-: In this lesson,
we're going to talk about printer connectivity issues.
Now, when we talk about printer connectivity issues,
this can take two different forms.
One, is your operating system is not detecting
a locally attached printer,
such as one connected by USB.
And the other,
is when you're having network connectivity issues
and the printer is not being found across the network.
Let's take a look at both of these.
First, let's talk about a locally connected printer,
one that is connected using something like a USB cable.
Now, if you have your printer connected directly using USB,
your operating system should be able to detect it.
But, if it isn't, you need to ensure
that you verify the printer is switched on and is online.
Now, when I talk about it being online,
I don't mean that it's connected to your network.
But instead, each printer has an online or offline status.
If the printer is in an offline status,
it will refuse to accept print jobs
and it can sometimes not be seen by your operating system.
On most printers, there is a control panel
on the front of the device,
and often there is a button
that will set the printer to online or offline mode
by simply pushing it on that control panel.
If you need to figure this out on your particular model,
I recommend looking at your manufacturer's documentation
for your specific model of printer.
Now, there are lots of reasons
that a printer would go into offline mode,
including if it's waiting for you to intervene with it,
because it ran out of paper, detected a feed error,
doesn't connect properly to the system,
or because it received a corrupted print job.
In any of these cases, you'll have to troubleshoot the error
as you see it on the control panel
and then put the printer back into an online mode.
The next thing you want to check,
is to ensure that your printer
is properly cabled to the printer.
If you're expecting it
to be connected through a USB cable locally,
then you need to verify that that USB cable
is properly seated into the back of the printer
and the other side is seated properly
into the computer's USB port.
If both of these connections look
like they're properly seated,
but the printer is still not being detected,
then I recommend that you replace that USB cable
with a known good USB cable
and verify that the printer
is now being detected by the operating system.
If this doesn't work, try a different USB port as well
and see if maybe it was a bad port
on your particular client or workstation device.
On the other hand, if you've tried several different ports
and several different cables,
then it could be that the USB port on your printer
is no longer working.
In this case,
you'd have to switch to a different port on that printer,
such as using a wireless connection
or a wired network connection to that printer.
Now, this brings us to our second type of connectivity issue
and this is when your printer
is not being detected on the network.
Now, most of our modern printers do have the ability
to connect both through a USB cable directly to a computer
or using either wired or wireless connections.
If your new printer has a built in print server,
it will usually support an RJ45 or ethernet jack
on the back of that network printer.
This will allow you to connect it directly to the wall jack
and be able to access this printer
from anywhere on the network.
Alternatively, many small office and home office models
also come with wireless print servers built in.
This means your printer will be able
to connect to your wireless network
and then then you'll be able to print to it
from anywhere on that wireless network.
Now, if you're having difficulty with the printer
being able to connect to the network,
this could be an issue where the printer
is not being able to get a DHCP address
from your particular DHCP server.
If this happens,
you can always statically assign that printer
to have a valid IP address, subnet mask,
gateway and DNS server,
just like you would with any other network client,
like a desktop, laptop, smartphone or tablet.
If you're having difficulty connecting the printer
over a wireless network,
usually, this is because the wireless signal
is not coming in strong enough
and getting received properly by that wireless printer.
In these cases, you might need to set up a wireless repeater
so that the signal can be re-broadcast over to the printer
or move the printer closer to the wireless access point
in order to get a good solid connection
between the access point and the printer.
Also, when you're trying to join
the network from the printer,
make sure you're using the proper SSID and password
to ensure the printer is joining the right network
using the right encryption on that particular network.
If you're still having connectivity issues,
whether that's through a wired connection,
a wireless connection, or a direct USB connection,
another thing you can test
is if it's an issue with the printer
or with your particular device.
Now, to test the printer,
you can print a test page from the printer's control panel,
and if this works,
it means everything inside the printer is working,
but the issue lies with your connectivity,
and in that case,
you're going to need to check the cables, the connections
and the settings for your particular network,
or local connections to ensure it's being recognized
by your operating system.
The final thing I want to discuss,
is that if all of this doesn't work,
one of the simplest things you can do
to try to bring that printer back online,
is to simply power it off, wait 10 seconds
and then power it on again.
This process of turning it off and turning it on again
is technically called power cycling,
and what this does is it actually shuts down the printer,
releases everything inside of its memory,
and then when you turn it back on,
it's going to reload its settings
and try to reconnect to the computer.
If it is successful, you'll be back in business
and be able to start printing again.
But, if you're not, then you may need to consider
doing a factory restore of that printer
back to its default settings
and then being able to reestablish that connection
from the beginning
as if you installed it as a brand new printer.
So remember, when it comes to printer connectivity issues,
there are three main types
that you're going to be concerned with as a technician.
This includes local connections, such as USB connections,
wired connections, such as ethernet connections,
and wireless connections, like WiFi or Bluetooth,
when you're using a wireless print server.