Difficult USB printing issue

Perry Johnson 1 Reputation point
2021-04-19T13:32:06.987+00:00

I have multiple computers of both laptop and workstation variety, that are experiencing the same sporadic issue. All computers are Windows 10, all are having the issue with USB connected label printers.

The issue is that instead of printing, jobs go in to the queue, and go to Printing, then restarting, then printing, without stopping. The cycle is so fast that either it looks like it's saying Printing but flickering, or it looks like it just is frozen on printing.

Restarting the print queue does nothing to solve it. Once in this state, the only way I've been able to get it back to working is with one or more OS restarts.
Reinstalling the printer does not fix it.

Several things can be ruled out as causes. It happens with more than one printer manufacturer and model. It does not follow the printer when moving it. It has struck versions 1903, 1909, 2004, and 20H2.

I can get the printer into this state by turning the printer off and on, or by disabling and re-enabling it.

I don't see any warnings or errors in the event viewer that have helped me find a solution.
This has been going on for months and I could really use some help trying to diagnose the issue and/or solve it.

My best idea now is that something is coming on at startup that isn't restarting when the USB connection is severed and joined. Maybe a specific memory location or something is allocated at startup.

Part of the issue are the event viewer logs not saying why the job is restarting.

I have more details on this if/when needed. Please, help me help myself.

Windows 10
Windows 10
A Microsoft operating system that runs on personal computers and tablets.
10,701 questions
0 comments

3 answers

Sort by: Most helpful
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Reza-Ameri 16,836 Reputation points
    2021-04-19T17:23:15.403+00:00

    Take a look at:
    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/fix-printer-connection-and-printing-problems-in-windows-10-fb830bff-7702-6349-33cd-9443fe987f73
    It contains issues for connection and printing problem (you may ignore the one related to the connection issue).
    You may open start and search for feedback and open the Feedback Hub app and report this issue.

    0 comments
  2. Perry Johnson 1 Reputation point
    2021-04-22T00:47:50.643+00:00

    Thank you, but none of those suggestions work and/or apply.

    I have found from the PrintService Operational events that as soon as a printer is turned off, there is a settings change logged. As soon as it is turned on again, another setting change occurs. After that the sequence of events in the event viewer is wrong.
    Once the printer is failing, there are two Spooling events taking place back to back and the events are out of order with the normal sequence of events. The failing events are always in the same order, so it isn't random.

    I need to know what is different for printer or USB initialization on an OS restart versus a device restart/replug.

    This is incredibly frustrating because all of the normal searches for information return the same suggestions as Reza-Ameri has suggested. It's actually amazing to me how many different sites all have the same print spooler restart information as though it's a secret fix or something.

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2021-05-10T14:08:15.71+00:00

    Hi,

    I am sorry. I'm still in a middle of this work. I will update it ASAP.

    0 comments