I have a customer who has had nothing but problems getting this machine to play nice with their network. Recently, and randomly, the machine goes off line, some times for everyone, sometimes just a few. We haven't found a way to make it fail on command, and sometimes there will be weeks when it doesn't occur. Their network guy swears it's our machine, but he's been wrong in the past. Don't have the specs of his network at this time, but has anyone seen this behavior before? Replacing the main board seems extreme when my hunch tells me it is his network.
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Re: 5501i dropping off the network
Four causes that I've seen, that can be intermittent:
1) Power issues. In one industrial setting the CS5050 stayed online from 15:30 to 5:30 am, than dropped off for several minutes or hours, often coming back online by itself. This MFP shared a line with an industrial crane that was powered up first thing in the morning. Once it was set up on another circuit it never happened again. Here's a good opportunity to test out your power quality analyzer. Be sure to get at least 48 hours of readings to detect any trends.
2) Network dropouts. The complaint was actually slow printing, up to 20 minutes to print a single page. When I put my laptop on the network cable and pinged back to the server, I found that every 20 pings or so I got two "Failed to connect". Since they have never believed me in the past, I took a screen shot of my command prompt screen and emailed it to the IT director. I don't know how it was eventually resolved, but generally they did not call me for IT related issues after that.
3) Network speed negotiation issues. When a GB capable MFP is put on a 100MB network sometimes the MFP makes the wrong choice. This is much more common on bizhubs, but I've seen it on Kyoceras also. The simple answer is to manually change from Auto Network Speed to 100MB full duplex. The typical symptom is printing a few pages then disappearing off the network. Re-booting makes the MFP reappear.
4) Flakey DNS when porting to hostname. If you are porting to hostname, sometimes it can take a long time for DNS to direct the print job. The simple test is to ping the printers hostname and see how long (or if) it resolves to an IP address, and if it's the right IP address. In most cases it's preferable to have a static IP on the MFP, but there are always exceptions. =^..^=If you'd like a serious answer to your request:
1) demonstrate that you've read the manual
2) demonstrate that you made some attempt to fix it.
3) if you're going to ask about jams include the jam code.
4) if you're going to ask about an error code include the error code.
5) You are the person onsite. Only you can make observations.
blackcat: Master Of The Obvious =^..^= -
Re: 5501i dropping off the network
The thing that immediately caught my attention was when you said, "sometimes just a few". This is only possible if they are using the WSD port to print to instead of the IP address. Do a Google search on WSD printing trouble. It's a flawed system.Comment
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Re: 5501i dropping off the network
Is it possible that someone's wireless device is using the same IP address? This could explain the randomness.Comment
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Re: 5501i dropping off the network
I had this issue when the clients had a mixture of 32-bit & 64-bit OS .they only had 32-bit on the server but the 64-bit pc's still pulled the driver down and intermittently went offline.updating the driver to 32&64 bit resolved it for meComment
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Re: 5501i dropping off the network
I feel for you, these situations are never easy and you often waste considerable hours trying to resolve often with an unhappy customer putting pressure on you. Hopefully if it is the customer's fault you can charge them a lot of money for wasting your time.
Do some search terms on these forums and Google for printers, MFP's and MFD's 'Dropping off network' , 'dropping' 'disconnecting' and 'offline'.
Here are some of my tips:
1. I remember seeing on the Cisco forums that someone had to set the Canon's NIC to 100Mpbs Full-Duplex and the switch port it connects to at 100Mpbs Full Duplex as well, this resolved their network drop-out issues.
2. The network cabling could be causing issues too, meaning the network cable from the network outlet to the MFP and the cabling through the walls to the patch panel & switch.
3. Also make sure the customer doesn't have a network management program that is polling the MFP's. Sometimes these programs cause MFPs to freeze or drop their network connection.
4. Try disabling 'SNMP' Status on the printers IP port settings within the print queue, this will in turn always show a 'Ready' status instead of giving alerts like 'Offline', 'Toner Low', 'Paper Jam' etc. Now if the MFP is actually disconnecting from the network this tweak won't be much help, but there is potential that there is a glitch with SNMP on the PC's or server etc.
5. You would think an IP conflict alert would appear, but make sure nothing on the network is using the same IP address as the MFP.
6. Make sure the IP address of the MFP isn't within the DHCP range, if it is something on the network may be disconnecting it. If it is within the DHCP range then exclude the IP from the range. Customer's I.T. may have changed the DHCP range.
Good luck!Comment
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Re: 5501i dropping off the network
Maybe I've just been lucky, but only on 3 or 4 occasions have I come across an IT person who turns down a valid workaround. Most are just happy to get this task off their work list. =^..^=If you'd like a serious answer to your request:
1) demonstrate that you've read the manual
2) demonstrate that you made some attempt to fix it.
3) if you're going to ask about jams include the jam code.
4) if you're going to ask about an error code include the error code.
5) You are the person onsite. Only you can make observations.
blackcat: Master Of The Obvious =^..^=Comment
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Re: 5501i dropping off the network
It appears that black cat was onto something about the machine detecting the wrong network speed. Switching to 100mb full from auto immediately created the off-line state. Changing it to 1000 seems to have eliminated the problem at this point. Will update if this changes in the future.Comment
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Re: 5501i dropping off the network
Congratulations on your success! Thanks for posting back. We all benefit from your experience. =^..^=If you'd like a serious answer to your request:
1) demonstrate that you've read the manual
2) demonstrate that you made some attempt to fix it.
3) if you're going to ask about jams include the jam code.
4) if you're going to ask about an error code include the error code.
5) You are the person onsite. Only you can make observations.
blackcat: Master Of The Obvious =^..^=Comment
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Re: 5501i dropping off the network
...Check in to the term "Link Flapping" found here!:
It seems to happen most notoriously with Cisco equipment!...Go Figure!!!
PS--This "link flapping" issue was resolved in one instance by simply hooking up a simple, cheap, basic 5-port ethernet switch in between the MFP and the main router/switch!
PPS--I know this is "old news" but another reason I don't trust cisco products/equipment!:
Cisco locks customers out of their own routers, only lets them back in if they agree to being spied upon and monetized - Boing BoingREACH FOR THE STARS!!!
Konica Minolta Planetariums!
https://www.konicaminolta.com/planet...gma/index.htmlComment
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Re: 5501i dropping off the network
Cisco, too exotic......Check in to the term "Link Flapping" found here!:
It seems to happen most notoriously with Cisco equipment!...Go Figure!!!
PS--This "link flapping" issue was resolved in one instance by simply hooking up a simple, cheap, basic 5-port ethernet switch in between the MFP and the main router/switch!
PPS--I know this is "old news" but another reason I don't trust cisco products/equipment!:
Cisco locks customers out of their own routers, only lets them back in if they agree to being spied upon and monetized - Boing Boing
I'm having a multiple MFP's (Xerox) drop off the network a few times a day at a particular customer. I've tried everything I can think of, I've scoured this web site and google and tried so many things to resolve that would usually work and have resolved similar in the past. Not getting this issue elsewhere and old Xerox's were fine. Going to get a network professional involved now, getting stressed! This customer has Cisco too...serenity now!!!
I did what you mentioned above a few days back with no luck.Comment
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Re: 5501i dropping off the network
might this be more related to a somewhat common issue: the KX driver using SNMP...any error state on the copier causing it to change state to "offline".. ?
the test was to browse to the copiers webpage to see if theres any error message there...
(of course if one could ping or browse to its IP address it wouldnt be "dropped off the network")Comment
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