Xerox Phaser 6200 Color Laser Printer Maintenance Firmware Release Change Notes

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Xerox Phaser

®

6200 Color Laser Printer

Maintenance Firmware Release Change Notes

October 3, 2002

In May 2002, the Xerox Office Printing Business introduced the award-winning Phaser 6200 Color Laser Printer. Combining high performance, superior print quality, and unprecedented ease-of-use, the Phaser 6200 printer offers the best value available for letter-sized color laser printers.

In keeping with Xerox’ total commitment to quality, Xerox is pleased to offer

Phaser 6200 customers this maintenance release of printing software. This new software improves printer usability and reliability by addressing problems that were discovered after the initial introduction of the product. Xerox is confident that this software will further improve your printing experience.

This document details the changes made to the Phaser 6200 printer software, between the original software introduced with the printer in May 2002:

Version numbers - OS 4.26 / PS 2.12 / Net 14.66.02.22.2002 And maintenance version of printer software released in September 2002:

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The maintenance release software is available to download from the Xerox Internet web page at:

http://officeprinting.opbu.xerox.com/cgi-bin/formeng.pl?form=6200printer_firmwareupdate See the “Installing the Xerox Phaser 6200 Maintenance Firmware Release” document that is included in the maintenance release package for instructions on how to check the version of printer and driver firmware, and how to install the maintenance release firmware, if necessary.

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I. Changes to the Embedded Networking Firmware

1. When printing from Windows 2000 or Windows XP using direct TCP,

occasionally the print job is not printed, and the printer does not wakeup from Energy Star mode.

Details: Under certain printer warning conditions, the Microsoft direct TCP/IP (AppSocket) port monitor that is built-in for Windows 2000 and Windows XP fails to wake up the printer from Energy Star mode. This condition only occurs when the printer has a printer warning present while in Energy Star mode, such as low consumables life. The Microsoft direct TCP/IP port monitor checks the printer’s status using SNMP prior to opening the data connection for the print job. Because of an interaction between the warning condition and Energy Star condition, the port monitor logic believes the printer is not in a state to accept new jobs and fails to initiate the data connection.

Resolution: The priority reported via SNMP of the Energy Star condition now exceeds the priority of the printer warning condition.

Reference: OPBU00026792

2. The customer-set DDNS hostname reverts to the factory default of “XRX######”.

Details: If a customer sets a DDNS hostname and the printer fails to renew its DHCP lease, the hostname reverts to the default for the printer, which is the letters “XRX” followed by six unique digits based on the printer’s Ethernet MAC address. The printer fails to renew its lease if, during the lease expiration period:

• The printer is powered off. • The network connection is down. • The DHCP server is down.

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3. The printer crashes intermittently on certain network configurations.

Details: When the printer is configured to use TCP/IP networking, and an IP address and gateway address are set, and an ICMP Time Request packet arrives at the printer with value 16 in the type of service (TOS) field in the IP packet

header, the printer may crash. This packet should be ignored as it is sent between network routers to maintain time synchronization.

Resolution: An error in the networking code that maintains the IP routing tables was fixed.

4. The printer crashes at power-up or reboot on certain network configurations.

Details: If the printer is configured to obtain a TCP/IP network address using DHCP and the DHCP server is setting an option 150 field in the DHCP reply packet, the printer crashes. The optional field 150 in the DHCP reply packet is a user-defined field, typically used to specify the address of a TFTP server for network-booted diskless workstations. Resolution: An error in the networking code that processes the DHCP

reply packets was fixed. Reference: OPBU00026795

5. The printer does not allow a numeral in the first character position of the DNS hostname.

Details: The printer checks DNS hostnames for validity when they are set in the printer. The printer previously used the RFC-952 hostname standard, which does not permit a non-alpha character in the first position of the hostname. The printer now uses the newer RFC-1123 standard to validate

hostnames, which permits a numeral in the first position of the hostname.

Resolution: The DNS hostname validation code now conforms to RFC1123.

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6. The printer’s network functions become erratic under some error conditions using Novell network servers.

Details: A defect existed in the printer’s Novell networking code that causes a memory leak when the Novell server denies the printer’s connection request. The printer retries the connection attempt periodically, until the network memory pool is exhausted. The networking code then behaves erratically. Denial of the network connect request is a rare condition, and this problem is not commonly encountered. Resolution: An error in the printer’s networking code for Novell server

connections that leaked memory upon connection failure is fixed.

7. The “Content Update” feature of CentreWare IS is removed.

Details: Automatic content update within the CentreWare IS embedded web server is not supported for the Phaser 6200 printer. This appeared in the list of option under the “Support” tab within CentreWare IS.

