Troubleshooting

  The printer queue is empty but my document did not print

  Jobs appear in the printer queue for an extended time

  The printer queue does not receive print jobs

  The printer queue is disabled or down

  The file I sent to the printer queue came out as garbage

  The printer queue printed my job instead of sending a fax

  The hostname does not resolve

  IBM Print Driver is unable to find the network printer

  Additional problems


The printer queue is empty but my document did not print

Make sure you are sending the proper data to the printer. If you send PCL or text data to a queue that only accepts PostScript data, the job leaves the queue but does not print. Try printing to another queue, or see a IBM Print Driver administrator for other printing options.

The print job is probably in the buffer of the print server or printer. As soon as the printer is available, the job prints.

  1. Make sure you are sending print jobs to the correct printer virtual device.
  2. Verify the properties of the virtual device to make sure the printer job is going to the correct printer.
  3. Make sure the printer is working properly.

Jobs appear in the printer queue for an extended time

The printer is probably busy receiving other jobs. If you are using a print server, you may receive a Check the Printer message when this situation occurs.

  1. Check the printer queue status. Make sure the queue is enabled.
  2. Check the printer connection:

If you are connected to the printer over a network:

Example: send_network -f /etc/hosts hostname

Replace hostname with the appropriate hostname of the printer. If this prints, recreate the virtual device and print queue.

If you are connected to the printer locally:

If you are using a Sun system:

Example: send_parallel -f /etc/hosts /dev/lp0

Replace /dev/lp0 with the appropriate device file name. If this prints correctly, try recreating the virtual device and print queue.

Example: cat /etc/hosts >> /dev/lp0

Replace /dev/lp0 with the appropriate device file name. If the printer does not print, then the problem must be with either the device, cable, or printer. If this prints correctly, try recreating the virtual device and print queue.


The printer queue does not receive print jobs

The queue is in a rejecting state. When the queue is in this state, you cannot submit a print job to the printer queue. To make the queue accept jobs again, right-click the queue icon and select Accepting.

Also try to:


The printer queue is disabled or down

If your printer is connected locally (by way of a parallel, serial, or USB cable), check your printer cable.

If your printer is connected to a network, check the print server:

If your printer is connected to a network, PING the print server.

If your printer is connected to a network, compare the IP address of the print server to the address stored for the network printer in the name server or /etc/hosts file. If the addresses do not match, edit the /etc/hosts file, or update the name server to correct the address.

Print a setup page from the print server. For instructions on printing a setup page, refer to your print server documentation.


The file I sent to the printer queue came out as garbage

You can create PCL, PostScript, Automatic, PPDS, Forms, and raw data queues. Automatic queues support both PCL and PS data. PostScript queues can print PostScript data. PCL queues can print PCL and ASCII data. Raw data queues pass the print data directly through to the printer without adding any additional printer-related commands.

If you want to print HTML, graphics, or PDFs, you need to print them through an application that converts these data files into PCL or PostScript.

If you would like to print HTML, GIFS, BMPS, PDFs, TIFFS, and other similar file types directly to the printer, you must have an optional ImageQuick card (or SIMM) installed.

Note: Not all printers can support an ImageQuick Card (or SIMM).

For help, see Print a file from IBM Print Drivers.


The printer queue printed my job instead of sending a fax

If you do not have a fax card installed, the printer will, by default, print the job.

Check with your administrator to see if you have a multifunctional printer with the fax-capable print server installed.

If you need fax functionality and do not have a multifunctional printer that supports fax, contact your printer retailer, for more information.

Check the PS Property for that queue. Make sure that under Fax Page, On is selected.


The hostname does not resolve


IBM Print Driver is unable to find the network printer

Note: If you have an internal print server, your LAN cable will be plugged into the printer directly.


Additional problems

Before you call customer support make sure you read through the symptoms covered in this roubleshooting section to help you diagnose the problem.

Before calling technical support, gather the following information:

If this is a network printer, and the problem is sending the data to the printer, you need to determine the print server firmware level. Type the following on the command line, and then press Enter:

# finger info@hostname