| ReadMe
| SHARP Printer Administration Utility (PAU 4.0)
| Version 5.18
| SHARP Printer Administration Utility (PAU 4.0)
| Introduction.
| Minimum System Requirements.
| Supported Operating Systems.
| Supported Browsers.
| Related System Information.
| Known Issues and Workarounds.
| Installation.
| Device View Page.
| Driver Distribution Feature.
| Modify Device Groups.
| Network Settings Dialog.
| Mixed Language Environment Limitations.
| Status Update.
| Network Settings (Timeout)
| Known Limitations for Specific Browser Versions.
| Known Limitations for Specific Sharp Devices.
| Other Issues.
| SHARP Printer Administration Utility (PAU 4.0)
| Introduction.
| Please read this document before using the Sharp PAU 4.0 software package. It contains the latest PAU 4.0 system requirements, known issues and workarounds, and known limitations that are not covered in the User's Guide or Online Help.
| Minimum System Requirements.
| 350 MB free disk space
| Pentium processor (Pentium III 600 MHz or faster recommended)
| 256 MB of RAM
| Video 800 x 600 SVGA, 256 colors (True Color recommended)
| Supported Operating Systems.
| Windows NT 4.0 server SP6
| Windows 2000 server SP2
| Windows 2000 Advanced Server
| Windows 2000 Professional SP2
| Windows XP Professional SP1a
| Windows 2003 Server
| Windows 98 and Windows Millennium Edition (for Browser Clients only, no PAU installation)
| Supported Browsers.
| Internet Explorer 6.0
| Netscape 7.0
| Related System Information.
| Installed TCP/IP network
| Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 4.0, 5.0 (for 2003 Server, use IIS 6.0)
| If Anti-virus software is running, then the script blocking feature must be turned off.
| PAU installs and uses the MSDE 2000 SQL database component from Microsoft. PAU does not require or interact with other SQL databases
| The login account must have Administrator privileges to install PAU.
| Cookies must be enabled for a browser client to run properly. PAU 4.0 uses session variables and cookie files to store session data and user settings.
| Microsoft IIS security is a concern when configuring IIS for PAU 4.0. Prior to installing PAU 4.0, the IIS component must be installed without the FTP Service.
| To install IIS without the FTP Service, do the following:
| 1. Click Start, highlight Settings and then click Control Panel.
| 2. Double-click Add/Remove Programs.
| 3. Click Add/Remove Windows Components. A Windows Components Wizard appears.
| 4. Highlight Internet Information Services and then click Details.
| 5. Uncheck File Transfer Protocol (FTP) Server.
| 6. Click OK.
| 7. Click the IIS check box.
| 8. Click next and then follow the instructions on the screen
| Known Issues and Workarounds.
| Installation.
| Issue (Installation Reboot Requirements)
| A reboot requirement after PAU 4.0 installation is not always consistent. You might or might not be prompted for a reboot after installation
| The reboot requirement depends on the existing versions of shared Windows components, their usage, and status at the time of installation. The Protected Features Permission dialog box (final step of installation) will sometimes appear only after the reboot.
| Workaround
| Reboot the system when prompted. Do not install PAU 4.0 on systems that cannot be rebooted or choose an installation time when a reboot does not affect normal operation.
| Issue (Localhost Browser Sessions)
| Unable to upgrade or uninstall PAU 4.0 when Localhost browsers are kept open.
| Workaround
| Before upgrading or uninstalling PAU 4.0, make sure the browser sessions on the web server (where PAU 4.0 resides) is closed.
| Issue (Expiry of session variables)
| PAU 4.0 displays the Device View page every time you do the following.
| 1. From the PAU 4.0 Navigation menu, click Help.
| 2. Close the Help window that you opened in the previous operation.
| 3. Do some operation with the currently opened page.
| This situation occurs when a PAU 4.0 page is opened using the Programs shortcut menu. This is also a known issue with Internet Explorer (IE) version 6. For more informaiton, read the related Knowledge Base Article on the Microsoft web site at: http://support.microsoft.com/?id=315713
| Issue (Power Outage Recovery Procedure)
| If a power outage occurs while installing or uninstalling PAU 4.0, the install/uninstall process will be interrupted (program reaches an undefined state).
