Printer remains offline.

[Novalee]

Printer claims to be offline, I cannot ping it.

 

Have tried different network point, cables etc all to no avail. The green light on the network card remains on whilst connected - no orange light and no flashing light.

 

Is it likely the network card has failed? Or is there something else I can try first?

[mavhc]

If the normal lights don't come on when a known working cable is connected to a known working network point, it's most likely, could try to find how how to do a full reset of the card/printer as a start.

[witch]

When you say you cannot ping it - are you sure it is on the IP address you think it is? I'm probably off base here but ours are on reserved IPs but sometimes people fiddle with the buttons and change the IP?

Just a thought

[MatthewL]

Make and model of printer?

 

Sometimes the port can be disabled via the machine but look as if it is still active, a make and model would help narrow it down.

[Novalee]

Just off to check that now - good idea.

[Novalee]

When you say you cannot ping it - are you sure it is on the IP address you think it is? I'm probably off base here but ours are on reserved IPs but sometimes people fiddle with the buttons and change the IP?

Just a thought

Thanks Witch - it had leapt off it's IP address - little monkey.

[witch]

Ohhhhhh

I got something right

That's made my day - and given that so far I have had an AWFUL day - that's SO wonderful

[Novalee]

Ohhhhhh

I got something right

That's made my day - and given that so far I have had an AWFUL day - that's SO wonderful

 

Aw I am glad to have cheered you up! There is still the afternoon, hopefully the day will get better! x

[Novalee]

Ohhhhhh

I got something right

That's made my day - and given that so far I have had an AWFUL day - that's SO wonderful

 

Sorry to do this Witch, but it's done it again!

 

IP address has stayed the same luckily, but printer remains offline with green light on network card - not flashing and no orange.

 

Any more ideas?

[witch]

Yeah, but I did get it right the first time. Ok, so the IP is the same - does that apply to the gateway as well? We had one changed and not the other last week

[fiza]

Have you checked that your printer on the print server actually points to the right physical printer? If you look at port settings of the printer does it have the correct details under the "Printer name or IP Address" property?

[mac_shinobi]

What Server OS exactly ?

 

What Printer make and model ?

 

What Printer Driver are you using ie PCL 5, PCL 6, Post Script etc , Universal or another driver ?

 

The IP Address you are using is it a statically / manually assigned ip address that you are using / DHCP Reservation or just relying solely on DHCP ?

 

Does the printer have the option to use or have the option for Hostname ( So you can add the printer using its hostname ) which DNS Can then resolve to the correct ip address regardless of what ip address DHCP assigns said printer ?

 

Also the online / offline button on the printer - presume this has been left online and has not been mucked about with ( assuming it has a button to toggle online and offline status ) ?

 

Only other thing I can think of which relates to server 2003 was the SNMP Status tick box needed to be cleared / un checked : The print queue status is displayed as "Offline" on a Windows Server 2003-based print server if SNMP is enabled and if the printer devices do not respond to SNMP commands

 

To work around this problem, disable SNMP on the printer port. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Printers and Faxes.
   
2. Right-click the printer, and then click Properties.
   
3. Click the Ports tab.
   
4. Click Configure Port.
   
5. Click to clear the SNMP Status Enabled check box, click OK, and then click Close.
   

 

You could also try disabling advanced features under printer properties temporarily to see if this helps at all ? If so then it may be one of the other advanced features that is maybe causing issues ?

Edited October 7, 2013 by mac_shinobi

[Novalee]

What Server OS exactly ?

 

What Printer make and model ?

 

What Printer Driver are you using ie PCL 5, PCL 6, Post Script etc , Universal or another driver ?

 

The IP Address you are using is it a statically / manually assigned ip address that you are using / DHCP Reservation or just relying solely on DHCP ?

 

Does the printer have the option to use or have the option for Hostname ( So you can add the printer using its hostname ) which DNS Can then resolve to the correct ip address regardless of what ip address DHCP assigns said printer ?

 

Also the online / offline button on the printer - presume this has been left online and has not been mucked about with ( assuming it has a button to toggle online and offline status ) ?

 

Only other thing I can think of which relates to server 2003 was the SNMP Status tick box needed to be cleared / un checked : The print queue status is displayed as "Offline" on a Windows Server 2003-based print server if SNMP is enabled and if the printer devices do not respond to SNMP commands

 

 

 

You could also try disabling advanced features under printer properties temporarily to see if this helps at all ? If so then it may be one of the other advanced features that is maybe causing issues ?

 

Thank you Mac! The quote you wrote about the clearing the SNMP Status seems to have worked. What is that exactly, just so I fully understand, as our other printers all have this checked and they seem to work correctly.

[mac_shinobi]

Simple Network Management Protocol - I think that MS Knowledge Base Explains it but I will try ( although I could be wrong )

 

I think the versions of SNMP that the devices use and the Server OS uses are different , that or it does not work correctly and so the Server thinks that the printer is offline as it does not respond in the way the Server OS expects it to so it then shows the Printer as being offline.

 

Maybe @Arthur, @fiza, @witch or someone else could explain it better or give the correct answer in regards to why it does that or why it falls over on that ?

[Novalee]

Huh - spoke too soon.

 

Showing as 'error' now - can ping it still, and get a reply - have checked it is on the right IP address - DNS etc. seem normal.

 

Still; no flashing lights on the network card though which is what is confusing me - it's a HP 1320 so no options on the printer really.

 

Cannot add it as a new printer anywhere - it can't be found...

 

tempted to uninstall it and re-do it from scratch - likely to help or just a waste of time?

 

Thank you for that Mac, it is always handy to know why I am doing things rather than just doing them!

[mac_shinobi]

Robin's Blog » How to: Fix a network printer suddenly showing as offline in Windows Vista

 

Presume similar on windows 7 - don't HP have a tool / utility to install it as a network printer and find it via its mac address using a protocol of some description ?

 

Also are you able to check via the printers menu buttons to see what ip address / subnet mask etc it is on or has now ?

[mac_shinobi]

When printing - using a RAW port or LPR ? Also I think that HP Util may allow you to add a custom HP Printer Port ( not sure if that will help at all )

[Novalee]

When printing - using a RAW port or LPR ? Also I think that HP Util may allow you to add a custom HP Printer Port ( not sure if that will help at all )

 

This seems to be it - there was a custom port as well as the standard IP port and they seemed to be conflicting with the old printer from that room - so have deleted all, reinstalled and hunky dory now!

 

Thanks for all the help!