DougGJoseph

Q: How to fix major printing issue? (El Capitan 10.11.6)

Hello. I recently upgraded OS X from 10.10.5 to 10.11.6.

 

I immediately noticed that printing multiple copies of a single page has changed from sending the single page once, letting the printer make the multiple copies as quickly as it can, to sending the same page over and over again, once per copy, slowing the printer down drastically from the speed of which it is capable. (I have tried printing both from Preview, MS Office for Mac, and from Adobe Acrobat, and the problem seems system-wide.)

 

Instead of taking about 4 minutes or less to print 80 copies of the same page, with my HP LaserJet printing around 20 copies per minute, this task now takes 80 minutes (yes, you read that right), because the new OS X seems to send each page "job" separately, and also seems to send each page "job" more slowly than its predecessor did. Sending the same page over and over and over and over, is taking about 1 minute per page to print!

 

Each and every week I must print a batch of 80 copies per single page, and I need it to take 4 minutes or less each time, not 80 minutes!

 

Steps to reproduce:

1. Open a document. In my case, I opened a multipage document (a 2-page Word Doc, and also tried with PDF).

2. Click File > Print.

3. Select to print either "from 1 to 1" or "from 2 to 2" or the "Selected Page" so that only 1 page is to print.

4. Set the desired number of copies (something higher than 1).

 

Does anyone have advice for how I can get this fixed? Any and all help would be much appreciated.

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), 17" Late 2011, with 16 GB RAM

Posted on Sep 22, 2016 10:15 AM

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Q: How to fix major printing issue? (El Capitan 10.11.6)

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  • by DougGJoseph,

    DougGJoseph DougGJoseph Oct 1, 2016 11:54 PM in response to DougGJoseph
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 1, 2016 11:54 PM in response to DougGJoseph

    Update:

     

    1. I have now also tried updating to MacOS Sierra, and the problem persists, but see #2.

     

    2. The problem only shows up after I use Migration Assistant to import my documents, applications, etc. Prior to the import, if I just add the printer to a blank-slate install, it functions as intended, sending a single-page-w-multiple-copies job, as a single page. The moment I import my documents & applications, the printer function degrades to be extremely slow in sending a single page, and it sends the same single page over and over and over for multiple copies of it.

     

    3. I have tried deleting the printer, and re-adding it.

     

    4. I have tried deleting the printer and all its drivers from the Library, re-adding it, and downloading the driver fresh from Apple.

  • by DougGJoseph,

    DougGJoseph DougGJoseph Oct 2, 2016 2:57 AM in response to DougGJoseph
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 2, 2016 2:57 AM in response to DougGJoseph

    Another update:

     

    I have also now attempted all the following:

     

    1. I tried using a virtual machine install of MacOS Sierra (using Parallels 12), but it simply accesses a network-shared instance of the printer, which hands the print job off to the host operating system, so the issue persists.

     

    2. I tried copying and pasting, replacing the HP printer driver files from a back-up of when I was still using Yosemite, (which worked back then without any such issue). After replacing the driver files with the earlier files, I removed the printer in System Preferences and re-installed it. No dice. Same issue persists.

     

    3. I followed all the reset instructions here: Resolve printer issues on your Mac - Apple Support, including resetting the printing system, and then reseting again with nuking all the printer drivers (moving them into a new folder as a backup). Reinstalled the printer in System Preferences. Same issue persists.

     

    Every week, without fail, I must print 80 copies of the same page. With this glaring issue, that now takes 80 minutes! I cannot tolerate that. Can anyone offer any ideas I have not tried? Else I will probably have to downgrade back to Yosemite.

  • by nimasarshar,

    nimasarshar nimasarshar Oct 2, 2016 3:07 AM in response to DougGJoseph
    Level 1 (16 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 2, 2016 3:07 AM in response to DougGJoseph

    hi

  • by DougGJoseph,

    DougGJoseph DougGJoseph Oct 2, 2016 6:58 AM in response to DougGJoseph
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 2, 2016 6:58 AM in response to DougGJoseph

    Another update:

     

    I booted into Yosemite and closely compared the printing behavior to that of both El Capitan and Sierra.

     

    The visual display of a progress bar with each page is the same, but where the process takes 2 to 4 seconds per page on Yosemite, it takes nearly 60 seconds per page on El Capitan and Sierra.

     

    There is no legitimate justification for slowing down the process of sending the data to the printer in such a way in the newer operating systems. It is unacceptable.

  • by DougGJoseph,

    DougGJoseph DougGJoseph Oct 3, 2016 8:33 AM in response to DougGJoseph
    Level 1 (13 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 3, 2016 8:33 AM in response to DougGJoseph

    For clarity sake:

     

    I have now run tests of printing the exact same page in Yosemite versus in El Capitan and in MacOS Sierra. It takes, on average, 15 times longer to print the exact same page in the two newer operating systems, using exactly the same equipment (same laptop and same printer).

     

    I now think the entire difference is in the slowed down speed of the page getting sent, not in whether the single page is getting sent over and over. The print dialog box in Yosemite (where printing multiple copies happens quickly) displays exactly like those in El Capitan and Sierra -- it seems to be sending the same page over and over, except that it sends the page in 2-4 seconds while that same process takes 40-60 seconds in El Capitan and Sierra.

     

    Earlier I mistakenly posted (above) that I thought the slowdown happened after importing my documents and apps. I now see that was a mirage, because my earlier tests in which printing happened quickly on Sierra, were done on pages that had no content except a page number. I now think it's the adding of content (images, etc) that makes the slowdown evident. This could be simply a case of what some have theorized about: "sleep" commands injected to slow down execution (with increasing amounts of milliseconds passed as an argument). If so, the number of milliseconds seem to have been increased way, way too much.

     

    Again, I have now run tests of printing the exact same page in Yosemite versus El Capitan and Sierra. It takes, on average, 15 times longer to print the exact same page in the two newer operating systems, on exactly the same equipment.

     

    I sure hope someone can give me some advice that proves fruitful in getting these prints times back to being reasonable. The simplest fix would be to actually send the page once, and let the printer execute the desired number of copies as quickly as it can.