Printing being interrupted

[Kurt Pfeifle]

> Hello,
>
> My problem is, that when I print a page (Windows or CUPS test page for example), the page starts printing and after approximately one fifth of the page is printed, the page is ejected and another one is taken in by the printer - then the printer starts printing onto the next page where it left off. Also, the second and subsequent prints are somewhat distorted (weird lines being printed besides the expected output). Any ideas?
>
> I tried to use "normal" and "no reset" printer (when choosing printing port), but the behaviour was the same. I also tried setting the driver to the "HP DeskJet 880C Foomatic/hpijs (recommended)" and also to "RAW" (and then letting Windows to use its own driver). No luck with that either.
>
> My environment: I have a HP DeskJet 880C attached via USB to a FreeBSD 6.2 machine and I have installed the following software (ports in FreeBSD):
>
> cups-1.2.8
> cups-base-1.2.8
> cups-pstoraster-8.15.3_1
> ghostscript-gnu-7.07_15
> gimp-print-4.2.7_2
> gsfonts-8.11_2
> hpijs-2.1.4
> samba-3.0.24,1
>
> I have configured printers in smb.conf as follows:
>
> [global]
>         load printers = yes
>         printing = cups
>         printcap name = cups
> [printers]
>         comment = All Printers
>         path = /var/spool/samba
>         browseable = no
>         public = yes
>         writable = no
>         printable = yes
>         use client driver = yes
>
> And since I am using FreeBSD, I had to tweak devfs.conf a little bit to sort out the permissions issue:
>
> own     lpt0    root:cups
> own     ulpt0   root:cups
> own     unlpt0  root:cups
> perm    lpt0    0660
> perm    ulpt0   0660
> perm    unlpt0  0660
>
> Also, this is how my printers.conf looks like:
>
> <Printer HP880C>
> Info HP DeskJet 880C
> Location Doma
> DeviceURI usb:/dev/ulpt0
> State Idle
> StateTime 1181733467
> Accepting Yes
> Shared Yes
> JobSheets none none
> QuotaPeriod 0
> PageLimit 0
> KLimit 0
> OpPolicy default
> ErrorPolicy stop-printer
> </Printer>


You don't show your cupsd.conf settings. I bet it contains a "RIPCache 8m" statement (which is the default).

Increase it. ("RIPCache 128m" is a good value if you have enough RAM. If you observe that the part of the page printed is about one quarter of the complete one, increase the 8m by at least 4 times [plus a safety margin]....).

RIPCache limits the amount of RAM the Raster Image Processor filters will be using. If RIPCache is too low, effects like the one you describe may be occuring.

The amount of memory needed for RIP-ping per page is also dependent on your chosen resolution. If you print with 1200 dpi, try to decrease to 600 or 300 dpi (just to see if it helps or changes something.)