Resolution: The pages and links within CentreWare IS that relate to Automatic Content Update are removed.

8. The printer permits a telnet connection to the printer’s operating system command line shell.

Details: The printer accepts telnet connections on the standard TCP/IP telnet port number 23, and opens a command line shell session to the printer’s embedded real-time operating system. This functionality is used during printer

development and testing; however, it could pose a security risk in customer environments.

Resolution: The printer no longer accepts telnet connections. Reference: OPBU00029793

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II. Changes to the Printer Embedded PostScript

Firmware

1. The horizontal registration adjustment produces incorrect results.

Details: The horizontal registration adjustment page, located in the “Improve Print Quality” menu, shows offset numbers underneath each adjustment setting. The user visually determines the best adjustment setting and then inputs that number into the printer’s front panel to provide the best horizontal registration. The printer incorrectly recorded the user’s input by one unit, resulting in the user not obtaining the best horizontal registration.

Resolution: The printer code now correctly interprets the users

horizontal offset number. The printer also now performs an automatic vertical registration adjustment before printing the horizontal registration page; in addition to the other times when the printer would perform that adjustment. Reference: OPBU00028499, OPBU00028244

2. Some internal pages show jagged edges on their contents when printed.

Details: Some embedded pages in the printer’s firmware have jagged edges when printed in enhanced quality mode. Resolution: The listed internal pages were changed to print in standard

quality mode: Startup Page, Configuration Page, Print Quality Tips Page, Paper Tips Page, Supplies Usage Page, Color Registration Page, and Connection Setup Page. Reference: OPBU00028242

3. The printer’s power-on self-test does not identify failures in the printer’s onboard real-time clock.

Details: Failures in the printer’s onboard real-time clock cause the printer to freeze or hang during its power-on self-test process. A customer observes the LCD to remain blank when the printer is powered on, although the power LED illuminates.

Resolution: The power-on self-test software is modified to detect an onboard real-time clock failure correctly, report the error on the start page, and continue the power-on process. The printer may or may not function correctly with a

malfunctioning onboard real-time clock. Some network protocols rely on the correct time of day.

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4. The printable area is slightly off-centered on the page.

Details: The printable area is offset from the center of the page by less than 1.5 mm.

Resolution: The printer firmware is changed to place the image area in the exact center of the page, subject to individual printer manufacturing tolerances.

5. The printer now selects CIE color rendering dictionaries based on graphic object type.

Details: The Macintosh OS X PostScript driver and some application software prints in 3-component CIE color spaces as a default, instead of device RGB or CMYK color space. The standard Adobe color rendering dictionaries for 3-component colorspaces result in text and vectored graphics printing with composite black. Composite black text and line graphics are not as sharp as single color “K-only” black, and may appear bolder and can have slightly colored edges due to the imperfect registration of the 3 component colors. Composite blacks are preferable for sampled raster image graphics.

Resolution: Xerox has developed a method for selecting differing color rendering dictionaries for CIE colorspaces based on the type of graphical data in a print job. Image data now uses a color-rendering dictionary that produces composite blacks. Text and vectored data uses a color-rendering dictionary that produces “K-only” black. This results in better black generation for all types of document graphical data. Reference: OPBU00030174

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III. Changes to the Printer Driver and Host Utility

Software

1. The printer driver installer for Windows 2000 and Windows XP reports to the user that he/she lacks administrative privileges to complete the installation.

Details: This is due to changes in how user privileges function in recent Microsoft operating systems and service packs to support the Microsoft .NET platform. Under certain

circumstances the Phaser 6200 installer program reports the user lacks sufficient privileges to complete the installation. Resolution: The printer driver installer works properly with the latest

Microsoft .NET administrative privileges. Reference: OPBU00022673

2. When installing a printer connected with USB under Windows 98 or Windows Me, the Xerox CD-ROM installer program recommends the customer restart the computer at the beginning of the installation. This action would be repeated and the driver would not be installed.

Details: With the Windows 98 or Windows Me operating system, the Xerox Installer program recommends the customer reboot the PC when the Plug-and-Play Wizard’s auto-detection and installation of the printer driver does not complete successfully, because the drivers could not be found. If the customer follows the recommendation, this re-initiates the Plug-and-Play wizard after the restart and starts the whole cycle again.

Resolution: The Xerox CD-ROM print driver installer program now correctly deletes registry keys left over from an

unsuccessful Plug-and-Play USB installation and does not recommend an initial restart as a result.

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3. The printer driver for Windows 98 and Windows Me does not correctly update the PPD to reflect options added to a standard configuration printer.

