I'll throw this out, have you checked the amount of memory the linux server thinks the printer has? I have seen this before on network printers. By default the driver thought the printer only had 8mb, and you could exhaust that quickly. Then the driver self throttled. With the memory corrected, it would send more at a time and would be much speedier in printing.
----- Original Message ----- > On 08/16/2012 06:53 PM, John F. Eldredge wrote: > > Howard White <[email protected]> wrote: > > > >> Thanks to all that came to our August meeting. > >> > >> We recently changed the way a customer generates labels on a Zebra > >> printer. We moved away from the proprietary ZPL arrangement because > >> we wanted to pull data directly from our database rather than > >> having to > >> rebuild a ZPL label format. No we didn't write a program to > >> generate the ZPL. We have an process that builds PDF files that we > >> then print > >> in all manner of places, now including labels. This arrangement is > >> great > >> > >> when the prints (of any kind) are unique one to the next. > >> > >> Our problem is with the customer that prints 100 or 300 of the same > >> label. (yeah, I know, there is a point at which having the labels > >> printed by a print shop is cheaper.) Because we are now driving > >> this print from our server, one at a time, the print process takes > >> forever. > >> > >> If the printer is paused, the prints queue up such that when the > >> printer is resumed, a stack print out quickly. > >> > >> Any thoughts on how to tune a network printer's "inter-record gap?" > >> > >> Howard > >> > > > > At this point, I am somewhat confused. You are complaining that it > > takes a long time to generate and print 300 labels, but you are also > > complaining that, if the printer is paused, the print jobs queue up, > > and then come out in rapid succession once the printer is put back > > on line. So, you are asking how to make the generation of the labels > > take even longer, so that there won't be a queue of print jobs > > waiting? Your goals contradict each other. > > > So it goes when one tries to explain an involved situation. Thank you > for stating your confusion because it may spur others to clarity. > > If we set up the print job and let it run, the printer in question (a > Zebra ZM400 btw) methodically prints a label, pauses, prints another > label, pauses and so on. What got our hopes up was somewhere in these > sequences, the printer was paused and a queue of work coming from the > server built up. The printer then printed labels at continuous rate > until, presumably, the queue was exhausted. We'd like the printer to > print in the continuous fashion all the time. > > What confounds us all the further is that said customer also has an > older Zebra Z6MPlus that prints labels without pause. Same print job, > same driver on the linux server, yada, yada, yada. We were having > problems with skipped or dropped labels that I hope I cured today by > upgrading to the latest firmware. If we didn't have two printers for a > point of comparison, we wouldn't know to ask questions. > > Thanks for allowing me to write this out. I may go back and look at > the driver at the linux end again. I've come into this situation in > the middle. It's worth a double check. > > Howard > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google > Groups "NLUG" group. > To post to this group, send email to [email protected] > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > [email protected] For more options, visit this > group at http://groups.google.com/group/nlug-talk?hl=en -- Steven Critchfield [email protected] -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "NLUG" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/nlug-talk?hl=en
