SUMMARY: LPR nor printing multiple copies

From: Karen R McArthur <kmcarthu_at_bates.edu>
Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2003 11:14:03 -0500

Looks like some print servers (including mine) munge the lpr switches -
so as a by pass of this, I've instructed my users to type "repeat n
lpr -Pprinter filename". Where n is the number of copies they want.
Not pretty, but it works! Thank you, Dr Blinn for the quick answer.

--
Karen.
Dr Thomas.Blinn_at_HP.com wrote:
>When you have a printer attached through a print server (instead of via
>direct connect), one copy of the print job data will get sent to the
>server over the network, along with the control parameters, such as in
>this case (if things are all working correctly) the number of copies to
>be printed.  There's a whole lpr/lpd handshaking interface, and there
>is a lot of trust on the part of lpr that the receiving lpd will do all
>of the things that it's supposed to do.  I'm guessing that your Pony XCD
>print server does NOT in fact implement all the lpd functions and that
>in particular it doesn't know how to print multiple copies.  The lpd on
>the host does.  There *may* be a way to tell the host that the remote
>can not do multiple copies, in which case, the host *might* be clever
>enough to send the data multiple times; however, I'm no lpr/lpd expert
>and I would have to read the documentation very carefully to see if I
>could figure out how to make that work.  It might also be possible to
>make it work with a host based print filter, but again, configuring it
>is outside my area of expertise.  The real "expert" was Ernie and he is
>as far as I can tell no longer employed here.  Sorry about that..
>
>  
>
>>Well, I tried to figure it out myself - but I'm stymied.  I can print
>>multiple copies through lpr to my laser printers, but not my C.Itoh 5000
>>line printer attached via a Pony XCD print server.
>>
>>The command I use is "lpr -Padfa2 -#2 test.lis" and only 1 copy comes out.
>>
>>Here's my /etc/printcap (a3058 is the DNS name of the print server):
>>adfa2|lp45|45|:\
>>        :lp=:\
>>        :rm=a3058:\
>>        :rp=TEXT_P1:\
>>        :sd=/usr/spool/lpd/lpd45:
>>
>>sytem:
>>ES40
>>Tru64 v5.1a
>>--
>>Karen McArthur, systems administrator
>>Bates College
>>Lewiston, Maine
>>kmcarthu_at_bates.edu
>>
>>    
>>
>
>Tom
>
>   Dr. Thomas P. Blinn + Tru64 UNIX Software + Hewlett-Packard Company
> Internet: tpb_at_zk3.dec.com, thomas.blinn_at_compaq.com, thomas.blinn_at_hp.com
>  110 Spit Brook Road, MS ZKO3-2/W17   Nashua, New Hampshire 03062-2698
>   Alpha Tru64 UNIX kernel support              Phone:  (603) 884-0646
>     ACM Member: tpblinn_at_acm.org         PC_at_Home: tom_at_felines.mv.net
>
>  Worry kills more people than work because more people worry than work.
>
>      Keep your stick on the ice.        -- Steve Smith ("Red Green")
>
>     My favorite palindrome is: Satan, oscillate my metallic sonatas.
>                                -- Phil Agre, pagre_at_alpha.oac.ucla.edu
>
>     Yesterday it worked / Today it is not working / UNIX is like that 
>			-- apologies to Margaret Segall 
>
>  Opinions expressed herein are my own, and do not necessarily represent
>  those of my employer or anyone else, living or dead, real or imagined.
> 
>  
>

Received on Thu Dec 11 2003 - 16:15:30 NZDT