Details: When a printer has additional options and capabilities installed, the printer driver uses a technology Xerox calls “Hot PPD” to update the printer description file used by the driver, and permits the use of the new capabilities from within the printer driver. An example includes adding a hard disk to a N or DP configuration to gain printer-based “Smart Collation”, proof print, saved print, and secure printing. The “Hot PPD” feature is activated each time the user selects “Properties” from within the printer driver. Due to an error in the printer driver code, this feature did not work reliably and resulted in the printer driver not reflecting the additional, customer-added capabilities, except those pre-configured for the printer.

Resolution: The error in the printer driver code that fails to update the capabilities of the printer properly is resolved.

4. Communication errors are reported in various locations in the printer driver and PrintingScout when the printer is identified on the network using a DNS hostname instead of a dotted-decimal TCP/IP address.

Details: Various portions of the printer driver and PrintingScout code expect the printer’s network identification in the form of a dotted-decimal TCP/IP address, and would fail when a DNS hostname is used. A configuration error would be reported.

Resolution: The code in the portions of the driver that deal with the network identification of the printer are changed to resolve a DNS hostname, in addition to accepting dotted-decimal IP addresses.

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5. No print job is produced with booklet printing and custom page size specified under Windows 98 and Windows Me.

Details: Using Windows 98, if a custom page size is specified and the booklet printing feature is enabled, no print job is sent to the spooler or to a disk file, and no output is ever produced.

Resolution: The code in the printer driver that implements booklet printing is changed to support custom page sizes. Reference: OPBU00027089

6. The word PhaserSMART is missing from the Technical Support link on the Troubleshooting tab of the various Windows drivers.

Details: The word PhaserSMART is missing from the Technical Support link on the Troubleshooting tab of the various Windows drivers. The link is fully functional, simply missing the additional text. PhaserSMART is the name for the Xerox rules-based, automatic help engine for resolving printing problems that is accessed through this link.

Resolution: The word PhaserSMART is added to the hypertext link text. Reference: OPBU00025389

7. The Order Supplies link on the Troubleshooting tab of the various Windows drivers does not reference the correct web page on the Xerox OPB internet web site.

Details: The Order Supplies link on the Troubleshooting tab of the various Windows drivers allows the user to automatically open a web page on the Xerox OPB web server, where the user can order printer supplies. The link points to an incorrect URL.

Resolution: The link is corrected to reference the correct Xerox OPB web page.

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8. When the printer is connected to the computer using the parallel or USB port, the pop-up tool tip for accessing the CentreWare IS web features of the printer is displayed when the mouse cursor was moved over the printer mimic in the Setup tab of the driver window. An incorrect pop-up tool tip is also displayed for the Paper Source, Paper Size, and Paper Type text.

Details: The printer mimic is the small illustration of the printer displayed in the print driver window that shows the state of the printer. The CentreWare IS web feature of the printer requires a TCP/IP connection to the computer, and cannot be accessed over USB or parallel connections. The tool tip is inappropriate when using these connection types and should not be displayed. The tool tip for the Paper Source, Paper Size, and Paper Type contained incorrect text. Resolution: The tool tip no longer displays for parallel or USB

connected printers. The correct tool tip text is displayed for Paper Source, Paper Size, and Paper Type.

Reference: OPBU00020036, OPBU00022574, OPBU00021383

9. When options were changed on the TekColor tab, or the Setup tab in the various Windows printer drivers, the printer mimic would flicker.

Details: The printer mimic is the small illustration of the printer displayed in the print driver window that shows the state of the printer. When settings are changed in the Setup tab or TekColor tab in the printer driver, the mimic would flicker. This issue is strictly cosmetic and does not affect printer or driver functionality in any way.

Resolution: The printer driver code is changed to prevent the mimic from flickering.

10. With the printer driver for Windows 98 and Windows Me, the number of copies field is not reset to “1” when the “Restore Defaults” button is pressed and the “Proof Print” box is checked.

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11. Printing duplex jobs with odd numbers of pages from PowerPoint 97 running on Windows 98 or Windows Me, using printer-disk-based

Smart Collation, the last page of a collated set prints on the same sheet of paper as the first sheet of the next set.

Details: The last page of a collated set prints on the opposite side of same sheet of paper as the first page in the next set, when printing a job with an odd number of pages from Microsoft PowerPoint 97 running under Windows 98 or Windows Me, to a printer with Smart Collation enabled and duplex

printing enabled. The next set of a collated job should always begin on a new sheet of paper, possibly leaving the reverse side of the last page of the previous set blank, if the job has an odd number of pages.

Resolution: An error in the printer driver code is fixed and correctly begins the first page of each collated set on a new sheet regardless of the number of pages in the job.

12. The software installer for the printer driver for Macintosh OS X displays garbage characters in the installer window if the writing system of the computer is set to a 2-byte script.

