Major Problem - "Waiting to Print" on iRC5180/iRC5185 - Please Help!

[phorts]

Thanks to anyone who can offer any help with this very elusive and tricky issue. We've been dealing with this for nearly 2 months now and have yet to find a solution. This is the 2nd BRAND NEW machine in this location that is having this problem and we are at our wits end with this issue. First i'll describe the problem, then the environment, and finally what we've tried...again..thank you very much for ANY insight at all....


The Problem:

First, it happens at random (as all tricky issues do), and only happens when sending it a print job. Someone sends a print job (happens from any number of computers running different OS's, different file types, different applications, from small to big files, color/B&W, etc etc), the machine will REV up (High Rotate?) and SEEM like it will spit out a print job...and then never does....it continues to say "WAITING TO PRINT". and never prints. Trying to cancel the job results in it just saying "Cancelling..". All the while the machine continues to run in high rotate as if it's about to process the job.... until you shut it down...

Once back up, it will run flawlessly until the next time...it strikes at random. Anywhere from 5 minutes to 1 week it'll take before it comes back....but inevitably i'll get the call "it's doing it again"...and I want to shoot myself.

When it goes into this "waiting to print mode" sometimes the customer will leave the machine in this mode overnight, resulting in ALL 4 DRUMS being BURNT OUT due to the excess and prolonged charge. We've ruined 2 $2000 set of drums.... and now have the customer on high alert. We've even had them sign a waiver saying that if this happens again the new drums are at their cost.

As I said in the beginning of this post, this is their 2nd BRAND NEW machine, with the first being an iRC5180i. We thought the "waiting to print" issue and the drums burning out were separate issues..until we put 2 and 2 together. The customer begged and we agreed to bring them in ANOTHER brand new machine, this time the iRC5185.... much to our dismay...the problem came back...and this is where we began to troubleshoot. Here's what we've tried:

Failed Solutions: (oxymoron)

- Upgraded ALL firmware to latest revisions
- Tried almost all print driver options (PS3, PCL5, PCL6) all versions since 2005 (except for ones that just came out on 2/22/08)
- Ran a dedicated 20amp outlet (thought it was a power issue)
- Disabled Department ID (They use this)
- Brought in BRAND NEW MACHINE iRC5185
- Installed a ColorPass (Just for testing purposes since they cannot use Department ID w/ it...same problem)
- Hooked up to different ports on the switch
- Changed IP's
- Prayed to God, Buddha, Allah.....Papa Smurf.... nothin.


I'm sure there's more things we've tried and i'll update them if/when i think of them, but here are some things about the situation to note:

1. I've tried reproducing the problem while just hooked up via a crossover cable printing anything and everything w/ and w/o Department ID trying to fool it, trick it, get it to hiccup but it just spits the stuff out like nothin.... I've yet to get it to reproduce the issue hooked up direct. But they've also run the machine for a week w/o it doing it either..so...

2. They have had, and currently have SEVERAL color machines working flawlessly in the same location, even using the same port, same drivers, same computers. These include the iRC3200, 3220 and even a brand New iRC3380! We though for sure the 3380 would fail...but it does not....

3. I THOUGHT I had it one day when i noticed that the Ethernet port was set on Half Duplex and 10-BaseT. I would have bet my house on it (If I had one)... I set the port to Auto and proudly called my boss to tell him the good news. Before I could even get out the door the issue was back... yeah...

4. Then, another epiphany occured when I saw a spec on the 5185 and 5180 vs the 3200 and 3380 that the 51ppm machines require 2100 watts of draw in order to operate while the 3200 and 3380 require 1200 and 1500 respectively (or thereabouts). WHOA! It's a power issue! Well we had them install a DEDICATED 20amp outlet specifically for the 5185 and....you guessed it... it came back. We have not sent in an electrician on our dime to verify that the outlet provides enough power...but we're no longer hopeful this is the cause..unless someone says otherwise.



I'm here at the customers today to setup another "test". So far we've been setting up the drivers directly on each workstation (By direct I mean we're running the installers on each workstation). Today i've set up the driver on the server, and allowed full permissions for users so that they are able to get device status and are also able to store their passwords in the job accounting screen located in the Device Settings tab (this is greyed out if permissions to "Manage Printers" is not allowed". I've added the shared printer to 3 people next to the machine and have instructed them to print to this machine only, and to retrieve their prints immediately. If they see the issue happening again, cancel it immediately and restart the copier and contact us.....

