[Samba] pdfs cause laserjet 4000s to hang - any workaround?

[Kurt Pfeifle]

> [Samba] pdfs cause laserjet 4000s to hang - any workaround?
> 
>     * To: samba at listsdotsambadotorg
>     * Subject: [Samba] pdfs cause laserjet 4000s to hang - any workaround?
>     * From: "Steve Kersley" <stevedotkersley at kebdotoxdotacdotuk>
>     * Date: Fri, 31 Oct 2003 15:03:10 -0000
> 
> Before I start, I know this isn't a Samba-related issue but it seems to be a
> widespread enough problem that someone else may have figured out a
> Samba-oriented workaround, or any other solution for that matter.
> 

Hi, Steve,

not that I am sure about a solution. But I know about a similar problem
with HP PS printers, if you use a particular setting of the HP-provided
PPD file (part of the driver, as used f.e. by CUPS, but also by Windows
clients). Since you are asking on the Samba list, I assume your Windows
clients use the PS driver for the PDF files. v(PCL drivers on PDF files
are dead-slow in any case).

The drivers contain a setting called "Scale Patterns".  These should be
set to "Off", because the "On" is very buggy and may crash the printer.

> There seems to be a problem with certain models of HP Laserjet (including,
> but not limited, to the 4000 series and other models from the same era - it
> is apparently fixed in the 4100).  Certain PDF files, when printed, cause
> the printer to crash - although outwardly it appears to be processing the
> job (data light flashing and so on), nothing ever happens until you reset
> the printer and delete the job.  Resending it will cause it to crash again.
> 
> I've asked around and it's not just us who suffer - I know of several other
> people with exactly the same problem, and all use different systems - we use
> Samba, another uses Windows Server and yet another just uses peer-to-peer
> with no server at all.  The best help I've found on HP's support site is an
> article saying it happens on Apple Macs and is related to a certain font.

Which font?

Is it a font enumerated in the PPD? (In that case it may help to edit
the PPD and delete that font from the list....)

> No mention of it happening on Windows, but it does and is clearly a cross
> platform problem.  The workarounds suggested are to either edit the PDF file
> and remove the offending font, or to print as an image.  The latter works,
> but is incredibly slow (a couple of minutes per page) for even the simplest
> of documents.
> 
> The printer I have most problems with is in a student computer room, and at
> times I have to go back and forth to power cycle the printer several times
> an hour.  I also can't rely on the students following fairly complicated
> instructions to get round it - experience shows they just click print half a
> dozen times before giving up, leaving the print queue clogged up with
> corrupt jobs.
> 
> So, does anyone have any suggested workarounds?  Has anyone else actually
> seen this problem?
> I'm using Samba under Gentoo Linux on the server, LPRNG as my printing
> system and Windows 2000 on the workstations.
> 
> Thanks in advance.
> 
> Steve.
>