Troubleshooting

This section provides troubleshooting hints for situations in which the spool system is not working.

Problem: Requests are sent to a printer, but are never printed.

Check each of the following:

DIs the printer scheduler running? Entering •lpstat –r" will display an answer to this question. If the scheduler is not running, start it by entering •lpsched". You can also check that lpsched is not hung up somehow.

DIs the printer enabled or in •retry" status? Check this by entering •lpstat –p". If so, see the following discussion on disabled printers.

DIs the priority fence of the printer low enough to print the queued requests? Check this by entering •lpstat –p" and comparing the displayed value to the priority of the requests, as reported by •lpstat –o". If the priority fence is too high, you may wish to lower it.

DIs the printer busy with a request that is hung for some reason? If •lpstat –p" indicates that the printer is busy, check the progress of that request. The copy of lpout responsible for printing the request may be in the paused state if the •-ohold" option was given when the request was created.

DIs the proper device LU associated with the printer for a local printer? You can check this by entering •lpstat –v".

DCheck file /usr/spool/lp/log for error messages related to the printer.

Note that the spool system can hold off scheduling requests onto printers for short periods of time while spooling utilities modify the queues. If a spooling program is aborted while it has a scheduling lock in place, the spooler will break the lock after about 5 minutes have elapsed. lpsched makes an entry in its log file when it does this.

Problem: The printer is disabled or in •retry" status when it is accessed.

Check the reason, as reported by •lpstat –p", for which the printer is disabled or is retrying requests. Some common reasons are discussed in the items that follow:

Dnew printer

The printer has never been enabled after being added to the spool system. If the printer is ready to print, enable it using the enable program.

Dinterface program aborted

lpsched noticed that the interface program used to print requests on the printer (usually either lpout or rlpout) aborted without properly telling lpsched the request was complete. Check the system console for an abort message.

Dfmp_error program

An FMP error was encountered when RP'ing the printer interface program.

246 LP Spool System