HP OpenVMS Systems Documentation

HP DECprint Supervisor (DCPS) for OpenVMS
System Manager's Guide

The HP LaserJet IIID and several other HP LaserJet printers do not internally count physical sheets but instead count pages imaged. Therefore the "Sheets printed" data of the trailer page will reflect the number of images processed. For example, a six-page print job with burst and trailer pages enabled and /PARAMETERS=(SIDES=2) specified will show "Sheets printed" as eight when only five sheets are printed.

10.16 HP LaserJet IIISi Printer

The HP LaserJet IIISi printer does not keep track of the sheet count while printing native PCL files. The sheet count reported at the end of the job, both on the trailer page and to the OpenVMS accounting system, includes only those sheets printed in PostScript mode, such as the job separation pages. There is no known workaround for this problem.

10.16.2 Incorrect Sheet Count on Duplex Jobs

The HP LaserJet IIISi printer exhibits the same behavior with sheet count as mentioned in Section 10.15.2.

10.17 HP LaserJet 4SiMX Printer

The HP LaserJet 4SiMX printer exhibits the same behavior with sheet count as mentioned in Section 10.15.2.

10.18 HP LaserJet 5M Printer

DCPS may ignore explicit INPUT_TRAY parameter values for the HP LaserJet 5M printer, instead utilizing paper from another input tray. DCPS may also report that TRAY_1 is not available, even though the tray is a standard tray, when tray 1 is empty.

Both classes of problems are related to the printer attempting to select an alternate input tray if the desired tray is empty or otherwise not satisfactory. To avoid these problems, use the HP 5M console to specify that tray 1 is a "cassette" and to lock out all but one of the available input trays. Refer to the printer's user manual for more information.

10.18.2 Incorrect Sheet Count on Duplex Jobs

The HP LaserJet 5M printer exhibits the same behavior with sheet count as mentioned in Section 10.15.2.

10.19 HP LaserJet 5SiMX Printer

If the network manager has placed the mailbox bins into "job separator mode" using the administration software supplied with the printer, the DCPS job log and trailer pages print in the next bin, separated from the rest of the job.

10.19.2 Tray Is Not Available Due to Lack of Memory for Loaded Paper

If an input tray is loaded with a paper size that cannot be printed with the current memory configuration, DCPS reports the tray as not available. (Refer to the HP5SiMX users's guide for memory requirements.)

10.19.3 Duplex Not Supported Due to Lack of Memory for Loaded Paper

If an input tray is loaded with a paper size which cannot be printed in duplex mode with the current memory configuration, DCPS reports that duplex is not supported. (Refer to the HP5SiMX users's guide for memory requirements.)

10.19.4 Incorrect Sheet Count on Duplex Jobs

The HP LaserJet 5SiMX printer exhibits the same behavior with sheet count as mentioned in Section 10.15.2.

10.20 HP LaserJet 2100 and 2200

Some models in this series may not allow DCPS jobs to start. To resolve this, either set the printer to PostScript mode or suppress DCPS's PostScript synchronization. See Section 11.1.1 for more information.

10.21 HP Color LaserJet 5500

This printer does not respond to the DCPS synchronization request at the beginning of a job when running older versions of firmware. Therefore, you should upgrade the printer's firmware to at least version 20030605 04.016.2 or DCPS jobs will not start.

If you do not upgrade the printer firmware, you can define the logical name DCPS$queuename_NO_SYNC before queues to these printers are started. It is also recommended that the printer's personality setting be set to PS (PostScript). However, setting the printer's personality to PS (PostScript) alone will not solve the problem for this printer.

10.22 HP LaserJet 4000, 4050 and 5000

To use an HP LaserJet 4000 or 5000 printer from DCPS, the printer must be running a minimum firmware version of 19980714 MB3.68. To use an HP LaserJet 4050 printer, it is recommended that the printer be running a minimum firmware version of 19991030 MB6.30. Earlier versions of firmware may cause problems such as misprinted or missing characters when using the DCPS ANSI translator, especially when printing jobs with landscape orientation or NUMBER_UP. This firmware version number is displayed as Firmware Datecode on the printer's configuration page.