| Workaround
| To recover from an undefined state due to server power-off crash during installation/uninstallation, run the setup program again to finish the installation. If that does not work, then do the following:
| a. From the Windows Start Menu->Run command, execute the following program found in: [PAU Setup location]\Tools\Regfixup.exe
| b. If PAUService and/or MSSQL$DSMC is found in the Service Control Manager and the services are running then stop that service.
| c. If found, remove the installed program Microsoft SQL Server Desktop Engine (DSMC) using the Add/Remove Programs option from the Control Panel.
| d. Delete the PAU installation directory and its contents. With default settings that is C:\Program Files\Sharp\DSMC.
| e. Remove the PAU 4.0 program shortcut.
| f. Reboot the machine.
| g. Run the PAU 4.0 setup program. PAU 4.0 should be installed as a first time installation without any problems.
| Internet Security
| PAU 4.0 uses java script as a client-side script to validate the user input on the client side. In order to run the script on the client side, security for the Internet MUST be set to Medium.
| The security policies for the Internet are:
| High:
| The safest way to browse but also the least functional
| Less secure features are disabled
| Appropriate for sites that might have harmful content
| Medium:
| Safe browsing and still functional
| Prompts before downloading potentially unsafe content
| Unsigned ActiveX controls will not be downloaded
| Appropriate for most Internet sites
| When accessing a server with its security policy set to high:
| This URL: http://localhost/pau works if you are locally connected to PAU 4.0 using Internet Explorer on the server (where PAU 4.0 resides).
| This URL: http://IPAddress[server Name]/pau does not work with Internet security set to high.
| Using the Start Menu, PAU 4.0 can run on the server (where PAU 4.0 resides).
| Important:
| When preparing Windows XP Professional as a web server to run PAU 4.0, make sure you configure Microsoft IIS security prior to installation. Otherwise, PAU 4.0 will not function properly.
| Issue (Anti-virus Software)
| PAU 4.0 pages do not display when using Anti-virus software with Script blocking enabled.
| Workaround
| Disable Script Blocking in your Anti-virus software
| 1. Change the script blocking setting allow scripts to run.
| 2. Save the settings
| 3. Reboot the system.
| 4. Launch PAU 4.0.
| IIS Settings
| If IIS 6.0 is installed on a system, ensure that the status of the Active Server Pages (under web service extension folder in the IIS Manager) is set to Allowed. Sometimes when installing IIS there will be a warning message during installation about shared ftp port usage. The warning will not cause any problems for IIS running PAU, since PAU does not use ftp.
| Dual Boot System
| If you install PAU 4.0 on dual boot system and then uninstall it, you will be prompted to reboot the system. After rebooting, use the same operating system in order to complete the uninstall process. Also, log in as you did at the beginning of the install/uninstall process. For example, if you logged in as an Administrator, you must log in back as Administrator, when prompted to reboot the system, to complete the install/uninstall process.
| Uninstall User ID Requirements
| When uninstalling PAU 4.0, the user login account must not have an empty password string. The account must have a valid password (must not be blank).
| Non-Default Install Path Message
| While installing PAU 4.0, you will not be prompted when the specified folder(s) does not exist. This folder is automatically created for you.
| Security Groups Selection Dialog
| When running Windows 2000 Professional, you might experience unexpected behavior when using multilingual keyboard and mouse selection sequences in the Group(s) list box. This is a known problem with Microsoft's list box UI element.
| Browser Access During Installation
| An Unable to Connect to Database message appears if PAU 4.0 is accessed before completing the installation. Make sure you complete the installation and the database server is running before accessing PAU 4.0 (this can be checked by looking at the MSSQL Server tray icon or by going to Service control manager and check the MSSQL$DSMC service state). Note that a message appears when the server is unavailable and a reboot is often necessary to complete the installation.
| Workaround
| Before accessing PAU 4.0 using your browser, make sure the PAU 4.0 web server is up and running after installing PAU 4.0.
| Device View Page.
