Specifications
2-46
Guide to Printers and Printing
Printer queuing system status conditions
If a printer or device is added as a tty device, the queuing system looks for carrier detect
(CD) to recognize the printer. If the device is an LP device, the queuing system uses CTS to
detect the printer.
Following is a list of print queue status conditions:
DEV_BUSY
Identifies that:
• More than one queue is defined to a printer device ( lp0 ), and another
queue is currently using the printer device.
• qdaemon attempted to use the printer port device ( lp0 ), and another
application is currently using that printer device.
Normal recovery: To recover from a DEV_BUSY, wait until the queue or
application has released the printer device, or kill the job or process that is
using the printer port.
DEV_WAIT Indicates that the queue is waiting for the printer because the printer is
offline, out of paper, jammed, or the cable is loose, bad, or wired incorrectly.
Normal Recovery: To recover from a DEV_WAIT, you must correct the
problem that caused it to wait. Check to see if the printer is offline, out of
paper, jammed, or loosely cabled. It may be easier for diagnostic testing to
use the enq command to move all queued jobs from the DEV_WAIT queue
to another queue that is either printing or is DOWN. After the problem is
corrected, you can move any unprinted jobs back to the original queue.
DEV_WAIT can also be caused by improper flow control to the printer,
particularly when using XON/XOFF software control. Use SMIT to see if
you are using the proper flow control (XON/XOFF or DTR pacing).
Bad or improperly wired cabling can cause a DEV_WAIT situation. Usually,
you cannot recover from this situation except by replacing the cable.
DOWN Specifies that the device driver cannot communicate with the printer (CD or
CTS dropped or is low) after TIMEOUT seconds. The TIMEOUT value
indicates the amount of time, in seconds, that the queuing system waits for
a printer operation to complete. You can set this value using SMIT.
A queue usually goes into the DOWN state after it has been in the
DEV_WAIT state. If a queue goes directly into the DOWN state, either the
TIMEOUT value is too small or there are cabling problems. Usually, this
situation occurs when the printer device driver cannot tell if the printer is
there due to the absence of correct signaling. However, some printers
cannot signal the queuing system that they are only offline. These printers
signal that they are off; they drop CTS (if an lp) or drop CD (if a tty).
If the printer device is off, the queue goes into the DOWN state. The system
administrator can bring a queue to the DOWN state for maintenance with
the queuing commands ( qadm, disable, enq, and others).
Normal recovery: Correct the problem that brought the queue down and
bring the queue back up using the qadm, enable, or enq commands with
appropriate flags. The queue must be manually brought up before it can be
used again.
HELD Specifies that the job is held and will not be put on the queue until it is
released using the qhld or enq commands