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When printing using an AppleTalk interconnect, a request to delete a
job (DELETE/ENTRY) is accomplished by closing the connection to the
printer. The AppleTalk protocol does not provide for interrupting the
PostScript interpreter; therefore, the printer will continue to print
page descriptions that are contained in its buffer before it stops
printing the job. A job trailer page will not be printed.
3.16 Avoid STOP/QUEUE/RESET Usage for PrintServer Printer which is Rejecting Connections
If you issue a STOP/QUEUE/RESET command for a queue to a DIGITAL
PrintServer printer while there is a job in the "Starting"
state and while the printer is rejecting connections (because, for
example, the PrintServer is powered off or is booting), the queue will
stop. Occasionally the symbiont process will not terminate. Avoid
issuing this command until the PrintServer printer becomes available.
If the job is in the "Starting" state and also in the
PrintServer printer's job queue, a STOP/QUEUE/RESET will execute
correctly.
3.17 No Job Trailer Page on DELETE/ENTRY
If you issue a DELETE/ENTRY command when the printer is printing the
job trailer page, it is possible to delete the printing of this page.
Also, if you issue a DELETE/ENTRY command for a job printing on a
PrintServer printer after all the data for the file is sent, it is
possible that the job trailer page will not print.
3.18 Problems with PostScript Files when Printing with /COPIES
When you use the /COPIES qualifier with a PostScript file, DCPS surrounds each file with a PostScript "save" and "restore" to avoid exhausting virtual memory in the printer.
However, there are infrequent cases when the print job aborts with an
invalid restore error message. If this occurs, use the /JOB_COUNT
qualifier instead of /COPIES.
3.19 Problems Using PAGE_LIMIT with /JOB_COUNT
If you use the PAGE_LIMIT parameter with the /JOB_COUNT qualifier, you are apt to get undesired results. In particular, if your intent is to suppress some initial pages of your job, DCPS will suppress them for the first copy of the job but print all pages of subsequent job copies. If your intent is to suppress some of the trailing pages of your job, DCPS will suppress them for the first copy of the job and omit subsequent job copies.
If you want multiple copies of your job with some pages suppressed,
issue the PRINT command the desired number of times rather than using
the /JOB_COUNT qualifier.
3.20 Printers with Auto-Sensing Features
Many printers can sense the data type of a print job. Such printers allow you to specify how and whether the auto-sensing feature is enabled, per interconnect channel, through the front panel.
For most printers that offer this feature, the DECprint Supervisor software works properly when the printer is set to "PostScript" mode, or to "Automatic" mode. You must set such printers to operate in one of these modes before starting the DCPS queues. The DCPS software does not operate properly if the printer is set to "PCL" mode.
See Chapter 5 and the DECprint Supervisor for OpenVMS System Manager's Guide for additional information.
3.21 Setting I/O Buffers Too Small May Produce OPCOM Errors
If the size of the I/O buffers, set by the SYSGEN parameter MAXBUF, is too small, the print queue will be stopped, and the following message will be displayed to OPCOM:
%SYSTEM-E-EXQUOTA, process quota exceeded |
If this error occurs, increase the value of the SYSGEN parameter MAXBUF.
3.22 Cannot Start Queue for PrintServer Printer
Because of a CPAP protocol bug in some versions of DIGITAL PrintServer Software, DCPS symbionts can be given a badly formatted packet in response to a resource query. The bad packet prevents a symbiont from starting.
The problem is triggered by loading enough resources to require more than one packet describing the resources loaded to be returned. The suggested workaround is to load fewer resources. Empirical testing has found the limit to be 7 fonts.
This problem is fixed in version S5.0-29 and later of the PrintServer Software.
This section contains information about other problems that are known to impact DECprint Supervisor and remedial patch kits ("ECOs") that address some of these problems.
You can obtain these remedial patch kits (or an update to them)
Over time, DCPS print symbiont processes may consume increasing amounts of memory and pagefile space, resulting in system performance problems. This problem is seen only on OpenVMS Alpha V7.1-2 systems.
The following DECthreads patch kit fixes this problem:
All sites running DECprint Supervisor as a multistreamed process on OpenVMS V7.1 and earlier should install the Queue Manager Remedial Update.
The Queue Manager remedial update kits are:
This update corrects problems that cause the START/QUEUE command to hang under certain circumstances when operating with a multistreamed symbiont. The release notes provided with the kit describe all the problems fixed by this update. After installing this update, you need to reboot your system to enable these changes.
