Reset Printer SOLVED

[mike acker]

My WF-4630ran ot of ink

now Debian claims the printer is "un-reachable". I replaced the empty ink ctg and restarted everything. The LMDE/2 system came back OK but my Debian 9.4 refuses to re-check and reset the printer

what's the command to get access to the printer control menu ?


it is: http://localhost:631/

i was able to delete the printer but now I cannot re-discover it. The LMDE/2 system recovered just fine so the printer is OK.

there must be a switch set in the config files someplace putting the printer as unavailable

interestingly the printer shows itself connected at 192.168.1.229 however this address does not appear on my WiFi router nor can I ping to it

[Bulkley]

You might find it easier to use system-config-printer which is a graphical interface with CUPS.

Troubleshooting a printer can be a nightmare because a problem can be in the printer, the computer or anywhere in between. How are you connected to the printer?

[mike acker]

Solution:

1. Explanation:
Printer had been dropped from the Device Table in the WiFi Router.

2. Resolution:
Printer was set to power-off while the router was power-cycled to re-boot it.
When the router became available again the printer was powered up and was assigned its usual spot in the router:
192.168.1.229

[Bulkley]

Problems with a printer can often be reduced by assigning a dns to it. In your case, enter 192.168.1.229 into your browser address space. You should see the printer's internal setup. Search around in there until you find the right place and enter 192.168.1.229. Doing this will prevent the router from randomly assigning a different dns.

[mike acker]

Problems with a printer can often be reduced by assigning a dns to it. In your case, enter 192.168.1.229 into your browser address space. You should see the printer's internal setup. Search around in there until you find the right place and enter 192.168.1.229. Doing this will prevent the router from randomly assigning a different dns.

thanks! I was looking for the means of doing this. in this particular instance the issue was that the router refused to make an entry for the printer: although I could display the ip address on the printer's control panel -- i could not ping to it. I had to power-cycle the router.

this leads me to a deeper question though: at times i just get disconnected from the router. so far it always re-connects. whether it's the router -- or my local client -- I don't know at this point.

if i monitor the router's control panel it will show certain guests connecting and disconnecting -- i'm not sure why

[Bulkley]

if i monitor the router's control panel it will show certain guests connecting and disconnecting -- i'm not sure why

Is there someone in your neighbourhood using your Wifi? Is your router password protected? If so, do you need to change the password?

Do you have anything strange like your refrigerator calling home?

[mike acker]

if i monitor the router's control panel it will show certain guests connecting and disconnecting -- i'm not sure why

Is there someone in your neighbourhood using your Wifi? Is your router password protected? If so, do you need to change the password?

Do you have anything strange like your refrigerator calling home?

Yes: the router is a recent ASUS Model RT-AC66R. I use WPA/AES encryption on it.

The guests that were connecting/disconnecting were all known to me. as of today I downloaded and installed the firmware update so perhaps this will improve things.

the nasty disconnecting bit defeated my efforts to use Samba: the machine I would want to connect to -- would often be disconnected by the WiFi

[Bulkley]

How are you configuring Wifi?

[mike acker]

How are you configuring Wifi?

I didn't do much to it: set a network password and WPA/AES

it is using DHCP; even so: devices seem to always get the same IP address.

today's problem seems to be related to the printer running out of the black ink ctg. when that happened the printer was reported as "unreachable". I was unable to get it reconnected until I rebooted the WiFi router.

I did download and install the firmware update for the router. While I'm not generally given to wagering I'm thinking the fix might be in the update. dunno.

[Bulkley]

How are you configuring Wifi?

I didn't do much to it: set a network password and WPA/AES

What I meant was, what are you using to configure Wifi? Network-Manager perhaps? NM is great when it works and a royal pain when it doesn't.

Are you using a desktop computer or laptop? For a desktop all you need is to configure /etc/network/interfaces. Go here and scroll down to wpa_supplicant. If you attempt this disable Network-Manager.

[mike acker]

How are you configuring Wifi?

I didn't do much to it: set a network password and WPA/AES

What I meant was, what are you using to configure Wifi? Network-Manager perhaps? NM is great when it works and a royal pain when it doesn't.

Are you using a desktop computer or laptop? For a desktop all you need is to configure /etc/network/interfaces. Go here and scroll down to wpa_supplicant. If you attempt this disable Network-Manager.

the machine -- I assembled myself. It's based on an ASUS M5A88-M MoBo and a WiFi Card:

Code: Select all

$ inxi -i
Network:   Card-1: Realtek RTL8188CE 802.11b/g/n WiFi Adapter
           driver: rtl8192ce
           IF: wlp2s0 state: up mac: 10:bf:48:fb:aa:5b
           Card-2: Realtek RTL8111/8168/8411 PCI Express Gigabit Ethernet Controller
           driver: r8169
           IF: enp4s0 state: down mac: 30:85:a9:ae:e8:1d
           WAN IP: 71.90.130.183 IF: wlp2s0 ip-v4: 192.168.1.228
           IF: enp4s0 ip-v4: N/A

Because the card is installed Debian offers a WiFi tool in the tray, at the lower right. this lets me select a Net to connect to.

the net is created when I connect the ASUS RT-AC66R Wireless Router to the cable modem. The router goes thru a quick set-up menu where I set the management password and WiFi encryption key. Everything else -- I left to default.

I can interrogate the device at 192.168.1.1 using the management logon and password and if i do i can review all the active connections. it presents a real-time window: i can see when connections are added or dropped.

all the connections are DHCP

now DHCP means the client asks for an IP address and the server hands one out. In this case it doesn't matter what address it assigns to ME -- but it does matter what address it assigns to the Network Printer: if the printer is given a different address it will invalidate the printer set up in this computer as well as the other 3 that share this net.

however: each device seems to always get the same IP assignment: I get 192.168.1.228 and the printer gets 192.168.1.229

without knowing I suspect the router firmware checks the MAC address, and if possible, re-assigns the earlier IP when a device re-connects.

to get away from the DHCP I think it becomes necessary to manually assign the IP in both ends of the connection

I had been attempting to use SAMBA earlier. I received some very good help in attempting to diagnose intermittent failures. Using PING we discovered that when the device I wanted to connect failed -- I couldn't PING to it, either. we traced it back to this DHCP business: the router ( or the client ) just disconnects, apparently after some sort of timeout interval.

don't i remember vaguely that there is a "keep alive" setting someplace ??

+

normally I've not had any trouble with the printer dropping out. This PMR notes however that the problem began when the BK ink ctg. ran out. The printer was then reported as "un-reachable". even after the ink ctg. was replaced the printer would not re-connect. I had to reboot the WiFi router. while at it I downloaded and allowed the router to complete a firmware update. This, as it seems to be customary for support personnel to request software updates as the first step in working any PMR.