How to crash an SMC Router

Send a print job to it. Seriously.

Couldn't get a Windows test page to print from my brand-spanking-new SMC 2804WBRP-G wireless router with USB print server. It would print the graphic at the top and then stop.

After my wife complained of getting knocked off the Internet at that precise moment, I stood up and looked at the router's LEDs. As soon as it printed the graphic, the router would spontaneously reboot!

Played around with the printer properties, remembered that to get my last SMC router working acceptably (also a print server), I had to disable spooling. So I reenabled spooling.

And whaddya know. It worked. Well, for the first document, and only after I power-button rebooted my Windows 98 system. I just love it when Explorer.exe and RunDLL lock up.

So, my best guess is that the router has a bug where too much printer data gives it an electronic enema.

SMC will love this problem...


Written by Andrew Ittner in misc on Sun 22 February 2004. Tags: technology