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Printer connection not reliable

I have a MacBookPro mid 2013 running 10.10.3 and I have an Epson Workforce 600 printer which I connect to over Wi-Fi. I recenlty switched from one ISP to another so I now have a different modem/router. The old system was Comcast cable. The new is Frontier DSL. Since switching to the new system and I've been working quite a bit to understand the new modem/router, I find that sometimes I can print just fine, wirelessly from my mac to the Epson printer. And at other times, it fails saying the "printer is not connected". When I see this I can go inside the modem and it shows the printer connected just fine, wirelessly. And it's hit or miss as to what I have to do to get it to work again.


Sometimes I simply kill the print queue. Close the document. Reopen. Ask to print again and sometimes that works. However, at other times, like right now, I tried that five or six times and it failed showing printer not connected every time. I've found when that happens that sometimes, like today, if I restart my mac and try again, it prints. I've had the same luck now and then restarting the printer.


It's my guess and my feedback from the modem displays and from just my ability to peruse the web with my mac that both the mac and the printer are both ALWAYS online even when this failure happens. But that whatever socket needs to get opened between the two (??) isn't reliably there??? In other words, that both elements are on the Wi-Fi network but they just can't talk to each other, like maybe a Firewall setting is wrong or something. But I don't think it's the Fireall itself???


Any ideas what might cause my mac and printer to not be able to communicate with each other reliably even if both are connected to my WiFi network???


thanks... bob

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.3)

Posted on May 4, 2015 10:17 AM

Reply
12 replies

Jun 20, 2015 1:04 PM in response to Robert Paris

Hi Bob,

I'm on Yosemite 10.10.3 and have an Epson 3640 (and another Epson I rarely use, the Workforce 630) and am having the exact same issue on both-- as in you couldn't have described it more perfectly. I also noticed there was an Epson update today (6/20/15) but it didn't help at all-- and I still have the same frequent but intermittent problem you've described. I have two Macs (an Air and MacBook Pro Retina) and have found the following:


1) If my other second Mac is on, even if asleep, it's somehow interfering and causing part, but not all of the problem... meaning if I turn that one off and I can't even "see" my printer at all, then it's at least visible again, and may print once or twice... so I'm guessing that's an issue, but not the answer. Having my second Mac "on" somehow was making it so the Epson wasn't even visible to others in our house, so I've had to keep it off, which shouldn't be the case.


2) If I go into my system preferences and then into printers/scanners, I see another part of the issue, which is that even when the printer cue is deleted and not in use/closed, it still shows "in use." It's as if every time I restart everything (cycle the printer, restart the computer, etc.) it will often work once, but then it's hit or miss again. I think part of the problem is that it's somehow not releasing the printer after a print job-- so it seems to think it's still in use and therefor can't do the next job. I think that's why we're getting the error message "the printer is not connected." Does this apply to you also, that in your printer prefs it still shows "in use" when it should be "idle?"


I'm going to call AppleCare now and if they have any solutions, I'll come back and respond again here. Sorry I can't be of more help yet, but at least you know you're not alone with this one. But I don't think it's ISP-related or a firewall issue. Mine was working fine until about a few weeks ago-- and then just started having this issue. This is really messing with my productivity, so I'm hoping they have an answer (for both of us).


Lisa

Jun 20, 2015 8:48 PM in response to flyingpigsrule

Hi Lisa, Since I had not received (until your's) any responces to my May 4th post, I posted a similar question later in May. See that thread here.


computer often can't find printer


See where one response there (of only 2) suggested setting a fixed IP address for my Epson printer and then changing the printer setup to refer to the fixed IP address. Rathe than using Bonjour.


That's not the most elegant solution as I certainly did need to do that with my old ISP setup so why should I need to do that now??? But it does work. Since I've made that change, the moment I hit "print" on my mac, the printer comes to life and it simply prints.


if you learn something, let me know as I would prefer to understand better what is going on. But for now, fixed IP is working for me.


thanks... bob

Jun 21, 2015 8:25 AM in response to Robert Paris

Hi Bob,


I spent about an hour with AppleCare (level 1) and most of what she would have suggested I had done already. We did a few things like re-starting in safe mode, etc., but nothing fixed the problem. She talked to a senior advisor who I was supposed to be connected to, who only said that I should reset the printer system (a function I didn't know existed but at least seemed to bring the printer back to life for a few minutes) and if that didn't work, to reinstall the OS, which just made no sense. The senior advisor never got on the phone and the follow-up email they were supposed to send me never came. A loss of an hour, basically and nothing else great to offer you.


