Cups 1.3.7 and Sieko SLP450 Label Printers

Tue Jul 5 10:31:15 PDT 2011

Scott Hallenbeck wrote:

>> > Scott Hallenbeck wrote:
>> >
>> > >> Scott Hallenbeck wrote:
>> > >>
>> > >> >> Scott Hallenbeck wrote:
>> > >> >>
>> > >> >> > I am tasked with the getting these SLP450 label printers
>> > >> >> > working with CUPS
>> > >> >> > 1.3.7.  We have 2 other cups servers (v 1.1.22rc1) we are
>> > >> >> > phasing out, and
>> > >> >> > they both print to the label printers without any issues.  It
>> > >> >> > hasn't always been this way, and there was a large amount of
>> > >> >> > time spent by another technician, who is no longer here,
>> > >> >> > getting it to work, but unfortunately was never documented.
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> > The default siislp450.ppd is identical on all the servers, and
>> > >> >> > the printer specific ppd's are also the same, as well as the
>> > >> >> > configurations in these printer specific ppd's.
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> > I have turned on debug2 on all the servers and ran the same job
>> > >> >> > through all 3 server, originating from the same place and
>> > >> >> > printing the same thing.
>> > >> >> >  In the logs, a few lines before I see "Printing page 1, 0%
>> > >> >> >  complete..."
>> > >> >> > and so on, I see a similar line on all 3 servers, with the
>> > >> >> > newest being different.
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> > Server 1 - running cups 1.1.2rc1
>> > >> >> > [Job 15] S3: gDotsPerLine 576.000000, cupsHeight 568,
>> > >> >> > [margInInMM 0 (Negative will be 0)
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> > Server 2 - running cups 1.1.2rc1
>> > >> >> > [Job 7273716] S3: gDotsPerLine 576.000000, cupsHeight 568,
>> > >> >> > [margInInMM 0 (Negative will be 0)
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> > and server 3, the newest running v 1.3.7:
>> > >> >> > [Job 520042] S3: gDotsPerLine 576.000000, cupsHeight 3300,
>> > >> >> > [margInInMM -115 (Negative will be 0)
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> > This stood out to me as being an obvious deviation.  The first
>> > >> >> > 2 print the label correctly, while the 3 one just pushes
>> > >> >> > through an empty label.
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> > I have attempted to change *LandscapeOrientation in the
>> > >> >> > specific printer ppd file from Any to Plus90 and Minus90 in
>> > >> >> > hopes this would help, but seemed to make no difference.
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> > I even attempted to command line print with options
>> > >> >> > -o orientation-requested=3 (4,5,6)
>> > >> >> > to see if this would fix the issue, and still blanks.
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> > When I do a 'print test page' from the cups GUI it prints a
>> > >> >> > perfect little test page on the label.
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> > The labels being sent are in PDF format, and I know the test
>> > >> >> > page is in a plain text format, so this leads me to believe
>> > >> >> > there is some sort of filtering missing or something, but I am
>> > >> >> > really at a loss where to go from here.
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> > Anyone have any suggestions?
>> > >> >> >
>> > >> >> > Thanks!
>> > >> >> > Scott
>> > >> >>
>> > >> >> Please tell how your label printer has been configured with CUPS,
>> > >> >> and, for a test print, set the log level to debug, do a test
>> > >> >> print, and post (an URL to) both the PPD used and the portion of
>> > >> >> the error_log file that contains the messages related to the test
>> > >> >> job.
>> > >> >>
>> > >> >> Helge
>> > >> >>
>> > >> >
>> > >> >
>> > >> > Unfortunately I was not the one who set this up to start with.  I
>> > >> > was told that the drivers (which you linked to in your second
>> > >> > post) were downloaded
>> > >> > and freshly compiled on the the new cups server.  I do see a
>> > >> > directory in root home where the file has been extracted and
>> > >> > appears to have been compiled.
>> > >> >
>> > >> > Right now I do not have a record of a cups test page print from
>> > >> > the to the printer, but I did make files from test page prints
>> > >> > from our application server that is sending the label both on the
>> > >> > old (working) server and the new server. Both servers were set to
>> > >> > debug2 level before capturing them. Old Server that works :
>> > >> > http://hellandback.net/cups/devlabeltest-02.txt New Server:
>> > >> > http://hellandback.net/cups/devlabeltest-03.txt
>> > >> >
>> > >> > Once one of the developers gets here and sets up the QA machine I
>> > >> > have been testing with, I can print a cups test print and capture
>> > >> > that as well, if you would still like to see that.
>> > >> >
>> > >> > Thank you for any assistance in this matter.
>> > >> > Scott
>> > >>
>> > >> In your second log file I found some strange messages:
>> > >> D [27/Jun/2011:14:02:57 -0400] [Job 520042] Updating PageSize to
>> > >> [271 136]... which seems to be correct, but some messages later:
>> > >> D [27/Jun/2011:14:02:57 -0400] [Job 520042] Updating PageSize to
>> > >> [612 792]... which means Ghostsdcript's cups device forgot the
>> > >> correct page size and reverted to the default letter page size.
>> > >>
>> > >> To further trace it down I'd need the repsective PPDs from both
>> > >> machines.
>> > >>
>> > >> Helge
>> > >>
>> > >
>> > > Placed the PPD from the server printing blank labels here:
>> > > http://hellandback.net/cups/devlabelprinter.ppd
>> > >
>> > > and the one that does work from the older server here:
>> > > http://hellandback.net/cups/devlabelprinter.ppd-02
>> > >
>> > > Let me know if you have any issues getting to them.
>> > > Scott
>> >
>> > I suspect the culprit is your pdftops filter, which is, in cups 1.3.7,
>> > based
>> > on  xpdf/pdftops 3.00 . That filter tries, on start, to read a
>> > configuration file named xpdfrc (don't know in what directory it should
>> > lie, it depends on the buidling options, but probably in /etc or
>> > /etc/cups). That file should contain the directive
>> > psPaperSize match
>> > (the default is letter). This directive forces the generated PostScript
>> > to retain the page size defined by the (first page) of the PDF file.
>> >
>> > If that won't work, you could try one of the following options:
>> > (1) replace the pdftops filter by the alternate pdftops filter as
>> > described on the links at www.cups.org
>> > (2) replace the pstoraster filter by the gstoraster filter as described
>> > on the links at www.cups.org (you need to adapt your /etc/cups/*.convs
>> > file accordingly).
>> >
>> > Helge
>> >
>>
> Thank you for this response.
> I could not locate xpdfrc or anything related to that.  However I do no
> believe xpdf is even installed, and most likely because X is not installed
> on the server either.
> I wasn't sure what the alternate pdftops filter was that you were
> referring to, as all I could find was a wrapper script.  Is that what you
> meant?
> 
> I DID replace the pstoraster filter, as I found that and I could easily
> follow the instructions.  This seems to have corrected the issues with the
> SLP450 Label printers.  I am hoping it has no negative effect on the other
> printers we are using, but so far, I do not see it being used a lot.
> 
> ___< It did fix the issue, the labels print, but the jobs don't clear the
> job queue, and cups displays "Ghostscript exited with value 1" for the
> printer after each label prints...  Any suggestions here? ___>
> 
> Can you send me a link to the "alternate pdftops filter as described on
> the links at www.cups.org" please?  I am curious if that would resolve and
> issue I am having with p3005 printers.
> 
>  Thanks again for your help!
> 
> Scott

Thanks for the log and the PS file. My e-mail reply has been blocked (why?).
I'll dig into it.

Helge