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Print Jobs Disappear from Queue

Linux Kernel, Network, and Services configuration.
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sloppyc
Posts: 12
Joined: 2009-03-22 20:24

Print Jobs Disappear from Queue

#1 Post by sloppyc »

I have no idea what's going on. I've had this machine running for over a year, and it's been great. A month or so ago, I realized that jobs weren't going to the printer. When i VNC'd in, I noticed that print jobs would show up in the queue as "Processing" briefly, then disappear.

lsusb:

Code: Select all

Bus 005 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0002 Linux Foundation 2.0 root hub
Bus 004 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 003 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 002 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
Bus 001 Device 009: ID 04a9:1094 Canon, Inc. PIXMA iP3000x Printer
Bus 001 Device 001: ID 1d6b:0001 Linux Foundation 1.1 root hub
lsmod:

Code: Select all

Module                  Size  Used by
appletalk              25984  0
nfsd                  186928  13
lockd                  54568  1 nfsd
nfs_acl                 2912  1 nfsd
auth_rpcgss            33952  1 nfsd
sunrpc                162528  11 nfsd,lockd,nfs_acl,auth_rpcgss
exportfs                3936  1 nfsd
ppdev                   6468  0
parport_pc             22500  0
lp                      8164  0
parport                30988  3 ppdev,parport_pc,lp
ipv6                  235396  47
speedstep_lib           4516  0
cpufreq_stats           3776  0
cpufreq_conservative     5960  0
cpufreq_ondemand        6476  0
cpufreq_userspace       3172  0
cpufreq_powersave       1856  0
freq_table              4224  2 cpufreq_stats,cpufreq_ondemand
loop                   12748  0
evdev                   8000  2
serio_raw               4740  0
psmouse                32336  0
pcspkr                  2432  0
i2c_i801                7920  0
i2c_core               19828  1 i2c_i801
rng_core                3940  0
usblp                  10592  0
button                  6096  0
intel_agp              22524  1
agpgart                28808  1 intel_agp
shpchp                 25528  0
pci_hotplug            23460  1 shpchp
ext3                  105576  5
jbd                    39476  1 ext3
mbcache                 7108  1 ext3
ide_disk               10496  7
ide_cd_mod             27684  0
cdrom                  30176  1 ide_cd_mod
sd_mod                 22200  4
piix                    6568  0 [permanent]
ata_piix               14404  2
ide_pci_generic         3908  0 [permanent]
ide_core               96168  4 ide_disk,ide_cd_mod,piix,ide_pci_generic
sata_sil                7176  0
ata_generic             4676  0
r8169                  27844  0
libata                140448  3 ata_piix,sata_sil,ata_generic
scsi_mod              129548  2 sd_mod,libata
dock                    8304  1 libata
ehci_hcd               28428  0
uhci_hcd               18672  0
usbcore               118224  4 usblp,ehci_hcd,uhci_hcd
thermal                15228  0
processor              32576  1 thermal
fan                     4196  0
thermal_sys            10856  3 thermal,processor,fan
printers.conf:

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# Printer configuration file for CUPS v1.3.8
# Written by cupsd on 2010-06-16 13:48
<DefaultPrinter iP3000>
Info iP3000
Location server-p4
DeviceURI canon:/dev/usb/lp0
State Idle
StateTime 1276721124
Accepting Yes
Shared Yes
JobSheets none none
QuotaPeriod 0
PageLimit 0
KLimit 0
AllowUser user1
AllowUser user2
OpPolicy default
ErrorPolicy retry-job
</Printer>
I've even reinstalled the OS (not just for this reason) to no avail. Printer is dete cted without issue, I just can't use it.


Thanks :)

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Absent Minded
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Location: Washington State U.S.A.
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Re: Print Jobs Disappear from Queue

#2 Post by Absent Minded »

Do you have another printer to test? Or maybe another OS to test the printer with. The only reason the print job should leave the que is the printer has accepted the job. To me sounds like a printer problem and not an OS problem (from the info you gave).
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Updated Nov. 19, 2012

hameau
Posts: 257
Joined: 2008-11-13 17:42
Location: France

Re: Print Jobs Disappear from Queue

#3 Post by hameau »

sloppyc wrote:... print jobs would show up in the queue as "Processing" briefly, then disappear.
I have seen these symptoms a few times and it has always been because the wrong driver was selected for the printer (usually because the package with the correct driver wasn't installed). The print job can leave the queue if the filter exits with an error.

You don't mention which Debian release you're running, but on Squeeze, the iP3000 needs the gutenprint driver (cups-driver-gutenprint). Were there any updates around the time that it stopped working? You say that you reinstalled – how clean was the reinstall? Did you also clean the home directories?

Edit to add: If you are running Squeeze, cups-driver-gutenprint version changed around the middle of May. It may be coincidental ...
Nick.

sloppyc
Posts: 12
Joined: 2009-03-22 20:24

Re: Print Jobs Disappear from Queue

#4 Post by sloppyc »

Sorry, running Lenny. In my Googling, I did see a bug report mentioning a similar issue to my own that I can't see to relocate.

I am using the Gutenprint (v.5.02) driver. As far as updates around the time it decided to quit working... I can't say definitively as I print so rarely. But it was late May when I first noticed the problem.