| Column Sorting Order in the Device View Table
| The column sort order changes depending on which window you are accessing. For example, if the column sorted in one page (page 1) is not available in another page (page 2), then the device list on page 2 is sorted by the first column by default. For instance, there are two pages (page 1 and page 2) that contains the device list table. Page 1 contains the "Status" , "Name" and "IP Address" columns and Page 2 contains "Name", "IP Address" and "Description" columns. When you are in page 1 and the device list is sorted by the "Status" column and then you go to page 2, the page 2 devices list will be sorted by column "Name" because the column "Status" is not present in page 2. When you go back to page 1 you will see that the device list is sorted using the column "Name".
| Session Timeout
| The Device View page appears each time the session times out (session timeout 15 minutes) regardless of the page that is loaded.
| Screen Flickering
| You might notice screen flickering during a discovery process. The Discovery and Status Update Progress page refreshes every five seconds. Since Internet Explorer displays the page very quickly, you will not see any difference when the page refresh happens. Netscape takes time to refresh the page, so you see the difference when the page is refreshed.
| Driver Distribution Feature.
| Configuring Drivers
| You might not be able to add the ENGLISH language drivers for the AR-M160/M200/5220 Series printers. In this case, try uploading the ENGLISH-US language drivers from the supplied CD-ROM. Postscript Drivers may not be listed for AR-160M/200M Series. In this case please try installing drivers from driver CD.
| Removing Drivers
| When you delete a given driver configuration and it is the last configuration for that driver, you are prompted with the message: Do you want to permanently remove unused drivers from the database? Clicking OK removes both the configuration and the driver files from the PAU 4.0 server. As a result, the driver will not be available for driver configuration in the future. To add this driver back into distribution, you need to go through the Add Sequence by clicking the Add More Drivers button during the Configure Drivers process. Clicking Cancel leaves the drivers on the PAU 4.0 server and leaves the driver entry in the data table for available drivers in the future. This lets you associate additional devices for this driver in the future.
| Driver Download
| If drivers are configured for both ENGLISH-US and ENGLISH-UK; when you go to step 1 of 2 of driver download page and the browser language is set to ENGLISH-UK, you will notice the language selection drop-down box list will not highlight ENGLISH-UK. It highlights ENGLISH-US instead. In this case you might have to manually select ENGLISH-UK. The select OS drop-down box list in step 2 of 2 of driver download will highlight only the client Operating system and not the other related operating systems supported by the same driver. For example, if the drivers are configured for Windows ME and Windows 2000 and if the client OS is Windows 98 (though Windows ME drivers can be used for Windows 98), PAU 4.0 will not highlight Windows ME. It will instead highlight windows 2000. In this case you have to manually select Windows ME from the drop-down box list
| Windows 98/NT Printer Driver Installation
| With Windows 98 and Windows NT 4 operating systems, the port entry for the drivers installed through PAU 4.0 are not listed in the Printer Properties dialog box. When a driver installation completes, the port is set to LPT1 (ECP Printer Port). If you need to change the port name, you will need to change it manually.
| PAU 4.0 Unable to Install Drivers for Windows 95 Clients
| Install Windows 95 client device drivers using the installation CD that came with the printer or use Microsoft's Add Printer Wizard.
| Duplicate Printer Drivers
| For each configured printer, if there are one or more duplicates, the associated drivers are listed for all printers with the same model number. For example, if you configure a Leopard AR-235, PAU 4.0 copies the driver list to any or all Leopard AR-235's, but not to a Leopard AR-275. Printer drivers are added for a printer model and not for a family. For example, if you configured three printers, two AR-P350's and one AR-P450, PAU 4.0 adds the associated drivers to both AR-P350's but not to the AR-P450.
| Digital Signature Not Found
| While installing PAU 4.0 and after downloading printer drivers, the Digital signature sometimes cannot be found. This situation occurs rarely, and only when the Security Catalog on a Sharp printer driver CD is not correct.
| Workaround
| Try a different Sharp printer driver CD or install the driver without a digital signature.
| Novell Print Queue in Driver Distribution Feature
| Print queues shared on Novell Print servers will not be automatically discovered. As a result, you must manually enter the print queue name during the driver configuration step. This is also true for Windows XP and 2003 server.
