One thing that drives me crazy each week is seeing a 49.0665 SERVICE ERROR message on an HP printer. It’s always the same HP model (HP LaserJet 9050n) and it means someone is printing a document (.DOC, .PDF, .XLS) that the printer is unable to handle so it crashes due to Insufficient Memory.
Printing through Print Server
If users are set to print through a print server, consider yourself fortunate and Remote Desktop into the server then kill off the very first print job in the queue. Eighty percent (80%) of the time, the job that you just killed off will be a multiple-page document in .PDF or .DOC. format and happens due to the number of fonts in the document. Tell the user to print their document in part (which they won’t like to do) as the printer has insufficient memory to handle the print job.
Printing via an IP Address
If users are set to print via the IP address, you will have to go to everyone and see if their print job is the earliest and kill it off and any duplicates they print when they did not see it on the printer. Don’t waste your time and try to kill off the job at the troubled printer because the print task/signal is faster than you and will lock up the printer over and over and over before you can delete it.
Now that printing is restored, add the printer to a Print Server and connect the users through it. If the issue should happen again, save yourself a trip to the user’s department and utilize the Remote Desktop to access the print server, and then kill off the bad print tasks. You can then tell them to turn off then turn on the printer if their pay grade is the same or less than yourself. If the pay grade is higher, go in person and restart it yourself or tell the Administrative Assistant.
Temporary Fix
The quick fix for this is to turn off the printer and determine if the printer is added to the user’s computer via the IP Address or through a Print Server.
Permanent Fix
Max out the memory for that printer to limit large print tasks from causing issues. This may not be simple if the department has a budget issue or the memory was maxed out in the past. The next step to resolve the issue quickly and permanently is to make sure all users are connected to the printer through a print server so that you can remote in and kill off the job instead of going to each user to see which triggered the error message.
Stephan Pringle
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