Okay, this was weird. I just hooked it up to my my Windows HTPC... printed a test page after feeding the paper back and forth for a moment. Since that ruled out the printer as the culprit for me, hooked it back up to my server: Test page from a Windows machine over the network instantly. How odd. Is Windows just a little more persistent at forcing jobs through or something? I know I've diconnected and reconnected the USB cable numerous times, so I don't think it was simply a matter of it not being properly connected.

I still have all of the buttons (Print Test Page, Print Self-Test Page, Clean Print Heads) greyed out in my Printer Properties window, but as long as I can print from the network, I'm happy.

EDIT: Weirder. Jobs from Debian still delete (same user account). Jobs from networked Windows machines go through. I never need to print from my server, so it's not a real-world issue, but still pretty strange. Maybe my printer is crapping it out. It's had a good run, several years old and has survived being mailed across North America.

hameau
Posts: 257
Joined: 2008-11-13 17:42
Location: France

Re: Print Jobs Disappear from Queue

#5 Post by hameau »

sloppyc wrote:I still have all of the buttons (Print Test Page, Print Self-Test Page, Clean Print Heads) greyed out in my Printer Properties window ...
Having those buttons greyed out means that your account doesn't have admin rights on the printer, a setting option in CUPS on the server. It may be normal (below).

Is the Debian account (that you are unable to print from) on the printer server machine? If it is, is the printer seen as a local printer (usb?) or a network printer (ipp://...)? If Debian is printing to a network printer, the greyed buttons are normal unless you explicitly allow admin rights to the client.

The Windows client may well be sending printer-ready data, so it will bypass the CUPS filters (as it's already suitable for sending to the printer hardware).

My money is still on a CUPS filter error. What's in the log (/var/log/cups/ ...)? You may have to increase the LogLevel setting in /etc/cupsd.conf to get something meaningful.
Nick.

sloppyc
Posts: 12
Joined: 2009-03-22 20:24

Re: Print Jobs Disappear from Queue

#6 Post by sloppyc »

The printer shows as "canon:/dev/usb/lp0" which normally is there in the filesystem, but since the thing stopped powering on yesterday, it's gone (can't be bothered to move the TV and entertainment center to see if anything's been disconnected now, but I suspect not).

In the users & groups administration panel, I show my user account as having permission to configure printers.


So maybe my printer was just dying around the same time there was an update that produced similar symptoms.

What, specifically do you want to see from /var/log/cups? There are several files in there. An error_log did show multiple authentication errors (can't remember what exactly they said, and now that file appears to be empty), so you may be onto something.

Code: Select all

/var/log/cups$ ls -l -a
total 1152
drwxr-xr-x  2 root root       4096 2010-06-22 07:46 .
drwxr-xr-x 15 root root       4096 2010-06-22 07:46 ..
-rw-r-----  1 root lp         4902 2010-06-22 11:27 access_log
-rw-r-----  1 root lp         1237 2010-06-22 07:39 access_log.1.gz
-rw-r-----  1 root lp         1144 2010-06-21 07:56 access_log.2.gz
-rw-r-----  1 root lp        27585 2010-06-20 07:55 access_log.3.gz
-rw-r-----  1 root lp         2264 2010-06-19 07:52 access_log.4.gz
-rw-r-----  1 root lp         9984 2010-06-18 07:40 access_log.5.gz
-rw-r-----  1 root lp         1674 2010-06-17 07:33 access_log.6.gz
-rw-r-----  1 root lp         1085 2010-06-16 07:55 access_log.7.gz
-rw-r-----  1 root lp      1048581 2010-06-19 06:49 access_log.O
-rw-r-----  1 root lpadmin       0 2010-06-20 07:55 error_log
-rw-r-----  1 root lp         7064 2010-06-19 22:02 error_log.1.gz
-rw-r-----  1 root lp         6682 2010-06-19 07:52 error_log.2.gz
-rw-r-----  1 root lp          352 2010-06-17 10:10 error_log.3.gz
-rw-r-----  1 root lp          160 2010-06-16 14:03 error_log.4.gz
-rw-r-----  1 root lp          207 2010-06-01 15:50 error_log.5.gz
-rw-r-----  1 root lp           89 2010-05-26 07:42 error_log.6.gz
-rw-r-----  1 root lpadmin       0 2010-06-19 07:52 page_log
-rw-r-----  1 root lp          100 2010-06-18 17:48 page_log.1.gz
-rw-r-----  1 root lp          115 2010-06-17 10:12 page_log.2.gz
-rw-r-----  1 root lp          112 2010-05-26 09:42 page_log.3.gz

hameau
Posts: 257
Joined: 2008-11-13 17:42
Location: France

Re: Print Jobs Disappear from Queue

#7 Post by hameau »

sloppyc wrote:What, specifically do you want to see from /var/log/cups?
Sorry, haven't been by for a while.

I don't want to see anything ;-) but you may find a clue in error_log, though you may have to increase the log level, as I mentioned above. With a detailed log level, it soon becomes apparent where it's going wrong and Googling some of the error messages should help get you started.

Those multiple log files are just the result of log rotation – the current log is archived and kept for a few days, then deleted. It keeps some history without becoming unwieldy. the downside is, that you lose ancient history (i.e., after a week), so you can't go back beyond that.

Of course, hardware failure makes it all moot ...
Nick.

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