Printer shows ready, but it is really offline

Question

All of our print servers (which are running on Windows 2019) have printers that are offline but showing ready on the print server(s). In all cases, the printer port associated with the print queue cannot be pinged and the network management page for the printer is also inaccessible. It also doesn't seem to matter if the SNMP status enabled box is checked or not, as it does not change the status of the printer.

I know that in most cases, the issue is a printer showing offline, when it isn't. Our issue is the reverse of that.

Has anyone seen this issue? What is the fix for it?

Thanks,

Leo

Answer 1

Hello LeoSKSD

We could narrow down this issue first:

• Can you access its web interface from a web browser using its IP address? Or ping the IP address of a printer from the Windows Server 2019 machine.
• Send a test print job to the printer queue for one printer. Check if it goes through successfully or gets stuck. If it gets stuck, there might be a problem with the print spooler or printer drivers.
• Have you tried restarting the Windows Server itself?
• Check the Windows Event Viewer logs for any error messages related to the print server.
• Are there any firewall rules or security software on the print server that could block the printers?

Thanks,

Karlie

Answer 2

Thanks for a reply, Karlie.

The printer's management page cannot be accessed, the printer's port cannot be pinged, and a test page cannot be printed (if we try this the printer goes into an error state),

The print spooler has been restarted numerous times, as well as the server. We doublechecked the firewall policy on the printer servers and even tried disabling the firewall, but there was no change in printer status. What is strange, is that some printers act normally and communicate with the print server. For example, if the SNMP community string is changed for the SNMP status configuration for the port, the printer will do offline, until that is corrected.

There is nothing in the event logs indicating that there is an issue with these printers.

Thanks,

Leo

Answer 3

Hi Leo,

As I understand, SNMP is like a communication language that helps devices, like printers and computers, talk to each other and share information about their status and health. If the string is incorrect or doesn't match, it can lead to communication issues.

Answer 4

Karlie, I understand that and that was not my point. What I am saying is that in this situation, a printer which cannot be pinged or its management interface accessed, does not seem to be functioning correctly in regards to SNMP communication with the print server. On the printers that are checking in correctly with the print server, it uses the SNMP community string correctly to report its status.

I am not sure what to make of this issue, nor how to solve it.

Thanks,

Leo

Answer 5

Hi Leo

I apologize, but I've run out of ideas. We've already tried all the basic troubleshooting steps. It might be helpful to use a network packet capture tool like Wireshark to look at network traffic between the print server and printers, or try Process Monitor to identify any issues with the print spooler or printer drivers.