What does Windows error code 3000 (ERROR_UNKNOWN_PRINT_MONITOR) mean?

 
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ERROR_DEVICE_IN_USE ERROR_PRINTER_DRIVER_IN_USE

ERROR_UNKNOWN_PRINT_MONITOR

Print monitors are spooler components, not display applications. A port monitor receives low-level printer data from the spooler and transfers it through a network, serial, parallel, or other port mechanism. A language monitor can add printer-control information and support bidirectional status communication.

A driver or printer definition that names a monitor not installed on the target server can therefore fail before the device is contacted. This is especially relevant when importing queues from another server or deploying a vendor driver whose monitor component was not installed.

Map the missing component

  • Enumerate monitors on the target server and compare the exact configured monitor name.
  • Record the monitor DLL and environment for installed monitors rather than checking only the printer driver DLL.
  • When migrating a queue, compare its port and monitor dependencies with the destination server.
  • For a remote NT-compatible print server, Samba's rpcclient documentation likewise notes that a required print monitor must already be installed before a driver that names it is added.

Microsoft Port Monitors · Language and port monitor interaction · Samba rpcclient printing commands


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