Memory Low [Press Enter]

[AndyL410]

Please help me delete the memory of this printer. There is no on/off switch. I've unplugged and tried holding # and 9. Eventually the error message returns and prints: ERROR: MemoryFull, OFFENDNG COMMAND: xshow

[dansdaduk]

The error message is a PostScript error message.

What this implies is that the printer is being sent a job, and that this job requires more resources than are available.

With other Page Description Languages (e.g. PCL5), an equivalent error message would be something like "job too complex".

[AndyL410]

Thanks Dans, so there's no memory to be deleted?

[dansdaduk · Accepted solution]

>> ... so there's no memory to be deleted? ...

I can't give a definitive answer, just a few comments (my terminology may or may not be accurate!):

• The memory in the printer is used to contain static resources (e.g. built-in (printer-resident) fonts, the print language interpreters, and some (recyclable) logs), and dynamic memory used to process tasks.

• The static memory can consume quite a high proportion of the total; e.g. with my local LaserJet 1320,  total memory is 16 MB, but available memory is only 5.58 MB).

• A print job in progress uses dynamic memory: to store blocks of the incoming job (in your case in PostScript format); to store (at least two) page images (the page 'instructions' translated ('ripped') to bitmap images (which can be multi-megabytes in size for monochrome devices, and much more for colour devices));  to store any 'intermediate' objects (such as soft fonts, etc.) referenced by the job 'instructions' . 

• The part of the available memory used by a print job is usually released when the job completes, although there are some exceptions (e.g. jobs which download soft fonts, make them 'permanent', then don't delete them at end of job).

• Multi-function devices may use some memory to store FAX numbers, etc.

• Some jobs can have very large memory requirements; e.g. if they contain lots of images, or lots of changes of font, or because the requested resolution (e.g. 1200 dpi) requires more image space.