Received "illegal format character 'o'" from Unix

Mon, 03/11/2024 - 12:33 By Dave Brooks

When trying to print from INTELLIscribe to Linux, the Linux LPD accepts the entire print job, but does not print it. The job then disappears from the spooler. Unix logs the following errors:

	lp: illegal format character 'o'
	lp: job could not be printed

INTELLIscribe's Properties dialog states that the print job was successful.

INTELLIscribe, by default, specifies to the LPD print server that the data is in "postscript" format. If no Unix PostScript printers are available, or the queue receiving the print jobs is not configured for a PostScript printer, the job will not be printed by Unix.

The default works properly in most cases, however, some Unix LPD servers try to modify the data before printing it when following strict RFC1179 compliance.

You can configure INTELLIscribe to resolve this issue:

  1. From the Printers menu, choose Add or update virtual printer port.
  2. Click "Next" until the final step.
  3. Modify the "Print format" parameter to display "preformatted" by choosing this selection from the drop-down list.