If this update is not installed you may encounter the following problem. If a queue running in a multistreamed process is stopped with STOP/QUEUE/RESET, then quickly started with START/QUEUE, it is possible that the start request will hang. In addition, sometimes the following message will be written to OPCOM:
%DCPS-F-STREAMUSE, Request 4 for Stream Id x ignored. Not consistent with symbiont state |
To recover, issue a Ctrl/Y to return to the DCL prompt, then issue a
STOP/QUEUE/RESET again, wait a few seconds, and try to start the queue
again. To avoid this problem, install the queue manager update.
4.3 Problem Starting Queues for LAT- and Direct-Connected Printers
There is an OpenVMS V7.0 terminal driver problem that may hinder you in using DCPS with LAT- and direct-connected printers. The symptom is that the associated queue cannot be started, with messages like the following being written to OPCOM:
%%%%%%%%%%% OPCOM 31-OCT-1995 21:53:55.73 %%%%%%%%%%% Message from user SYSTEM on FUNYET Queue SYS$PRINT: %DCPS-E-UNSUPPORTED, unsupported operation or function %%%%%%%%%%% OPCOM 31-OCT-1995 21:53:55.74 %%%%%%%%%%% Message from user QUEUE_MANAGE on FUNYET %QMAN-I-QUENOTSTART, queue SYS$PRINT could not be started on node FUNYET %%%%%%%%%%% OPCOM 31-OCT-1995 21:53:55.74 %%%%%%%%%%% Message from user QUEUE_MANAGE on FUNYET -SYSTEM-F-ABORT, abort |
The failure may be constant or intermittent. If you subsequently attempt to start the queue, you may succeed.
The following patch kits fix this problem:
There is an OpenVMS terminal driver problem that may result in your printer reporting I/O problems when connected to a serial port of your OpenVMS system. You may see the problem with OpenVMS Alpha V6.2 through V7.0, and with OpenVMS VAX V5.5 through V7.0, depending in part on what kind of serial port you are using.
The problem is that the terminal driver sometimes does not respond quickly enough to an XOFF request from the printer to prevent the printer from losing data.
This problem is fixed in OpenVMS Alpha V7.1.
The following patch kits fix this problem:
There is a DECthreads problem on OpenVMS VAX V7.0 and V7.1 systems that results in the DCPS symbiont aborting with an INSFMEM error. The DCPS symbiont consumes an increasing amount of memory over time, eventually aborting when it attempts to obtain more than the available dynamic memory. The probability of the symbiont aborting increases with each new print job that it processes.
The following patch kits fix this problem:
The DCPS symbiont can abort with an ACCVIO or BADPARAM error, possibly also indicating the CMA (DECthreads) facility, beginning 19 May 1997. Other software on your system, including DIGITAL TCP/IP Services for OpenVMS and anything layered upon DECthreads, may also fail after this date.
The problem is related to a long-standing OpenVMS restriction of fewer than 10,000 days in a delta-time value. POSIX-related software in particular, using the UNIX reference date of 1 January 1970, can encounter this limit on and after 19 May 1997. Refer to the OpenVMS web pages (www.openvms.digital.com) for more information about the "Delta-Time Limit".
The following patch kits fix this problem:
The following sections provide information about using DCPS with
specific printers. The DECprint Supervisor for OpenVMS System Manager's Guide and DECprint Supervisor mlreference os_namefor OpenVMS User's Guide contain additional
printer-specific information.
5.1 Compaq Laser Printer LN16 and GENICOM microLaser 170
5.1.1 Printer Configuration Setting
DCPS requires the printer's PERSONALITY be set to POSTSCRIPT. If the PERSONALITY is set to AUTO or PCL, DCPS jobs will remain in a Starting state and never print. This setting is in the printer console's CONFIG menu.
Setting the PERSONALITY to POSTSCRIPT will still allow PCL jobs coming
from Windows PCs to print correctly.
5.1.2 Raw TCP/IP Port Number
When creating a DCPS queue for the LN16 or mL170 using a raw TCP/IP
connection, specify port number 9100.
