
Network.
For Token Ring settings, see “Network Port Setup” on page 107.
Token Ring 
network 
connections
Parallel portRJ-45 jack 
(Use shielded cable only.) 
						

							52 Connecting the Printer to a Network
Parallel cable connection
In addition to receiving print jobs over the network, the printer can accept 
print jobs directly from an IBM compatible computer through its high-speed, 
Centronics compatible parallel port. This connection is also advantageous 
for workstations on dedicated networks using protocols other than 
AppleTalk, TCP/IP, or IPX.
The parallel port connection can be used simultaneously with a network 
connection.
CAUTION:
•Always use a shielded interface cable. Use of an unshielded cable can 
result in radio interference with data.
NOTE:
•Printing through a serial port (Local Talk) is not supported on Macintosh 
computers.
To connect a parallel cable to the printer:
1With the printer and the computer turned off, attach the 
Centronics Type C parallel cable (not included) to the 
parallel port. 
2Connect the other end of the cable to the parallel port on 
the computer.
3Turn on the printer and turn on the computer.
For parallel port settings, see “Parallel Port Setup” on page 107.
Parallel port 
						

							53 Connecting the Printer to a Network
Setting up TCP/IP printing
TCP/IP provides network services for high-speed local and wide area 
networks and heterogeneous environments including PC compatibles, 
Macintosh computers, minicomputers, and mainframes running diverse 
operating systems. The printer supports the lpr protocol for printing over 
TCP/IP networks. Network users submit print jobs to a named printer. 
Workstations on a TCP/IP network can print directly to the printer, or can 
print to a Windows NT 4.0 server or UNIX workstation acting as a print 
server.
Before you install the printer on a TCP/IP network, you need to obtain a 
unique IP address. Contact your network administrator for this information.
To set up printing on a TCP/IP network, the network administrator must 
follow these steps:
To set up IP Address/Subnet mask on the KX-P8420:
1From the Ready screen, press the Menu/Exit button on 
the front panel to access the printer setup menus.
2Press the Continue/Forward button until you see 
Network Protocol Setup on the LCD. Press the Enter 
button to access the TCP/IP Setup menus.
In the next step you will enable TCP/IP network communication 
according to your network type.
3Press Enter to advance to the Enable TCP/IP? screen. 
Press Enter and press Continue/Forward to select 
Yes, and then press Enter again to advance to the 
Ethernet IP Address screen. Press Enter.
4Use the Continue/Forward button to select a number in 
a valid, unique IP Address for the KX-P8420. Press 
Cancel/Left button to accept a number and move to the 
left—to the next number. 
NOTE:
•On the KX-P8420 printer, numbers are entered from right to left. 
Press the Continue/Forward button to scroll through numbers 
from 0 to 9. Press the Cancel/Left button to accept a number and 
move to the next.
Setting up the 
printing 
environment 
						

							54 Connecting the Printer to a Network
5When you have finished entering all numbers in the 
address, press Enter to advance to the Subnet Mask 
screen.
6Use the Continue/Forward button to select a number 
as the Subnet Mask value for the KX-P8420. Press 
Cancel/Left button to accept a number and move to the 
left—to the next number. 
7Specify the Gateway Address in the printer’s Setup 
menus, if needed.
See “Network Protocol Setup” on page 109 for details.
8When you have finished entering all numbers, press 
Menu/Exit button.
After being rebooted, the printer will return to Ready mode.
n Setting up NIS server
If the site is using NIS (Network Information Services), a superuser must 
add the printer name and IP address to the system’s database of network 
printers.
1Add the KX-P8420 to the network’s IP host table.
This step must be performed on the master NIS (server) machine. 
After adding the printer entry, the updated database must be 
released to network users.
2For the printer name, specify the print server protocol, 
the print connection (queue), and the spool file.
3Activate the printer connection.
Depending on your system, you may restart the printer daemon or 
tell the printer to accept print requests.
n Print Queues
Print spooling is the process of sending a print jobs to a defined location on 
a hard disk, in this case the Print or Hold queues. Printers without a hard 
disk drive can only receive print jobs over the Direct connection. Jobs sent 
to the Direct connection are transferred from the computer to the printer’s 
SDRAM. 
NOTE:
•If the printer has a hard disk drive and 32 MB of memory installed, Direct, 
Print, and Hold print connections are automatically available. If the printer 
does not have a hard disk drive, only the Direct connection is available.32 
						

