Solved Router connected network printer wont print anymore

[Manlio]

For years I had never problems to print using a network printer attached to USB print server port of an US Robotics router. My home network has two Win 7 PC and two XP, all from Dell. Few days ago only the Windows 7 computers send printings to spooler queue where they get stuck. I worked several days on this argument, doing many attempts.
I have investigated installation problems so as permissions, spooler, firewall and antivirus, drivers (latest available), system files corruption or similar problems etc., without any good result.
If I move the printer to Windows 7 computers local USB, the printer installs immediately and prints.
The network is OK (fixed IPs) and I had no problems on sharing folders etc on W7 and XP computers.
I googled every possible discussion, so as on Microsoft and Dell forums, no success. I am not a newbie on IT stuff but I am unable to understand why, suddenly the W7 computers are unable to address the printer. Its network address is fixed by the router (192.168.1.1:1631/printers/Samsung) and has been so for years.
Thanks for your time

 

[SandeepP]

For years I had never problems to print using a network printer attached to USB print server port of an US Robotics router. My home network has two Win 7 PC and two XP, all from Dell. Few days ago only the Windows 7 computers send printings to spooler queue where they get stuck. I worked several days on this argument, doing many attempts.
I have investigated installation problems so as permissions, spooler, firewall and antivirus, drivers (latest available), system files corruption or similar problems etc., without any good result.
If I move the printer to Windows 7 computers local USB, the printer installs immediately and prints.
The network is OK (fixed IPs) and I had no problems on sharing folders etc on W7 and XP computers.
I googled every possible discussion, so as on Microsoft and Dell forums, no success. I am not a newbie on IT stuff but I am unable to understand why, suddenly the W7 computers are unable to address the printer. Its network address is fixed by the router (192.168.1.1:1631/printers/Samsung) and has been so for years.
Thanks for your time

Hi Manlio,

Welcome to Seven forums.

Please let us know which printer model is the one you are using over network. Also, let us know the if you are able to printer wirelessly from the XP system.

Check this link below to reset the spooler service which should help you resolve this issue:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/89483-print-spooler-queue-clear-reset.html

Keep us posted with the results so we can advise you further.

 

[Manlio]

...
Please let us know which printer model is the one you are using over network.
..

## if you give a look to my message you'll find it: " Samsung" (model ML1510 laser b/w)

..
Also, let us know the if you are able to printer wirelessly from the XP system
..
## if you give a look to my message you'll realize : " only the Windows 7 computers send printings to spooler queue where they get stuck " : i.e. the XP computers print regularly.

..
Check this link below to reset the spooler service
..

## I have full control on print spooler, I can start and stop and clean .. This is not a problem neither a solution.

I am on this failure from several DAYS, I am very familiar with software and computers, therefore I ask for your very considered opinion as this problem is hard to be solved.

Thanks for your time.
Manlio

 

[SandeepP]

Hi Manlio,

Thanks for your reply.

## if you give a look to my message you'll find it: " Samsung" (model ML1510 laser b/w)

. With all due I asked this question as you did not mention the model number for the printer when the post is about unable to print.

## if you give a look to my message you'll realize : " only the Windows 7 computers send printings to spooler queue where they get stuck " : i.e. the XP computers print regularly.

.

You had two computers running on XP and it was mandatory to know if they are working correctly or not as they decide the course of troubleshooting.

## I have full control on print spooler, I can start and stop and clean .. This is not a problem neither a solution.

In the initial post it was mentioned that documents are getting stuck in the que and resetting and cleaning the que was the most logical and first step to try to resolve this issue.

If you are getting any error while trying to print and then let us know. Also, if the control panel ensure that wireless printer is set as default printer.

Please remove the printer completly from the system using Revo Uninstaller and then restart the system. Install the printer again first as USB printer and then as a wireless printer. Once installed mark the wireless printer as default and let us know what happens you give a test page printout.

If you have any firewalls installed on the system it would be advisable to disable them for diagnosis purpose and check the printer.

Getting restless about an issue doesn't help, sometimes most complex problems have simple and obvious resolutions that we often skip them.

Keep us posted with the results so we can advise you further.

