printer is online, but not printing

[Michael Bluemm]

Hi,
I have a problem with a printer on HP-UX 11.0, which printed 'til last week.
Now when trying to print to printer1 with lp-command, system tells me "request id is printer1-126" -the normal output-, but it does nothing else. Connection to "printer1" is still alive (ping-command).
How to check the printer / status of the printer?
(All other printers in the same network work well).
Thanks, Michael

[Mark Grant]

First check the output of "lpstat -t" to see if the print jobs are still waiting in the queue. If they are then there is an 80-90% chance that here is something wrong with the printer itself.

[Chris Wilshaw]

If this printer is also used by Windoze for printing (local or network), it's possible that the printer has its port blocked by a job there.

Try to telnet to the printer - if the connection is successful, you will get to the config menu, which means that the port's not in use. I'm guessing that this is a JetDirect printer - if so, you should also be able to telnet to port 9100 on the printer - this will not return a prompt.

[Michael Bluemm]

Hi,
my HP Color LaserJet doesn't work yet.
- Duncan:
I'm sorry we don't have either hppi nor jetadmin

- Mark:
output of "lpstat -t":
schedular is running
printer1 accepting requests since June 27
printer1 is idle, enabled since June 27,
fence priority: 0

- Chris:
root> telnet printer1
connected to printer1
HP JetDirect
>

That's all information I got,
please help more.

Thank you, Michael

[Bill Hassell]

There is a very big difference between a JetDirect printer (one that uses an HP JetDirect card or adapter to connect to the LAN) and a remote printer whic might be a WindowsNT/2000 server. For Jetdirect, use telnet (unless the printer is VERY old like a LaserJet II or III) to verify connectivity. The adapter may have lost it's IP address information. If telnet is OK, use hpnpf to print directly (and bypass the spooler). man hpnpf gives you the details.

For remote printer, start with the server to see if it can print to the printer. If that works OK, verify that the lpd service is running. You might try deleting the printer on your local machine and adding it back.

Note that lp patches should be up to date and also verify that no changes have occurred in the name or IP for the printer (ie, DNS problems).

[Michael Bluemm]

Hallo Bill,

the point is, that the network-printer worked for a long time and no changes were made to any configuration the last times.

The man-page of hpnpf I didn't understand.

Which options have to be taken in the "telnet"- command to get some helpful information?

Thanks, Michael

[Michael Bluemm]

"Print Manager" shows me:
-Printer Properties:
-Printer Queue: printer1
- Status: Up - In Service
- Device Name: /dev/null
- Status: Up - In Service

looks fine, but: doesn't print...

Michael

[V. Nyga]

Hi Michael,

after
telnet printer

you should try typing 'help' or '?' for more informations from the JetDirect box

Regards
Volkmar

[Duncan Edmonstone]

Michael, I'm confused... you say you don't have JetAdmin or HP Printer Installer on your system, yet you are using a network based printer, and not via another system using rlp. Furthermore you seem to have hpnpf on your system, which I though only came with JetAdmin or HPPI. Can you check that you don't have one of the following executables on your system:

/opt/hpnpl/admin/hppi

or

/opt/hpnp/admin/jetadmin


Thx

Duncan

[V. Nyga · Accepted solution]

Hi Michael,

have you tried this:

cancel printer jobs
switch off printer
stop lpscheduler: lpshut
start lpscheduler: lpsched
switch on printer

Regards
Volkmar

[Bill Hassell]

I think we are all confused about justy what you have. The text:

"Print Manager" shows me:
-Printer Properties:
-Printer Queue: printer1
- Status: Up - In Service
- Device Name: /dev/null
- Status: Up - In Service

seems to indicate that you are not using the standard HP-UX lp spooler and the text:

root> telnet printer1
connected to printer1
HP JetDirect

isn't the normal response from an HP JetDirect card or adapter. As far as you not making any changes yet printing stopped, this is a very common problem if your DNS server is not working correctly or your JetDirect card has lost it's configuration. To use hpnf:

/opt/hpnpl/bin/hpnpf -x IP_address -N /etc/profile

(if you have /opt/hpnp/bin/hpnpf, then you have the obsolete JetAdmin software that, while it basically works, is unsupported and known to have Y2K issues. If you don't have either /opt/hpnp or /opt/hpnpl, then you do not have JetDirect software and you'll have to tell us more about your printer connection.

[Mark Grant]

Bill,

I remember seeing output like that on an 10.20 box running some nasty print GUI called OpenSpool. I never ever understood what the hell it was doing and replaced it with plain old "lp" just as soon as I could.

I believe this might be what the questioner is using

[Michael Bluemm]

Hi all,
thank you for your help. At the end, it was a "normal" printing problem, being solved only by: switch off - lpshut - lpsched - switch on - lp ...

The confusing thing for you was, that the printer is not installed like a Jet-Direct-Printer has to be (I don't know how,it was before my time), but now it works.
Bye, Michael