If your printer is running an older version of firmware, contact HP and request the proper version. The new firmware will be sent on a SIMM to be installed in your printer.

10.23 HP LaserJet 4200 and 4300

These printers do not respond to the DCPS synchronization request at the beginning of a job when running older versions of firmware. Therefore, you should upgrade the printer's firmware to at least version 20030530 04.047.2 or DCPS jobs will not start.

If you do not upgrade the printer firmware, you can define the logical name DCPS$queuename_NO_SYNC before queues to these printers are started. It is also recommended that the printer's personality setting be set to PS (PostScript). However, setting the printer's personality to PS (PostScript) alone will not solve the problem for these printers.

10.24 HP LaserJet 8000, 8100 and 8150

DCPS numbers the optional mailbox bins on the HP LaserJet 8000 printer from 1-5, 1-7 or 1-8, depending on the particular option installed. This is consistent with the numbers molded into the plastic beside the bins. The printer's console, in contrast, refers to these same bins as numbers two through nine. Refer to the HP LaserJet User Guide for your printer model for more information about the numbering and purpose of trays with different options and configurations.

10.24.2 Problems Starting Queues

Some models in this series may not allow DCPS jobs to start. To resolve this, either set the printer to PostScript mode or suppress DCPS's PostScript synchronization. See Section 11.1.1 for more information.

10.24.3 Minimum Firmware Version

To use a HP LaserJet 8000 printer from DCPS, the printer must be running a minimum firmware version of 19980610 MB4.28. This firmware version number is displayed as Firmware Datecode on the printer's configuration page.

If your printer is running an older version of firmware, contact HP and request the proper version. The new firmware will be sent on a SIMM to be installed in your printer.

10.25 HP XL300 Printer

If a file printed to the XL300 printer contains multiple userdata messages that are returned in quick succession, some messages may be lost, and others returned incorrectly. Also, messages that the DECprint Supervisor wants returned to it will occasionally get garbled. This will result in spurious messages to the user's terminal (if /NOTIFY is set). Otherwise, the job prints correctly.

10.26 Lexmark Optra Rt+ Printer

If tray linking is enabled by the printer console, the linked trays cannot be selected individually using the INPUT_TRAY parameter. Specifying any linked tray in the INPUT_TRAY parameter causes the printer to select among the linked trays in accordance with its own algorithm.

10.27 Lexmark Optra S, Optra T and T Series

Some models in the Lexmark Optra S, Optra T and T series may not allow DCPS jobs to start. To resolve this, either set the printer to PostScript mode or suppress DCPS's PostScript synchronization. See Section 11.1.1 for more information.

10.28 Tektronix Phaser

You must change the following AppSocket settings when using Phaser printers with DCPS:

To print to these printers over TCP/IP, use the LPD protocol. Because the printers do not return end-of-job information to DCPS, it is not possible to use the Raw TCP protocol with these printers. Jobs printed via Raw TCP will stall after the job is printed and may eventually be put on hold.

This chapter contains troubleshooting procedures for diagnosing error conditions on the printer system.

When a printer problem occurs, information may be displayed on the user's terminal if the /NOTIFY qualifier is included on the PRINT command line. This information may indicate the cause of the failure.

Check the job trailer page from the print job, which shows some of the messages that result from printing. Problems with the print files are indicated on a file error page (see Section 6.7).

When a printing system problem occurs, examine the console output or the OPERATOR.LOG file for operator communication manager (OPCOM) messages. If your terminal is not running OPCOM, use REPLY/ENABLE to enable PRINTER and CENTRAL messages. Restart the symbiont, and reprint the job. Then you can read the relevant messages. This procedure requires OPER privileges. Printer messages are listed in the User's GuideUser's Guide.

