[Scribus] Printing errors

[Craig Ringer]

John Jason Jordan wrote:

> Laserjet-5Si
> Laserjet-5Si-5Si-MX-PostScript-(recommended)
> 
> I think the first is a PCL-only driver, but CUPS is hard to figure out,
> so I am not sure.

Probably the case, yes.

> I have a four-page Scribus document to print. It is pretty simple, just
> text (all open source TrueType fonts) and two images, both JPG files.
> Everything appears fine on screen and in the Print Preview. When
> printing Scribus displays no error messages. When I print to the
> Laserjet-5Si the output is solid dark gray to the margins of the
> printing area (the document margins are two cm.). When I print to the
> Laserjet-5Si-5Si-MX-PostScript-(recommended) printer nothing at all
> happens. In the CUPS dialog box no print job even appears. Yet from the
> CUPS properties dialog box I can print a test page, so I know the
> driver and connection are all working.

Have a look at the CUPS job history ("show completed jobs" in the CUPS
web interface, https://localhost:631). It might be processing and almost
instantly rejecting the job. Also look at the CUPS logs in /var/log/cups
. It might be necessary to turn up the debug log level in
/etc/cups/cupsd.conf (back this file up before changing it, just in case).

> There is one other symptom. After trying to print to these drivers for
> a while, suddenly CUPS won't respond at all. Whatever Scribus is doing
> is not something that CUPS appreciates. Logging off and back on again
> does not cure it. I can't stop and restart CUPS from the command line
> because it no longer responds. The only solution is to shut down and
> restart.

That last part, at least, is a little easier to deal with than
rebooting. You can just use `ps -ef | grep cups' to find the Process ID
of CUPS (also look for backend helpers like `ipp' or `parport'). Kill
them with `kill pid' eg `kill 92921' . If they don't die, use `kill -9 pid'.

--
Craig Ringer