Dear Group,
As always, you have been very helpful. I was able to solve my plotting
problems with the advice of Les Gelbaum. The wtmpx file in /var/adm
became so large as to occupy all of the available space required for the
creation of the temporary plot files. This file was deleted and the
problem was solved. Thank you Les! And thanks also to Gary, Thomas,
Bert, Rolf, Victor, Robert and Sara.
Below, is my original post and a summary of the responses.
ORIGINAL POST
Lately I have not been able to plot spectra on my Gemini 200
spectrometer (SUN Sparcstation running solaris and VNMR (circa 2000)
with an HP laserjet 2100 printer). I am able to print from the UNIX
shell using the lp command but cannot plot data within VNMR. When I
enter a plot command, I get a message saying that plotting has started
but then nothing else happens.
I have deleted all of the temporary files. under /var and this did not
help.
Any suggestions?
RESPONSES
Check to see if the root partition is full ( df -k). This usually
happens when the wtmpx file gets really large. Remove this file and
everything should work ok.
*****
It may seem obvious, but I don't know how many times I've forgotten to
check that the configuration is still the same.... some times it just
changes for inexplicable reasons. Go to MAIN MENU > MORE > Configure.
Select printer and select plotter.
THe next thing I would do is find an good "global" file and swap it in
in-place of the one in your vnmrsys directory.
I hope one of those solves your problem.
*****
Solaris has an LPC (line printer controller) program under /usr/ucb. I
think that's the path.
Anyway, try starting up the lpc program. type "help" and it displays
many commands such as "enable, clear, restart" etc.
This has helped me restart printing and plotting in the past.
*****
You could check the output of "lpstat -t" in a terminal shell. The
"plotter"
(which prints graphics) may not be active/enabled while the "printer"
(that prints text) may still be. Enabling your plotter with "enable"
(see "man
enable")
may help. Removing and re-installing the plotter (e.g. with the userlib
contribution
"makePrinter") may help, too.
*****
lp is only for line printer. You need a printer and a plotter
configuration. That stuff is located in vnmr1 owned files called
devicenames and devicetable under /vnmr/. Also there are lp admin
setups too on the unix side.
I'm wondering if you are using it as an network printer or to the
parallel port because the approach is different?
Double-check that the configuration hadn't been changed:
Main menu => More => Configure =>Show out put devices
The plotter and printer are separate configurations and I believe the
default might be to email (to nowhere) using the printer setup macros.
There are two of them: makePrinter and adddevices, they both work OK
but do not try to modifiy setups with one verion that had been installed
with the other. All kinds of weird stuff can happen like 500 pages of
carraige returns from one plot.
*****
Sometimes when all else fails I simply tell users it is time to run
/vnmr/bin/makeuser to refresh the account. Unless you have modified the
defaults for Vnmr you will then need to choose the printer and plotter
again. Nothing is lost when you do this. Previous versions of your
nmr files and folders are renamed and you will find them in your vnmrsys
directory. You do not want to update the Sun environment settings,
only Vnmr.
*****
for a better / more detailed diagnosis on what is going on with your
system, could you please install the attached contribution
"bin/showconfig" [ATTACHMENTS NOT INCLUDED IN THIS SUMMARY] (procedure
explained in the README file), and then run "showconfig -all", and send
me the resulting output?
I'm sure we'll be able to resolve this!
My first reaction to this usually is "have you tried bin/makePrinter
from the on-line user library?" - but before jumping into this it may be
a good idea to study the output from "showconfig -all"!
Dr. Glenn A. Facey
NMR Facility Manger,
Department of Chemistry, University of Ottawa
10 Marie Curie, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5
CANADA
ph. (613) 562-5800 ext 6077
fax. (613) 562-5170
email. gafacey_at_uottawa.ca
web. www.science.uottawa.ca/nmr
Received on Thu Dec 14 2006 - 12:42:17 MST