11.1 What to Do if a Raw TCP/IP Printer is Not Printing

Most printers respond to the PostScript synchronization command at the beginning of a DCPS job, but some do not. If all jobs to a queue remain in the Starting state, you may need to take one of the following steps:

• Change Printer Language Setting
  Often, setting the printer's language-sensing mode to PostScript, instead of auto-sensing between PostScript and PCL, will solve the problem. Refer to your printer documentation for instructions on changing the language for the appropriate port. This is the preferred method for avoiding the problem.
• Define NO_SYNC Logical Name
  If the problem is not solved by changing the printer setting, you can tell DCPS to skip the PostScript synchronization command by defining the logical name DCPS$queuename_NO_SYNC and restarting the queue. This works with printers that use raw TCP/IP or LAT connections on built-in Network Interface Cards (NICs). It has no effect when using printers connected via other interconnects. See Section 3.5.3 for more information.

If you set up a DCPS queue that uses a raw TCP/IP connection and specify an incorrect TCP port number for the printer, any print jobs that you submit to the queue will remain in a starting state. DCPS cannot determine that you have provided an incorrect port number, because the network failure that it receives is no different than if the printer had been busy or offline.

Note that a print job in a raw TCP/IP queue may remain in a starting state for other reasons as well.

Check the documentation for your printer, network interface card, print server, or terminal server to determine the correct TCP port number to use. The TCP port number may also be listed in Table 3-2.

11.1.3 Connection Terminations for Raw TCP/IP Queue

You may get CONTERMINATED errors for long print jobs when using raw TCP/IP connections. For jobs that consist of a single file or only use the native PostScript capability of the printer (for example, they do not use native PCL), these errors are most likely to occur at the end of the job, with job trailer pages (if specified for the queue) and print job accounting (if enabled) being lost. For other jobs, these errors may occur in the middle of the job, with subsequent documents as well as the trailer pages and accounting information being lost. DCPS requeues the terminated jobs, placing them in a Holding state so that you can reprint them once you resolve the termination problem.

Some network devices, including the HP JetDirect cards, drop a TCP/IP connection if they do not receive any input from the host system within a specified amount of time. This is a feature meant to prevent host software from monopolizing the device. DCPS, however, waits for the printer to acknowledge that previous documents are printed before switching from PostScript to some other native printer language and also before printing a trailer page and gathering accounting information. Even though the printer may be busy, the NIC may not receive any more input from DCPS before the timeout is reached.

If your NIC allows you to alter the TCP/IP idle timeout value, you can work around this problem by disabling or increasing the timeout. Check your NIC documentation to determine if this is possible, and how to do it. Then release any requeued jobs for which desired output was lost, and delete the other requeued jobs.

Note that it is the length of a job in time (versus size) that is important. For example, a very small PostScript program can take a very long time to print. Hence, it is difficult to predict how large a timeout is adequate.

11.1.4 NOT_READY Warnings for Unavailable Raw TCP/IP Printer

If a job is queued to a printer that uses a raw TCP/IP connection, and the printer is busy or offline, you will get NOT_READY warning messages for the printer.

If you believe or determine that the printer is busy, you can ignore these messages. DCPS cannot, unfortunately, differentiate between the printer being busy, offline, or otherwise unavailable.

11.1.5 LPD Queue Stops and Job Put on Hold

If you set up a DCPS queue that uses an LPD connection and specify an incorrect internal queue name for the printer, or omit one when it is required, any print jobs that you submit to the queue will be put on hold and the queue will stop. The following message will also be seen:

    %DCPS-F-LPDTERMINATED, LPD connection abnormally terminated
    -DCPS-I-JOB_ID, for job S (queue SNOBALL, entry 866) on SNOBALL

    %%%%%%%%%%%  OPCOM  19-SEP-2003 12:12:48.88  %%%%%%%%%%%
    Message from user SYSTEM on FUNYET
    Queue SNOBALL: %DCPS-F-LPDTERMINATED, LPD connection abnormally terminated

Check the documentation for your printer, network interface card, print server or terminal server to determine the correct internal queue name to use. See the Section 3.3.2.2 section of this manual for information about creating LPD queues.

