Printing Fails with a "Filter Failed" Message

OS 10.14.x + Brother HL over wireless.


Have both the problem and a work-around here.


Problem: print jobs fail from Safari & Preview (perhaps others?) with the "Filter Failed" message. At this point, printing is no longer possible. Simply re-setting & re-adding the print system is not sufficient to fix.


Work Around:

  1. Reset Printing System (R-Click on Printer in Printers SysPreference)
  2. Reboot Machine *REQUIRED*
  3. Re-add the printer


That will work for a while . . . just repeat this when it breaks again.

Posted on Sep 25, 2019 3:37 PM

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9 replies

Sep 26, 2019 11:35 AM in response to dumpsterdave

Got it. The reason for asking is that if your model is capable of being installed as an AirPrint printer, then remove the existing entry in Printers & Scanners, and install it anew as an AirPrint printer. You must explicitly select that option.


If it is not capable of using AirPrint, then the solution to your problem is to assign it a static IP address. That way, it will always reside at the same location on your wireless network, which should fix the problem you're experiencing. To do that follow the instructions under "Add a network printer by its IP address" in Add a printer on Mac.

Sep 27, 2019 11:16 AM in response to dumpsterdave

CUPS ought to work just as well. Brother wisely chose to use CUPS since day one, way before AirPrint. Those drivers often included printer features that AirPrint did not. It may or may not matter to your model printer.


If you want to use CUPS it helps to configure the printer with a static IP address, whereas that doesn't matter to AirPrint.


https://www.cups.org

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Printing Fails with a "Filter Failed" Message

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