| AR450 Driver in Chinese Windows XP
| Attempting to install an AR-450 driver in Chinese for Windows XP displays a hardware installation warning message. This message appears if the printer driver contains an invalid catalog (.cat) file (The catalog file is located in the same folder where the drivers are located.). If you double-click on the .cat file, you receive an error message if the .cat file is invalid; otherwise, a dialog box explaining the details about the .cat file appears. Note: This warning message also appears if installing printer drivers using Microsoft's Add Printer wizard.
| Multiple Simultaneous Driver Download
| When multiple users try to download a printer driver at the same time, not all users will immediately get the driver download dialog box.
| Workaround
| In this case, all users must wait for a short period of time in order to get the driver download dialog box.
| Modify Device Groups.
| Maximum Device Groups
| The number of groups supported by PAU 4.0 is 100. However, you are not restricted from creating more than 100 groups but the behavior cannot be predicted.
| Modify Device Group Names
| Changing a group name fails when you only change the letter case of the name. Group names in PAU 4.0 are case insensitive so changing the group name by only changing the letter case results in the error message: Group Name Already Exists.
| Workaround
| To modify a group name where the only change is to the case of the letters in the existing name, the name must be modified first, and then changed back to the original name with the case modified. For example, to change the group name from ''Thename'' to ''TheName'' two steps are required. Change ''Thename'' to ''TheName2''. Change ''TheName2'' to ''TheName''. Note: This is only important if you need to maintain the configuration settings for the group when you rename it.
| Network Settings Dialog.
| Username and Email Address
| The username, password, and email address must be an existing user account with a valid email address on the SMTP server specified as the mail host. Passwords are only required for email servers configured to require them. PAU 4.0 retains the password for reuse with each email message operation (alerts and driver announcements). The password is not encrypted for both storage and transmission.
| Mixed Language Environment Limitations.
| Server Operating System Default Language
| The server operating system language is the default language for PAU 4.0. For example, when using a Japanese Windows NT server, the Japanese browser will see Japanese, and the English browser will see English. If the Japanese user wants to switch their browser to English, they must change the language setting in Internet Explorer and then refresh the page. If a user with a non-supported browser language attempts to access this Japanese server, they will see Japanese web pages (the default language for this server.) Note: The '\' symbol is mapped to the Yen symbol in the Japanese operating system. As a result, the \\ symbol is displayed in place of the Yen symbol.
| Multi-Byte Characters
| When entering a 2-byte character, PAU 4.0 does not show it correctly with cross languages. If your current browser language is set to a language not supported by PAU 4.0, all PAU 4.0 pages are displayed in the PAU 4.0 default language. If the MFP language is a different language than the current browser language, PAU 4.0 pages still use the current browser language for the UI. If the MFP language is a different language than the current browser language, data from the device (such as location strings), is displayed in the MFP Language regardless of the current browser language. In this situation the data fields for the device data may use a different language than the browser. If you attempt to store device data in a language other than the MFP language, you may get unexpected results. If you attempt to store device data in a language that is not the current browser language, you may also get unexpected results (characters may not display properly). If the PAU 4.0 server is set to an unsupported language PAU 4.0 defaults to English.
| Changing the Local Language Setting in the Browser
| A flickering is seen on the screen when selecting a language using the Select Language browser settings. While selecting different languages in the language combo, the page needs to be reloaded before language settings can take effect. This is expected behavior when using web-based applications.
| Known Issues with Language Translation
| There are messages from a third-party component used in the driver installation process that appear in English on all other languages. These messages appear when a non-default path is chosen for extracting the supplied zip file during driver download. An overwrite confirmation dialog box also appears due to an existing file by the same name.
| Status Update.
| Status Update Timing
| PAU 4.0 processes a status update request one at a time. As a result, if more than one person attempts to simultaneously perform a status update, they would see some delay in getting a response.
| Modify Device Properties Timeouts
| When using a slow network connection, a device properties update might timeout. For example, you receive an ASP 0113 error for a script timeout when attempting to update device properties over a slow network (approximately 128 kb). If you experience this problem, try the operation again.
