Printers being mapped are set to 'letter'

Brass Contributor

Hi all,

 

Is there a way to force a client's printers to be mapped with default A4 paper type?

 

Most printers this is not an issue, but some it is it seems.  Printers complain when receiving a job in letter, and the job fails. 

 

When opening the printer properties on the client > general > preferences > Layout > Advanced > 'Paper output' is default letter with newly mapped printers. (same for advanced > printing defaults) When I change these to A4 these jobs continue without issues (solves 90% of failed print jobs for me) 

 

I set the printing defaults in universal print blade correctly to A4 but printers get mapped with letter anyway.  Would be nice if I could force it on the client, we never use letter.

 

Kind Regards,

Kurt

23 Replies

@KurtJc it seems like we will need to collect logs and understand what exactly is going on here. What are the printer makes and model? What is the driver and its version?

 

I recommend you to reach out to Microsoft Support which will help us collect all necessary information and help you further.

https://ms.portal.azure.com/#blade/Microsoft_Azure_Support/HelpAndSupportBlade/newsupportrequest

 

Thanks

Saurabh

 

Hi Kurt
Did you ever get a solution to this? We have the same issue.
Deploying Lexmark CX725 and MS825 printers with share setting set to A4. Testing on AAD joined computers set to correct region and the printers are still set to Letter format. Then the printers go into error.

Thanks

Torsten

@Dynamitten2212 This is a known issue in Windows related to the "Microsoft Print to PDF" driver being seen as the default printer.

 

To confirm, In the Settings->Printers & Scanners,

  1. Uncheck "Let Windows manage my default printer".
  2. Then set the default to one of the other printers
  3. Log off and log on.
  4. You should now see A4 as the default for the UP printers.

We are working to address the issue in the Microsoft Print to PDF driver.

 

Please refer to: https://docs.microsoft.com/universal-print/fundamentals/universal-print-known-issues#windows-always-....

 

Thanks

Saurabh

 

Hi @Saurabh_Bansal. I also found that article, but even if I do all that, the cloud printer are still in Letter format.

I just removed the printer once again. Here are the default settings:

Before Printer add.png

Add the cloud printer and go to Print properties where it is Letter. I even checked Registry settings for iPaperSize, which is 9, that should be A4:

Cloud Printer properties.png

Regional settings on the computer:

REgion settings.png

Hi Torsten,

That is exactly what I found as well, I did report this when I opened a ticket with Mircosoft.

Kind Regards,
Kurt

Hi all,

 

Just a small update here:  Today I was writing a query in sccm to get all BE devices, and I was not getting the expected number of devices.  Turns out this value is set to 1 instead of the expected 32: 

 

sccm-operatingsystem-country.png

 

I was totally expecting 32 here, is this the value that UP is using to determine the country?  This would explain why it is not going as expected..

 

Edit:  you can get the value like this:

 

gwmi win32_operatingsystem | select countrycode

 

KR,

Kurt

@KurtJc Can you instead try the following command ?

gwmi win32_operatingsystem | select locale

 

Print settings may be defined on locale and not on country code. For en-US the locale code is 0409.

 

Thanks

Saurabh

 

Hi Saurabh,

I'm afraid it's 0409 here.. Country is set to Belgium in gui..

I can provide screenshots (it's on my work laptop, I'm posting from home computer)

Kind Regards,
Kurt

Hi Saurabh,

First test indicated that printers are mapped correctly as A4 when the country code is 32 and locale is 813.

 

But it has to be changed in system locale.. not sure of the impact of that tbh. Meanwhile I have found one user that is set to 1/409 and it maps as A4 (confused)

KR,
Kurt

@KurtJc I think reaching out to Microsoft Support would be the best way to resolve this confusion :)

 

@Philip_Demaree - any ideas?

Hi - There are two settings in play here. One is the Region, and the other the Regional format. Region will be the one that outputs the 1/409, and the other is the language being used on top of that settings "Dutch (Belgium)".

 

region.png

 

The Letter/A4 will be controlled by the Regional format.

Hi Phil,

 

Unfortunately the setting in your screenshot has little effect on the default setting of the printers. I have performed a few tests and have documented them in the attachment here.

 

I'll open a ticket with MS support so we can investigate further.

 

Kind Regards,

Kurt

@KurtJc From what you have documented in the PDF, actually that is what I would expect, in that the Spooler runs in the System process, which would only see the System locale. UK and Belgium are both metric countries, so they would show A4 as the default, and the US would show Letter. 

 

Phil

But what you are seeing is that the user always has "Letter" as the default size, and they have to manually change it to A4 to print correctly, correct? Let me know when you have opened a case and I will assist the engineer with the issue.

Phil

@Philip_Demaree 

 

That is correct, some printers have no issue whatsoever which format is set as default (ea Lexmark) but others, like Canon (90% of our MFP's) will get an error and will not print.  I can ask our Canon technicians to accept the jobs and simply print them but that is not a long term solution, and has to be configured on all of them.

 

I would expect the printer being mapped as A4 when in GUI I selected Belgium as my region tbh.

 

About the ticket, as per tradition every time we encounter I have issues opening a ticket as we've changed partner for creating tickets after the last issues :lol:  (It's coming I promise)

Hi Kurt - Can you try something just to confirm? If you delete the "Microsoft Print to PDF" printer, then log off and back on again, do the printers start using "A4"? that would confirm that you are hitting the issue I think you are hitting, and not something else. If you need to re-install it, use the Add Programs - Turn on Windows Features to re-add the printer.

@Philip_Demaree 

 

Hi Phil,

 

Just performed the test you asked for, deleted the pdf printer, I deleted the foxit one too.. system locale is English US, Gui says Belgium.  Printer maps as letter.

 

I'm closing in on the creation of a ticket..

 

KR,

Kurt