How to Check Printing from a Solaris 2.x Client to a SunOS 4.x Print Server

The steps in this section describe how to check printing services if the Solaris 2.x client is receiving printing services from a SunOS 4.x print server. Before you use the steps in this section, you should already have checked the basic functions of the LP print service. Refer to “Check the LP Print Service” on page 237 for more information.

Use the following steps to make sure the print server is accessible:

1.  On the print client, type ping print-server-name and press Return. If you receive the message system not available, you have a network problem.

2.  On the print server, type ps -ax | grep lpd and press Return. If the lpd daemon is running, you see a line, as shown in the following example. If it is not running, no process information is shown, although you still get the grep lpd line.

maple% ps -ax | grep lpd
  126 ?  IW    ØØØ /usr/lib/lpd
  2ØØ p1 S     ØØØ grep lpd
maple%

3.  If lpd is not running on the print server, become superuser and type /usr/lib/lpd & and press Return. The lpd daemon starts.

Use the following steps to make sure that the remote lpd daemon is configured properly:

1.  On the print server, become superuser.

2.  Type /usr/etc/lpc and press Return. The line printer control lpc> prompt shows up on-screen.

3.  Type status and press Return. Status information is displayed. In the following example, the daemon is not running and needs to be restarted:

maple% su
Password:
# /usr/etc/lpc
lpc> status
red:
queuing is enabled
printing is enabled
no entries
no daemon present
lpc>

4.  If no daemon is present, at the lpc> prompt, type restart and press Return. The daemon restarts.

5.  Type status and press Return. Verify that the lpd daemon has started.

6.  Type quit and press Return. You are returned to the shell prompt.

Try printing from the print server. If the job does not print properly, the problem is with the server's local LP spooler. If the job prints properly, the problem is with the network or the print client.

If you get this far without pinpointing the problem, the SunOS 4.x system is working properly.

To make sure that the connection to the remote lpd print daemon from the print client is made correctly, type ps -ef | grep lp and press Return. One lpsched daemon should be running, as shown in the following example:

# ps -ef | grep lp
  root   154    1 8Ø   Jan Ø7 ?      ØØ2 /usr/lib/lpsched
#

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NOTE:  The Solaris 2.6 printing implementation does not include the lpNet daemon.

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If the lpsched daemon is not running, follow these steps to start it:

1.  Become superuser.

2.  Type lpshut and press Return. The LP print service stops.

3.  Type /usr/lib/lp/lpsched and press Return. The LP print service restarts.

Use the following steps to make sure that the remote print server is identified correctly as a SunOS 4.x system:

1.  On the print client, become superuser.

2.  Type lpsystem -l and press Return. In the following example, a SunOS 4.x print server (maple) is specified correctly, as shown by Type being set to bsd.

elm% su
Password:
# lpsystem -l
System:                     maple
Type:                       bsd
Connection timeout:         never
Retry failed connections:   after 1Ø minutes
Comment:                    none
#

3.  If the print server is identified incorrectly, type lpsystem -t bsd print-server-name and press Return.

Use the following steps to check the print logs on the print client:

1.  Type tail -100 /var/lp/logs/lpsched and press Return. The last 100 lines of the log file are displayed. By examining the lpsched log, you can tell if the print client (castle in the following example) is connecting properly to the print server. The following example shows a few typical lines from the /var/lp/logs/lpsched log file when connections are being made properly:

castle% tail -100 /var/lp/logs/lpsched
09/24 14:53:53: Print services started.
09/24 18:05:40: build info: 07/15/97:21:39:52
09/24 18:05:40: Print services started.
09/25 08:19:53: build info: 07/15/97:21:39:52
09/25 08:19:53: Print services started.
09/25 09:09:28: build info: 07/15/97:21:39:52
09/25 09:09:28: Print services started.
09/25 17:04:34: Print services stopped.
09/26 08:52:57: build info: 07/15/97:21:39:52
09/26 08:52:57: Print services started.
castle%

The following example shows a few lines from a log file that show that a connection has not been successful. Usually, if there is a problem you will see retries to the BSD system.

oak% tail -1Ø /var/lp/logs/lpsched
Ø5/23/91 14:39 c  12Ø oak lpd retrying connection to oak
Ø5/23/91 14:51 c  12Ø oak lpd retrying connection to oak
Ø5/23/91 15:Ø2 c  12Ø oak lpd retrying connection to oak
oak%

2.  On the print client, become superuser.

3.  Type lpsystem -l print-server-name and press Return. You see the current retry and time-out parameters.

4.  Type lpsystem -T n | 0 | N -R n | 0 | N print-server-name and press Return. The -T option specifies the length of time a network connection can be idle before it is dropped. Choose either n (never time out) or 0 (drop immediately), or enter a number (wait N minutes, then drop connection). The default is n. The -R option specifies the length of time to wait before trying to reestablish a connection. Choose either n (do not retry until there is more work) or 0 (try to reconnect immediately), or enter a number (wait N minutes before trying to reconnect). The default is to wait 10 minutes before trying to reconnect. In the following example, the network connection is specified to never time out, and the retry time is specified to reconnect immediately.

elm% su
Password:
# lpsystem -T n -R 0 maple
“maple” has been modified.
#

Incorrect Output

If the printer and the print service software are not configured correctly, the printer may print, but it may provide output that is not what you expect.