The print job from hell... :(

[Ken D'Ambrosio]

On 2017-09-28 13:41, Brian wrote:
> On 09/28/2017 12:35 PM, Colin Law wrote:
>> On 28 September 2017 at 17:15, Brian <brian at patandbrian.org> wrote:
>>> Hi all,
>>> 
>>> My wife's PC (running Debian Wheezy) has our Laserjet attached, and I
>>> can access it from my PC (running Ubuntu 16 LTS) as a shared printer.
>>> 
>>> I printed a PDF yesterday, but now every time we turn the printer on,
>>> it starts printing that same PDF again!
>>> 
>>> I've looked at the print queue on my PC - it's empty. I've looked at
>>> the print queue on Pat's PC, it's also empty. I've tried switching 
>>> the
>>> printer off, I've tried cancelling the job on the front panel of the
>>> Laserjet. NONE of these things work. Each time we switch the printer
>>> on, the damned job starts printing again!
>>> 
>>> Can anybody tell me how/where to nuke it and so make the printer
>>> usable again?
>> 
>> First I suggest disconnecting the printer from the network and
>> powering it up. If it still tries to print then the issue is within
>> the printer. If it does not print, but tries again when you connect
>> the network then it is one of the PCs doing it. Once you know which
>> (and which PC) then the problem will at least be clearer.
>> 
> 
> OK, so it's at least the Wheezy box that's causing the problem - the
> printer on its own causes no problem, but reconnecting it to Pat's PC
> with mine switched off starts the print job again. That doesn't
> eliminate my PC, but it does mean I need to find where it lives on the
> Wheezy box and kill it off there.

Check /var/spool/(cups|lpd)/ and see if there are log files there.  In 
your case, since you're not seeing it listed with the stock utilities, 
I'd zap the damn files manually.

Good luck!

-Ken