 

[Manlio]

Let's rewind all:
The printer is a printer wired to the router.Installed US Robotics is a wired router with 4 ethernet inputs and one USB output for the network printer. The router includes a printer server into its body: then the printer is connected there. The address of the printer is provided by the configuration of the router and is (according to fixed IP of my Homenetwork) :
http://192.168.1.1:1631/printers/Samsung
The network: it is formed by 4 computers, all from DELL, the main one is an Optiplex 980 WIRED to the Router. The Others are laptop WiFi connected to the network by means of an AP (wired to the router) or by an Extender.
The failure:
After years of regular working, the Optiplex (wired to the net) and one of the laptops (WiFi connected to the net) were unable to print. No errors warning, just printings stuck in the spooler. After a while I clean the spooler without any other result. This happened just one day, without any significative action, on my side. The only possibilities are: effect of a virus or effect of a system upgrade.
Important note: Both the computers showing print problems are Windows 7 (one 64 n, the other 32 b). The remaining computers, connected WiFi are both XP, and they print regularly to the network printer (hanged to the router)
As you may understand the connection type is no-matter.
Your suggested operations have been already done without any result. The Computers not-printing , if get the print installed as local/USB, install it immediately and print regularly.

On my opinion the problem is around the suddenly occurred problem from Window 7 computers to be unable to open the print server port.

One comment :
"..Getting restless about an issue doesn't help, sometimes most complex problems have simple and obvious resolutions that we often skip them..." makes me smile !
I am a 77 years old retired engineer and I spent my life in semiconductors, application software and electronics consumer product design. This problem is one of the most difficult I met. I have googled around to understand if a virus or a malware is up in these moments, whose caracteristics is to readdressing TCP/IP targets, but I found nothing. I have very little habit to browse Sites, therefore I can count on one hand the number of viruses got. Of course I have good programs to scan for, and I found nothing. The network is OK I checked, with tools, (from Cisco and Others) for troubles, but no result. The port 1631 exist and it results closed at the scanner.
Now I am working to find the way to force the port to open.
That's all for the moment.
I appreciate very much you are giving your time to this problem.
Please fly slow-rise !
Manlio

 

[SandeepP]

Let's rewind all:
The printer is a printer wired to the router.Installed US Robotics is a wired router with 4 ethernet inputs and one USB output for the network printer. The router includes a printer server into its body: then the printer is connected there. The address of the printer is provided by the configuration of the router and is (according to fixed IP of my Homenetwork) :
http://192.168.1.1:1631/printers/Samsung
The network: it is formed by 4 computers, all from DELL, the main one is an Optiplex 980 WIRED to the Router. The Others are laptop WiFi connected to the network by means of an AP (wired to the router) or by an Extender.
The failure:
After years of regular working, the Optiplex (wired to the net) and one of the laptops (WiFi connected to the net) were unable to print. No errors warning, just printings stuck in the spooler. After a while I clean the spooler without any other result. This happened just one day, without any significative action, on my side. The only possibilities are: effect of a virus or effect of a system upgrade.
Important note: Both the computers showing print problems are Windows 7 (one 64 n, the other 32 b). The remaining computers, connected WiFi are both XP, and they print regularly to the network printer (hanged to the router)
As you may understand the connection type is no-matter.
Your suggested operations have been already done without any result. The Computers not-printing , if get the print installed as local/USB, install it immediately and print regularly.

On my opinion the problem is around the suddenly occurred problem from Window 7 computers to be unable to open the print server port.

One comment :
"..Getting restless about an issue doesn't help, sometimes most complex problems have simple and obvious resolutions that we often skip them..." makes me smile !
I am a 77 years old retired engineer and I spent my life in semiconductors, application software and electronics consumer product design. This problem is one of the most difficult I met. I have googled around to understand if a virus or a malware is up in these moments, whose caracteristics is to readdressing TCP/IP targets, but I found nothing. I have very little habit to browse Sites, therefore I can count on one hand the number of viruses got. Of course I have good programs to scan for, and I found nothing. The network is OK I checked, with tools, (from Cisco and Others) for troubles, but no result. The port 1631 exist and it results closed at the scanner.
Now I am working to find the way to force the port to open.
That's all for the moment.
I appreciate very much you are giving your time to this problem.
Please fly slow-rise !
Manlio

Hi Manlio,

Thanks for your reply. We appreciate you providing the detailed explanation of the issue.