5.1.3 LAT and AppleTalk Configuration
To create a LAT device for use by a DCPS queue, you can use either of the following sets of values for LATCP qualifiers:
where nodename is the printer's NIC nodename and service is the name of a valid service on the printer. These values can be obtained from the printer NIC's status page or by logging in to the NIC via Telnet or LAT. For example, this command shows the printer NIC's nodename to be PRQ_00001F:
Local_4> show server
NET16 Version V1.0/1(990126) Uptime: 23:17:07
Hardware Addr: 00-50-27-00-00-1f Name/Nodenum: PRQ_00001F/ 0
Ident String: NET16
|
To create a DCPS queue using AppleTalk, you must use a service name. You can use one of the default services, modify a default service or create your own. The following is an example of a service that can be used by both LAT and AppleTalk. In this example, DCPS_LN16 is the AppleTalk name.
Local_4> list service dcps_ln16
Service: DCPS_LN16 Ident: DCPS Compaq Laser Printer LN16
Rating: N/A Ports: 1
Characteristics: Queueing Binary Rtel Connections AppleTalk
Lat
SOJ: <none> EOJ: <none>
Enabled Groups: 0
|
Create AppleTalk services with caution, as creating the same service name on more than one printer will result in multiple printers using the same AppleTalk name on your network.
Refer to the printer's Ethernet Network Interface Card (NIC)
Reference Manual for more information about setting
characteristics of printer services.
5.2 Compaq Laser Printer LN32 and LNM40; GENICOM LN21, LN28 and LNM40; GENICOM microLaser 210, 280, 320 and 401
5.2.1 Printer and Network Firmware Versions
Firmware versions are listed on the printed Summary Sheet and on the
printer's internal Web page. Printer firmware is listed as Product
Version and network firmware is listed as Network Version.
5.2.2 Printer Configuration Settings
5.2.2.1 Language-Sensing Mode
DCPS can print to these printers when the printer is in PostScript mode or automatic language-sensing mode. Make sure the INTERPRETER and FORMAT settings are set as described in Table 5-1. These values are set in the INTERFACE menu on the printer's console.
| Printer Settings | ||
|---|---|---|
| Printer Mode | Interpreter | Format |
| PostScript/PCL sensing | Auto Switch | Raw |
| PostScript | PostScript | Normal |
The factory default value for the printer's Delayed Output Close setting may cause DCPS queues to stall. The default value is OFF and is intended to improve performance by controlling how quickly the printer ends one job and starts another. However, if you also print from environments other than DCPS, this value may cause DCPS queues to stall. Therefore, if you also print from multiple environments, set the value to ON. If you print only from DCPS, you may leave the value of Delayed Output Close at OFF.
The setting for Delayed Output Close is found on the printer's console
as DELAY OUT CLOSE in the NETWORK section of the INTERFACE menu.
*
5.2.3 Raw TCP/IP Port Number
When creating a DCPS queue for these printers using a raw TCP/IP
connection, specify port number 9100.
5.2.4 LAT and AppleTalk Configuration
Please see Section 5.1.3 for information about configuring LAT and
AppleTalk queues.
5.2.5 Queue Aborts When Using TCPware
When using TCPware with these printers, it is possible to receive numerous userdata messages on the screen and have the queue fail with an OPCOM message similar to the following:
%%%%%%%%%%% OPCOM 21-APR-1999 15:09:53.22 %%%%%%%%%%% Message from user SYSTEM on ZIPPY Queue LN32_RAW: %DCPS-F-EXQUOTA, process quota exceeded |
This problem occurs when running TCPware V5.3-3 and network firmware V1.0/4 (990323). To avoid this problem, the system manager should perform one of the following steps:
* This setting does not appear on LN32 and LNM40 printers with firmware earlier than version 3.03. |
5.3 Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 8000 Series
5.3.1 Optional Mailbox
DCPS numbers the optional mailbox bins on the Hewlett-Packard 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
8000, 8000 N, 8000 DN, and HP Mopier 240 Printers User Guide for
more information about the numbering and purpose of trays with
different options and configurations.
5.3.2 Raw TCP/IP Port Number
When creating a DCPS queue for the HP LaserJet 8000 using a raw TCP/IP
connection, specify port number 9100.
5.3.3 Minimum Firmware Version
To use a Hewlett-Packard LaserJet 8000 Series 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
Hewlett-Packard and request the proper version. The new firmware will
be sent on a SIMM to be installed in your printer.
5.4 Tektronix Phaser 780
5.4.1 Printer Configuration Settings
You must change the following AppSocket settings when using the Phaser 780 with DCPS:
| AppSocket Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Interpreter | PostScript |
| Filtering | Interpreter-Based |
When creating a DCPS queue for the Tektronix Phaser 780 printer using a raw TCP/IP connection, specify port number 9100.
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