I tried what you suggested since I'd do anything to have this work again reliably, but had a few questions: First, what do you have as the protocol for your printer? I wondered if it should be IPP or LPD (or something else)? And do you think the Air Print might be part of the problem? I think this started for me about the time Apple made every device start talking to the others, which also may be why my second Mac being asleep but powered on might also be interfering. My husband, who's on a PC, can't even use our printer when my other Mac is left on, even if closed.


The second questions is how you set this up for the static IP vs Bonjour, since I can't get it to work at all. I deleted all my printers again (I actually did the whole reset to remove everything) and then after assigning an IP to the Epson, I went into system prefs under printers/scanners and to add, went into the IP tab and added that address. I did change it to IPP for the protocol, but wasn't sure if I should have used LPD. But when I try to print, it thinks it's paused and I can't find a way to exit that. Would you have any suggestions? And could you let me know if you're using the secure air print?

Thanks for any extra help-- and I'm glad yours is working again now!

Lisa

Jun 21, 2015 1:00 PM in response to flyingpigsrule

Hi Lisa, First regarding Air Print, I don't use it and have no knowledge about it other than that it exists so I'm no help there. But then on to setting up an IP printer, here is what I did.


First, you have to know how to go into your specific router (I've done it in the past on Apple routers and currently just did it on the Frontier (made by NetGear) router I use now and FIX an IP Address for your printer. It's usually pretty easy. You typically go find the MAC address for the device (Epson Printer in this case) for which you want to fix the IP. I connect to my Epson printer wirelessly so one would want the wireless MAC address and for this particular printer both the wired and the wireless MAC address appear to be the same??? That's not typical at least not to my experience but whatever. Find a MAC address, usually on the device somewhere or still not hard to find, go into your router and tell the router you want to fix the IP Address for the device with MAC address such and such and do whatever you need to do to make that happen. My router has a section for "Setting Fixed IP addresses". I just go in there and follow the directions. It's never clear what happens if I decide to use a fixed IP that some device is currently using at that moment so I usually look at a list of what is using what and pick an IP address that either the printer is currently using (likely the best choice) or I pick one that nothing is using. Some routers then have to basically restart before the changes go into effect.


So once you have a fixed IP, now go to "Printer and Scanner" preferences on your System Preferences palette. Click the + button to "add a printer". You can leave your current one(s) for the moment and just make a new one. On the screen that comes up click the IP choice at the top. On the top ADDRESS line, simply type in the IP address you've now fixed and assigned to the printer via its MAC address. On the Protocol line choose Line Printer Daemon -- LPD. Leave the Queue line blank. As you type in your IP Address up on the Address line, the system will autocomplete the same name down on the Name line but you can leave that or change that to ABC or whatever you want to call the printer. Now for me, after I type in that IP address which is for my Epson WF 600 Series printer, what shows up on the USE line (which drivers to use) after the system does its own search is exactly that, EPSON WF 600 Series as if it went and saw the printer and chose the right driver. I also intentionally changed the IP address to something other than that printer and after the little thinking gear spun for a while, it put Generic PostScript Printer on the USE line meaning it didn't recognize a particular printer sitting at that IP. So if your IP points to your Epson printer, i think that USE line will Auto Select the right deal.


And when done you click ADD and that's it. Click up a document, choose that printer and see if it works... Does for me, quickly and every time. I choose to just call that printer by that IP address... Helps me know it's a IP selected printer...


That's how I did it with thanks to a suggestion from another poster (who I still need to and will go thank).

If it doesn't work you can always just go into Printers, highlight that one, and hit the "-" sign to get rid of that Printer spec.


Let me know if such works for you and holler with any questions.


bob

Jun 21, 2015 5:17 PM in response to Robert Paris

Hi again, Bob!


I SO appreciate you trying to help me further. I had done everything you said, but didn't have the result of the IP ending up related to the printer or its drivers or autofilling anything, unfortunately. It basically couldn't find that the new IP was for the printer at all (I also tried forcing a fake IP in the setup and that bombed, too). We had changed the IP to a fixed address in the router (and for the printer) and did everything else just the way you did but no luck. The "use" line didn't populate at all. It only gives me errors saying it can't find the printer on the network, etc.


