Spooler Problem with PostScript Interpreter

Article Reviewed Only: 9 June 1992

When I print a multi-page document - say, 3 pages - all pages spool to the
spooler as shown in the print spooler window of AppleShare 2.x. The printer
initializes and prints page 1 without problem. Either of two things can happen
with page 2:

* It never prints or even gets started by the spooler. Thus, the pages to
print are 3 and printed pages are 1.

* The job is flushed with an error sheet stating any of the following:

undefined;OffendingCommand: ^^^^^^^^ (these are upside down on sheet),
undefined;OffendingCommand:CE6F43C216B8D
,dictfull;OffendingCommand:def,limitcheck;offending command:^^^^^^^A3
(strange foreign characters), canceled by user.

If I send only one page at a time to the spooler, everything works well,
but it's not very efficient.

The error messages you received are not related to memory, but to the
PostScript Interpreter which resides in the printer.

In general, there appears to be an issue with how the AppleShare print server
(version 2.01) is handling PostScript files. The amount of required memory on
the print server when capturing one printer is 2MB. The additional memory is
not used. The problem would more likely center on how the files are being
handled on by the Print Server/LaserWriter. The problem is being reported from
the printer.

The "OffendingCommand" is telling us that the interpreter does not
understand what has been requested--that is, a Syntax Error is being
reported. The "dictFull" error is a report from the PostScript dictionary
resident in the printer.

The probability is that packets are getting damaged somewhere in the
spooling process on the print server. When the PostScript interpreter
receives these damaged packets, it returns the error message or flushes the
print job. This could point to a variety of problems with the installation
of the server's software.

One thing that may cause this problem involves whether your system has ever run
an earlier version of the operating system (and Print Server) before System
6.0.5. If so, you may want to try trashing the ServerFolder and reinstalling
the system software and print server. Important: If you do this, make sure you
use the Network Products Installer disk to install the print server. The
Installer that ships with print server may not work correctly with either 6.0.4
or 6.0.5, but the Network Products Installer will. You may find that you need
to reformat and reload the entire hard drive to resolve this problem. Also
consider moving up to System 7 and installing AppleShare 3.0.


Published Date: Feb 18, 2012