Ahhh printing

[Scott]

Hi there,

I have a Frame network where I host some applications from a centralized
location, and deploy the application via TS and Citrix XPe. Occasionally, the
print jobs get stuck in the queues on the TS and I have to restart the print
spooler server (on the TS) for any printing to continue. Does anyone know of
a way (besides packet shapers) to get around this? Is there a way to force
the print spooler service to restart itself after a predetermined time and
clear the queue, allowing any future jobs to continue?

I know this has long been a problem with published apps, just wanted to know
if there are solutions?

[Patrick Rouse]

I don't know how this is related to packetshaping. The most common reason
for this is that the UPDII Driver is mapped to a printer that is not
compatible with the LaserJet 4500 Driver, or that the user is printing using
a 3rd party printer loaded on the server that is NOT Citrix/TS compatible.

http://www.workthin.com/tsp.htm

The only sure way around this problem is to use a EMF Based Printer Driver
like Citrix PS4's UPD III, ThinPrint, TriCerat Screwdrivers, Provision
Networks Print-IT, Uniprint...

These products do not rely on a server based driver matching a client
driver, but instead send the raw EMF file (basically a TIF Image) to the
client where it is processed by whatever client printer is receiving the job.

--
Patrick Rouse
Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server
http://www.workthin.com

[Scott]

Patrick,

Driver matching is not the problem, because the printers are not being
mapped based of the client. The printers are installed on the server, and
rights are granted based on location. The driver for all printers are HP
LaserJet 4, where all printers are in the 4000 series, and I'm told that all
4000 series print drivers are derived from the Laserjet 4 driver. The reason
I mentioned a packet shaper is because I'm printing to these printers via
TCP/IP, and I thought it was a bandwidth issue. Maybe I didn't understand you
correctly, but I just wanted to add that the printers are not being created
dynamically based on the client printers, as a matter of fact, that option is
disabled. Does that help?

[Patrick Rouse]

I use the LaserJet 4 Plus driver with 4xxx model printers, which I've not had
problems with. I use this with 4050 and 4200 model printers.

Are you sure there are no 3rd party drivers loaded, because this is almost
always what causes the spooler to blow-up.

One setting I found (during bandwidth testing) that reduces print job size
quite a bit was to disable the advanced prining features. Sometimes this
reduces print job sizes by 80-90%, unfortunately it's set on a per-user basis
via

Properties -> Printing Preferences -> Advanced -> Advanced Printing Features
= Disabled

You can also limit the printer bandwidth via Citrix Policy to prevent a
person's print jobs from clogging the pipe.

Just to be sure check the drivers tab in the print server properties to make
sure no 3rd party drivers got loaded. I also disable this via Citrix Policy
and disable the ability for users to install printer drivers (via GPO).

Anything in the event logs when the spooler dies?

[Scott]

Patrick,

I thank you for your assistance on this. A few questions:

When you say check the drivers tab, and you illuding that the only drivers
you have listed is the 4 Plus driver and no other? I do have quite a few
drivers in there, with the majority of them being HP drivers, but I cannot
tell where the driver manufacturer is (i.e. ms driver or hp driver).

I did see the Advanced Printing Options setting, I guess there is not a GPO
setting for this?

If you create a Citrix Policy to limit the printer bandwidth, wouldn't that
cause the spooler to jam in the first place?

I will check the event log the next time this occurs.

[Patrick Rouse]

The spooler service should not stop due to lots of pending jobs, and since a
Citrix Server normally hosts no more than 100 concurrent sessions there
should be very few if any pending print jobs (unlike a printer server serving
1000s of client computers). Limiting printing bandwidth, and other parts of
ICA Bandwidth is one of the best features of Presentation Server. It'll
cause a large print job to print slowly, but will allow users to continue
working becaus the WAN connection won't be full from the print job. I cap
printer bandwidth in each session to 56Kbps for people working over a WAN
connection.

I also enable the Citrix policy setting "Native Printer Driver auto-install
= Do not automatically install drivers". This policy also exists via GPO or
Local Security Policy.

I have 9 drivers loaded on my Citrix Servers:

ActiveTouch Document Loader
Citrix Universal Printer
CutePDF Writer
HP Color LaserJet 4500 - Installed by Citrix
HP Color LaserJet PS - Installed by Citrix
HP LaserJet 1100 (MS) - Used for LaserJet 1300
HP LaserJet 2100
HP LaserJet 4 Plus - Used for LaserJet 4xxx Printers
HP LaserJet Series II - Installed by Citrix

All of these drivers (with exception of the PDF Writer) come from the
Windows Server CD or by way of Citrix Presentation Server. If you see
drivers on this list that are not on the Windows CD then they're 3rd party
drivers that somone installed, and can cause the types of problems you're
describing.

There is no GPO that controls the advanced printing features. I fed this
tidbit to Stefan at printingsupport.com, and I don't think he found a way
either.

[Scott]

Patrick,

Sorry it has taken so long to get back , but these things take time. I
removed every printer driver, with the exception of the HP LaserJet 4 (which
is the only one needed). The printer jam occured, again, today and here is
the event log info:

The document Turbo Title for Windows owned by <username> failed to print.
Win32 error code returned by the print processor: 5 (0x5).

Does this help? Again I have to restart the print spooler for printing to
resume.
Thanks!

[Patrick Rouse]

What application is creating this job, and what type of printer is the actual
destination device?

--
Patrick Rouse
Microsoft MVP - Terminal Server
http://www.workthin.com

[Scott]

It's a custom application (Advantage SQL backend, Delphi frontend) that a
developer writes for a couple of companies in our area. Defintely not
anything you would of heard of. The actual print devices are HP LJ 4000
series (4050, 4100, 4200, 4250). I was told that all 4000 series drivers are
derived from the LJ 4, which works better with TS and ICA sessions. Also, I
wanted your advice on how the printers are setup. I'm not using a 2003 Server
as a print server, I just setup TCP/IP ports to print directly to the device.
This only happens on occasions, it would just be nice if I could get the
print spooler service to restart itself after the first job jams.

[Patrick Rouse]

I tend to use the 4 Plus Driver for these types of printers, however my
reasearch on this problem shows that it often happens when invoked by a
taskbar printer tray icon, i.e. when users install the whole printing system
on the computer, instead of just the driver.

[Scott]

Patrick,

These printers are installed on the Citrix/TS servers manually, and the
printers are not being autodetected. So the client installing the complete
printer package wouldn't be an issue because the autodetect client printers
is disabled, correct?

Thanks!