As both the systems which are affected are working on Windows 7 and XP system works fine first thing that indicates could be a cause due to any recent updates.

Have you tried system restore on the both the system and check if you are able to print:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/700-system-restore.html

Also, as XP system is printing fine to the hard-wired network printer as well then your printer is online and working correctly. I believe we need to find a cause on the system itself.

Is there a separate IP address assigned to your Network Printer and can you try to ping it and let us know if it was successful.

Kindly post a screenshot of your control panel>printers and let us know what all printers are installed there:

http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/9733-screenshots-files-upload-post-seven-forums.html

Keep us posted with the results so we can advise you further.

 

[Manlio]

Hi,
thanks for continuing to follow my troubles !
For what system restore is concerned, it has been the first action I did on the Optiplex, when I realized the problem was not easy to be solved. Of course I have not got any good result. Of course I have also run sfc. I have not done any system restore on the 32 B Windows 7 computer .
The network printer has no IP address, according to the US Robotics router configuration. The router is the gateway of the net and it assigned to its USB printer only gate the address I wrote in my previous email.
I did also another test with a different printer (Epson), temporarily installed as network printer, and I got the same result. I had no way to ping the printer, but this was also not possible during past time, when the printer worked with no problem. I checked the assigned port (1631) and it resulted closed.
I have no problems to send you a screenshot of the printers status, but I like to inform you of two points:
1) During the days of test I did also a full uninstall of all drivers and printers and installed ONLY the Samsung (testing also three different drivers).
2) Except for the Epson, the configuration is exactly the same that worked for years.
Thank you very much for your attention. At the moment is the only reason that keep me on this problem. I am really void minded ..
All the best
Manlio

 

[SandeepP]

Hi Manlio,

Thanks for providing us this information. When you installed the EPSON printer on the USB port of the router did the printing worked correctly on all the systems?

Also, I believe it would be better if you delete the Samsung printer listed in devices and use the add printer wizard to manually add the printer again:

http://www.sevenforums.com/network-sharing/7527-networking-printer-attached-win-xp-pc-win-7-a.html

Keep us posted with the results so we can advise you further.

 

[Manlio]

Hi,
Epson had absolutely the same performance of Samsung. No printings from Win 7 and regular Printing form XP. The uninstall of printers and reinstall has been done many times, without any different result. I made also an accurate cleaning of port, drivers and registry data and after new installation, more then one time. The result is Always the same. Please, don't under-estimate test and test I did ... simple operation as manually uninstall and install are basically. I would never approach a forum without having a background of tests already carried on.
Thanks for your time

 

[Manlio]

As we were not able to understand why Windows 7, suddenly, became unable to address the US Robotics print server on the Intranet, I purchased an external Print Server, having a direct addressing IP, and solved the problem. May be one day I will discover why ..

 

[SandeepP]

As we were not able to understand why Windows 7, suddenly, became unable to address the US Robotics print server on the Intranet, I purchased an external Print Server, having a direct addressing IP, and solved the problem. May be one day I will discover why ..

Hi Manlio,

Apologies for the delayed reply as I was not available. Its great to know that workaround of using external print server worked for you.

It seems that old router is unable to assign correct IP address or ports to the Windows 7 based systems.

However, I asked one of other members as well to check this post maybe they would be able to provide any information that could lead to source of the issue.

 

[Manlio]

Despite I had practically solved the problem with the external print server, as I was in a "game" with Windows 7, I continued to play and found a way to reuse the old router, by changing the approach to configure the printer address.
Instead of putting the printer address as a TCP/IP data (therefore in the appropriate edit window for "printer address" ), I put it as a string in the edit window for "printer Name". The text was exactly the same, but the entry location was different. Doing this Windows 7 was able to recognize the printer. Of course the configurations on the XP computers remained as before. Why of the above ? It's upto you if you like to find it out.
Thanks Manlio