Now I wait...


Does ANYONE, have ANY ideas at all. I beleive it's running the latest firmware so i've put it below for reference... I will update it if there is a newer version(s) and if you think this will help:

DC-CON - 56.03
R-CON - 4.01
RUI - 65.13
LANG-EN - 68.21
MEAP - 68.20
BOOTROM - 54.01_C


It has both PCL and PS loaded.


Please let me know if you need any more information. I think I know everything there is to know about this setup.....

thanks again for any and all help... Let's get this thing!

[djzolla]

hi there,

its budda and allah here

had this problem before and solved it using the canon UFR II driver. u haven't listed this driver in your post so try it as it worked for us. let me know how it goes mate

iRC5185i

link for it, obviously select OS and language to scale down the search.

[phorts]

hi there,

its budda and allah here

had this problem before and solved it using the canon UFR II driver. u haven't listed this driver in your post so try it as it worked for us. let me know how it goes mate

iRC5185i

link for it, obviously select OS and language to scale down the search.

Buddha,

You're right, we havent tried the UFRII yet. I was worried that we'd lose some of the printing features of the copier if we used this driver. Am I right?

Also, I got a suggestion in PM to use LPR Printing instead of TCP/IP. Does this sound like a logical solution?

Calling customer now to see if they can try printing this morning as the problem seemed to happen after a period of inactivity. We thought it was some sort of port timeout issue...but we set all the timers to 4 hours so it wouldnt sleep during the day..and the problem came back within the 4 hour window..so.... kabash!

I'll keep you posted...

[yourownfree]

excuse me

wait a minute. you said you were using c version assuming you have an image pass. upgrade it it to version 1.2 and also use 1.2 print drivers.
also what is your main controller version, you did not say.Also you do not have the latest version.

[phorts]

wait a minute. you said you were using c version assuming you have an image pass. upgrade it it to version 1.2 and also use 1.2 print drivers.
also what is your main controller version, you did not say.

We're no longer using a colorpass as, not only did it not solve the issue, but they cannot use Department ID Management with it. I know the older machines had to have a print chip (N) in them in order to print, but the new machines only have one chip (C)...at least as far as i know.

Main Controller version - 68.21

[yourownfree]

more info

it appears somebody else is battling this out too on canon. some are pointing at the finisher saying the copier is waiting on it. some say its caught in a loop trying to adjust the drums as it does so often. you could disconnect the finisher for a test. These guys have cleared dc con,main controller, replaced the main controller with no help. no answer yet.

[phorts]

it appears somebody else is battling this out too on canon. some are pointing at the finisher saying the copier is waiting on it. some say its caught in a loop trying to adjust the drums as it does so often. you could disconnect the finisher for a test. These guys have cleared dc con,main controller, replaced the main controller with no help. no answer yet.

Finisher has been removed since we installed the dedicated outlet.

I mean, we've installed iRC5185 machines in 3 other locations with NO problems whatsoever. Our next step after trying different drivers will be to take it back to our office to run it for awhile to see if we can recreate the problem.

If it happens at our office - it's likely the machine
If it doesn't - it's likely their environment

But even then it's not definite in either scenario.... I hate intermittent problems!


Thanks for the reply. Is there another thread going with this same issue? I'd like to compare notes.

[yourownfree]

check power outlet.

oh i forgot one thing, check the power outlet for proper ground. 1volt or more between ground and common is too much. actually had one the other day where an electrician wired a 120 20 amp outlet with 240 vac. blew boards and smoked even with surge protection. wasn't me i am thankful

[yourownfree]

hopefully this will help

here is what I found so far
Finisher Controller, Driver PCB and the 2 Tray Sensor PCBs did the trick
to resolve that issue on one machine. Also noted was one that was just out of staples or not loaded at all. Must be like the old days when the copier was waiting on the sorter and would say "copying" but nothing was happening.

[phorts]

here is what I found so far
Finisher Controller, Driver PCB and the 2 Tray Sensor PCBs did the trick
to resolve that issue on one machine. Also noted was one that was just out of staples or not loaded at all. Must be like the old days when the copier was waiting on the sorter and would say "copying" but nothing was happening.