							55 Connecting the Printer to a Network
The lpr protocol is a printer spooling system. It is a set of programs that 
accepts printing requests from many users on a network, routes them to the 
proper print server (in this case, the KX-P8420), and accepts requests to 
display a queue’s status or to remove jobs from a queue.
The lpr system is included in the standard installation of Berkeley-based 
UNIX systems, SunOS 4, and Solaris.
Use the examples that follow as a guide in helping you set up your network 
for printing to the printer.
NOTE:
•In these examples, KX-P8420 is used as the printer name (the IP host 
name), and KX-P8420q is used to indicate the KX-P8420 Print queue.
Since the printer supports only one TCP/IP (lpr) connection at a time, you 
can use the same name for the hostname and the queuename. However, 
the examples indicate where you should make a distinction if you want to 
use different names.
To add the printer as a network printer to all UNIX systems:
1Log in to your UNIX host as the root user.
2Edit your /etc/hosts file to include the printer as a 
network device.
The following is a sample entry for the printer:
192.9.228.1KX-P8420#comments 
where  indicates that you press the tab key.
The IP address is followed by the official host name, and these are 
followed by aliases, if any. Type the entry exactly as shown, without 
a space before the IP address. 
NOTE:
•For sites that use DNS (Domain Name System) or that use NIS or 
NIS+, consult the documentation or the network administrator for 
instructions on publishing the printer entry.
3Save and exit the hosts file.
4Confirm the connection using the ping command.
See “Verifying the TCP/IP network connection” on page 58.
UNIX server 
print queues 
						

							56 Connecting the Printer to a Network
5If your UNIX system uses SunOS 4 or another BSD-
based variant, go to the next section.
If your system uses Solaris 2, follow the steps on page 57.
To set up printing on a UNIX system running SunOS 4 or another 
BSD based variant:
1On each workstation that will print to the printer, log in to 
your UNIX host as the root user.
2Create an entry for the printer in your /etc/printcap file.
The following is a sample printcap entry for the printer. Note that the 
remote host name you enter in the rm line must exactly match the 
name you entered in the /etc/hosts file.
KX-P8420q:\
:lp=:\
:rm=KX-P8420:\
:rp=xjprint:\
:lf=/var/spool/lpd/KX-P8420q/log:\
:sd=/var/spool/lpd/KX-P8420q:\
:mx#0:sf:sb
The spool directory KX-P8420q
 is specified here, and the directory 
itself is created in step 3. Similarly, the log file is specified here and 
created in step 4. The spool directory is write-protected (from 
everyone but a daemon user and daemon group); users cannot 
modify or remove files other than their own.
It is possible to set up to two additional printer entries, one with the 
rp name xjprint and one with the name xjhold. The rp name 
indicates the KX-P8420 queue to which jobs are sent when you 
print to the named printer.
A printer entry with the rp name xjhold routes all jobs to the 
KX-P8420 Hold queue. Therefore, to print those jobs, they must be 
moved to the Print queue or deleted using Fiery WebSpooler.
NOTE:
•Printers without a hard disk drive and 32 MB of memory can not 
use Print or Hold queues (rp name: xjprint and xjhold), they can 
only receive print jobs over the Direct connection. Use the rp 
name xjdirect if your KX-P8420 has no hard disk, or is configured 
with less than 32 MB of memory. 
						

							57 Connecting the Printer to a Network
3Create a spool directory for the printer in the /var/spool 
directory.
For example, enter the following:
mkdir -p /var/spool/lpd/KX-P8420q
chown daemon /var/spool/lpd/KX-P8420q
4Create the log files.
For example, enter the following:
cp /dev/null /var/spool/lpd/KX-P8420q/log
5Reboot the machine.
To set up printing on a UNIX system running Solaris 2:
1On each workstation that will print to the printer, log into 
the UNIX system as the root user.
2At the UNIX prompt, type lpsystem -t bsd KX-P8420
This tells your system that the printer is a print server of bsd 
(Berkeley Software Distribution) type.
3Type lpadmin -p KX-P8420q -s KX-P8420\!xjdirect
This command creates an internal queue on the workstation and 
points it to the printer. The general format of this command is:
lpadmin -p  -s \!xjdirect
NOTE:
•The name xjdirect after the exclamation point is for configuring 
the printer; it is an internal name that the printer requests. It must 
be xjdirect; it is not a user-selectable name. This is the only place 
where it is entered.
As with SunOS 4 or other BSD based systems, when printing to 
printers with a hard disk and a minimum of 32 MB of memory it is 
possible to configure up to two additional printer entries, one with 
the rp name xjprint and one with the rp name xjhold (see page 56).
4Type accept KX-P8420q
This command tells the printer to accept print requests from your 
workstation. You are now ready to print from the workstation to the 
printer.
5Type enable KX-P8420q 
						

