Priting takes VERY long to commence on network printer

bhvm · 05 Feb 2012

Hello everyone!
I am running windows 7 Enterprise on my office laptops.
They are connected to our lan via CAT 6 cables and a 100 Mb/s Switch. One of our central laptop has our printer connected via USB port.
Printer model- Canon LBP 2900B
LASER SHOT LBP2900B - Canon India - Personal

Now the problem is, Whenever we send a print command via any of the networked machines, it takes Loooonnggg 2~3 minutes to start printing... The printing speed is normal once it starts, but "Commencement" lag is annoying.
However, the printing starts instantaneously on the machine to which the printer is physically connected.
The LAN is pretty healthy and gives consistent data speeds of 11~12 MB/s

I have already performed these steps on ALL machines=
1>Uninstall and re-install printer drivers
2>Update anti-Virus and Run total scans
3>Run defragment on HDDs
4>Ran a Scan disk for HDDs

Kindly help me out.
Have a nice day!

profdlp · 05 Feb 2012

Is the laptop the printer connected to in constant use? The reason I ask is that if the hard drive is set to spin down or the entire machine is sleeping or hibernating you'll have to wait for it to wake up before it gets going.

If you send a print job and then immediately send a second print job as soon as the first one starts to print does the lag disappear?

bhvm · 05 Feb 2012

Thanks for the super speedy reply, The Laptop to which printer is connected is under light, but constant use (Accounting)
HDD spin down is disabled. But I don't think spin down could be the issue as the lag is pretty constant throughout the use... for each and every print.
Thank you.

profdlp · 05 Feb 2012

Have you checked your print spooler setting on both the laptop and the other computers? Is the print spooler service set to start automatically with Windows, and not manually as-needed? Where is the print job being spooled, on the laptop or on each individual computer. Whatever these setting are, I would experiment by trying the opposite of whatever they are set at now.

Does Canon have some sort of print manager software running?

Sorry to just toss these out at random - they are just some of the areas I would check if I had this problem. :)

bhvm · 05 Feb 2012

Thanks for the reply.
The print spooler is running auto.( all machines)
Cannon has some special print mangement window (Shows process as CNAB4.exe or something, will check and tell)
Its running on all the machines just as intended. I don't like that pesky tool, but it is somehow inbuilt with the drivers.
I have also enabled "Render spool jobs on client computers" to keep the server from being overloaded with spool.

P.S,
I looked up the google and slow 'commencement' of prints has been encountered by others too, no concrete solution found tough. I happens with any version of Win 7, any Printer and any Configuration of Laptop/PC

profdlp · 05 Feb 2012

My setup is similar to yours, and while it takes a few seconds to start the print job it is nowhere near as long as what you are describing. In my case, it has to wake up and warm up the printer, after which it's off to the races.

I would set the spooler to use the laptop (at both ends) and see if that makes a difference.

bhvm · 05 Feb 2012

Thanks for the input, I will tinker around more and report back. Have a nice day.

dleannah · 26 Jun 2012

Did you ever figure out what the Canon printer connection problem was? I have the same issue.

bhvm · 27 Jun 2012

dleannah said:

Did you ever figure out what the Canon printer connection problem was? I have the same issue.

Nope,
Moved that particular Printer to a Non-Network location.
Buyed Epson for the replacement. I'm happy now.