Home Forums Peripherals & Multimedia Peripherals PDF printing problem with Snow Leopard V2

This is similar but not quite the same as the problem that saraswati is having, so I've started a new thread.

After saying I've not had any PDF printing problems with Snow leopard (10.6.2) and my Canon Pixma IP 5000, I now have a curious wrinkle. My PDF printing is usually email attachments that open automatically in Preview.

Yesterday and today, for PDFs only, I've been getting a message that the printer is "off-line" although it is not. This morning I left a two page PDF first in the printing queue, opened a Word document, and initiated print.

The Word document advised that the print queue was "on hold" and asked if I wanted printing to resume. I answered in the affirmative and the PDF started printing. At that point I deleted the Word document.

I then opened a one-page PDF attached to a different email and it opened in Preview as two pages. The first page was the PDF just opened and the second page was from the first PDF. I closed the PDF and it reopened correctly as one page.

I then instructed it to print and it did so without needed to be pushed by a document behind it in the queue.

ryck

Well, things have changed quite a lot.

I now only get the "Printer is Offline" whenever I try to print and have not been able to print anything, in any account. I did try de-selecting the printer in the Print & Fax window, but the window could not re-find find the printer in order to reselect.

I spent quite a bit of time on that and, after running out of ideas, reinstalled Snow Leopard. I used my Canon CD to install the printer software. I updated to 10.6.1 but did not go further in case my problem is with one of the updates.

The Apple site has a Canon printer update for 10.6.1. It was installed. Still no printing. On the off-chance the problem is firewall-related, I opened the firewall but that didn't make a difference.

At one point I also tried a different USB port.

If I open Print & Fax, and click on "Open Print Queue", I get this message:

"The printer software was installed incorrectly. Please reinstall the printer’s software or contact the manufacturer for assistance. Printer offline."

Updates since post:

I just now tackled this again. I opened the Print & Fax window, control-clicked the Canon name in the printer list window, and clicked Printer Reset. It deleted the printer.

However, I cannot reselect my Canon as the window now says "No printers are available".

I have subsequently booted from an external drive and run DU Permissions Repair. There were a lot of repairs and all were printer related. However, when I went back my main drive, the Print & Fax window is still unable to locate my printer.

I have now downloaded and installed 10.6.2 Combo. I also re-installed the printer using the Canon CD and got this message "This printer requires print head alignment. Start Utility, click [Print Head Alignment[ on the [Test Print] panel to start alignment.

That could not be done as the system still does not see the printer. A quick check in the Print & Fax window confirms the printer is not visible.

ryck

You seemed to have done everything you could possibly do to fix this. Do you have Apple Care, by any chance? If so, you could go to the Apple website and arrange for an immediate tech assistance.

Otherwise, I have found the Canon phone and email support to be very prompt, even with my old MP500. Either call 1-877-287-7032 or go to the website for email support.

BTW, I also have an iMac 2.66 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo and running 10.6.2. I am able to print and scan with the latest Canon drivers, but just can't print PDFs.

Almost. I had a couple more things to try and now have determined that the computer says the printer is offline if the printer power is off. If the power is on, it will print.

However, that's still not the way it was working. If the printer is off, the computer should send a pulse to turn it on. Instead it's just saying "offline".

Canon support is not in on weekends but I will send them an email.

Update:

The saga appears to be at an end.

I opened the Maintenance function of the IP500 and checked the Custom Settings. For some reason "Auto On" had got toggled off. So I guess I won't be emailing Canon after all.

ryck

how new is this printer. If it's a model that's several years old, and it has been superceeded by other models, it may not be supported any longer.

I've had the printer for 5 years and it was discontinued shortly after. However Apple provides two pieces of software for it - one specifically referred to Canon software and the other is the Gutenberg - so that's not a worry.

In the end the solution was found in the Custom Setting panel and I'm guessing that if I'd looked there first I might have saved myself some grief. As they say, too soon old, too late smart.

ryck

> I've had the printer for 5 years and it was discontinued shortly after. However Apple provides two pieces of software for it - one specifically referred to Canon software and the other is the Gutenberg - so that's not a worry. (Emphasis added)

Wow! I never knew he was involved in computerized printing, too. (Gutenprint! )

Ah...so now I can stop wondering how he managed to live so long.

ryck