Print server issues

  • Thread starter Thread starter Tom Clark
  • Start date Start date
T

Tom Clark

One of our domain controllers recently crashed and required a chkdsk to get
it back up again (may be completely unrelated) and everything now appears to
be fine, however when domain users try printing to it they receive this
error (admins work okay):
The document Test Page owned by Paul failed to print. Win32 error code
returned by the print processor: 5 (0x5).

Which looks like a permissions problem (value 5), however even if I give
domain users full access to the printer and it's documents, they still can't
print. Oddly though, our other domain controller can also act as a print
server and this works without any problem when the printers are set up in
exactly the same way. These are the only two servers we have in the one
domain and they are successfully replicating between themselves.

Because of the workload on the second server I don't want to move the print
queues, so does anyone have any ideas what this could be or where I could
start troubleshooting?

Thanks Tom.
 
Unfortunately I've tried that, using both the HP software and through
Windows natively. Every time I create a new printer though, admins can print
but domain users cannot.
 
Check out the permissions on the printer and make sure
that at the very least, the Everyone group as Print
permissions.
 
I originally thought this was a problem with AD because I've granted Domain
Users 'Full Control' on the printers but still no joy, however the server is
a domain controller and setting up the printers on another domain controller
works okay. I'm stumped!...
 
Tom:

* Critical to chase down the error message using Microsoft's technet or
other resource.

* My first response is that you should check the MEMORY of your server



Thanks,
John.
 
Thanks John, an interesting response. I will try and run some diagnostics
against the server, what makes you think the memory could be causing
problems though, have you seen this kind of thing before?
 
I would also check the share /and/ security permissions on
print$. You can have different settings on print$ from
what you've set on a specific printer.

David Dickinson
eveningstar at mvps dot org
(Please reply only to the newsgroup)
 
Tom:


(1) Troubleshooting is a really useful skill to have. I would do the
following, as a start:

* Definitely run the CHKDSK utility that is built into the windows
Operating System. Check syntax below and select all necessary switches.
Feel free to use any other diagnostic tool that may be
available to you.

* Check the Event Viewer Log for the exact text & # of the error
message. If you post that mesage to this newsgroup I can run it through
microsoft's
TechNet in order to get a complete list of suggestions to
resolve your problem, according to Microsoft. Memory may be 1 issue to
consider.


(2) First you should always have TWO Print Servers. One production
(primary) and one backup (secondary). No need to take on additional
expense. Just use a suitable server to create your secondary print server.
If you ever have a problem with the production print server then you can
MANUALLY install print drivers from the secondary print server. I have used
this same print server model before and it works well.


(3) Lots of experience with memory/servers/work stations. Currently
memory is really cheap because lots of manufacturers and competing against
each other. The QUALITY of memory is poor. Poor quality memory gets
around. Dude, you may need Dell, IBM, HP, etc.


Let us know how things work out for you.


***************************************************************************
C:\>chkdsk /?
Checks a disk and displays a status report.


CHKDSK [volume[[path]filename]]] [/F] [/V] [/R] [/X] [/I] [/C] [/L[:size]]


volume Specifies the drive letter (followed by a colon),
mount point, or volume name.
filename FAT/FAT32 only: Specifies the files to check for
fragmentation
..
/F Fixes errors on the disk.
/V On FAT/FAT32: Displays the full path and name of every
file
on the disk.
On NTFS: Displays cleanup messages if any.
/R Locates bad sectors and recovers readable information
(implies /F).
/L:size NTFS only: Changes the log file size to the specified
number
of kilobytes. If size is not specified, displays current
size.
/X Forces the volume to dismount first if necessary.
All opened handles to the volume would then be invalid
(implies /F).
/I NTFS only: Performs a less vigorous check of index
entries.
/C NTFS only: Skips checking of cycles within the folder
structure.

The /I or /C switch reduces the amount of time required to run Chkdsk by
skipping certain checks of the volume.
********************************************************************
 
Hi Mark,

We do have a backup print server which we're using at the moment, but the
box is a development server and often rebooted (we only have two printers in
our office). Interestingly, when I ran chkdsk it did find an error but I'm
waiting until a free weekend before I run it with /F as I've inherited the
server and at the last reboot it apparently took 6 hours to bring back to
life! Certainly worrying as it's our main server..

The Event ID is 61 and the body of the error is "The document Test Page
owned by irina failed to print. Win32 error code returned by the print
processor: 5 (0x5).". I also gave full permission to users on the Print$
share but still no joy. Because the error message is so generic I've been
unable to find a solution.
 
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