The one thing I'll try to offer back is that on Yosemite 10.10.3, it seems that the default for the "Use" when I select my Epson printer is the Secure Air Print. I know you're saying you don't use it, but if you went to add in a new printer and selected yours to set up automatically under "Default" (vs IP), I bet it will say Secure Air Print under "Use" when you select your printer. We found others online with the same issues you and I are/were having and the problem was this change by Apple to "Secure Air Print." By adding the printer back without the fixed IP (the normal way under Default but not to automatically set up) and then changing the Secure Air Print to regular Air Print, it seems to now be working fine. Fingers are so tightly crossed this isn't temporary, but so far, so good.


I just have a feeling that this may be what you encountered also. You may have found a work-around with the static IP, but if you're curious to see if you can do without that IP, just for kicks, see if you are defaulting to the Secure Air Print and then change it to regular Air Print and see if it works. You can always delete the printer.

Thanks again!

Lisa

Jun 21, 2015 6:23 PM in response to flyingpigsrule

Hmmm... My, that raises some questions... First, is it pretty straightforward for you to set up a fixed IP for your printer on whatever router you are using. For years I've had Comcast as an ISP and I used an Apple Airport Extreme and a Motorola Surfboard Cable modem (i.e.., separate router and cable modem). I loved my Apple Router.... Soooooo easy to set up and maintain though not cheap to buy. But recently, for a number of reasons, I am in the process of switching over to Frontier DSL. We recently moved out to the sticks and Frontier is big out in the "sticks" world. They provide local phone and smoking fast DSL with Fiber right to my garage wall. I have only purchased the 30 Mbit/sec package but that is plenty fast enough. I could get 80 (they sell it as 100 but it only does 80) if I wanted to pay more... But Comcast only microwaves a signal out here to the sticks so they have horrible speeds and infamous customer service, thus the reason I am transitioning to Frontier. I actually have both Comcast (Apple/Motorola Surfboard) and the new Frontier system up a running currently. One down side to Frontier is they integrate everything into one "gateway" so I can no longer use my Apple Routers. So I've had to learn how to use the "are you sure you really want to go here and mess with these settings" warnings on the Frontier setup. Like doing Fixed IP and so forth is considered only for those willing to dive in deep to the router. But once you hang around for a while, the settings are pretty easy.


Sorry for the way long aside for getting to the point that I trust you were successful at fixing the IP for your printer. So if you turn your printer on, open Terminal on your Mac and do a simple ping of your fixed IP address, is it there??? You likely know all this stuff but in case you don't,


open Terminal, and at the prompt simply type


ping xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx and hit return where the xxx's are your fixed IP.


If that works you'll get some round trip times printed on each successive attempt. If it fails, you'll get timeout stuff. And <cntl><z> to stop it from just going on and on (and yes, it is control, not option or command).


And when you enter your fixed IP into the printer setup and the Use is not auto-populating, could you try another option I see there called "Select Software". When you choose that, another window opens and I see a remarkably SHORT list of available Printer Software (list makes no sense to me for its brevity) but it DOES contain EPSON WF 600 Series (and a few other Epson drivers). Might that work as something to try??? I mean this is called trying to brute force a set up that works. I can't say why my system auto selects EPSON WF 600 Series the moment I tell it the IP address for that specific printer. But I would think the same would work for you, too... Don't know what's different...


And are you using the MAC address for the printer that couples to whether you are using wireless or Ethernet??? Most hardware I own has separate MAC addresses for those two. I have a note to myself, however, for the Epson WF 600 that says "they appear to both be the same". And the one I used worked so I stopping thinking at that point... But another thing to consider...


And regarding AirPrint, I just did what you said and started to ADD another printer. I clicked on the Default option and got this (see picture assuming it adds correctly).


User uploaded file


That's what came up without me typing a word. It auto populated all that you see. And it's this Bonjour connection that is NOT working reliably, what I have moved away from and have now replaced with a Fixed IP setup. So no, I am not seeing anything referencing AirPrint at all. In fact, I've never seen it. I know it exists but that's about all. I just now went and read what Wikipedia says about it so I could educate myself a bit. At first I thought it was for iOS only but I do see that it's also been around for a while on Mac OS X. I just don't use it and therefore no nothing about it. Might I have it turned OFF and am not even aware of how that service got shut down for me??? And I, too, am using Mac OS X 10.10.3.