							58 Connecting the Printer to a Network
Before a device on a TCP/IP network can send print jobs to the printer, the 
printer must be given a valid IP address and subnet mask, as well as a 
gateway address, if applicable. The printer is given these addresses in the 
printer’s Network Protocol Setup. The IP address is used on all TCP/IP 
networks and must always be assigned before the printer can be verified 
across the network.
Because TCP/IP networks require some UNIX setup by the network 
administrator, you may not be able to send a test page from the driver 
across the network to the printer immediately after installation. The following 
procedure enables you to verify that there is a proper connection between 
the printer and the network without using the printer driver to print a test 
page. Before you begin this procedure, verify that the printer is functioning 
by printing a page from the printer’s ROM.
For step by step instructions, see “Printing pages from the front panel” on 
page 47.
Once the printer’s TCP/IP setup is complete, you can verify the availability 
of the printer using the ping command from the DOS prompt with Windows 
95, from the Command prompt with Windows NT 4.0 or from UNIX.
To verify the TCP/IP connection:
To see if the printer responds to its address, use the ping 
command.
Use the format:
ping 
Use the printer IP address assigned in Network Protocol Setup. After the 
printer has been given a hostname by your network administrator, you can 
also ping the name you gave it:
ping 
The server should respond with a message such as:
 is alive.
Some systems will respond with a continuous display of output from the IP 
address. To stop the output, type Control-C
Verifying the 
TCP/IP network 
connection 
						

							59 Connecting the Printer to a Network
If the printer is being added to an existing network, each TCP/IP client is 
already running TCP/IP client software.
The KX-P8420 supports TCP/IP client software on UNIX workstations, PC 
compatibles, and Macintosh computers. With Macintosh computers 
however, it is easiest to use the built-in AppleTalk protocol to communicate 
directly with the printer.
If the client workstation is a PC running Windows, set up the printer as a 
Windows PostScript printer by installing the PostScript printer driver, as 
described in Chapter 4. For setting up your networking software, see the 
documentation for your networking environment.
Fiery WebTools software comes pre-installed on the KX-P8420. 
Fiery WebTools include: WebSpooler, Status, WebDownloader, WebSetup 
and WebLink.
When TCP/IP is enabled for the printer in Network Protocol Setup, 
Fiery WebTools are immediately available to clients that:
•Are connected to a TCP/IP network with a consistent set of IP addresses, 
one for the printer and one for each computer connect to the printer. 
•Have an Internet connection and a Java enabled Web browser. 
The recommended browsers are:
•Netscape Navigator 3.04 for Macintosh computers,
•Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0.1 SP1 or Netscape Communicator 4.0.4 
for Windows computers.
NOTE:
•Microsoft Internet Explorer 3.x does not support the WebDownloader.
Netscape and Microsoft continue to release frequent updates to their 
browsers. As support cannot be guaranteed for all versions, use the 
versions specified above for best results.
To access Fiery WebTools, enter the IP address or DNS name of the 
KX-P8420 as a URL in the Internet browser. For more information, see 
page 70.
Setting up TCP/
IP clients for 
printing
Setting up TCP/
IP clients for 
running 
Fiery WebTools 
						

							60
Connecting the Printer to a Network
Once the printer has been properly installed on the TCP/IP network, users 
should be able to send print jobs to the KX-P8420 from most applications. 
UNIX clients also commonly use UNIX printing commands to print 
PostScript files and text files to the printer.
For information on printing PostScript files and text files using UNIX 
commands, see Chapter 3 of 
Drivers and Utilities Reference Guide.
If you have superuser privileges you can remove any lpd jobs from the 
printer queue; removing your own jobs doesn’t require special privileges.
To remove jobs from the printer queue:
On a UNIX system running SunOS 4 or other BSD-based 
variant, use the  lprm command to remove jobs from the queue.
To remove job number 123 from the print queue of your KX-P8420 named 
printer , you would type:
lprm -P 
or, for example:  lprm -PKX-P8420 123
The  lprm command reports the names of any files it removes.
To determine the job number, use the  lpq command described below.
lpq -p
On a UNIX system running Solaris 2, use the  cancel command 
to remove jobs from the queue.
Type:
cancel 
For example, to remove a job whose ID is  printer-123 from the print queue 
of your KX-P8420, type:
cancel  printer-123
To find out a print job’s job ID, use the  lpstat command described below:
On a UNIX system running Solaris 2, use the  lpstat command 
to see printer jobs in the queue.
lpstat -o 
For example, if your printer queue is named  KX-P8420q, type:
lpstat -o KX-P8420q
The returned list of jobs includes each job ID.
Once lpr print jobs are spooled to the printer’s hard disk, you can use 
WebSpooler to monitor print jobs.
Printing and  administering print jobs