WYNTK: UNIX System Admininistrator

Try to identify (and eliminate) as many factors as you can.

Detectives need to come up with suspects before they can think about motives. Similarly, you need to figure out what factors are involved before you can track down why things went wrong.

For example, when you’re having trouble printing a file, there are several levels at which things may have gone wrong. Try to identify all of them:

• Is the printer working? See if there are other printouts coming out on the printer, or ask other people if they are having trouble.

• Can you send jobs to the printer using a different application or from the command line?

• Are you sure that the job is going to this printer? Do you see it on the printer queue?

• Can you print successfully to a different printer?

• Is the file you’re trying to print in the correct format?

Once you have your suspects, you can start ruling out the ones with alibis. By answering these questions, you can help identify whether the problem is with the physical printer, the UNIX print spooler, your application, or your file.

For example, if others can print successfully to the printer, then you know that there is nothing physically wrong with the printer or with the system’s communication to the printer. If you can send jobs from a different application or from the command line, then you know that it isn’t something general about your environment, but something specific to this application. And so on.