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Re: Canon ImageCLASS Color Lasers won't print

Cross-posted to 2 groups.

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I'm trying to keep attributions straight, but without a script to do it,
I am nearing my limit.

On 2025-12-13, Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> wrote:
>> NS> So it's failing for all systems, despite having been triggered by the
>> NS> Windows 11 update?

>> NS> Is it feasible to try to use it without Windows 11 just to see if the
>> NS> problem re-appears?

On 2025-12-14, Lars Poulsen wrote:
LP>> You ask a set of very good questions.
LP>> Troubleshooting is very much complicated by the intermittent qualities
LP>> of the problems. But each of the clients has issues that are mystifying.
LP>>
LP>> If the problem is client-side, you would expect that some client that
LP>> shares no code with the others would behave better. For this, I have
LP>> been experimenting with the iPhone clients: iOS AirPrint and Canon Print
LP>> for iPhone. When I tried that yesterday, the iOS "share" function did
LP>> not work: It lets me select the printer, then seemingly accepts the
LP>> printout, but nothing prints, and when I try again, the Canon is no
LP>> longer a selectable printer. But the Canon Print app works.

On 2025-12-14, Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> wrote:
NS> To make matters more complicated, there's always the chance one driver
NS> is confusing the device to the extent another driver cannot use it.

For a while, my hypothesis was that the driver did not clear the
connection at the end of the print job. With a single-threaded
file-receive process in the printer, that would give almost these
results. But that is too simple an explanation, and if that were so,
powercycling the printer should clear it. It does not - reliably clear
it.

NS> Also, I suppose it's always possible this is caused by something in the
NS> driver that interacts with the printer even when it's not printing
NS> (e.g. some status query?), and so it's always possible such a Windows 11
NS> system with the printer configured, but not in use, is enough to confuse
NS> the printer.
NS>
NS> (The joys of troubleshooting!)

LP>> The Windows and Linux dvers have the same name, so they may have some
LP>> code shared.

>> NS> Can any of the other systems be used as a printer server 24/7 (or at
>> NS> least when needed) to avoid printing directly from Windows 11?

LP>> That is why the Linux system is in the mix. If it worked reliably, I
LP>> would have everybody else go through it. But it flakes out similarly to
LP>> the Windows systems. And Canon explicitly disclaims support for the
LP>> Linux driver, which is supplied "as a courtesy", but cannot be supported
LP>> due to the great variety of Linux distributions.

NS> They're just making excuses. The same could be said of Windows, for
NS> example, at least as soon as you venture out of making just a driver,
NS> and start adding tools around it?
NS>
NS> Was the Linux driver also updated meanwhile, or it used to work before
NS> with no related software change in between?

The Linux driver used to be quite reliable, but starting about a year
ago it became flaky, and I just told my users to use the direct spooler
on their Windows and Mac systems. So that may have been when the current
Linux driver came in with a Fedora version upgrade.

NS> As much as I'd prefer Ethernet with 8P8C (or perhaps Wireless LAN as a
NS> fallback) as opposed to a connection to a computer, does the printer
NS> have that as an option you can use with the Linux system, connecting it
NS> directly to that computer over e.g. USB?

The printer can connect via USB, Ethernet or WiFi, but only one at a
time. (Unlike my Epson inkjet at home.) And the Linux server system is 
at the opposite end of our office suite. And iOS AirPrint does not work
if the printer is not using WiFi.

NS> That way, it'd perhaps allow testing in a scenario where it'd be harder
NS> for other drivers to confuse the printer. (On top of that, for this you
NS> may want to temporarily try a Postscript driver when printing via IPP to
NS> CUPS from Windows, just in case there's also something in the generated
NS> printer content from the driver that is causing trouble.)

That is a good suggestion, but a PosstScript driver needs a PPD
(PostScript Printer Definition) file for the printer, and I can't find
one for the newer Canon printers.

>> NS> Another one: does the Windows 11 Canon driver have any configuration
>> NS> options?

LP>> Not that I have found. You run the self-extracting install-kit, then
LP>> configure it with "Add Printer". Choice of letting Windows search for
LP>> it and auto configure it, or manually set it up as "IPP", "HTTP" or use
LP>> a designated TCP port. I have tried most variations there, but MS's
LP>> attempts to make it user friendly makes it hard to figure out what goes
LP>> wrong, when the setup times out, either in querying the printer for
LP>> information or when sending a test page.
>
NS> I'm thinking of stuff that'd be available both in printer settings (for
NS> defaults) and in advanced settings when printing.
NS>
NS> For example, "MS Publisher Color Printer" (available at least in NT
NS> 6.1), one of the Postscript drivers available with Windows, has a small
NS> number of Postscript options in the advanced settings.
NS>
NS> See [1] for screenshots of this, albeit these seem to be for a HP
NS> Laserjet driver. (Also, the first screenshot in that section shows
NS> another place where there might be settings?)
NS>
NS> [1] http://pig.made-it.com/printing.html#4936

Yes there used to be a "Generic Color PS Printer" available for Windows
in both the HP and MicroSoft section of Windows printer installation,
but I do not see them anymore.

NS> No idea whether the Canon driver has anything like this, but it's worth
NS> checking it out, in case there's some option that could improve
NS> compatibility.

That is why I was exloring the idea of a non-Canon Postscript driver.

I have until the end of January to return the printer to BestBuy.
I am still hoping that I am overlooking something obvious because
of my feeling of panic.

The alternative is to get a different brand of printer in the
same class - rated for 4000 pages per month. I am trying to stick with
Canon beacuse of a proven solid mechanical build quality (very few paper
jams).
I have been turned off by HP's forced subscription options, and swore
that I would never buy another one.
There is an Epson in a similar range (albeit a couple hundred dollars
more), but user reviews are very mixed.

What else is there? I have heard very good things about Kyocera's
high-end systems, but I have never seen their mid-range units in
the wild. Ricoh used to be OK, but I have not seen them in years.

There is a Xerox C325, but I also do not see that in stores.

-- 
Lars Poulsen - an old geek in Santa Barbara, California

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Thread

Canon ImageCLASS Color Lasers won't print Lars Poulsen <lars@beagle-ears.com> - 2025-12-09 15:00 +0000
  Re: Canon ImageCLASS Color Lasers won't print Lars Poulsen <lars@beagle-ears.com> - 2025-12-11 00:54 +0000
  Re: Canon ImageCLASS Color Lasers won't print Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2025-12-13 10:06 +0000
    Re: Canon ImageCLASS Color Lasers won't print Lars Poulsen <lars@beagle-ears.com> - 2025-12-14 03:40 +0000
      Re: Canon ImageCLASS Color Lasers won't print Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2025-12-14 11:22 +0000
        Re: Canon ImageCLASS Color Lasers won't print Lars Poulsen <lars@beagle-ears.com> - 2025-12-14 13:46 +0000
          Re: Canon ImageCLASS Color Lasers won't print Nuno Silva <nunojsilva@invalid.invalid> - 2025-12-15 01:00 +0000
            Re: Canon ImageCLASS Color Lasers won't print Lars Poulsen <lars@beagle-ears.com> - 2025-12-24 03:32 +0000

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