Managing printers and print jobs

Printer does not print

If the printer is sitting idle and there is no output, check the following:

Make sure that the printer has power.
Check that the printer is not out of paper, ink, or toner and that it is not in an error state.
Verify that the printer hardware is working before continuing. Run a self-test (refer to the printer manual for instructions).
Check the printer cable and make sure that it is attached properly to the port and the printer. Refer to the printer manual for installation instructions.
Make sure that the printer is configured properly. To set up your parallel or serial printer to receive data properly, follow the instructions in ``Adding printers''.
If the printer is a serial printer, make sure that the baud rate at which the computer sends data to the printer matches the printer's baud rate. For instructions on how to reset the baud rate, see ``Printer output is illegible''.
Make sure that the printer is enabled and accepting jobs. See ``Enabling and disabling printers'' and ``Accepting or rejecting print jobs''.
Verify that the system has the port configured properly. Use the hwconfig(C) command or check the /usr/adm/messages file for these messages (for parallel and serial, respectively):
```
%parallel 0x378-0x37A   07    -    unit=0

%serial   0x03F8-0x03FF 04    -    unit=0 type=Standard nports=1
```
If you do not see a similar message for the printer port, refer to ``Port does not respond'' for more information.
Make sure that the port is configured for the proper interrupt vector and that no other hardware is using that interrupt vector. See ``Typical device interrupts'' for information on the available interrupt vectors. See your hardware documentation for information on configuring your ports.
Test the printer port connection by redirecting the output of a command directly to the device.
- For parallel printer lp0, enter:
  
  date > /dev/lp0
- For serial printer tty1a, enter:
  
  (stty options;date) > /dev/tty1a < /dev/tty1a
  where options are baud rate, parity, or other settings that you want to pass to the serial printer. These options should include opost and onlcr. See the stty(C) manual page.

If the output from the redirected command does not print, follow the instructions in ``Cannot redirect output to printer''.

If the output prints, try submitting a sample file for printing:

lp -dprinter_name filename

If the hardware connections are good and the printer is properly configured and enabled, but is still idle and print jobs are queued:

Verify that lpsched is running. See ``lpsched print scheduler is not running''.
Restart the lpsched daemon if necessary. See ``Starting and stopping the print services''.
Check to see that print jobs are being queued:

lpstat -o -l
This command displays a detailed description of the status of output requests, printer names, and devices.
If the printer detects a fault, it does not immediately continue automatic printing. Force a retry by enabling the printer. See ``Enabling and disabling printers''.
If applicable, check to see if a dialout printer was busy or did not answer, or all dialout ports are busy. The print service waits 5 minutes before trying to reach a dialout printer again. Force a retry by enabling the printer.