Ah, printers! This is one area of computing that technicians don't appreciate. And yet, it's relatively easy to troubleshoot a printer. You just need to follow a simple methodology.
There are three main causes of printer problems. Once the problem is identified, it becomes much easier to pinpoint the source of the problem and correct it.
Application problem
An application problem refers to anything related to the device that initiates the printing, whether it's a computer or a smartphone. The problem may stem from:
- From the document to be printed
- From the application launching the print
- From the client's print spooler
For example, if text doesn't print correctly in a PDF but images do, it's because the font is misinterpreted by the print driver. To fix this, simply set the PDF to print as an image. This will cause Adobe Acrobat to generate an image of the document and send it to the printer.
Another case encountered that may seem surprising is that the print job does not reach the printer (despite the previous 200 attempts). If the printer responds to the network, it means that it has connectivity. The problem often comes from the client's print spooler that is crashed, or that another network service is not running on the client's workstation.
The print server and the network
I place everything related to telecommunications and printer management servers in this category. The breakdowns are quite diverse, including:
- Faulty network cable
- Bad network configuration
- Bad drivers deployed on workstations
- No usage rights for workstations
Most outages in this category are often server-related. Network-related outages are a little less common. If a network is working, the only risk is that the printer's network cable is severed or faulty. On the other hand, if work has been done on the network firewalls, it is possible that the authorized ports/protocols are no longer authorized.
On the server side, we often encounter spooler failures or printer deployments that go wrong. Generally speaking, failures on print servers are not common, except following an update or human manipulation.
The printer itself
First of all, and this seems logical, the problem may come from the printer. We find in particular in this category:
- Paper jams
- Continuous lines or regular marks on the paper
- The crumpled leaves
If you see solid lines on the paper, it means there is a defect in a cartridge and/or the scanner glass. This often happens with scanners that have paper feeders. To fix it, simply clean the area where the paper is scanned, and you're good to go. This often happens after several years when paper particles accumulate on the glass, or when label glue gets stuck to the glass.
If the printer is jamming a lot of paper, you should check that the paper is not damp. Wet paper tends to stick together more easily and the printer may pick up 2 or 3 papers at once (which triggers an alert sensor). This can happen if the paper is stored in a damp place, such as a basement, for a long time.
Note that on laser printers there is a fuser that heats the paper and fuses it with the toner. Most of the time, when printing on label paper, labels tend to peel off and wrap around the fuser, causing print quality problems (recurring pattern or there is less toner for example). If you print labels, do not forget to set the correct paper size on the tray, otherwise you will have some big surprises.
To conclude
If you always keep in mind that there are these 3 areas, troubleshooting a printer will be much simpler and diagnosis greatly accelerated.
Remember to read the manufacturer's manual carefully the day you disassemble a printer, because a sensor can quickly be torn off or broken, and the printer will refuse to work because it will receive bad values (or even none at all).
