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User profile for user: mtodd_gb
mtodd_gb Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Wireless printer problem

After years of successful operation my Samsung CLP-325W printer has stopped communicating with my MacBookAir, OS Catalina.

Do I need a software update and if so, where do I find it?

Thank you

MacBook Air (2020 or later)

Posted on Jan 26, 2022 5:21 AM

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User profile for user: John Galt
John Galt
User level: Level 10
146,306 points

Posted on Jan 27, 2022 4:15 AM

Provided it has been working, try powering down the printer and powering it back up again. While you do that, do the same with your wireless router. Let them restart, then try printing again.


Whatever you do, do not delete that printer from Printers & Scanners. macOS will respect existing printer drivers and will not delete them, but will not permit installation of them again.

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User profile for user: John Galt
John Galt
User level: Level 10
146,306 points

Jan 27, 2022 4:15 AM in response to mtodd_gb

Provided it has been working, try powering down the printer and powering it back up again. While you do that, do the same with your wireless router. Let them restart, then try printing again.


Whatever you do, do not delete that printer from Printers & Scanners. macOS will respect existing printer drivers and will not delete them, but will not permit installation of them again.

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User profile for user: John Galt
John Galt
User level: Level 10
146,306 points

Jan 26, 2022 4:35 PM in response to mtodd_gb

Excerpted from About AirPrint - Apple Support:


"Learn how to print from your Mac or print from your iOS device, and learn what to do if you can't print."


Recent macOS versions support only AirPrint-enabled printers and multifunction devices, and I can't find the Samsung CLP-325W printer in that list. Are you certain it's AirPrint-enabled? Were you able print to it in the past, prior to upgrading macOS?

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User profile for user: mtodd_gb
mtodd_gb Author
User level: Level 1
8 points

Jan 27, 2022 2:49 AM in response to John Galt

Thank you John.

I'm 99% certain my Samsung printer is not AirPrint enabled - it is 10 years old.

My system has been working, but now the wireless connection doesn't seem to be working because I get the message "Printer is idle" on the laptop, even though the printer is showing a wireless connection light. It is as though the MacBookAir can't find the printer now - yet it used to!.

Maybe it is time to replace the printer, but I thought - despite its' age - it is still working.

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User profile for user: John Galt
John Galt
User level: Level 10
146,306 points

Jan 27, 2022 8:51 AM in response to mtodd_gb

You're welcome. Glad to help.


Whatever you do, do not delete that printer from Printers & Scanners. macOS will respect existing printer drivers and will not delete them, but will not permit installation of them again.


Related to that advice: if you want to keep that printer in service, do not perform a so-called "clean install" of macOS, which would eliminate those old drivers. If you were to do that, it would not be possible to install them again.


Although there is no guarantee it will remain their practice, to date Apple's macOS upgrades have not removed existing drivers. That's the reason old, pre-AirPrint printers continue to work.

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Wireless printer problem

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