MF644cdw - Shows Offline from MAC

[kaushikn]

I have been struggling to get this printer to work consistently on my network from my MACs. Most of the times when I try to print, I get an error.

Opening the Settings --> Printers and Scanners --> Canon 644c,

The banner says that the printer is offline.

Under the print job I get the message Priner - Unable to find printer

• The printer is on
• The printer is close to the wifi router
• I am using a reserved ip address for the printer (so that I have the same ip each time)
• I can access the printer from the browser using the ip address
• I was able to print from a moblie phone
• I can scan from the Canon Print Business mobile app
• I have installed the latest drivers from the support site on the PCs 
• I have tried to use the Airprint driver as well as the Canon Support site drivers

None of the macs can consistently print using the print function. 

Anyone else face the same problem?

[Stevofukuda]

Everyone is asking the same question and then you answer each time, would be better use of time for everyone. Thanks! 

[tom-austin-bos]

I've suffered with this problem with our Canon MF642C/643C/644C for at least a year. 5 Macs, all running the latest OS. 1 MacMini (2023), 2 MacBook Pros (a 13 inch and a 16 inch, M1 and M3 respectively) and two MacBook Airs (M1 chip)

Reinstalling the printer (became a daily routine, sometimes worse than that.)

 My fix:

1. Restart the router.
2. Reset printer to factory settings (complete reset)
3. Updated printer firmware
4. Downloaded new drivers from the Canon site and installed them.

Here are some resources:

https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=MF644cdw+bonjour+problem&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8#fpst...

MF644cdw bonjour problem

My printer works for all our Macs as well as our iPads and iPhones.

FINALLY, Success.

[Gnome1]

Thanks! This is great information.

[tom-austin-bos]

Problems emerged again for me.  So I did the following:

1. Deleted the MF644 printer inside System Settings on one of our Macs.

2. I locked the MF644 to a static IP address (done in the router.) 

3. Updated the printer driver for the MF644. Then tested. Printing works fine! But I couldn't get the scanner working in this configuration. Drat.

4. I reviewed apple docs and support community and learned how to do a Printer services reset inside the Mac. Here's the instructions for that:

RESET MacOS PRINTER in Settings as follows
How do you reset a Canon printer on a Mac?

On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Printers & Scanners in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.) Control-click the printer in the Printers list on the right, then choose Reset Printing System.

You're done. Well, I was done! 

Reinstalled, with no problems with Bonjour, with full printer and scanner functionality and I am again a happy guy!

[TGA516]

This is the usual answer from Canon but it’s bogus: I have Windows based systems on exactly the same network condition that work just fine. This is a Mac-specific problem.

[VideoGuy]

Yup - I think its specific to the Mac driver.  Setting the IP address as static was my -working- solution.

[Gnome1]

Well, after all this, I deleted and reinstalled the printer, and it worked. So I learned I could do that without the computer "forgetting" the printer. Thanks everyone for all the suggestions!

[VideoGuy]

..working until you lose power again. Consider making the IP address as static as suggested.

[tom-austin-bos]

This problem appears to be Mac + Canon Unique. That's why upgrading firmware in the Canon printer and updating to the latest Canon-provided drivers for your Mac appears to solve it. Why are you saying my answer is bogus? Or were you referring to a different post???

[tom-austin-bos]

Well, I think you're quite right but this is better described as a Mac+Canon problem or a Canon+Mac problem.