11.4 AirPrint Issues

11.4.1 AirPrint Secure Printers Fails to Print

If you are using iOS 7 or above devices, then AirPrint secure printers fails to print in the following scenarios:

  • On upgrading the iPrint Appliance to 1.1

  • On enabling a normal AirPrint printer as secure printer

To resolve this issue, using the iPrint Appliance Management Console, you must disable and enable the secure printer as AirPrint printer.

11.4.2 AirPrint Printers Are Listed Twice During Printer Discovery

iPrint AirPrint uses the same advertising medium (mDNS) as that of Apple’s AirPrint. Therefore, an AirPrint printer is listed twice during printer discovery.

To resolve this issue, disable the advertisement from iPrint Appliance.

  1. On a Web browser, use either the DNS name or the IP address to access the Management Console. For example, https://10.0.0.1:9443 or https://iprint.example.com:9443.

  2. Click the iPrint Appliance Configuration icon.

  3. Under Administration, click Printers.

  4. Select the printer for which you want to disable advertising. You can select multiple printers by holding the Ctrl key on your keyboard, then selecting the printers.

  5. Click the AirPrint drop-down menu, then select Disable Advertising.

11.4.3 AirPrint Printers Are Not Listed

When trying to print, you might not be able to see any AirPrint printers listed.

To resolve this issue, try disabling and re-enabling the wireless connection on the iOS device. If you are still unable to view the printers, restart the Avahi service on the AirPrint server through the iPrint Appliance Management Console:

  1. On a Web browser, use either the DNS name or the IP address to access the Management Console. For example, https://10.0.0.1:9443 or https://iprint.example.com:9443.

  2. Click the iPrint Appliance Configuration icon.

  3. Under Administration, click Services.

  4. Select Avahi.

    The Action and Options drop‐down menus are activated.

  5. Click the Action drop-down menu, then click Restart.

11.4.4 Print Job Submitted Using AirPrint Shows Processing Continuously

On iOS devices, when you submit a print job, the Print Center continuously shows that the job is processing. This issue occurs when a printer to which you are trying to print is redirected or not working.

To resolve this issue on a redirected printer, disable advertising on a redirected printer so that the printer is not displayed as an AirPrint printer. Advertise the target printer instead.

To resolve this issue on a printer that is not working, disable advertising and fix the printer before enabling advertising on the printer.

  1. On a web browser, use either the DNS name or the IP address to access the Management Console. For example, https://10.0.0.1:9443 or https://iprint.example.com:9443.

  2. Click the iPrint Appliance Configuration icon.

  3. Under Administration, click Printers.

  4. Select the printer for which you want to disable advertising. You can select multiple printers by holding the Ctrl key on your keyboard, then selecting the printers.

  5. Click the AirPrint drop-down menu, then select Disable Advertising.

  6. Fix the printer.

  7. Click the AirPrint drop-down menu, then select Enable Advertising.

11.4.5 AirPrint Errors and Symptoms

When using AirPrint, users might receive a few error messages, or notice symptoms that might indicate issues with the printer or the network. The errors and symptoms are listed below, along with the possible cause.

Table 11-1 AirPrint Error and Symptoms

Error/Symptom

Possible Cause

The printer is paused

iPrint output printer queue paused.

Check the printer for errors

Network communication failed between iPrint Appliance and printer, or iPrint printer is shut down.

The printer is offline

iPrint Appliance is not reachable.

iOS 5.x: An error occurred printing this document

iOS 6.x and later: The printer is no longer available

iPrint printer is deleted from PSM but still published as AirPrint printer on the network.

The printer is no longer available

iPrint printer is shut down.

The printer job is continuously under processing

Printer is redirected or not working.

Points to note:

  • If the printer's input queue is paused, jobs are queued at the device print queue. To view the print queue on iOS devices, double-tap the Home button, then select the Print Centre app.

  • For photo printing, paper types such as 4x6 and LETTER are available only on iOS 6.0 and above. When printing images on iOS 6.x, the paper type is displayed by default.

  • On iOS 6.x, the duplex option is displayed dynamically by querying the printer for duplex availability status.

  • AirPrint might display messages regarding the status of the printer such as empty input tray or printer jam, based on the status message from the printer's console. If the printer is in READY state without any warning/error messages, AirPrint does not display any printer error messages to the user.

  • Before enabling AirPrint, ensure that the iPrint Appliance DNS name is resolvable by the iOS device.

  • If a printer is not functioning, disable advertising on that printer to ensure that the printer is not displayed as an AirPrint printer, and users do not try printing to those printers.

  • The remote renderer must be configured with iPrint Appliance to ensure that documents render correctly when printing using AirPrint.