samba - Mar 2002 - Problems printing to Samba printer from W2K (Very Slow)

I am having problems printing to a Samba printer from
my Windows 2000 machines. While eventually it does
print, it takes an extremely long time. The test page
takes over 5 minutes to print. I have tracked it to
the Samba spooling process. The delay is in Windows
sending the information to the Samba spool. If I look
in the Samba spool directory during the print process,
the file size increases very slowly. Once the file is
in the Samba spool directory, it is then sent to the
LPR spool very quickly and prints immediately
thereafter. Does anyone know why the spooling to Samba
is taking so long? Regular file transfers to directory
shares on the same Samba server from the same Windows
2000 machine are fast. I have tried both the file
transfers and printing from multiple Windows 2000
machines with the same results.

As a secondary problem, the Samba print spool
directory (/var/spool/samba) periodically disappears
on my server. I have not been able to find any reason
for this to be happening. The permissions are all set
to be owned by root with read, write and execute for
all (chmod 1777). I will create the directory and set
the permissions, leave the machine with no one logged
in and eventually the directory disappears. Sometimes
it happens within hours; some times it takes days. I
don’t know if this is related to the slow printing
problem or not.

My configuration is:
Red Hat 6.2 with all of the errata patches applied
Samba 2.2.3a installed via supplied RPM from Samba.org
Windows 2000 Pro with all of the latest service packs
installed
Lexmark 5700 colour inkjet printer

Unfortunately I no longer have my smb.conf file
available as due to the printing problems, the server
was converted to Windows NT 4.0 Server. However, if
anyone can shed some light on these problems, I would
happily switch back to the Linux/Samba configuration.

Thanks for you help

Chad


______________________________________________________________________ 
Find, Connect, Date! http://personals.yahoo.ca

I can't give you any clues about the dissappearing spool directory, but if
you search the mail archive (linked from the samba web pages), you'll see a
few of us posting regarding the slow printing issues with 2.2.3.

They seem to be worst from MS Office applications when using NT4 (type 2)
drivers.

One suggestion is to ensure that you have the latest Windows 2000 drivers
loaded on the server (type 3 drivers, which will be in the W32X86/3
directory of your print$ share, if you have installed them).

My solution was to revert to Samba 2.2.2 while the developers work on the
problem, which they have said they are doing right now ...

I hope that is helpful,
Steven

----- Original Message -----
From: "Chad Edwards" <c_g_edwards@yahoo.ca>
To: <samba@lists.samba.org>
Sent: Monday, March 11, 2002 4:34 PM
Subject: [Samba] Problems printing to Samba printer from W2K (Very Slow)

> I am having problems printing to a Samba printer from
> my Windows 2000 machines. While eventually it does
> print, it takes an extremely long time. The test page
> takes over 5 minutes to print. I have tracked it to
> the Samba spooling process. The delay is in Windows
> sending the information to the Samba spool. If I look
> in the Samba spool directory during the print process,
> the file size increases very slowly. Once the file is
> in the Samba spool directory, it is then sent to the
> LPR spool very quickly and prints immediately
> thereafter. Does anyone know why the spooling to Samba
> is taking so long? Regular file transfers to directory
> shares on the same Samba server from the same Windows
> 2000 machine are fast. I have tried both the file
> transfers and printing from multiple Windows 2000
> machines with the same results.
>
> As a secondary problem, the Samba print spool
> directory (/var/spool/samba) periodically disappears
> on my server. I have not been able to find any reason
> for this to be happening. The permissions are all set
> to be owned by root with read, write and execute for
> all (chmod 1777). I will create the directory and set
> the permissions, leave the machine with no one logged
> in and eventually the directory disappears. Sometimes
> it happens within hours; some times it takes days. I
> don't know if this is related to the slow printing
> problem or not.
>
> My configuration is:
> Red Hat 6.2 with all of the errata patches applied
> Samba 2.2.3a installed via supplied RPM from Samba.org
> Windows 2000 Pro with all of the latest service packs
> installed
> Lexmark 5700 colour inkjet printer
>
> Unfortunately I no longer have my smb.conf file
> available as due to the printing problems, the server
> was converted to Windows NT 4.0 Server. However, if
> anyone can shed some light on these problems, I would
> happily switch back to the Linux/Samba configuration.
>
> Thanks for you help
>
> Chad
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________________
> Find, Connect, Date! http://personals.yahoo.ca
>
> --
> To unsubscribe from this list go to the following URL and read the
> instructions:  http://lists.samba.org/mailman/listinfo/samba

> Thanks for the info. Did switching back to 2.2.2
> eliminate the slow printing altogether, or just
> improve it a little? If it fixed it entirely, what
It fixed it completely for me.
> settings did you use in your smb.conf file? I would be
> particularly interested in the disable spoolss and use
> client driver settings.
No, I didn't disable anything. Here is a log file from a print server on my
network. It shares a single printer, called Laser, and it has an admin share
called print$ where Windows print drivers are stored.

I installed the print *drivers* via the Windows print properties dialogue,
using the slightly non-inuitive instructions given in the Samba docs. (See
the section "Setting Drivers for Existing Printers" in the
"Printing Support
in Samba 2.2.x" document.)

[global]
 workgroup = ACTIVENAV
 server string = Test Samba Server %v
 security = DOMAIN
 encrypt passwords = Yes
 password server = *
 log level = 1
 log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m
 max log size = 50
 socket options = TCP_NODELAY SO_RCVBUF=8192 SO_SNDBUF=8192
 load printers = No # dont share all printers listed by lpstat
 printcap name = lpstat
 dns proxy = No
 printer admin = @adm
 printing = cups

[print$]
 path = /var/lib/samba/printers
 write list = @adm root

[Laser]
 comment = Drivers In Test for the HP Laser Printer
 path = /var/spool/samba
 create mask = 0700
 guest ok = Yes # This bit isnt needed - everyone is logged on
 printable = Yes
 print command = lpr-cups -P %p -o raw %s -r   # using client side printer
drivers
> As for using Type 3 drivers, Lexmark only released a
> combined NT/2000 driver. However, installing the same
> driver NT and 2000 gives different options in the
> printer property window. Maybe the Lexmark setup
> includes both driver types and the OS is smart enough
> to grab the right one (I am talking doing a regular
> install on the OS, not pulling the driver from the
> Samba server).
You can tell if you have 2 and 3 types by looking at
\\server\print$\w32x86

There will be subdirectories for 2 and 3 (with driver files in) if drivers
of those types have been installed ...
> Thanks for you help.
Well, I hope it is helpful ...