Troubleshooting a DEVICE – Tips

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Occasionally, a printer will not print.  When this happens, there are several actions you can take to try to remedy the situation.  Here are a few general tips for these occasions:

1. Make sure the user did not select the wrong device name.
2. Make sure the printer is ready to print (has paper, all connections are in place, printer is online).
3. Check the network connection (print server error?)
4. Make sure there was not an error in VistA for the output (on screen or in error trap display).
5. Look at the Unsuccessful Tasks in Taskman’s List option.
6. Monitor Taskman to ensure it is still running and processing tasks.
7. Make sure the system is still up and running.
8. If the device is going through an operating system print queue (lpr, etc), check this for errors, queues stopped, etc.
9. Use the following options under Device Management:

Send Test Pattern to Terminal
Use this option to send a simple test pattern to a device. This is an easy way to verify whether a device is connected to the system. It lets you choose how many lines of the test pattern to send, and then sends that number of lines to the device. You can confirm on the device end exactly how many lines of the test pattern you receive, which can be useful when troubleshooting printer handshaking problems. (You can also choose to print an e-mail message to the device.)

Out of Service Set/Clear
Look at the device and if the Out of Service field is set, use this option  to clear the out of order status (delete the out of order date).