Details: The software installer for the printer driver displays garbage characters when the operating system is set to a language and locality whose script uses a 2-byte writing system. This problem is occurring within the OS X operating system and not in the Xerox installer program.

Resolution: The software installer for the printer driver now forces the language used within the installer program to English when a 2-byte writing system is in use in the operating system. Reference: OPBU00025252

13. The printer produces a PostScript error on some jobs printed from Windows operating systems, if the job name is very long.

Details: The printer drivers for the Windows environments produce an encoded form of the print job name for the job

accounting feature to store. There is a limit on the

maximum length of this string. Some applications, notably Microsoft Outlook, occasionally produce job names that after encoding by the printer driver exceed the job accounting limit, produce a rangecheck error, and fail to produce any output.

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Resolution: The printer driver software now checks for and traps any errors in setting the job account name. Jobs that have an over-length job name string will now print; although the job name may not be set correctly in the job accounting records. Reference: OPBU00029147

14. Windows Explorer crashes when deleting some custom page sizes in the printer driver under Windows 2000 and Windows XP.

Details: In the Windows 2000 and Windows XP print driver, it is possible to press “Save” on a custom page size with no name. The custom page size is not created; however, the “Delete” button becomes enabled. Pressing the “Delete” button for the non-existent custom page size causes the Windows Explorer to crash.

Resolution: The printer driver no longer enables the “Delete” button when no custom page size is created by the “Save” button, such as when the name of the custom page size is left blank. Reference: OPBU00019864

15. Some internal pages do not print from within the PCL driver.

Details: The PCL Font List Page and Paper Quality Tips Page do not print when the buttons are pressed from the

Windows 98 and Windows Me PCL driver. The PCL Font List Page does not print from the Windows NT 4 PCL driver.

Resolution: The PCL driver code is modified to print the

above-mentioned pages when the appropriate buttons are pressed. Reference: OPBU00018357, OPBU00019468

16. Custom page sizes do not always appear in the “Paper Size” menu.

Details: Custom page sizes do not appear in the “Paper Size” menu under the “Choose Specific Tray” section of the Setup tab in the Windows 2000 driver, when connected to a USB printer.

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17. When printing from Windows XP, the printer’s job account records sometimes show the user name as “SYSTEM”.

Details: The printer driver uses the owner of the running print spooler program to determine the user name for job accounting. With Windows XP, Microsoft changed the owner of the running print spooler program from the user’s own login to the system’s space. Therefore the user name shown in job accounting appears as “SYSTEM”. In

Windows XP Service Pack 1, the owner of the print spooler program is changed back to the user’s login.

Resolution: The code in the printer driver that determines the user name for a print job is modified to function correctly in all

versions of Windows, taking into account the various differences in Windows.

18. When printing watermarks on documents, the watermark appears in portrait orientation for both portrait and landscape page layouts.

Details: The orientation of a watermark should change to match the layout of the page: Portrait or Landscape. The printer driver is not rotating the watermark graphics from portrait to landscape when the page layout is landscape.

Resolution: The code in the printer driver is modified to rotate the watermark graphics to landscape orientation when the page layout was landscape.

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19. Custom page sizes print with improper orientation.

Details: When printing a custom page size, the output image rotates 90 degrees to the orientation of the paper.

Resolution: An error in the driver is corrected that caused the output image rotate incorrectly. Custom media sizes should always be fed into the MPT in the same orientation as specified when the custom page size is created.

Note: The LCD display on the front panel of the printer will always request the paper to load into the MPT with the smaller dimension first (portrait orientation). If the custom page size is defined with the larger dimension first (landscape orientation), then this is the orientation that the paper should be loaded into the MPT.

20. The help files for both the PostScript and PCL Windows drivers have the same filename. The last driver installed overwrites the help file of the other driver.

Details: Both the PostScript and PCL Windows help files use the same “.chm” filename. This means if a user chooses to install both drivers, the last driver installed overwrites the help file for the other driver.

Resolution: The drivers now use different “.chm” filenames, so that no conflicts exist.

21. With some Microsoft Word documents, the orientation chosen in the print driver “Print Properties” window does not agree with the orientation in the Microsoft Word “Page Setup”.

Details: Microsoft Word permits different orientations in Page Setup for different sections of a document. The printer driver does not take this into consideration when the user makes

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22. The Network Printer Installer tool fails to work with Microsoft Windows .NET server.

Details: The error message “Administrator privileges required” appears if the Network Printer Installer tool is run with the Microsoft Windows .NET server operating system, though the user is logged in with Administrator privileges.

Resolution: The code in the Network Printer Installer tool is fixed to work with the Windows .NET operating system.