A ready printer appears offline and still prints (Windows Server 2003 SP2)

  • Thread starter Thread starter Bruce Lautenschlager
  • Start date Start date
B

Bruce Lautenschlager

I have a Windows Server 2003 Standard R2/SP2 that I use as a dedicated print
server. I have about 300 printers defined on it. Every thing works pretty
well for the most part. Most of my printers are HP LJ 4000, 4050, 4100,
4250, and above. About a third on Intel NetPorts, the rest on relatively new
single port HP JetDirects (J3263A).

I have one printer (and HP LJ 4250) on an HP JetDirect where the queue
status in the Print Management console always shows as Offline. Yet I can
print to it just fine - jobs don't backup at all.

If I browse to the JetDirect, it correctly reports the printer model and
other information (like display panel), and it shows the printer status as
online.

So why does Windows think it's offline (and yet prints to it quite fine?). I
probably have 40 or 50 other setups exactly like it (same model JetDirect,
HP LJ4250, even a genuine HP printer cable) that work just fine.

I tried deleting and recreating the printer port. Same result. And no, SNMP
is not enabled on the TCP/IP port I defined.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance,
Bruce Lautenschlager
 
In case anyone was interested, I created a test printer using the same port
(and other properties), and it showed the queue status correctly. So I
deleted the printer having the problem displaying the queue status and
recreated it with the same name, and now it performs normally.

Bruce
 
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