Printer can only print test pages, nothing else.

Question

Printer can only print test pages, nothing else.

I am using a shared network printer from my MacBook M1 Pro.

When I print a test page, it works flawlessly. The queue displays "looking for printer", followed by "connected to printer", followed by "printing page ...". I can do this repeatedly without worry.

No other application can print successfully. The job appears in the printer queue. The job status changes from "looking for printer" to "connected to printer" and then disappears after about 10-15 seconds, without error.

Why can I print flawlessly from the printer queue (test pages), but I cannot print anything else?

The printer is shared from a PC using Bonjour Printer Wizard.

I am using macOS Ventura today. The problem also existed when I was using Monterey.

MacBook Pro Apple Silicon

Posted on Nov 3, 2022 01:51 PM

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Answer 1

HWTech

Level 9

66,698 points

Nov 5, 2022 04:26 PM in response to RichardFairthorne

If you are going to have multiple devices access a printer, then you are much better off getting a networked printer so you can print directly to the printer from each device. A shared printer is a complex setup which is prone to break whenever you have a macOS update, a Windows update. Just make sure to get a printer which supports Air Print so that no third party drivers are needed to use the printer from any OS or device.

Try rebooting the Windows PC and the Mac.

Try deleting the printer in macOS and re-adding it. Perhaps do the same thing with Windows and re-share it.

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Answer 2

Nov 7, 2022 03:00 PM in response to HWTech

Re-adding the printer did not help as it was correctly configured. Re-sharing using Apple Bonjour Printer Server did not help because it is a fundamentally broken technology.

For others trying to use a printer that Apple does not support, the best solution is to use a LINUX based AirPrint server, using CUPS, Apple's printing architecture. Most printers are supported by Linux. I built a correctly functioning server with a $5 single board computer in about 1 hour.

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Printer can only print test pages, nothing else.

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