Why has my printer died?

[Conor P. Cahill]

In article <21162 at adm.BRL.MIL>, HCART%VAX.OXFORD.AC.UK at cunyvm.cuny.edu writes:
>     Could this be a hardware problem? When the scheduler complains
> that it cannot open ttyd3 can it only be referring to the file /dev/ttyd3,
> or could it be referring to the physical line? Would I get a different

It can refer to both.  Look at the possible errors you can expect from 
open(2) for a complete list.

> message from lpstat if it couldn't activate the printer? Any help
> much appreciated.

The first thing I would try is "(stty baudrate;echo hello)> /dev/ttyd3 <&1"
to verify that the port can't be opened.  If you get a "cant open ...", then
I would try to reboot the system (make sure you power cycle the machine). 
If the printer port still won't work, switch the printer to another port (make
sure you turn off any applicable gettys that may be running on the second port).

If the printer works on the second port, the problem is probably in the 
serial port hardware.

If it still doesn't work, try a new cable.  If it still doesn't work, 
try another printer or substitute a terminal just to see if you get
any data on the line.

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| Conor P. Cahill     uunet!virtech!cpcahil      	703-430-9247	!
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