How do I resolve a "printer not connected" error message?

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Level 1

9 points

How do I resolve a "printer not connected" error message?

Dear Mac Community,

For the better part of a year I have printed flawlessly to my HP Color LaserJet CP4020 on my home wireless network. Recently I upgraded to OS X 10.8.4 and now when I print, the queue stalls and I receive the following error message, "The printer is not connected."

Here is what I have tried so far to resolve the issue but to no avail:

Downloaded and installed the latest HP firmware and software drivers
Deleted the printer and added it again in Preferences>Print & Scan
And, of course, the above noted bullet point is the rub: If the printer were not connected to my wireless network then it would be unable to be added! But since I can add the printer, my OS is definitely seeing the printer on the network.
After the above diagnostics I tried printing from native Mac OS apps (e.g. TextEdit) and non-native apps (e.g. Microsoft Word), and both worked.
Then they stopped.
Then they would print after several minutes of delay (e.g. a single sentence Text Edit test print page took over a minute and a five sentence Word document took over 5 minutes).
Then they stopped.
And now I cannot print anything!

In case it helps, my specifications are as follows:

MacBook Pro running OS X 10.8.4 with 8 GB RAM, 500 GB HD, 75 GB available HD space
HP Color LaserJet CP4020, Firmware v.20120112 07 .111.0, Software Driver v. 9.4

Any help anyone could provide would be GREATLY appreciated.

Sincerely,

Randy

MacBook Pro 17", Unibody

Posted on Jul 16, 2013 9:03 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Jul 16, 2013 10:51 AM in response to randino

OS X Mountain Lion: Reset the printing system

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Answer 2

randino Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 17, 2013 1:19 PM in response to Linc Davis

Linc,

Thanks for your suggestion. It worked for a day and it has now stopped. It is the weirdest thing in the world. I delete and add the printer and it will work. Then I shut down for the day and the next day it won't work and I get the "Printer is not connected/Printing - Unable to find printer" error message.

So frustrating because the printer is obviously connected and being seen by my system in order to allow me to add it each time.

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Answer 3

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Jul 17, 2013 1:41 PM in response to randino

Do you have any other printers, and if so, do they work? Does the problem printer drop completely off the network when it stops working, or does it just not accept jobs?

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Answer 4

randino Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 17, 2013 1:56 PM in response to Linc Davis

Linc,

Great diagnostic questions.

Yes, I have another HP printer downstairs and it worked fine just now.

But my work computer (the Color LaserJet) doesn't drop off the network, it just doesn't accept jobs. I just sent your email to that printer and it is just spinning (see screenshot attached).

Thanks again for your help,

Randy

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Answer 5

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Jul 17, 2013 2:16 PM in response to randino

Download and run the free application "Bonjour Browser." It will show you whether the printer is connected to the network.

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Answer 6

randino Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 17, 2013 2:19 PM in response to Linc Davis

Okay...will do.

In the meantime, to be on the super-safe side, I downloaded and installed Apple's HP Printer Drivers to be absolutely sure I had their latest, approved drivers working.

I'll let you know who Bonjour Browser works out in a minute.

Thanks again for your help and patience...I owe you one!

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Answer 7

randino Author

Level 1

9 points

Jul 17, 2013 2:29 PM in response to Linc Davis

If I understand Bonjour Browser correctly, it would appear that both printers are connected to the network. I'm attaching a screenshot so you can interpret it properly.

What say ye?

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Answer 8

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,541 points

Jul 17, 2013 5:40 PM in response to randino

Launch the Console application in any of the following ways:

☞ Enter the first few letters of its name into a Spotlight search. Select it in the results (it should be at the top.)

☞ In the Finder, select Go ▹ Utilities from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-U. The application is in the folder that opens.

☞ Open LaunchPad. Click Utilities, then Console in the icon grid.

Select "/var/log/cups/error_log" from the file list on the left side of the Console window. If you don't see that list, select

View ▹ Show Log List

from the menu bar. Then select the messages from the time of the last failed printing attempt. Copy them to the Clipboard (command-C). Paste into a reply to this message (command-V).

If there are runs of repeated messages, post only one example of each. Don’t post many repetitions of the same message.

When posting a log extract, be selective. In most cases, a few dozen lines are more than enough.

Please do not indiscriminately dump thousands of lines from the log into this discussion.

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Answer 9

greg sahli

Level 7

25,508 points

Jul 17, 2013 9:49 PM in response to randino

For more reliable printing, I suggest you add the Color Laserjet using IP > Jetdirect/socket protocol, rather than Bonjour (ie, don't use the Default window to add a printer).

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Answer 10

Barg-ie

Level 1

0 points

Jul 21, 2013 9:57 PM in response to randino

I've got a very similiar problem. My rMBP is running 10.8.4 and about two weeks ago I started having problems printing to anyone of my 3 printers (Brother 5370, Brother 8910, HP 7310). Prior to this, I was able to print to them without any issue. While I'm unable to print to them, I can ping the printers and connect to them via my browser. Also, I can print to them all day long from my Dell PC. This problem seems to coincide with a recent upgrade from TWC turbo to Extreme, but I can't say for sure. Also, I recently upgraded to 10.8.4, but can't say with certainty that this caused the problem; something obviously changed. I've verified the printers are on the same network, I've tried giving them static IP's, discovered them as IP and basically trouble shoot them to death, but I still have the same problem. The only way I can print from my MAC is to reset my wireless router, I can then print for about 30 minutes before they stop again but I can ping and connect to the printers via the browser. This problem is driving me nuts. My Dell PC is able to print without any problems. I've reset my printing system and rediscovered (Bonjour, IP) the printers a number of times to no avail. I also loaded the most recent drivers and new firmware into the printers. H E L P!

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Answer 11

Barg-ie

Level 1

0 points

Jul 21, 2013 10:01 PM in response to randino

By the way, the error I get when printing is "Looking for Printer"

Resetting my Mac does nothing

Resetting the printer does nothing, however it usually spits out the message I tried to print

If I reset the Wireless AP/Router, it temporaily fixes the problem

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