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Date:      Thu, 6 Mar 2014 02:39:44 +0100
From:      Polytropon <freebsd@edvax.de>
To:        freebsd@dreamchaser.org
Cc:        FreeBSD Mailing List <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org>
Subject:   Re: printer woes
Message-ID:  <20140306023944.707250df.freebsd@edvax.de>
In-Reply-To: <5317C0E7.5010105@dreamchaser.org>
References:  <5317C0E7.5010105@dreamchaser.org>

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On Wed, 05 Mar 2014 17:27:19 -0700, Gary Aitken wrote:
> When I try to print something from gimp using gutenprint,
> it generates the print data and control files in the spool directory
>  (cf..., df...)  
> However, the printer never wakes up and does anything.
> lpd is running, and the lock file indicates the pid of one of the lpd processes
> There is an errs.xxxxxx file which is empty (how is this used??)
> status file has a message from when I set it and it never seems to change
> 
> Any ideas why the lpd process isn't doing anything?
> 
> cups is installed and cupsd is running,
> although it's my understanding gutenprint from gimp bypasses cups;
> nothing shows up in the cups queues, no surprise there.

As far as I understand the (quite complicated) relationships
of the many components of "modern" printing (CUPS, gutenprint,
foomatic, hpijs, zjs and who knows what), printing from Gimp
will write to the "CUPS standard input", so CUPS is not
entirely bypassed -- it _cannot_, because it became the
printing handler (printer filters and spoolers).



> The gutenprint dialog shows three printers:
>   Printer
>   HP 8500
>   epson3880
> Attempting to print to the hp or epson fails;
> printing to Printer prints fine to the hp8500, 
> which is the first printer listed in /etc/printcap

I don't think CUPS uses /etc/printcap. The system's printer
subsystem (lpd) does.



> epson attempts leave the cf and df files in the printer's spool directory,
> with no errors listed in /var/log/lpd-errs

You also don't get mail from CUPS? It usually addresses root,
or any other user if you have an /etc/mail/aliases "redirect",
in case of errors.



> hp attempts leave no cf or df files in the printer's spool directory,
> and the following lines show up in the printer-specific error log:
>   GPL Ghostscript 9.06: Unrecoverable error, exit code 1
>     (repeated 5 times)

This seems to indicate that the "translation" from PS (the
format in which any _program_ sends printer output to whoever
keeps the queues running) to the required printer-specific
format (can be PCL or whatever the printer wants).



> and the following in /var/log/lpd-errs:
>   Mar  5 17:10:30 breakaway lpd[19654]: lp: lost connection
>   Mar  5 17:10:30 breakaway lpd[19654]: restarting lp
>     (repeat previous two 3 more times)

This shows you're running system's lpd. You're _also_ running
CUPS?



>   Mar  5 17:10:30 breakaway lpd[19654]: lp: lost connection
>   Mar  5 17:10:30 breakaway lpd[19654]: lp: job could not be sent to remote
>     host (cfA514breakaway.dreamchaser.org)

This is the interesting part. You could try to start some tests
from here:

1. Can you ping the printer? Does the name resolve correctly?

2. Can you use nc (netcat) to send the data directly to the
   printer, _not_ using any system queue?



>   Mar  5 17:10:30 breakaway lpd[19654]: mail sent to user garya about job
>     <unknown> on printer lp (FATALERR)

Does the mail message contain any further details?




> Print commands in the gutenprint dialog are as follows:
>   Printer        lp -s
>    Printer Queue:(Default Printer)
>   HP 8500        lp -s -d 'HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A909g' -oraw
>    Printer Queue:HP_Officejet_Pro_8500_A909g
>   epson3880      lp -s -d 'Epson_Stylus_Pro_3880' -oraw
>    Printer Queue:Epson_Stylus_Pro_3880
> 
> If I select the hp or epson printer and set its print cmds and que to
> match those of "Printer", I still get errors and no output.

The last two commands expect gutenprint to provide the correct
printer language ("raw" to the printer, no further filters).
This should be a gutenprint setting. Still there is no real
differentiation of the _target_ for both printers (which
should be different because those are two _different_ devices).




> arrgh!

Yes, that's a typical sound when dealing with printers. :-)



Again, make sure you're running _either_ lpd (OS service) _or_
CUPS (3rd party toolset). Having both running _might_ be the
cause of the problem.


-- 
Polytropon
Magdeburg, Germany
Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0
Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...



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