Moving a Printer or Plotter

To move a printer or plotter, first remove it and then add it to your configuration. This sample procedure demonstrates attaching a printer to a different interface card.

Notify users that you are moving the printer or plotter.
If you have customized it, copy the /etc/lp/interface/printer_name to a temporary location.
cp /etc/lp/interface/laserjet /etc/lp/interface/laserjet_old
Remove the printer or plotter from the LP spooler by following the procedure for "Removing a Printer or Printer Class using HP-UX Commands" detailed in the chapter, "Managing Printers and Printer Output" of the HP-UX System Administration Tasks manual.

Execute /usr/sbin/ioscan to identify the printer or plotter's hardware address, which you are going to change. For example, in the following output an HP 2564B HP-IB printer was set with an HP-IB address of 7.

/usr/sbin/ioscan -fn -H 2/8 
Class       I  H/W Path  Driver        S/W State H/W Type  Description
=======================================================================
...
cio         1  2/8       cio_ca0       CLAIMED   INTERFACE CIO Adapter
ext_bus     8  2/8.0     hpib0         CLAIMED   INTERFACE
printer     1  2/8.0.7   lpr0          CLAIMED   DEVICE    HP 256x HP-IB Ciper Printer
                        /dev/diag/c8t7d0_lp  /dev/c8t7d0_lp

Turn off, unplug, and disconnect the printer or plotter.
Reset the switches on the printer or plotter, if necessary, and attach the device to the new hardware location.

Execute ioscan again. In this example, the HP-IB address was changed from 7 to 5. ioscan reports the new address and indicates under S/W State that no hardware is present at the old printer address.

/usr/sbin/ioscan -fn 
Class       I  H/W Path  Driver        S/W State H/W Type  Description
=======================================================================
...
cio         1  2/8       cio_ca0       CLAIMED   INTERFACE CIO Adapter
ext_bus     8  2/8.0     hpib0         CLAIMED   INTERFACE
printer     1  2/8.0.5   lpr0          CLAIMED   DEVICE    HP 256x HP-IB Ciper Printer
                        /dev/diag/c8t5d0_lp  /dev/c8t5d0_lp
printer     0  2/8.0.7   lpr0          NO_HW     DEVICE    HP 256x HP-IB Ciper Printer      
                        /dev/diag/c8t7d0_lp  /dev/c8t7d0_lp

HP-UX automatically creates a device file to access the printer except:

If you are configuring a printer to a serial port: Create the device special file by following the instructions in the section “Creating a Device Special File for a Printer or Plotter Configured to a Serial Port ”.
If you are configuring a plotter: Force HP-UX to recognize the plotter at the new address by following the instructions in “Configuring a Plotter or other Non-Automatically Configurable Output Devices Using HP-UX Commands ”.

Next, configure the LP spooler to recognize the printer or plotter at its new location by consulting the chapter, "Managing Printers and Printer Output" in the HP-UX System Administration Tasks manual.

Moving a Printer or Plotter

Technical documentation

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