.NH 1 Troubleshooting .PP There are a number of messages which may be generated by the the line printer system. This section categorizes the most common and explains the cause for their generation. Where the message indicates a failure, directions are given to remedy the problem. .PP In the examples below, the name .I printer is the name of the printer. This would be one of the names from the .I printcap database. .NH 2 LPR .SH lpr: \fIprinter\fP\|: unknown printer .IP The .I printer was not found in the .I printcap database. Usually this is a typing mistake; however, it may indicate a missing or incorrect entry in the /etc/printcap file. .SH lpr: \fIprinter\fP\|: jobs queued, but cannot start daemon. .IP The connection to .I lpd on the local machine failed. This usually means the printer server started at boot time has died or is hung. Check the local socket /dev/printer to be sure it still exists (if it does not exist, there is no .I lpd process running). Use .DS % ps ax | fgrep lpd .DE to get a list of process identifiers of running lpd's. The \fIlpd\fP to kill is the one which is not listed in any of the ``lock" files (the lock file is contained in the spool directory of each printer). Kill the master daemon using the following command. .DS % kill \fIpid\fP .DE Then remove /dev/printer and restart the daemon (and printer) with the following commands. .DS % rm /dev/printer % /usr/lib/lpd .DE .IP Another possibility is that the .I lpr program is not setuid \fIroot\fP, setgid \fIspooling\fP. This can be checked with .DS % ls \-lg /usr/ucb/lpr .DE .SH lpr: \fIprinter\fP\|: printer queue is disabled .IP This means the queue was turned off with .DS % lpc disable \fIprinter\fP .DE to prevent .I lpr from putting files in the queue. This is normally done by the system manager when a printer is going to be down for a long time. The printer can be turned back on by a super-user with .IR lpc . .NH 2 LPQ .SH waiting for \fIprinter\fP to become ready (offline ?) .IP The printer device could not be opened by the daemon. This can happen for a number of reasons, the most common being that the printer is turned off-line. This message can also be generated if the printer is out of paper, the paper is jammed, etc. The actual reason is dependent on the meaning of error codes returned by system device driver. Not all printers supply sufficient information to distinguish when a printer is off-line or having trouble (e.g. a printer connected through a serial line). Another possible cause of this message is some other process, such as an output filter, has an exclusive open on the device. Your only recourse here is to kill off the offending program(s) and restart the printer with .IR lpc . .SH \fIprinter\fP is ready and printing .IP The .I lpq program checks to see if a daemon process exists for .I printer and prints the file .IR status . If the daemon is hung, a super user can use .I lpc to abort the current daemon and start a new one. .SH waiting for \fIhost\fP to come up .IP This indicates there is a daemon trying to connect to the remote machine named .I host in order to send the files in the local queue. If the remote machine is up, .I lpd on the remote machine is probably dead or hung and should be restarted as mentioned for .IR lpr . .SH sending to \fIhost\fP .IP The files should be in the process of being transferred to the remote .IR host . If not, the local daemon should be aborted and started with .IR lpc . .SH Warning: \fIprinter\fP is down .IP The printer has been marked as being unavailable with .IR lpc . .SH Warning: no daemon present .IP The \fIlpd\fP process overseeing the spooling queue, as indicated in the ``lock'' file in that directory, does not exist. This normally occurs only when the daemon has unexpectedly died. The error log file for the printer should be checked for a diagnostic from the deceased process. To restart an \fIlpd\fP, use .DS % lpc restart \fIprinter\fP .DE .NH 2 LPRM .SH lprm: \fIprinter\fP\|: cannot restart printer daemon .IP This case is the same as when .I lpr prints that the daemon cannot be started. .NH 2 LPD .PP The .I lpd program can write many different messages to the error log file (the file specified in the .B lf entry in .IR printcap ). Most of these messages are about files which can not be opened and usually indicate the .I printcap file or the protection modes of the files are not correct. Files may also be inaccessible if people manually manipulate the line printer system (i.e. they bypass the .I lpr program). .PP In addition to messages generated by .IR lpd , any of the filters that .I lpd spawns may also log messages to this file. .NH 2 LPC .PP .SH could't start printer .IP This case is the same as when .I lpr reports that the daemon cannot be started. .SH cannot examine spool directory .IP Error messages beginning with ``cannot ...'' are usually due to incorrect ownership and/or protection mode of the lock file, spooling directory or the .I lpc program.