306 communication error

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306 communication error

I recently purchased a new CANON MG5220, wireless printer.
Everything went well for the first week.
I have 3 Macs trying to use this printer and all seem to on/off get a 306 communication error now. When the printing starts I get 2-3 inches and then ......that's it document does not finish and I can not get the document to start printing again. ( i.e. pause-unpause, or hold-resume)
Frustrating part is it worked great for the first week from all three Macs.
2007 Mac Pro 10.5.8
2009 Mac Pro 10.6.5
2010 Mac Air 10.6.5 (as of this topic 12/15/10 early morning the Mac Air is working.....why?why?why?.....how do I duplicate what I can't figure out?)

Currently I am only able to connect via USB to make it work consistently. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

I've tried:
1) reload driver
2) reset printer system
3) attach using the CanonIJnetwork and the Bonjour
4) reviewing and playing with network settings on printer
5) reseting network settings on printer

All changes continue to give me the same inconsistent results.
For a while I was able power the printer down and back on, then I changed to unpluging the printer and on restart it tended to work, these work arounds now have no effect.

Thanks again for any help on this issue

CANON MG5220 wireless, Mac OS X (10.6.5), same issue with Mac with 10.5.8 on it

Posted on Dec 15, 2010 4:51 AM

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Answer 1

DrMrfy Author

Level 1

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Dec 15, 2010 11:25 AM in response to DrMrfy

To continue the saga:
The printer works fine wirelessly from all of the PC's on the network so I'm back to guessing that the issue is with the MAC's.

I've since tried the printer system reset, then reboot, then reload printers. Still only 2-3 inches of text before 306 communication error.

arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrg!

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Answer 2

PAHU

Level 6

16,705 points

Dec 15, 2010 11:56 PM in response to DrMrfy

Since you have done just about every thing that I would have normally suggested then I can only suggest three additional things.

1. Try changing the channel used by your wireless router. While this may seem unnecessary since the Windows are working it may still help with getting the Mac's to communicate without failure.

2. If possible, set your wireless router to communicate at 802.11 B & G but not N. The Canon printers still only support b/g and some users have found that the Mac's running n can fail.

3. Download and install the [Canon Driver v2.4.1|http://support.apple.com/downloads/Canon Printer_Drivers_for_Mac_OS_X_v106] update. While you would already be using the v10.36.2.0 driver with the MG this update may help with getting some stability with the Canon driver.

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Answer 3

DrMrfy Author

Level 1

0 points

Dec 16, 2010 2:36 PM in response to DrMrfy

Way to diagnose that one: so here is the issue/solution for others to read:

ISSUE:
306 communication error for wireless printer that worked great yesterday.

If you are using a wireless printer connected to a wireless access point that does both B/G and n modes.

If the printer is connected wirelessly via the B/G mode (the only way that my MG5220 can) and the MAC is connected via the n mode then....if you try to print you get the 2-3 inches of print and then a 306 communication error.

SOLUTION:
connect the printer and the MAC using the same wireless mode, in this case B/G and viola printing works again.

Thanks again for the help!

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Answer 4

Mac K.

Level 1

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Feb 21, 2011 7:59 AM in response to PAHU

I'm glad to hear there's a solution to this, as I've been pulling my hair out about the very same problem. My circumstance is a bit different, however.

I'm trying to print from two Airs and have an IMac on the same network. The IMac seems to have no problem connecting to the Canon MG5220, but one of the Airs works for a couple of pages after reinstalling drivers, only to drop the connection suddenly.

The wifi mode conflict makes sense to me and I'd like to try that, but here's where my situation get complicated. I use a tether to a G2 Android acting as a portable hotspot. I see no way to modify the mode on it, and have run through the network settings on the Air to no avail. It sounds like I should be able to switch the Air's mode from n to b/g, but I'm not finding it. Will that do the trick (since the Canon is limited to b/g and, presumably, the Android will adjudicate accordingly)? If so, could you run over the mode change for the Air?

PS: A Google search for changing from n to b/g yielded nothing helpful.

Thanks!

Mac

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