Steps for diagnosing garbled data

Determine why data is not properly translated or transferred.

Perform the following steps:

1. Determine whether the binary option or the default EBCDIC was used when the data file was printed. If the binary option was used, the LPR client did not translate the data. If EBCDIC was used, check for erroneous control characters or conflicting combinations of options.
2. Check to see whether other files print correctly from the same client and to the same server. Check to see whether the problem file prints correctly to other servers.
3. Verify that the translate tables for the sender and receiver are reciprocals of each other. Determine which characters are consistently garbled and examine those entries in the tables. To determine the name of the translation table used by the LPR client, check the LPR messages issued at startup.
4. Check the IP packet trace to determine exactly what data was sent from the client and acknowledged by the LPD server.
5. If data shown in the IP packets from the LPR client to the server is correct, there might be an error on the server or printer. Check the server traces and setup on the printer or LPD server. Some servers require certain printer names or options to be specified on the LPR (lp from omvs) commands.