how can I stop the message "print stopped filter failed" from appearing for my hp printer

Question

how can I stop the message "print stopped filter failed" from appearing for my hp printer

Hi,

When I try to print I receive what appears to be a message with many numbers and the message "abort cannot free before malloc" (or something similar). In the printer dialog it says "print stopped, filter failed". How can I stop the message "print stopped filter failed" from appearing for my hp printer and go back to printing normally? Note that a reset of the print system and download of the latest drivers for the printer have not solved this problem.

Thanks,

Felix

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.4), HP Photosmart C4200 printer

Posted on May 8, 2016 11:09 AM

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Answer 1

Linc Davis

Level 10

209,739 points

May 8, 2016 1:14 PM in response to Felix a la Campagne

Please read this whole message before doing anything.

This procedure is a diagnostic test. It’s unlikely to solve your problem. Don’t be disappointed when you find that nothing has changed after you complete it.

The purpose of the test is to determine whether the problem is caused by third-party software that loads automatically at startup or login, by a peripheral device, by a font conflict, or by corruption of the file system or of certain system caches.

Disconnect all wired peripherals except those needed for the test, and remove all aftermarket expansion cards, if applicable. Start up in safe mode and log in to the account with the problem.

Note: If FileVault is enabled in OS X 10.9 or earlier, or if a firmware password is set, or if the startup volume is a software RAID, you can’t do this. Ask for further instructions.

Safe mode is much slower to start up and run than normal, with limited graphics performance, and some things won’t work at all, including sound output and Wi-Fi on certain models. The next normal startup may also be somewhat slow.

The login screen appears even if you usually login automatically. You must know your login password in order to log in. If you’ve forgotten the password, you will need to reset it before you begin.

Test while in safe mode. Same problem?

After testing, restart as usual (not in safe mode) and verify that you still have the problem. Post the results of the test.

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Answer 2

May 10, 2016 12:54 AM in response to Linc Davis

Hi,

I tried the safe mode boot - the only difference I could see was that the bar at the bottom with the bouncing icons was whiteish instead of greyish. Unfortunately I can't really say whether it made any difference as it appears the problem is intermittent and the computer is used by my wife. I tried printing a number of times and received the crash report once, not in safe mode, but after the safe mode boot. From the crash report it appears that the issue is with the status monitoring:

Application Specific Information:

abort() called

*** error for object 0x101840800: pointer being freed was not allocated

...

Thread 8 Crashed:: StatusReporting
0 libsystem_kernel.dylib 0x00007fff99ac3f06 __pthread_kill + 10
1 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x00007fff97b134ec pthread_kill + 90
2 libsystem_c.dylib 0x00007fff9b2556e7 abort + 129
3 libsystem_malloc.dylib 0x00007fff92946041 free + 425
4 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x00007fff9a1611fa __rehashs + 250
5 com.hp.print.DriverCore.XML 0x0000000100165b39 0x100164000 + 6969
6 com.hp.print.DriverCore.XML 0x0000000100165a97 0x100164000 + 6807
7 com.hp.print.DriverCore.XML 0x000000010016902e 0x100164000 + 20526
8 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x00007fff9a194a6c __invoking___ + 140
9 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x00007fff9a1948fe -[NSInvocation invoke] + 286
10 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x00007fff9a1afd56 -[NSInvocation invokeWithTarget:] + 54
11 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x00007fff9a193382 ___forwarding___ + 514
12 com.apple.CoreFoundation 0x00007fff9a1930f8 _CF_forwarding_prep_0 + 120
13 com.hp.print.DriverCore.CommunicationServices 0x000000010026030b 0x10024c000 + 82699
14 com.hp.print.DriverCore.CommunicationServices 0x000000010025f6fe 0x10024c000 + 79614
15 com.hp.print.DriverCore.CommunicationServices 0x0000000100280cb3 0x10024c000 + 216243
16 com.hp.print.DriverCore.CommunicationServices 0x0000000100280a94 0x10024c000 + 215700
17 com.hp.print.DriverCore.CommunicationServices 0x0000000100282430 0x10024c000 + 222256
18 com.hp.print.DriverCore.CommunicationServices 0x000000010029c417 0x10024c000 + 328727
19 com.hp.print.DriverCore.CommunicationServices 0x000000010029ce38 0x10024c000 + 331320
20 com.hp.print.DriverCore.CommunicationServices 0x000000010029bd74 0x10024c000 + 327028
21 com.hp.print.cups.filter.photosmart 0x0000000100033e33 0x100000000 + 212531
22 com.hp.print.cups.filter.photosmart 0x0000000100034ac1 0x100000000 + 215745
23 com.hp.print.cups.filter.photosmart 0x0000000100040b79 0x100000000 + 265081
24 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x00007fff97b1099d _pthread_body + 131
25 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x00007fff97b1091a _pthread_start + 168
26 libsystem_pthread.dylib 0x00007fff97b0e351 thread_start + 13

Thread 8 crashed with X86 Thread State (64-bit):
rax: 0x0000000000000000 rbx: 0x0000000000000006 rcx: 0x00007000003a58d8 rdx: 0x0000000000000000
rdi: 0x0000000000003653 rsi: 0x0000000000000006 rbp: 0x00007000003a5900 rsp: 0x00007000003a58d8
r8: 0x0000000000000000 r9: 0x0000000000000000 r10: 0x0000000008000000 r11: 0x0000000000000206
r12: 0x0000000100b9d000 r13: 0x0000000000000002 r14: 0x00007000003a6000 r15: 0x0000000000000000
rip: 0x00007fff99ac3f06 rfl: 0x0000000000000206 cr2: 0x00007fff7cfd4008

If I understand the report correctly a pointer to memory is being passed to free() which is unrecognized, probably already freed, and instead of returning an error code to the calling function, or simply ignoring the pointer, the free() function aborts the program. Very nice for the user, so much for the wonderful Mac user experience!

The print job appears in the print monitor with the "stopped, filter failed" status. Restarting the job seems to perform the print OK.

Since Apple now provide the drivers for the printer, if what I read is correct, I guess the only choice is to accept this as the new way of working on the Mac.

Thanks,

Felix

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