Print Server troubleshooting

 
You cannot attach a printer to a queue.
 

    Take the following actions:
    • Someone may be using the printer. If so, wait for the job to finish printing. (Use the print utility that came with the printer to check the printer's status.)
    • Make sure the printer has paper and is working properly (doesn't have a paper jam and is ready for printing).
    • If you're printing over TCP/IP, make sure that the attached printer supports the LPD protocol (also referred to as LPR). See the documentation that came with your printer.
    • Make sure the printer supports LaserWriter driver 8.4 or later.
    • Try turning the printer off and on again.
    • Make sure that the printer is visible on the network by looking for it in the Chooser (if an AppleTalk printer), or using a "pinging" utility to see if it's on the network (if connected to a TCP/IP network). If you can't find the printer, something is wrong with your network connections. Go to the server and check the AppleTalk or TCP/IP settings, or ask your network administrator if there's a problem with the network.

 
A printer can't be found.
  

    When a printer attached to a queue can't be found on the network, an alert icon appears next to the printer name in the Queue window. Take the following actions:
    • If the printer is not printing a document, switch the printer off and then on again. Check the name of the printer on the startup page.
    • If someone has changed the printer's name, rename it or attach the printer again under its new name. (For renaming, see the manual that came with your printer.)
    • If printing over TCP/IP, check the network connection using a "pinging" utility.
    • If you're printing over TCP/IP, make sure that the attached printer supports the LPD protocol (also referred to as LPR). See the documentation that came with your printer.
    • After checking the above, try reattaching the printer.

 
A document can't be queued.
 

    If a user receives a message that a document can't be printed, or if a document can't be sent to the Print Server, check the following:
    • Make sure a Print Server queue is selected as the computer's printer. Printers are listed in the Chooser (for AppleTalk connections), the printer-selecting software (for Windows users), and the Desktop Printer Utility (for TCP/IP connections).
    • Check the Print Server log for errors.
    • Make sure Enable Queuing is selected, and that AppleTalk and TCP/IP queuing are enabled on the Edit Queue Settings page. See Enabling or disabling AppleTalk or TCP/IP queuing.
    • Verify that the disk on which the Print Server stores jobs is not full.
    • If users are trying to print to a queue that contains an older printer, make sure Allow Binary Data is turned off on the Print Server Settings page. See Changing default print queue settings.
    • If only one person has reported problems printing, see if you can print from another user's computer. If so, there may be problems with the user's TCP/IP or AppleTalk settings. If multiple users cannot print, check whether they have other file sharing or TCP/IP services. If not, there may be a problem with your network.
    • On the user's computer, try printing from another application. The problem may be related to the application or document.
    Try printing directly to the printer, or to a different printer or queue.
    • If users are trying to print over TCP/IP, make sure TCP/IP is enabled in the Protocol section of the Print Server Settings page. See Enabling and disabling TCP/IP printing. Also go to the server to make sure that its TCP/IP settings are correct.
    • If the user has not specified a name, make sure a default queue is set in the Protocol area of the Print Server Settings page. See Enabling and disabling TCP/IP printing.
    • If users are trying to print over TCP/IP and they've entered a domain name into their TCP/IP utility, DNS may not be working. Try entering the Print Server's IP address. Make sure the queue name does not include any spaces and is case-sensitive.
    • If only Windows clients can't print, make sure the LPR/LPD settings in the Windows printing utility are correct. Also make sure the IP address and queue name are entered properly. The queue name is case sensitive; however, the Windows client may show the name in all caps.
    • If secure printing is enabled, make sure the user has been given printing access and that the printer driver installed on his or her computer allows secure printing. (The Desktop Printer Utility, for example, does not allow secure printing.) Make sure the user is logging on using the name you've assigned (visible on the user's computer in the File Sharing control panel).
    • If the Print Server's queues aren't listed, check the network connections. Refer to the documentation for your networking hardware and software to answer any questions about setting up and troubleshooting the network.

 
A document can't be printed.
 

    • The PostScript printer description (PPD) file for the queue may be inappropriate for the document. For each queue, the Print Server uses the PPD file for the printer attached first. If you subsequently attach printers that have different capabilities, documents that require those capabilities may not print–even when they are assigned to the correct printer. Create a separate queue for the printer and try printing again. See Creating print queues.
    • Check the queue monitor page for the queue to make sure the print job is not on hold.
    • The program printing the document may not be compatible with the Print Server. Have the user print directly on a printer not attached to a queue.
    • If no other printer is available, make an attached printer visible on the network. Have the user print directly on the printer by selecting its name in the Chooser or Windows printer-selecting software. See step 10 in Creating print queues.
    • If the user is printing binary data, make sure that the Allow Binary Data checkbox is checked on the queue's General Settings page and the printer supports printing binary data. Some older printers don't support printing binary data.
    • If the user still can't print, consult the manual that came with the printer and the documentation that came with the program.

 
The first job doesn't print.
 

    • If the Print Server doesn't send the first job in the queue to a printer, make sure the job is not on hold. Check for an icon in the Print Server Activity page indicating that an attached printer is out of paper or that paper is jammed.
    • If you see a message that the Print Server is looking for the printer, see A printer can't be found. If the printer is visible in the Chooser, check whether the printer is busy with jobs from computers that are bypassing the Print Server and printing directly.

 
A document that may have printed can't be found.
 

    • If a user can't find a document that was sent to the Print Server, check the Monitor Queue page. If the job doesn't appear, it may have already been printed. Check the queue's log.
    If the job isn't in the queue log, it was not completely sent to the Print Server or more than 64K of information about printed jobs has been added to the queue log after the missing job.
    • If the queue log shows that a printing problem occurred, see A document can't be printed.
    • If the queue log shows that the document completed printing, ask other users whether they picked up the printed document by mistake. The queue log shows whose documents were printed immediately before and after the missing document.
    • If the queue log shows that the document was deleted from the print queue, ask the user to print it again.
    • If printing over TCP/IP, check to see if two or more printer or queue names start with the same word; the job may have been sent to the wrong printer. For example, if the client enters a queue name of "john doe" and the server has a queue named "john," the server will consider that a match and send it to the "john" queue.

 
Users say that printing is too slow.
 

    Take these steps in the following order:
    • Edit the queue that is experiencing slow printing and deselect the "Print Job While Queueing" checkbox.
    This attribute allows the Print Server to start sending a job to a printer as soon as possible. However, if an error occurs during the transmission, the job will have to be resent.
    When this attribute is off, the Print Server waits until it receives a whole job before it sends the job to a printer. If an error occurs during transmission, the Print Server does not send the job to the printer.
    • If printing is still too slow, decrease the maximum User Activity percentage on the File Activity page. This reduces the processing power of the Web & File Server and gives more to the Print Server. See Allocating processing power.

 
You can't display a log file.
 

    Too many files may be open on the server. Close files that are open and try again.

 
The Print Server won't start up.
 

    Examine the Print Server log. If the Print Server can't start up because of missing files, it enters an error message in the Print Server log.

 
The Print Server's folder for storing jobs is accidentally removed.
 

    The Print Server uses a folder in the Preferences folder inside the System Folder on the startup disk to store incoming jobs. If the folder is removed, the Print Server automatically creates and uses a new folder. Any jobs that were in the folder that was removed must be resent.

 
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