So I've found heaps of posts about PrintJobMgr using up to 99% CPU and causing laptop temperatures to skyrocket, usually the solution given is to force quit PrintJobMgr or clear the print queue. But does anyone know why PrintJobMgr does this in the first place? Surely it's not normal behaviour to use that much CPU?
It's not a huge problem, but I can't imagine it's good for the cpu temp to jump 20℃ every time I print something, even just a simple text document.
I'm have a MacBook Pro OS 10.4.10, using a Canon iP 1200 printer with driver version 4.1.9
Any ideas?
I thought this may be a Canon related issue, as I think there has been other Canon owners complaining of the same thing. But in testing some printing to a few of my Canon printers (iP6000D, iP5200R and MP600R), at no stage did my MacBook Pro CPU hit that much usage with text documents. I also tested the iP5200R, which also uses v4.1.9, on a Mini with an Intel Core Solo, and the highest value Print Job manager go to was 72%.
So I'm not sure what is going on with your setup. My only suggestion would be to delete the printer queue, reset the printing system, delete the v4.1.9 driver folder (located in /Library/Printers/Canon/BJPrinter) and install the v4.8.3 driver available from the Canon web site.
Well, good spotting that 4.1.9 wasn't the latest driver version. I updated it just a month or so ago, after bit of an ordeal to find the right driver (The iP1200 is only avaliable in Australia and NZ I think, so the driver is on canon.co.nz but not canon.com), so I figured I was up to date. Also I hadn't heard of the 'Reset Printing System' command (in Applications/Utilities/Printer Setup Utility), it sounded promising!
But, unfortunatly after following all your suggestions the problem still remains...
I am assuming that the Print Job Manager must be staying open to cause your temp increase. Is the iP1200 print icon staying open in the dock? What about any other Canon printer utilities?
If you mean staying open after the printing is finished, then no it doesn't stay open. PrintJobMgr terminates as soon as the print job is completed, and so the CPU usage drops back to the usual 5-10%.
In most of the cases that you read when googling 'printjobmgr cpu' people do complain of constant high CPU usage. This is usually caused by a stalled print queue, which I assume keeps PrintJobMgr running - so clearing the queue solves the constant high CPU usage problem. But the problem remains that PrintJobMgr uses near 100% CPU while printing.
When you do print, have a look at the CPU pane. When your Process Listing is showing the PrintJobMgr at 99%, you will find that the %User will not get to 99%. In fact, the %User and %Idle will go close to equaling 99%, which shows that the system is correctly managing the time allocation of the application. If this high usage only occurs while printing, but then ceases once the spool file has been printed, then I don't see you having a problem.
Yes, you are correct. While printing, %User and %Idle both hover around 50%.
Yes, as I said in my first post, it is not really a problem, but I assumed that it wasn't normal. So are you saying that it is perfectly normal behaviour to use near 100% CPU while printing?
Yes. It is not unusual for the processor to be dedicated to one process if nothing else requires its attention. In fact, this is ideal, as it can complete this task before committing to another. So I wouldn't be concerned. The main thing is that the PrintJobMgr process is closing once the job is printed so that the CPU can be used for other tasks.
This bugs me on my Canon printer too (not that it's a Canon issue, I don't know). I can accept that the processor puts a lot of resources into getting the job done quickly. Though it's hard to accept 99% usage for even a simple Word document or PDF. But the worst part is if I should run out of paper during the job- the processor just stays pegged until the job is done. Really irritating if I left the room and came back 10 minutes later. Just seems like such a waste! Sounds like there is no solution...
Hi!
Why can you say, this qestion is answered? I mean it is not normal, that a simple Print-Job needs 99% of a 2GHz dual-core processor. Eaven with my 500MHz machine i can print and listen to music without ploblems, so i expect my MacBookPro to do this as well. I think it isn't normal behavior of a program to use so much CPU that iTunes can't play my music well anymore, is it?
This problem is not limited to Canon printers, and it is more than just a theoretical problem. I routinely print 50 copies of a Word document on an HP office printer, and have the same CPU issues. It always puts the system to sleep numerous times during these print jobs.
I have discovered one thing: when I log out and log in as a different user, the problem does not exist. I can print 50 copies of the same document and the Print Job Manager doesn't even show up in the Activity Monitor. I don't know enough to know what this might mean, but at least I've found a work around.
My two cents worth to give weight to the 'this is a ridiculous amount of computing resources to allocate to a print job' camp. I use exclusively Canon printers and have always had this trouble on my Macs. Documents printed on the same printers attached to my Dell laptop just fly out of the printer.
I can confirm this problem and its fix. Over the weekend I had printed a Web page to my desktop as a PDF. I did this with the Print dialog in Safari by choosing print to PDF or save as PDF. I worked with the printed file for a while and then deleted it.
That was on a Sunday. Today (Monday) I get to work, open my Macbook Pro and after an hour or so the CPU skyrockets with the PrintJobMgr task taking up all the CPU. Googling I found this Apple forum thread which tipped me off to checking the print queue. Sure enough, my default printer had the Web page document showing in the print queue as trying to print. There were no printer windows open, and in fact I had restarted my computer only minutes before trying to fix the problem.
After deleting the print job, the CPU quickly (10-15 seconds) dropped to normal levels.
Thanks for those that contributed to this forum. This is good blog material.
But your fix is NOT a fix. The question is, "Why does PrintJobMgr 99% of the CPU?". Printing a document should not require 99% of your processor and "deleting the print job" does not answer this question.
Anybody else have any ideas? I have a Canon as well, and the issue is intermittent.
The way that I read Aaron's situation was that he had a job that was not printing, due to the printer not being connected/present, and this was using up resources. Deleting the rogue print job resolved his problem - so it is not a fix for everyone, just for him.
The thing that concerns me about this one is some of the causes of the high usage. It is not unusual for an application to use whatever resources are available to complete a task. And I believe that if you checked the CPU usage when 99% was showing, that a % of this is used by the application, the Print Job Manager in this case, and the remaining % is idle, meaning that the CPU is available for calls from other applications. This is how a computer should manage its usage.
But if the % of User is 99% when the job is not cleared from the spool queue, then this doesn't sound correct. In my testing I have not seen the print job manager get close to 99%, even when the printer is out of paper. So to me this sounds like something is wrong. Note that the print job manager is part of the core printing system (CUPS). It is not installed by the vendor driver, although it often interacts with the driver. It is mainly responsible for getting the print data from the application to the printer, by selecting appropriate filters, I/O modules, etc.
While I believe this is not just a Canon issue, as someone with a HP has also replied, it does seem that Canon owners have the most replies. So I think the best way for those of you that have this issue, to determine if it is a fault of the Canon driver or something more generic, is to install one of the Gutenprint drivers and use this to print to your Canon printer. If using this driver doesn't cause high CPU usage for the same conditions, such as paper-out or closed doors, then you have proven that there is something wrong with the Canon driver installation and you should report this to your local Canon support.
