Previous Table of Contents Next Windows Usually, the %WINSYSDIR% variable (you can show it by typing set at a command prompt) is C:\WINDOWS, but it could be something else, such as C:\win95. Similarly, under NT, %SYSTEMROOT% is typically WINNT, but it might be something else, such as WTSRV for Windows Terminal Server 4.0. jobnum is a system-assigned number, and it could be anything-you'll want to troubleshoot on a fairly quiet system so that you don't have to wade through thousands of spool files trying to find yours. NetWare Each queue needs a place to store its files; NWAdmin will let you choose a place, such as SPACEMONKEY_SYS. QueueVol is usually one of the SYS: volumes on one of your servers, but you should check NWAdmin details of the queue for where it really lives. Each queue in NetWare also has a unique 8-digit hexadecimal value that's also listed in the properties in NWAdmin. Just fill in the hex number in place of QUEUENUM. For example, my queue might live in SPACEMONKEY_SYS:\system\f00d160d.qdr. UNIX Most SVR4 UNIX flavors keep their spool files here, but some keep them somewhere else. You'll want to check your vendor-supplied documentation. Once you find the file, what do you do with it? First off, you can always look at it with a regular text file editor. It will probably look like vomit if you're dealing with a laser or inkjet printer. In this case, you might want to temporarily change the driver at the workstation to "Generic/Text Only," unless you speak laser printer fluently. This way, you can read the spool file once you find it. In addition to reading the spool file on the server end and seeing that it does not contain Paul is dead over and over again-or some other such gibberish that might be caused by network communication problems-you'll also want to check the size of the file against the source. Just perform a DIR on the filename and compare it to the file on the workstation. (To capture this on the workstation, just set the printer to work offline before printing.) ______________________________________________________________ In some cases, a slight difference in size between the file on the workstation and the file on the server is okay. For example, the Novell UNIX-to-NetWare gateway print filter adds a carriage return to the linefeed at the end of each line (something that DOS-style printers need that UNIX printers don't). This means that the file at the server end will be slightly larger due to the addition of those characters. However, in most cases, a differing spool file size is a bad thing. ______________________________________________________________ Step 5: Check the Printer The last step between your server and your output is the link between the server and the printer. In most cases, if this link is having problems, everybody is going to be having problems printing. It's very rare that this is a user- or workstation-associated problem. (I've been burned enough that I never say never, particularly when strange print problems are involved.) So, let's assume that Penelope the Bug is sharing her PC's printer with Space Monkey's entire office. Space Monkey can't print, and neither can Quincy. First, you should determine whether Penelope can print. It turns out that she can't. She's connected to her printer directly via her parallel port and a parallel cable. The cable to her printer is good (you determine this by swapping it out with someone else's printer). Next, try to print directly to the printer, avoiding Windows entirely, by getting to a command prompt and typing this: dir > lpt1: This doesn't work, either, even after you reset her computer. You're pretty sure that her LPT1 port has been fried. Penelope is sad. Fortunately, you brought a spare parallel card. You swap it in, and this solves the problem. Penelope is happy. ______________________________________________________________ There is one special-case server-to-printer link-that of the dedicated network print server. Some of them are configured to be servers (UNIX print servers are usually configured this way) and are therefore contacted directly by client workstations. Others are configured to be subordinate to the server and are therefore contacted by the server after the workstation transfers the queue file (Novell network print servers are generally configured this way). You'll have to check your dedicated print server documentation and configuration to be sure which one you have. ______________________________________________________________ ______________________________________________________________ Even though you cannot perform a dir > lpt1: command on a dedicated print server to rule out its link to the printer, some have a button on them (which can be hard to find) that makes them print a test page. Beware of telling a print server over the network to print a test page-you're not testing its local print capability in this case. ______________________________________________________________ File Pile File problems can be classified into several categories: o Inability to use a file (read, write, delete) o Resource problems (out of disk space) o Application problems (file hierarchy is messed up or files are corrupted) Several techniques can be used to name your pain for these troubles; because there's more than one problem, there's more than one shooting iron you can use. Denied! A file access problem usually manifests itself in a user saying that he can't write or read a file. Alternatively, a user might see the following message: This file is already open, and can only be opened read-only This can be caused by a few things: o Someone has set the file to be read-only to protect it from casual overwriting. o The user lacks the proper security permissions to access the file. o Someone else has the file open, and because that person is busy with it, the file is locked. o The user's server connection was dropped by a network error (or whatever) and the automatic reconnect failed because someone else got the connection first. (This is rare.) Previous Table of Contents Next