I would start to look at that stuff...but 2 brand new machines doing the same exact thing.. it just doesn't add up.

I'll check the staples..but i think that's stretchin... however, i won't rule anything out.

No news today from customer...no news is good news.

[jpcopy]

I know nothing about canons but I would put a triplite or any brand you choose line conditioner on it. might want to add a good noise filter to it also. the line conditioners have help us a lot with unusual problems

[bkivett]

my 2 cents, maybe not woth a penny thou

processing over and over, then can not cansul
would point me to some setting on server somewhere. processin over and over from my experience is related to file size, or what machine thinks is file size. i have seen similar issues. pagemaker in windows enviroment can do similar.
mean while, if it never finishes processing job, it is not smart enough to cansul job.

i have a few customners who have to switch from ps to pcl driver depending on application.

smart applications talk to smart drivers we get what we want.
dumb applications talk to dumb drivers and we get what we want.
sometimes when one is smart and one is dumb, they dont understand eachother, and we get crap. or we get nothing at all.

is there a time out setting in server that times out before the smart and dumb figure eachother out?
sometimes with the canon box, we have to fix it.
sometimes we have to figure what it is thinking and change its mind. this one sounds like a mind problem.
good luck with it, and let us all know what you end up with.
bgk

[Sathsayin]

To be honest with you you said that it never happens when you have a crossover hooked up. Spits it out all day long. I think you could have looked over the fact(theres works for about a week are so) and may have hurt yourself! If there is an open are a short in the lan cable at the port it could cause the board to short out and if there is no watchdog timer built in on the mainboard are network interface. (not familiar with canons). then it could possibly wig out. If the cable has a open and you are sending it a print job depending on the how the driver was programmed for the spooler to send and recieve data. it could send half of the file then timeout because of the open the machine thinks the file isnt all the way sent and will just sat there waiting. And the print server are the workstation spooler will think the job is already proccessd. either way from the information you have given me i think you need to run another cat5/6 cable to the server!

[phorts]

To be honest with you you said that it never happens when you have a crossover hooked up. Spits it out all day long. I think you could have looked over the fact(theres works for about a week are so) and may have hurt yourself! If there is an open are a short in the lan cable at the port it could cause the board to short out and if there is no watchdog timer built in on the mainboard are network interface. (not familiar with canons). then it could possibly wig out. If the cable has a open and you are sending it a print job depending on the how the driver was programmed for the spooler to send and recieve data. it could send half of the file then timeout because of the open the machine thinks the file isnt all the way sent and will just sat there waiting. And the print server are the workstation spooler will think the job is already proccessd. either way from the information you have given me i think you need to run another cat5/6 cable to the server!

Thanks for the feedback. I forgot to add this into the "things we've tried" list in my first post. But I can rule out poor cabling. Here's what we've done in that regard.

1. Replaced lan cable from port to machine
2. Moved machine to 2 other locations in the building which means we were using different patch cables, ports, and positions in the switch.
3. These 2 other locations (3 in total) have had other machines there prior that work flawlessly.

It aint the cable... could it be the NIC? Maybe...but 2 NIC's from two brand new machines doing the exact same thing? No way man.

The ONLY THING I can think of is that it's a stupid setting on the machine, in the driver or there's something with the current firmware on those two machines.... it's driving me insane.

Good news though. Just called the customer and no problems in 2 days... at least I can enjoy my weekend...

[yourownfree]

something is out of place

Some things said might be stretching it, but thats how we all solve problems by going beyond what we think. I took the info directly from Canon. I see your thinking, but sometimes i think just because i put in a new part it is not flawed. I keep reminding myself just because it's new, doesn't mean its good.Now for the other thought.
Is it the same person that sends the job or a certain job to it, when it craps out? I have seen that a lot. Its the application and not the machines at all. Find out what they print when it happens, what version of application they are using etc. are they all using the correct driver, same one on the server, or their own on their computer. Make sure its not for an image pass. You said you took that off, but did you change print drivers. Must be a place that uses the same server and program. Then when their monthly or weekly stuff needs printed they open up another ap within and print stuff the copier doesn't understand, then locks. Does this have the license for PostScript? How does that print out if you have it? I'm leaning toward the application at this time. Even so i would re-flash the machine to the latest version of system software, even if it already has it, or appears to have it.