Not much help likely but that's what I can pass along at this point.


holler back if you want me to try other stuff or whatever...


thanks... bob

Jun 22, 2015 7:44 AM in response to Robert Paris

Hi Bob,


I removed the IP last night after the change from Secure Air Print to Air Print seemed to fix the problem. If it fails again, I'll try the fixed IP address again and will follow what you recommended. My husband (a computer engineer) set up the IP on the router and for the printer. I was only doing the Mac end (he's a PC guy).


On the Air Print-- I get the same default "Use" you did on my Epson WF630 (defaults to that printer)-- but on my WF3640 it auto-populates to Secure Air Print. I think it must depend on the printer you have. I didn't catch that about my 630 until now since I don't use it much and wasn't missing anything. Anyway, for whatever reason, that change to regular Air Print has it working again. I just have to hope this lasts. I'm just guessing that you do have Air Print but it won't show up unless you get a printer that uses/needs it in some way. I never installed it but from what you found, it sounds integral in Yosemite. For me it just was there with the last printer setup (the newer 3640) but sure isn't even an option for my older WF630 model. You probably know more about it now than I do!


Thanks again for all the help. I'll be back if it fails again and really appreciate all the guidance!


Lisa

Jun 22, 2015 8:41 AM in response to flyingpigsrule

Sounds good. Glad you got it working. My Epson printer is a few years old and I'll bet you're right, if it supports AirPrint, likely those settings come up by default. But since they never do for me, likely my printer is too old to support that technology. Likely why mine still puts up "bonjour" related stuff. Hope it continues to work for you... take care... bob

Jun 23, 2015 1:21 PM in response to Robert Paris

Hi again, Bob!


I knew I was being too optimistic. The next day I was back to the same errors and issues we were both describing and there was no way to see if it held on Air Print vs Secure Air Print.


I again tried setting up the static IP for this printer and did it exactly as I did last time and Bingo: it worked just as you described (populated for that printer, etc.)... and even better, it was printing like a champ. Until I realized that everything it was printing looked like postscript text or some other sort of encoded text. I tried printing a simple, few sentence Sticky note and it printed out pages and pages of nothing readable (although the word Sticky was hidden in there a few places). Then I tried printing a one-page document and it printed similarly encoded-looking pages until it ran out of paper. I have no clue what's going on. But changing the IP also somehow seems to have messed up the fax as well (does that even make sense unless the problem is stemming from the printer and not the Mac at this point?), and that also printed unlimited pages of code/postcript-looking text until I finally shut things down entirely.


We've now completely set our printer back to factory settings and back up again, but it still just won't work correctly. I wondered if you'd have any remaining thoughts on what might be going on. At least I (briefly) got it working on regular Air Print (vs secure) and then on the IP... but sure can't use it this way any more than when it wouldn't print at all.


Should hope you don't mind me picking your brain on this one more time.

Thanks!


Lisa

Jun 24, 2015 9:33 AM in response to flyingpigsrule

Wow... What a frustrating problem, eh??? Now you've gone beyond anything I've experienced or know anything about. My guess but it's just a guess is that the issue you're now facing isn't directly related to setting to using a fixed IP but somewhere there is some boxed checked that you want unchecked SOON... Nah, likely not that easy or simple but we can hope right???


If you're still at the place of your printer pumping out miles of non-useful stuff, I would suggest the following. Since this thread is likely not being watched by other folks who might be able to help, I would suggest you try to write a short summary of what you've got going on and write it into a new post with a new title. That way you stand a better chance of having some folks who might be able to help with this printing that, as you say, looks


"like postscript text or some other sort of encoded text"

In fact, try to put reference to that in your title or first sentence of a new post.

You might also consider jumping in to this thread that I started some time back,

computer often can't find printer

and see if the guy who first told me to try entering a fixed IP might see your situation and might be able to offer some help???

Just a couple thoughts of what to try next.

Time to call in the pro's on the Apple Discussion board or maybe to talk to Apple Care again???

I'd be curious to hear what you finally figure out about what is going on with your setup. If you have time, come back here and let me know once you find a solution.

bob

Printer connection not reliable

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