[PLUG] CUPS postscript/config problems

David Fleck david.fleck at mchsi.com
Wed Jul 26 13:17:52 UTC 2006


(Just to get it out of the way, I'll start by saying I loathe CUPS. 
Printing used to be simple for me back in the lpd days - now it's a 
byzantine pain in the ass.)

Scenario: 
2 machines, both running OpenSuSE 10.  One has a Canon BJC-250 attached to 
it.

Initially, the printer was hooked up to machine A, which ran KDE. 
Everything was hunky-dory.

A few days ago, we switched the printer to machine B.  We now have the 
following problems:

1. Printing from machine B (the local machine) using Firefox:
[page_log excerpt]
D [26/Jul/2006:07:40:42 -0500] [Job 11] -dict-
D [26/Jul/2006:07:40:42 -0500] [Job 11] -mark-
D [26/Jul/2006:07:40:42 -0500] [Job 11] -dict-
D [26/Jul/2006:07:40:42 -0500] [Job 11] Error: /rangecheck in --setpagedevice--
D [26/Jul/2006:07:40:42 -0500] [Job 11] Operand stack:
D [26/Jul/2006:07:40:42 -0500] [Job 11] --dict:1/1(L)--   --nostringval--   --dict:73/73(ro)(L)--   --dict:1/1(L)--   --dict:8/74(L)--   
--dict:1/2(L)--   --nostringval--   --dict:3/3(L)--   true   --nostringval--   %MediaSource   0   %MediaDestination   0   MediaPosition   
0   --dict:8/74(L)--
D [26/Jul/2006:07:40:42 -0500] [Job 11] Execution stack:
D [26/Jul/2006:07:40:42 -0500] [Job 11] %interp_exit   .runexec2 --nostringval--   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   2   %stopped_push   
--nostringval--   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   false   1  %stopped_push   1   3   %oparray_pop   1   3   %oparray_pop   1   3   
%oparray_pop   1   3   %oparray_pop   .runexec2   --nostringval-- --nostringval--   --nostringval--   2   %stopped_push   --nostringval--   
--nostringval--   1   5   %oparray_pop   --nostringval--   --nostringval-- --nostringval--
D [26/Jul/2006:07:40:42 -0500] [Job 11] Dictionary stack:
D [26/Jul/2006:07:40:42 -0500] [Job 11] --dict:1134/3371(ro)(G)--   
--dict:0/20(G)--   --dict:86/200(L)--   --dict:53/80(ro)(L)--   --dict:87/89(L)--
D [26/Jul/2006:07:40:42 -0500] [Job 11] Current allocation mode is local
D [26/Jul/2006:07:40:42 -0500] [Job 11] Last OS error: 2
D [26/Jul/2006:07:40:42 -0500] [Job 11] ESP Ghostscript 8.15.0: 
Unrecoverable error, exit code 1

same '/rangecheck' error when sending output from Lyx, or when sending 
postscript files via lpr.

HOWEVER... viewing the same postscript files directly, using 'gs', works 
fine. As far as I can tell, it's the same ghostscript in both cases.

(printing the CUPS test page works fine.)


2. Printing from machine A (remote):
printing works fine, except that all jobs start halfway down the page.
The only straw I can grasp at is the change in the filter chain on the 
remote machine's cupsd server. It used to do this:

I [31/Dec/2005:20:24:43 -0600] Started filter /usr/lib/cups/filter/pstops (PID 5643) for job 2.
I [31/Dec/2005:20:24:43 -0600] Started filter /usr/lib/cups/filter/foomatic-rip (PID 5644) for job 2.
I [31/Dec/2005:20:24:43 -0600] Started backend /usr/lib/cups/backend/parallel (PID 5645) for job 2.

now it does this:
I [25/Jul/2006:18:49:58 -0500] Started filter /usr/lib/cups/filter/pstops (PID 11606) for job 134.
I [25/Jul/2006:18:49:58 -0500] Started filter /usr/lib/cups/filter/pstoraster (PID 11607) for job 134. 
I [25/Jul/2006:18:49:58 -0500] Started filter /usr/lib/cups/filter/rastertoprinter (PID 11608) for job 1

I'm guessing the change in filters has something to do with the change in 
output. But I have no idea how to test that.


So, in summary, 2 problems: 1. postscript printing from localhost is 
broken, and 2. printing anything from remote is mis-aligned (but 
postscript is apparently fine).  I figure that, eventually, by slogging 
through CUPS' documentation, I'll figure out problem #2.  But #1 I'm not 
sure what to do about.



--
David Fleck
david.fleck at mchsi.com




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