Need help with wireless printer setup

[trod]

So, I bought a new printer, Canon's Pixma MX420 and went to set it up.

The printer has an LCD screen and I went into the Network setup and it detected my network ( lets say its called 'mynetwork' ). I entered the WPA2 passphrase and the printer said 'Connected to Access point'. The Wifi light on the printer is ON and the connection between my printer and access point is 'Active' according to the printer's onscreen display. So far so good.

Now, when I went to setup the software/drivers from the supplied CD on my Mac, it installed the software and then asked how I want to use the printer with this Mac ( i.e USB, Wireless, Wired LAN ). I selected Wireless but here is when the trouble starts. The installer says 'printer could not be detected on the network'. My mac is connected to the same network.

Connecting to printer via USB works fine and I can print stuff. Its just the ability to print wirelessly is not working. I have tried numerous things I can think of to remedy this ( only using 2.4 Ghz frequency, disabled Firewall, don't have MAC address filtering enabled, moved my printer around, turned off microwave/cordless phone to prevent frequency interference, even changed my network to not use any encryption but that didn't help either ) but am running out of ideas. The driver installer always fails to find the damn printer ( when I select wireless option for detection ) :frusty:

I have checked the manual and looked around in Google briefly but it didn't help much.

Thought I should bang on the door of fellow Terbites in the hope of coming across a suggestion I haven't tried yet...helllllppppp !

 

[shakenbake]

Somewhat related to your issues. I recall that when I had to set up a wireless Lexmark, the printer had to be conencted via USB during the installation of the software on one computer, before it could work in wirless mode. I have several computers, PC and Mac, printing to the same printer in my netwoprk at home. This had to be repeated when I moved from unencrypted to encrypted mode with my network. Try to re-install your printer on your Mac by first connecting the printer via USB, to identify the printer, and then try to connect it via wireless router. The printer has to associate with the router before it can conect to the network, I believe.

 

[Anynym]

I'd be willing to bet that the printer has at least a small webserver built in. From the printer lcd display, or perhaps from some settings test print, get the ip address it's using, then point your browser to that address, and see what status information it's giving you.

You may also be able to install drivers etc from that page.

 

[trod]

Hmm, I'll try reinstalling the printer but what do you mean exactly by 'printer has to associate with the router before it can connect to the network' ?

My printer is connected to the access point. It detected the SSID of my network fine when I did the Wireless setup on the printer. I had no trouble with that. Its the software/driver thats crapping out when trying to detect the printer. Why can't it see the printer ?

 

[trod]

I'd be willing to bet that the printer has at least a small webserver built in. From the printer lcd display, or perhaps from some settings test print, get the ip address it's using, then point your browser to that address, and see what status information it's giving you.

You may also be able to install drivers etc from that page.

Yup I did that earlier and tried pinging the printer's IP address from Terminal but I just get request timeouts with a 'no route to host' which is weird.

 

[ray liotta]

Did you do a restart on the Mac after installing the printer software??
Also run software update on the Mac after you reboot the Mac.

 

[Anynym]

Yup I did that earlier and tried pinging the printer's IP address from Terminal but I just get request timeouts with a 'no route to host' which is weird.

Hmm. So the printer thinks it has an IP address, but the router doesn't seem to know about it. Check the status of the router (particularly local hosts) and see what it says for that ip address.

 

[trod]

Did you do a restart on the Mac after installing the printer software??
Also run software update on the Mac after you reboot the Mac.

Yup, did that too. The Canon software is fully updated and the only software update I get is one for Keynote which I don't need.

Hmm. So the printer thinks it has an IP address, but the router doesn't seem to know about it. Check the status of the router (particularly local hosts) and see what it says for that ip address.

The DHCP client table is empty. I'll try rebooting the router ( its a Linksys E2000 )

 

[Quality Time]

I have an old HP Laserjet 4V with a jet direct print server card and this is what I had to do to get my PC laptop to print via a hard wired ethernet connection or wirelessly:

1. My linksys router has a range of ip addresses that can be assigned to any number of printers, scanners etc. Different makes of routers have different ranges of ip addresses

2. I manually inputted a static ip address for my printer into the printer control pad pushbuttons

3. I connected an ethernet cable between the printer and my linksys wireless router into one of the 4 ports

4. I installed the HP 4V driver and selected "create a new port" and from the drop down menu I selected TC/IP port and entered the static ip address that I entered into the printer. My laptop now knows the "telephone number" of my printer and when I decide to print using the HP 4V printer, the laptop "dials up" the HP4V printer

5. I am able to print wirelessly via the laptop or if I want via the internet cable hooked up to the laptop

6. Think of it this way...when you assign an ip address to a printer you are assigning a telephone number to that printer. The wireless router that you have has the capability of only dialing specific telephone numbers. Therefore you have to make sure that the static ip address that has been entered into the printer will work with that particular wireless router.
The printer driver that is installed in your laptop has to be told what the telephone number of the printer is. Therefore you have to enter it when you do the setup. Remember that you are communicating via TC/IP protocal.

 

[Anynym]

The DHCP client table is empty. I'll try rebooting the router ( its a Linksys E2000 )

You can also see if you can initiate a dhcp-renew from the printer.

 

[trod]

Don't have an option to do that from the printer but I'll do it from the router's webpage. If nothing helps, guess I'll call tech support and see what they say.

 

[mightymouse007]

if you can't ping it, it means either the TCP/IP isn't working or it's just not able to connect with the printer's IP address. You could try static address if dhcp isn't working. You may want to also check wireless compatibility. Some routers have a few options where you could choose to use wireless n only, and the printer may only support wireless g. There should be an option where you could set it to all b/g/n support.

When you use static address, make sure its on the same subnet as your LAN. By doing that, any computer on the same LAN should have a connection to the wireless printer. You might also want to put some screenshots up, would be easier for ppl to help u diagnose.

I would say the issue is most likely with the printer's networking setup, and not your computer. I'm just speculating, since I don't have a visual aid to see.

 

[ray liotta]

At this point you should contact the tech people at Canon.

 

[blue_bawls]

What operating system are you using on the wireless "client" that would be printing to this device?

 

[trod]

Just an update here...turns out, after I rebooted the printer, router and my Mac, the Canon IJ Network software was able to recognize the printer. Noticed that the IP address of the printer is now 192.168.1.127 instead of the previous 192.168.1.124.

Oh well, as long as it works, doesn't matter whats going on under the hood heh. Thanks to all the members who chipped in with their suggestions.

 

[WoodPeckr]

Macs can be 'funny' that way.....:eyebrows: