One-page-at-a-Time

[Kurt Pfeifle]

> Dear List:
>
> I am still having difficulty with pages printing one-page-at-a-time. Here's
> a recap of the issue, plus the various responses, to date:
>
> Michael Sweet wrote >
>
>  if you are getting pauses
>  between each page (with the printer needing you to press a button to
>  continue), then most likely the job is asking for paper of the wrong
>  type, size, or source.  On my LaserJet 2100, for example, if tray 1
>  is empty I have to hit the feed button to get it to pull paper from
>  tray 2 since my default settings have jobs print from tray 1.
>
>  So, check your driver settings against the settings on the printer -
>  I'd guess you have a mismatch...
>
> In response I noted >
>
> The Status LCD screen on my IIIP Printer, had showed LC Tray Only....Page
> Size Letter....I am experimenting with those settings.
>
> I believe my printer configuration files (debian 3.1) all show Letter for
> the page size. Though it is possible I have overlooked some key conf file
> which may be sending an A4 or Legal size to my printer.
>
> What's strange, is my debian box...sends native linux print jobs, as well,
> as Windows print jobs from win98se which runs on the linux box under
> Win4Lin...Those windows print jobs just print fine without intervention.
>
> As well with >
>
> I am still having to hit the Continue button after each page. I print to my
> Laser Jet iiip from two machines, one running Xp, other running native linux
> and virtual win98se. Jobs from either XP or 98se print all pages without any
> need to intervene, yet, ANY job from linux, always requires intervention.
> This is why I believe that the settings on my Laser Jet are just fine, and
> that there is a problem at my linux machine, which is sending the wrong
> information
>
> Till Kamppeter wrote >
>
> > Does the printer have front panel menus? If so, check whether one can
> > turn on and off manual feeding there.
>
> The printer does have 6 control buttons and one display...and I checked and
> it said "MAN FEED    OFF"   i.e., manual feed is OFF.....not ON....
>
> and Finally, Kurt Pfeifle wrote >
>
> Read again what was adviced before: "check your driver settings against the
> settings on the printer" for mismatch. It looks
> +like your Win boxen drivers do match the printer setting, while your Linux
> one does not.
>
> > Any further ideas on how to proceed?
>
> Post the output of the following commands:
>
>  lpoptions -d your_printer_name
>   lpoptions -d your_printer_name -l
>
>   These will give us an idea what the default settings are for your
>   printqueue.
>
>   Tell us what paper size you want to print on. Tell us what paper size is
>   loaded into the printer (for each paper tray, if there
>   +is more than one).
>
>   Tell us, which specific paper tray you want to use (if there is more than
>   one).
>
>   Last: test, if this command variation does work for your purpose:
>
>    (a) if you want to print on Letter paper:
>         lp -d your_printer_name -o PageSize=Letter /path/to/printfile
>
> Heres the output >
>
> Here's output from lpoptions -o sethlaser
>
> job-sheets=none,none printer-info=laserjetb&w printer-is-accepting-jobs=1
> printe
> r-is-shared=1 printer-make-and-model='HP LaserJet 3P w/ PCL5 Foomatic/ljet4
> (rec
> ommended)' printer-state=3 printer-state-change-time=1177458745
> printer-state-re
> asons=none printer-type=143364 media=Letter
>
> As well...
>
>
> scott at fyrenice:~$ lpoptions -d sethlaser -l
> PageSize/Page Size: *Letter A4 11x17 A3 A5 B5 Env10 EnvC5 EnvDL EnvISOB5
> EnvMonarch Executive Legal
> PageRegion/PageRegion: Letter A4 11x17 A3 A5 B5 Env10 EnvC5 EnvDL EnvISOB5
> EnvMonarch Executive Legal
> InputSlot/Media Source: *Default Tray1 Tray2 Tray3 Tray4 Envelope Manual
> Resolution/Resolution: 75x75dpi 150x150dpi *300x300dpi
> Dithering/Floyd-Steinberg Dithering: Normal *FSDithered
>
> and >
>
> I want to print on US Letter, 8.5" x 11"... I have the lower cassette tray,
> which is loaded with US Letter paper. There is only one tray.
>
> > Tell us, which specific paper tray you want to use (if there is more than
> > one).
>
> I only use the lower cassette, or I may insert a few sheets in the MP Tray
> for short jobs.
>
> and Lastly >
>
> I replied to the questions listed below on 25 April, but never heard
> anything further from you. Do you have any follow up ideas on this?
>
> I should add that, while running a 60 page mail merge today, I notice the
> following on my Laser Jet IIIP's display window:
>
> LC LOAD A4
>
> This clears to READY after hitting Alt-Continue, but then requires the same
> prompting for each page of the merge, or otherwise...all pages require the
> prompting from the key combination.
>
> Does this display help? Everything I find shows "US LETTER" as the page sige
> I am sending to this printer.
>
> Scott


Sorry, I do not visit the website of this newsgroup every day (and if I do, I may well overlook or forget to re-visit previous threads...).

I'm confused a bit now. You say you have only 1 paper tray ("lower cassette"), but you also say that you occasionally insert paper into the "MP Tray". Which adds up to two trays already...

I can't remember which actual printer model you own, but I believe it is not PostScript-capable (and your system uses "foomatic-rip" to convert PostScript into the printer's native format -- PCL?)...

The next two things you can do are these:

 (1) The driver you're using contains these InputSlot names: "Default
     Tray1 Tray2 Tray3 Tray4 Envelope Manual". Try to print a two/multi-
     page document specifically naming each tray in turn, and see which
     print command makes the job go through without manual intervention
     (you can cancel each job after the first page to save paper):
       lp -d printername -o InputSlot=Tray1 /path/to/printfile
       lp -d printername -o InputSlot=Tray2 /path/to/printfile
       lp -d printername -o InputSlot=Tray3 /path/to/printfile
       lp -d printername -o InputSlot=Tray4 /path/to/printfile
       lp -d printername -o InputSlot=Manual /path/to/printfile
     If one of the commands succeeds, make the respective "-o InputSlot"
     option the default one (use the web interface at localhost:631 to
     change your printer's default InputSlot).

 (2) If (1) does not succeed, install a second printqueue that "prints
     to file", using the same PPD as your current print queue:
     (a) Make sure there is a "FileDevice True" line in your cupsd.conf
         (restart cupsd if you had to change it).
     (b) Add the new queue like this (as root):
         lpadmin -p print2file -v file:/tmp/printfile.prn -E -P /etc/cups/ppd/<your-current-printername>.ppd
         This printqueue will save all printfiles to disk (the next job
         will overwrite the previous one).
     (c) You'll now have a file /etc/cups/ppd/print2file.ppd. Open it in
         an editor, and comment out the line(s) starting "*cupsFilter",
         or remove them altogether. (Commenting out is done by adding
         the two chars "*%" as the first ones.) This will prevent the
         job from being converted from PostScript to ${whatever}.
     (d) Print. (Don't use a big file -- a simple 2-page *.txt file will
         do; print from the commandline).
     (e) Find the print file now as /tmp/printfile.prn. Post a link to
         that file to this forum so someone can have a look at it.
       (....)

Please restate your exact printer model, and the PPD file version you're using for your print queue.


Cheers,
Kurt