Although an incorrect or missing internal queue name is the most common cause, this error can also occur after the line printer daemon (LPD) on the printer or remote host establishes a connection but rejects the print job for some reason.

11.2 What to Do if a PrintServer Printer Is Not Printing

The following troubleshooting procedures can help you diagnose error conditions that can occur during installation of DECprint Supervisor software for PrintServer printers.

If the printer is not printing, check the OPCOM messages. If the cause of the failure is not immediately apparent, check the queue characteristics, as follows:

1. Execute the following instruction, inserting the name of the PrintServer device queue:

   $ SHOW QUEUE queue-name/FULL

   
   For example, the queue characteristics for the PrintServer device queue LPS40$FANG on node VIPER are as follows:

   $ SHOW QUEUE LPS40$FANG/FULL

   Printer queue LPS40$FANG, on VIPER::FANG, mounted form DCPS$$FORM (stock=DEFAULT) /BASE_PRIORITY=4 /FORM=DCPS$DEFAULT /LIBRARY=DCPS_LIB /OWNER=[SYSTEM] /PROCESSOR=DCPS$SMB /PROTECTION=(S:E,O:D,G:R,W:W) /SCHEDULE=(NOSIZE) /SEPARATE=(FLAG,TRAILER) $

2. If the queue characteristics do not match those recorded in DCPS$STARTUP.COM, delete the device queue and all generic queues that point to it. Then execute the DCPS$STARTUP.COM file. DCPS$STARTUP is located in SYS$STARTUP:. For example:

   $ STOP/RESET/QUEUE generic-queue-1 $ STOP/RESET/QUEUE other-generic-queues $ STOP/RESET/QUEUE pserver-name $ DELETE/QUEUE generic-queue-1 $ DELETE/QUEUE other-generic-queues $ DELETE/QUEUE pserver-name $ @SYS$STARTUP:DCPS$STARTUP

   
   Recheck the queue characteristics. If they are correct and the job still does not print, refer to the DEC PrintServer Supporting Host Software for OpenVMS Management Guide for further information.

When you examine the OPCOM messages, look for a message from the printer indicating NOTREADY. This message indicates that the printer is unable to acknowledge any queries from the system. Check for the following:

• Faulty communication line or cable
• Incorrect port baud rate setting
• Incorrect switch settings or front panel settings
• Excessive line noise resulting in lost response from the printer
• No power to the printer
• Faulty connector or incorrect type of connector
• Incorrect bits/character, incorrect parity, or both

The steps in this section apply to any serial printer on a local line.

Step 1: Print a test page

Manually print a test page on your printer, following instructions in your owner's manual.

If able to print a test page, go on to step 2 to check the printer hardware and software configurations. If the printer does not produce a test page, check the printer hardware.

• Is the power on?
• Is the printer on line?
• What is the status of the print engine?

Step 2: Check the printer hardware and software configurations

The configuration settings on the printer and in the software associated with the printer must be the same. To verify that the settings match, check a printed summary sheet or the printer console or switches to verify that the settings are consistent for the following settings:

• Paper size
• Communication: 9600 baud (or appropriate baud rate)
• Eight bits, no parity (required)
• Flow control

Refer to the printer owner's manual for information on how to change these settings.

Check the terminal device characteristics of a directly-connected serial printer by issuing the following command on the node of the device:

$ SHOW TERMINAL device-name[:]

The variable device-name is the device name in the printer startup file in parameter P2 of the execution queue definition.

Check for the following characteristics:

• Eight bits
• Parity: None
• Input speed: 9600 baud
• Output speed: 9600 baud

The summary sheet and the terminal settings should be the same.

If your printer interface runs at a different speed, make sure you set the same configuration switch settings and device characteristics.

