SUMMARY: Solaris 2.6, postscript, and HP printers

From: Rob Windsor (windsor@warthog.com)
Date: Thu Mar 19 1998 - 12:01:49 CST


Original cry for help:

> I'm seeing an odd problem with Solaris 2.6 and postscript printing,
> particularly on multi-tray HP laserjet printers.

> Everytime someone prints a postscript document, regardless of whether it's
> Netscape, a2ps, or a raw .ps file, it goes to the bottom tray on the printer,
> which is typically 8.5x14 or 11x17 (essentially "the other paper size" in
> the printer).

> This occurs anytime the print job goes directly from a 2.6 box to the
> printer, regardless of the printing engine involved. We have a "print
> server" for the solaris boxen, which is running HP's jetdirect goop, which
> does this also. I verified that it wasn't jetdirect's problem by
> reconfiguring the box on my desk to shoot print jobs straight to the
> printer, and the behavior is the same.

> On the other hand, if I proxy the print job through a SunOS4 box (using the
> SunOS4 box as a print server), everything works fine.

> I did notice that lp(1) is totally ignoring "trayN" options, which implies
> that the problem is related to this. The current workaround is to manually
> specify "-o letter".

> I scoured Sun's patchlist and didn't see anything relevant to this problem.

I got a handful of e-mails close to this, basically suggesting <a> on the
workaround listed below. And then...

From: "Button, Daniel (SOM400A)" <DButton@exchange.ml.com>
Subject: RE: Solaris 2.6, postscript, and HP printers
Date: Thu, 19 Mar 1998 11:42:39 -0500

Rob,

        I found this in the README for JetDirect software for Unix
D.04.12. I got the impression that the problem was in the JetDirect
software. Here is a copy of that part of the README.

* What is the Problem?

    Many PostScript-enabled LaserJet printers with
    more than one tray will ignore the default tray
    setting when a PostScript job is printed.

    What is the Workaround:

    a. On a per job basis, specify the media to print
       to either by size or by tray number:
       1. By size:
            lp -d<queue> -o<paper size>
            where <paper size> is one of the following:
            legal, letter, A3, A4, A5, A6, exec, ledger,
            11x17, B4-JIS, B5-JIS, B5-ISO, B6-JIS, com10,
            com10env, PostCard Single, PostCard Double,
              custom, C5, C5env,
            DL, DLenv, monarch
       2. By tray number:
            lp -d<queue> -o<tray specification>
            where <tray specification> is one of the
            following:
            tray1, upper, ub, ubin, tray2, lower,
            lb, lbin, tray3, tray4
  
    b. To configure a default for all jobs in a
       particular queue, run the following commands:
       1. cd <model directory>
       2. cp <queue> <queue>.tmp
       3. sed -e 's/paper="def"/paper="<paper size>"/'
          <queue>.tmp > <queue>
            NOTE: Above command is all on one line.
       4. rm <queue>.tmp
       where:
         <model directory> is:
            /usr/spool/lp/interface/model.orig on HP-UX 9.x
            /etc/lp/interface/model.orig on HP-UX 10.x
            /etc/lp/interface/model.orig on HP-UX 11.x
            /etc/lp/interfaces/model.orig on Solaris
         <paper size> is one of the following:
            legal, letter, A3, A4, A5, A6, exec, ledger,
            11x17, B4-JIS, B5-JIS, B5-ISO, B6-JIS, com10,
            com10env, PostCard Single, PostCard Double,
            custom, C5, C5env, DL, DLenv, monarch

       The above commands will set the default paper
       size of the specified queue.

In short, edit /etc/lp/interfaces/model.orig/* and replace `paper="def"'
with `paper="letter"'. (Twiddle paper selection to suit your needs).
In your fav editor, searching for `paper=' drops you on the spot, or you
can sed it out as listed above.

Bismark Espinoza <bismark@alta.Jpl.Nasa.Gov> mentioned that the HP printers
default to the bottom tray and work their way up (the top tray being the
multipurpose tray).

This was the fix.

whee!

-- Rob
----------------------------------------
Internet: windsor@warthog.com
Life: Rob@Carrollton.Texas.USA.Earth

The weather is here, wish you were beautiful.



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