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General discussion

Bizarre network printing problem

Feb 22, 2010 12:07AM PST

I upgraded from a PowerMac G5 to a Mac Pro (10.6.2), transferring all of my user data from the old machine to the new one.

On the new machine, whenever I open a print dialog and try to do anything other than just print - select page or layout options, save as PDF, etc. - there's a long lag followed by a dialog saying that no connection could be established with my old machine.

I have tried resetting the printer list, but the problem persists.

So, two questions:

1) Why is this happening?

2) How do I fix it?

Discussion is locked

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What method did you use to transfer user data
Feb 22, 2010 3:27AM PST

from the old machine to the new one?


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Transfer method
Feb 22, 2010 4:41AM PST

I used the FireWire transfer offered as one of the Snow Leopard install steps, the one that lets you import all user data.

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Interesting
Feb 22, 2010 8:38AM PST

it does not usually transfer things like printer settings.

Delete all your printers, if you have not already done so, and reinstall them


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Reinstall attempted
Feb 22, 2010 1:23PM PST

I uninstalled and reinstalled all of the printers. I still get this error message:

"Connection Failed

The server ?myservername? may not exist or it is unavailable at this time. Check the server name or IP address, check your network connection, and then try again."

I did change the name of the server, which was the machine from which I transferred my user settings and data. But my printer shouldn't need to connect to a server whenever I want to change a print setting.

I remain baffled by this problem.

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(NT) Me too, still thinking
Feb 22, 2010 8:49PM PST
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re: Network printing problem
Feb 25, 2010 3:46PM PST

You can print OK if you just select the print icon in an application then hit Print but not if you change any settings. Is that right?

I need to picture your setup.

Do you have any other printers attached to your Mac or in the network?

Is the printer connected to your Mac Pro with a USB cable? An ethernet cable? Wirelessly?

In the System Preferences-> Print & Fax pane, does your printer appear there? Have you deleted the printer from the preferences and added it again? That will ensure you pick up the latest printer driver.

Is your printer supported by Mac OS X 10.6.2?

regards,
Darryl

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My setup
Feb 26, 2010 12:12AM PST

>You can print OK if you just select the print icon in an application then hit Print but not if >you change any settings. Is that right?

Correct.

>I need to picture your setup.

>Do you have any other printers attached to your Mac or in the network?

Yes. My main printer is a Brother HL-5340D. I also have two different Canon color inkjet printers, but they are usually powered off (I only turn them on when I'm doing color printing). There's also a HP LaserJet 3055 elsewhere on the network.

>Is the printer connected to your Mac Pro with a USB cable? An ethernet cable? Wirelessly?

It is connected to a powered USB hub which is in turn connected to the Mac Pro.

>In the System Preferences-> Print & Fax pane, does your printer appear there? Have you >deleted the printer from the preferences and added it again? That will ensure you pick up >the latest printer driver.

Yes, it appears in the Print & Fax pane. And, yes, I uninstalled and reinstalled, as suggested earlier in this thread. The Brother is using the system-assigned "Brother HL-5340D series CUPS" driver.

>Is your printer supported by Mac OS X 10.6.2?

I'm not sure how to answer that. Is there a compatibility list somewhere that I need to check? I've never had to do that with any other printer I've ever owned. It's not a Windows-only printer, if that's what you mean.

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re: printer setup
Feb 26, 2010 6:55AM PST

Printers supported in OS X 10.6.x are listed at:
<http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3669#brother>

Luckily, your Brother is listed there.

Do you have any similar troubles changing the setup on any of the other printers? If not, then it is very strange.

I would substitute the USB cable for another one and connect the printer direct to the Mac (ie bypass the USB hub) to see if that made a difference. That should eliminate either cable or hub problem.

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Printer conections
Feb 27, 2010 5:17AM PST

The problem happens with any of my printers. In fact, I get the failed connection error if I try to select any printer.

I connected the Brother directly to the Mac Pro, still get the error. I tried two different cables, same problem.

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re: Printer failure
Feb 27, 2010 8:28AM PST

I would run Disk Utility -> Repair Disk

If that still does not fix the problem the create a new account (if you do not already have one) then shut down and reboot into the alternate account and see if the problem persists.

Still got yhe problem after all that then I would think about re-installing the system software and updates.

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Printer failure
Mar 1, 2010 4:54AM PST

Disk repair didn't fix the problem. Logging in with a different account made the problem disappear. Now what? It seems there's a bad pref in my main user account, but I have no idea what it might be.

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Printer failure
Mar 1, 2010 7:09AM PST

Have a look in the Print&Fax Preference Pane and see if you have printer sharing turned on. If so, turn it off for each printer you have installed.

Shut down, reboot and see if that fixes anything.

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Printer sharing check
Mar 1, 2010 8:52AM PST

I turned off sharing for each printer. I shut down the machine, rebooted, checked to see that sharing was still turned off (it was).

Unfortunately, the problem persists.

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re: printer setup
Mar 1, 2010 9:31AM PST

Time to reset the printing system:

Open System Preferences -> Print & Fax.

Hold down the Control key as you click in the list at the left, and choose ?Reset printing system? from the menu that appears.

Add other printers you use.

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connecting to a share
Mar 1, 2010 9:43AM PST

your mac is trying to mount a share (connect to a server) for some reason. Perhaps open the Console in Applications/Utilities/Console and have a look for messages there while you press print.

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Printer reset
Mar 2, 2010 12:44AM PST

I reset the printing system, re-added all of the printers (unshared), but the problem persists.

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re: Printer failure
Mar 2, 2010 4:01AM PST

I agree with a previous poster that it is a network issue but have no idea what. I struggle with my own network, which is somewhat different from yours - I have my printers connected to the Airport via ethernet.

Can you change the printer driver to Generic PS rather than the one currently set?

Sorry but I think I have run out of ideas to resolve this.

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Bizarre Network Printing
Mar 5, 2010 10:59PM PST

I install large (60ppm and higher) multi-function machines to networks and I just saw this on a Snow machine at a graphics house when trying to install a Creo print server ($40K+ for the Creo alone) there to a Konica Minolta C6501.

I had to remove all printers, go out and remove all of the PPDs for the devices, shutdown, go in as the administrator of the machine and reinstall the Creo as an LPR device, shared it and it worked. When I logged back in as the user the Creo showed up and was happy after I added all of the finishing options to it, fold, staple. binding, trimming et al.

I never, repeat never use the embedded drivers/ppd's. I jump to manufactures web site and grab the latest and greatest (also a problem sometimes) or the CD/DVD supplied with the device.

It's worth a try, my Creo was exhibiting the same issues after I installed the Creo the first time saying the server wasn't available, cannot connect to the server and the server is no longer a valid device on the network.

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Printer drivers
Mar 8, 2010 12:28AM PST

If it's a driver issue, why does the problem occur in one of my user accounts but not the other?

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One one but but not the other?
Mar 8, 2010 12:56AM PST

Is that on the same machine?

If it is, then delete the offending account, after creating a new one and testing that it works correctly


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(NT) Correction: On one but not on the other account?
Mar 8, 2010 4:46AM PST
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I have same problem- any solutions?
May 3, 2012 10:17PM PDT

Did you ever get this problem resolved? I've suffered through the exact same thing. Everytime I want to print to PDF, I get a lag and it says it can't connect to my G5 server. That is the old Mac that I used, and I did transfer my accounts from that machine to this one, so I think it's the same issue, but no luck uninstalling any printers and re-installing.

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Do you have the same symptoms?
May 4, 2012 1:38AM PDT

Works with one account but not on another?

The fix is to delete the offending account and make a new one for that user

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