If the printer is connected directly to the host, check the baud rate setting in the printer startup command file. If you did not enter a baud rate in parameter P6 of the execution queue definition, the startup procedure sets the printer speed at 9600 baud. Refer to the SET TERMINAL command in the HP OpenVMS DCL Dictionary for information on changing the system's interpretation of the device characteristics.

If your printer is connected by a LAT device to a local area Ethernet, see Section 11.3.3.

If the settings agree and the job still does not print, go to step 3.

Step 3: Check communications software

Test the operation of the communications equipment by attempting to send data directly to the device. To perform this procedure, make sure the queue is paused (see Section 5.7).

The device must not be spooled to accomplish this procedure. If the device is spooled, enter the following command:

$ SET DEVICE LTAnnnn:/NOSPOOL

To test the communications setup, issue the SET HOST/DTE command to the printer. Use the commands in the following examples:

$ SET HOST/DTE LTA9092:
Connection established, type ^\ to exit
Ctrl/T
%%[ status: idle ]%%

After you press Ctrl/T, you should receive a message in the form of %%[Status: description]%%. If you receive this message, the connection to the printer is established and working.

If no message of this type is displayed, enter the commands in the following example:

^\
$ COPY TT: LTA9092:
showpage Ctrl/Z
$

The test is successful if a page of paper is ejected from the printer. If no paper is ejected, there is a faulty connection with the printer. In this case, check the communications cables. Then try the commands in the first example again.

If the COPY command succeeds, but the SET HOST command fails, check the communications cables inbound from the printer to the host node for a faulty connection.

Step 4: Check DCPS$STARTUP.COM

Make sure that the DCPS$STARTUP.COM file reflects your print queue needs and that the changes are appropriate for your printer. To check the printer execution queue characteristics, enter the following command, inserting the name of the printer execution queue:

$ SHOW QUEUE/FULL exec-queue-name

For example, the characteristics for the printer execution queue TXA1_LN03R on host EDEN are as follows:

$ SHOW QUEUE/FULL TXA1_LN03R

 Printer queue TXA1_LN03R, on EDEN::TXA1:
 /BASE_PRIORITY=4 /FORM=DCPS$DEFAULT /LIBRARY=DCPS_LIB /OWNER=[SYSTEM]
 /PROCESSOR=DCPS$SMB /PROTECTION=(S:E,O:D,G:R,W:W) /SCHEDULE=(NOSIZE)
 /SEPARATE=(BURST,TRAILER)
$

Specifically, check the following:

• Make sure that /PROCESSOR=DCPS$SMB.
• Check that /FORM=DCPS$DEFAULT, or matches the changes you made to DCPS$STARTUP.COM. Ensure that the printer is capable of printing according to the form definition.
• Make sure that the /LIBRARY qualifier value is the same as parameter P3 in DCPS$STARTUP.COM and if it is a logical name, that the logical name has been defined.

If the queue characteristics do not match those defined in DCPS$STARTUP.COM, stop the printer execution queue.

Next, execute the DCPS$STARTUP.COM file, as follows:

$ @SYS$STARTUP:DCPS$STARTUP

Recheck the execution queue characteristics. If the characteristics are correct and the job still does not print, go to step 5.

Step 5: Check queue logical defaulting

Use the following command to check the values of queue default parameters in the DCPS$STARTUP.COM file, in P4 of the execution queue definition, and in parameter P3 of the generic queue definition.

$ SHOW LOGICAL DCPS$queuename_PARAMETER

Step 6: Check the queue configurations

The values you provide in DCPS$STARTUP.COM are validated by DCPS for syntax only. Then the values are passed to the appropriate OpenVMS utility and those utilities report any further errors. Refer to OpenVMS documentation or use the HELP /MESSAGE utility for more information about error messages by these OpenVMS commands:

• INITIALIZE /QUEUE
• SET DEVICE
• SET TERMINAL

$ SET HOST hostname /LOG [/LAT | /TELNET ]
$ SET VERIFY