Windows Print Server Queue Loses Print Job

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Windows Print Server Queue Loses Print Job

We have a print server running on Windows Server 2012 R2 and I want to our Mac users (OS10.10) to print through it so that Paper Cut will log their activity.

I've added the printers to the print server, installed the drivers on both the server and a Mac Book Pro reference machine, and added the printer (SMB) to the Mac Book Pro. I've successfully printed a test page from the server and from several Windows machines printing through the print server. When I print from the Mac Book Pro, the job appears in the printer's print queue on the server, indicates it's printing, and then disappears as if it printed. The only problem is that there's no activity on the printer itself. It is as if the job just disappears into thin air.

Does anyone have a suggestion as to how to troubleshoot this type of behavior?

Thanks!

MacBook Pro, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Sep 16, 2015 9:50 AM

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Answer 1

JimmyCMPIT

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Sep 16, 2015 10:21 AM in response to jdammeier

can you browse to the printer device on the Win sever and see what's logged in it's event viewer if the printer device has one?

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Answer 2

jdammeier Author

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Sep 16, 2015 10:52 AM in response to JimmyCMPIT

Unfortunately, I don't see any event logs for any of the printers.

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Answer 3

JimmyCMPIT

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Sep 16, 2015 11:20 AM in response to jdammeier

directly in the printer device, not the server?

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Answer 4

jdammeier Author

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Sep 16, 2015 12:11 PM in response to JimmyCMPIT

I looked at the device on the server and there are no logs.

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Answer 5

greg sahli

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Sep 16, 2015 12:34 PM in response to jdammeier

Please give us the rest of the details - what printer? is it a postscript printer? or a PCL printer?, etc.

(driver mismatches are frequent, because manufacturers "assume" Mac users want to use postscript drivers.)

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Answer 6

jdammeier Author

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Sep 16, 2015 12:44 PM in response to greg sahli

It is a Lexmark C544dn. I am not sure if it is a Postscript or PCL printer, to be honest. What other details would be helpful?

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Answer 7

JimmyCMPIT

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Sep 16, 2015 12:57 PM in response to jdammeier

the drivers stop at 10.9 for that model

http://support.lexmark.com/index?locale=EN&page=product&segment=DOWNLOAD&userloc ale=EN&productCode=LEXMARK_C544#2

I would test the printer directly to the mac and verify the current drivers works with the file

if they do not perform the update and verify the 10.9 drivers work with 10.10

if they still do not you will need to find a suitable alternative in the available pool of generic mac drivers which could be a crap shoot.

At any point when you can print with a driver on the mac directly connected to the printer device reconnect the printer device to the windows server.

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Answer 8

jdammeier Author

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Sep 16, 2015 1:23 PM in response to JimmyCMPIT

I have installed the most current drivers and they print successfully using IP printing and via USB connection.

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Answer 9

JimmyCMPIT

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Sep 16, 2015 1:52 PM in response to jdammeier

how is the printer connected to the mac through the PC? Bonjour? IP? Hot (watched) folder?

have you removed Paper Cut from the printing equation and tried without it running?

Could this apply to your configuration?

http://www.papercut.com/products/ng/manual/ch-mac-printing-windows.html

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Answer 10

greg sahli

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Sep 17, 2015 4:37 AM in response to jdammeier

The printer is capable of both postscript and PCL (ie, HP-compatible). I don't have one of those (nor do I use Windows for anything these days), but quite often manufacturers "assume" that Mac owners want to use postscript, so the postscript driver is what we get.

It's important that the driver selected on the Mac be the same type as used by the setup on the Windows computer - that is, if the Windows setup is for PCL, the Mac needs to use a PCL driver. Or, you can setup a separate queue on the Windows server to use a postscript driver.

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Answer 11

jdammeier Author

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Sep 17, 2015 4:41 AM in response to greg sahli

Thanks everyone! It was definitely the driver issue as Greg alluded to. I installed the Universal Print Driver I downloaded from Lexmark's website on the print server and the regular Postscript Driver on my Mac. Everything printed as it should and the solution worked with other manufacturers as well.

We also have Konica Bizhub MFDs and as long as a the PS driver is installed on the print server, that worked as well.

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