Intermittent Print/Scan Problems with Canon MF8380Cdw on Wireless Network

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Intermittent Print/Scan Problems with Canon MF8380Cdw on Wireless Network

For nearly a year now, I've experienced problems printing and scanning using the Canon MF8380Cdw on our network. The most troubling are the intermitent problems getting the printer to respond during a print job after the device has been found on the network. Less troubling but still annoying are the problems scanning: it's very difficult to initiate a scan job. It usually requires trying to initiate the job from the printer AND from the computer in quick succession. I have reinstalled drivers many times. Why isn't printing and scanning effortless?

Print sequence messages in the Canon MF8300C Series print manager:

Printing - Looking for printer: takes a long time.

Printing - Connecting to printer: takes a long time.

Printing - The printer is not responding: takes a long time; indicates failure.

Some information that may help:

The client software correctly identifies the printer's IP address.
The wirless router is an Apple Airport Extreme Basestation.
The computer:

Model Name: MacBook Pro

Model Identifier: MacBookPro10,2

Processor Name: Intel Core i5

Processor Speed: 2.5 GHz

Number of Processors: 1

Total Number of Cores: 2

L2 Cache (per Core): 256 KB

L3 Cache: 3 MB

Memory: 8 GB

Boot ROM Version: MBP102.0106.B03

SMC Version (system): 2.6f57

System Version: OS X 10.8.4 (12E55)

Kernel Version: Darwin 12.4.0

Boot Volume: Adrien's Laptop

Boot Mode: Normal

Computer Name: Adrien’s MacBook Pro

User Name: XXXXX

Secure Virtual Memory: Enabled

Time since boot: 2:29

Canon MF8300C Series driver, version 10.0.0

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mountain Lion (10.8.4)

Posted on Jul 24, 2013 11:21 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

rack0 tack0

Level 4

2,604 points

Jul 24, 2013 12:25 PM in response to adrienvlach

I have had similar problems with an HP printer when the wireless signal has been poor, moving the base station or the printer cured the fault. Is it possible to try the printer with a direct connection rather than wireless?

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Answer 2

PAHU

Level 6

16,705 points

Jul 24, 2013 2:44 PM in response to adrienvlach

If you are using WiFi, then I agree with rack0's suggestion of connecting the MF8380 to the Extreme via Ethernet - at least as a test. Because your issue does sound like the MF is struggling with the wireless connection.

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Answer 3

adrienvlach Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 25, 2013 6:46 AM in response to rack0 tack0

Base station, laptop, and printer are all in the same corner of the same room--signal strength is not an issue. Have had problems, previously, when printer was connected to switch via ethernet. So... Nice thought, but I don't believe that's it.

Other things that didn't work: restarting printer, restarting computer.

Is it possible that OS updates mess with the driver, requiring reinstallation? Our PC users do not seem to have these issues.

I am also using a non-UFR II driver this time, but per a suggestion from a forum, I tried UFR II previously. I have read many forum exchanges involving Canon/Mac problems and have tried several solutions proposed by PAHU.

Reinstalled printer driver again today, and I can print again (for now), but it's an intermittent problem, likely to return.

Thoughts?

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Answer 4

adrienvlach Author

Level 1

0 points

Jul 25, 2013 8:18 AM in response to PAHU

And, this just in... The printer is wacky, again. (Note: the above response to rack0, though posted today, is actually from an email sent yesterday. So, it worked yesterday (briefly), and is failing today.)

Taking this opportunity to triple check the WiFi question, I connect the printer to the network via ethernet... And it does resolve the problem (at least for the moment).

However, I have reason to believe that we are experiencing multiple different problems preventing printing or that the ethernet solution is a red herring (just as the reinstalation of the driver was, yesterday).

Why? Well, I've tried connecting via ethernet in the past, and it didn't work. Also, it is far more common for our Apple computers to have printing problems than those running Windows. If the problem were network related, I would expect both operating systems to fail at the same times and succeed at the same times, even for an intermitent problem.

This is some CUPS error log info from today:

E [25/Jul/2013:09:07:14 -0400] Unknown directive BrowseOrder on line 7 of /private/etc/cups/cupsd.conf.

E [25/Jul/2013:09:07:14 -0400] Unknown directive BrowseAllow on line 8 of /private/etc/cups/cupsd.conf.

E [25/Jul/2013:09:25:11 -0400] [Job 2020] Unable to write print data: Broken pipe

E [25/Jul/2013:09:38:05 -0400] [Job 2021] Unable to write print data: Broken pipe

E [25/Jul/2013:09:38:45 -0400] [Job 2021] The printer is not responding.

E [25/Jul/2013:09:44:10 -0400] [Job 2021] Unable to write print data: Broken pipe

Thoughts?

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Answer 5

PAHU

Level 6

16,705 points

Jul 25, 2013 4:40 PM in response to adrienvlach

The Ethernet solution could be a red herring as you say, especially if Windows computers on the same subnet are not having any connection issues. So why is the Mac's failing to connect to the networked printer? The driver does not cause this loss of connection. If the job was getting to the printer and then failing to print, then you have a driver issue. But with the Mac stating that it cannot connect to the printer, you then have a network issue. This is also confirmed by the extract from the CUPS error log.

One suggestion for when a print job stops responding is to use Network Utility to ping the MF ip address or use Safari and connect to the MF's internal web page - by typing in the IP address of the MF as the URL. The theory would be that with the print job failing you should also fail to get a ping response or be unable to connect to the internal web page.

Also, the statement above about using an alternate driver is confusing. This model only supports the proprietary Canon UFR2 language, so I'm wondering what this "non-UFR II" driver is.

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