[lug] Re: Printing Only One Page

[D. Stimits]

SoloCDM wrote:
> 
> "D. Stimits" stated the following:
> >
> > SoloCDM wrote:
> > >
> > > My printer is connected via a zip drive and the zip drive is
> > > connected via server.  Somehow my printer won't print entire
> > > documents.  /var/log/messages indicates printer is on fire.
> > > Is there any solution?
> >
> > I've seen that message before, but never figured it out. Oddly enough, I
> > once had a printer that *DID* catch on fire. An HP inkjet was just
> > sitting there, not even turned on, then electrical arcing sounds
> > arrived, along with a plume of smoke. Barely got it in during the
> > warranty. A month after I got it back, it started dying again, out of
> > warranty. Fortunately, the printer on fire message has never accurately
> > predicted fire (seems as though a programmer had a sense of humor).
> 
> Nevertheless, it occurs ever time the printer prints one page for a
> multiple page document.  All the lights on the printer go chaotic
> (blinking off and on).
> 
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> 
> *********************************************************************
> Signed,
> SoloCDM

So far I've only seen this when I run out of paper or get a misfeed
(misfeed is a popular thing to do with all printers I've ever owned;
misfeed must have existed before mankind did, it just wasn't recognized
until we had printers). A search on dejanews through some
comp.os.linux.* stuff seems to indicate that any unknown driver state
will do this; a paper jam or misfeed that tells the driver about it in a
recognized way won't cause it, but any unrecognized state will. In my
case, hitting the button to tell it to try again since it is no longer
jammed or out of paper has fixed it. Now if your printer and zip drive
are sharing some resource, and it is mistaking output from the zip state
as part of the printer state, then it likely will see the printer as
having sent a state message that it doesn't recognize. I would think
that irq or base address or cabling is somehow being shared between the
zip and the printer, and it is getting mixed up.

D. Stimits, stimits at idcomm.com