Linux Printing Defaults to Manual Feed Tray

[robmcangus]

We are in the process of upgrading our Windows Servers to Linux boxes. We are running Oracle Applications and DBs on these boxes - and when we print, the output is sent to the manual feed tray instead of the regular default tray. We have verified on the printer that the automatic feed is chosen but when the file is sent from Linux, it bypasses that altogether.

This doesn't happen on our 8150 models. But when we send documents to any of the 4000 printers (4250n) or even the 3000 printers (CP3525n) the output goes to the manual feed tray and we have to then force the copy by hitting the "go" button.

Have you seen anything like this before? We went into CUPS and set the default tray to the tray 2 but it still sends it to manual feed.

Thanks,
Rob

[Matti_Kurkela]

Have you checked the paper size & type settings? If the printer has been configured to assume its default tray contains plain paper, but the print queue includes a setting of glossy paper, or vice versa, the printer will determine the paper type of the print job does not match the available paper type in the default tray, and the manual feed tray will be used instead. The same can happen between A4/US Letter paper sizes if the printer has been configured to treat them as separate: most HP printers now have a configuration setting that allows the printer to treat A4 and US Letter as effectively equivalent.

When the printer is requesting manual feed, the printer's front panel display might give clues about the paper size/type requested by the print job.

Unfortunately, the traditional interface between Unix/Linux print spooler and applications is fairly simple and limited. If the applications are using this traditional interface (= typically, if you have to specify a "print command" in application settings), the application might embed some settings in the print job data, and depending on the printing language used, the spooler cannot always override application settings. So you would have to make sure the print job settings are in agreement in three places:

• the application producing the print job
• the CUPS spooler
• the printer

Some newer applications are using CUPS' native API, which should make it easier for the application and the CUPS spooler to coordinate their settings automatically (which is the way things happen on Windows). But there are still many applications using the old interface.