| Network Settings (Timeout)
| Checking Mail Host
| The message Access Forbidden appears when checking the mail host with an invalid mail host name. This message appears when the number of requests sent to Microsoft's IIS exceeds its limit. As a result, Microsoft's IIS displays the message: There are too many people accessing the web site at this time.
| Network Settings (Mail host validation)
| PAU doesn't prevent the administrator from storing an invalid mail host in PAU database through the network settings page. PAU will display a message saying that the mail delivery is successful even if the mail host is invalid, this is because PAU is not doing mail host validation during the time it sends the email.
| Workaround
| Check if the mail host is valid by clicking on the "Check mail host" button provided and send a test mail to check if the mail is being sent using the information provided to PAU.
| Known Limitations for Specific Browser Versions.
| Compatibility issues can be expected when using an unsupported browser version. In these cases, PAU 4.0 will continue to function correctly when the client web browser displays cosmetic changes in the UI.
| Font Appearance in Netscape
| When using Netscape 7.0, the string sizes change when you change the font size in the Configure Useful Links page. PAU 4.0 uses a style sheet to set the font name, size, color and other attributes for the strings that are displayed on PAU 4.0 pages. If you change the font size in the Netscape 7.0 browser, the PAU 4.0 string size remains the same except for the Configure Useful Links page. The size of the table heading strings Link Name and URL on the Configure Useful Links page will change if you change the font size in the Netscape 7.0 browser.
| Internet Explorer
| When using Internet Explorer 6.0.2800.1106, if the computer name for the PAU 4.0 server is changed to a name containing special characters such as ''_'', a warning message appears explaining that it is a non-standard computer name. When you attempt to open PAU 4.0 after changing the server name to a name with special characters, the following message appears: Not able to open the home page
| Workaround
| If you experience this problem, upgrade to a newer version of an Internet Explorer 6.0 build that is later than 2800.1106.
| Netscape
| PAU 4.0 does not function correctly with Netscape 7.1.
| Known Limitations for Specific Sharp Devices.
| Printer-Specific Alerts and Error Messages
| Printer-specific alert and error messages depend on the accuracy of information known by the printer that is sent to PAU 4.0. For example, some printers display a scanner Cover Open message as a critical error. These message discrepancies are infrequent, but can occur.
| Workaround
| Develop real-time benchmarks by comparing warnings in PAU 4.0 with actual material levels in particular printers.
| Power Save Mode
| Printer firmware does not check printer status nor does it update the MIB when a printer is in power-save mode. As a result, PAU 4.0 does not receive status change information from the device while in power-save mode.
| FO DC-500/600 FAX Machine
| The Set Community String for the FO DC-500/600 Fax machine does not store correctly. During normal installation, PAU 4.0's default timeout is five seconds (5000 milliseconds). This causes a timing problem between PAU 4.0 and the FO DC-500/600 firmware.
| Workaround
| Change the PAU Network Settings timeout to 15 seconds (15000 millisecond) and retry to three tries.
| Network Expansion Kit
| If an MFP includes a network expansion kit, ensure that the USB cable connection is secure. Otherwise, PAU 4.0 might report incorrect MFP status.
| Data Seurity Kit
| If a Data Security Kit (DSK) is included with an MFP, the Model Name and Impression Count details for that MFP are not readable.
| Windows NT Install Directory Path
| When using Windows NT, you cannot change the path to where PAU 4.0 gets installed (MSDE 2000 Setup decides System Drive as its target location). There is, however, a configuration file where you can specify the parameters. As a result, the install directory cannot be replaced with some hard coded value nor can it be aware of the application that uses it.
| Printer IP Address Changes
| An IP address is used to perform a status update. If an IP address of a printer changes, it causes a status update failure at the old IP address. This is expected behavior; however, the printer needs to be discovered again. In addition, there will be no response from that device (at the old IP address) so the status is changed to No Response.
| Workaround
| If you change the IP address on a printer, run the Device Discovery or perform a Device Quick Find for the new IP address.
| Redundant Status Message
| When navigating between different windows in PAU 4.0, a redundant Discovery in Progress dialog box appears in Configure Discovery when a discovery is in progress. This dialog box does not cause any problems.
| Login ID Used During Installation Must Be The Same Before and After Reboot
| During the PAU 4.0 installation, you must log back in as an Administrator when prompted to reboot the system. A system reboot is necessary to complete the PAU 4.0 installation. Otherwise, the database operation is pending and the home page displays an error message stating that PAU 4.0 is not able to connect to the database. This same error might also occur when there is some problem with the database or database connectivity to the server.
| Status Update
| SHARP devices, such as the AR-507, might not update the device status correctly. This results in giving misinformation of the device's current status. This is a known problem with the AR-507 device. Even if the status update operation fails when you attempt to change the simplex/duplex property value, it returns the success message. PAU 4.0 does not display any error message.
| Supplies Level
| Information regarding the level of supplies in a printer (paper, toner, etc.) depends on the accuracy of information known by the printer that is sent to PAU 4.0. When using PAU 4.0, you can develop your own real-time benchmarks by comparing warnings in PAU 4.0 with actual material levels in a particular printer.
| Network Settings (Timeout)
| Timeout settings need to be adjusted depending on the system used. Some devices are not discovered with a timeout setting of 5000 milliseconds. In these cases, increase the timeout value.
| Other Issues.
| Simultaneous Users
| PAU 4.0 does not support transaction loads of greater than five simultaneous users. The workaround is to not expect more than five transactions being performed instantaneously. During normal use, five simultaneous transactions do not happen. This behavior was only seen during testing that created large numbers of simultaneous interactions. The root cause is a limitation of the database subsystem used in PAU 4.0.
| Alt Text
| No alt text for images appears in the navigation bar. Placing the alt text of the navigation link (for any image) instead displays the tool tip. It is not planned for PAU 4.0 to add alt text for the navigation link.
| List box Limitation
| A runtime error occurs while quickly selecting and reselecting values in the Per Page combo box on Device View page. In this case, the client is placing many requests without any delay between requests. Browsers such as Internet Explorer and Netscape cannot handle these requests. As a result, the browsers fail in posting the requests to the server. This is a known problem with Internet Explorer and Netscape.
| Discovery Progress Display
| If the LAN connection of the PAU 4.0 server is lost, the Discovery progress indicator screen continues to appear as if a discovery is in progress (even though the network connection is lost or the server is shutdown). When the server is shut down or the network is disconnected, it is unknown to the browser client software. Also, Internet Explorer does not refresh the page once the connection to the server is lost, which gives an impression of discovery in progress.
| Use Without a DNS Server
| If PAU 4.0 is connected to a network that uses raw IP addresses as the names for devices, then the URL for PAU 4.0 also requires the same IP addressing because the current computer name will not work with the PAU 4.0 URL.
| Network Traffic
| If your network traffic is high, you might not be able to access PAU 4.0. If you attempt to access PAU 4.0 during high network traffic, the PAU 4.0 user interface might not display correctly. If this is the case, close all PAU 4.0 browser sessions, open a new browser session, and then try to reconnect again.
| Shared Print Queue
| Print queues shared on some print servers might not be discovered automatically due to network access rights. As a result, you must manually enter the print queue name when configuring print drivers. When you attempt to find the printer queue name in the printer driver distribution feature step, it might not appear in the list because of the time it takes the Windows OS network environment to update the list of workstation and printer names.
| Workaround
| Enter the queue name directly.
| Protected Pages
| The following Windows XP server setting must be set if PAU 4.0 is installed on Windows XP under a workgroup and you want access to any of the PAU 4.0 protected features from other clients in the workgroup:
| 1. Open the Control Panel.
| 2. Open Administrative Tools.
| 3. Open the Local Security Policy.
| 4. From the left-side tree view menu, expand Security Settings.
| 5. Expand Local Policies.
| 6. Expand Security Options.
| 7. From the list in the right-hand side of the window, double-click sharing and Security Model for Local Account.
| 8. A dialog box appears with a drop-down list. In the drop-down list, change the default setting Guest Only - Local Users Authenticate as Guest to Classic - Local Users Authenticate as themselves.
| Browser window focus
| Sometimes you will see the Internet Explorer browser window jump between PAU and other web pages. This is a known issue with Internet Explorer. See MS KB article #224816