06-15-2025
02:24 PM
- last edited on
06-17-2025
08:10 AM
by
James_C
I'm using a Mac desktop, running Sequoia 15.5, printing photos with a Pixma Pro-200, and using Professional Print & Layout to run the printer. Although my sample size is small, so far I have experienced the following:
If there has been some downtime since I last used the printer (a few days or more), when I next try to print a photo, after hitting the "Print" button the PP&L Job Manager goes from "standby" to "error...." in a couple of seconds, and that's it. There error itself is not defined anywhere that I can find, and the printer does nothing. I cancel the job and try again, with the same result. What I ultimately discovered is that I need to have PP&L "find" the printer again, which it does, showing alongside the already found printer, with a slightly modified IP address (the last digit is changed). Using the "new" printer, everything works as expected.
To be clear, the printer was already installed and had been used successfully via PP&L. And it prints when using the Mac's print command, so we know the computer and printer are communicating.
It appears that I have a workaround for this, but it is puzzling as well as irritating. Why would the IP address for the printer change? Why would I have to re-find a printer that is showing right there on the list? Or am I misunderstanding what I see? (A real possibility)
My thanks for any thoughts or suggestions.
Solved! Go to Solution.
06-15-2025 08:12 PM
A device on a network has an IP Address "leased" to it by the DHCP server function of your router, which is the default method on the printer. The lease has a time limit. Your router's configuration shows how long the lease is. No problem if the printer is always on.
If the printer is off for a certain period of time, it can lose its lease, so when the printer is turned on again it will get a NEW address. So you'd have to tell the computer what the new address is.
A way to fix this is to give the printer a STATIC, or fixed, IP address in its network setup. Also, set aside (reserve) that address in the router so the DHCP server cannot assign it to another network device. Get help from the router manual or support source on how to do this.
06-15-2025 08:12 PM
A device on a network has an IP Address "leased" to it by the DHCP server function of your router, which is the default method on the printer. The lease has a time limit. Your router's configuration shows how long the lease is. No problem if the printer is always on.
If the printer is off for a certain period of time, it can lose its lease, so when the printer is turned on again it will get a NEW address. So you'd have to tell the computer what the new address is.
A way to fix this is to give the printer a STATIC, or fixed, IP address in its network setup. Also, set aside (reserve) that address in the router so the DHCP server cannot assign it to another network device. Get help from the router manual or support source on how to do this.
06-16-2025 09:03 AM
Most interesting and informative. Thank you! I'm going to have to poke around a bit and see if I can't set up that static IP address.
I am left wondering how the printer works when I use the Mac's print command, leaving PP&L out of the loop -- the same command I use for my laser printer. Which is also wireless, and usually powered down, but never gets "lost". I guess that path doesn't use the router(??)
I also wonder if the router will reuse a previously discarded address when assigning a new lease, or if it will ever run out of new addresses. Just curious.
Once again -- Thanks so much!
06-16-2025 12:02 PM - edited 06-16-2025 12:03 PM
There are always exceptions (weird things) that can happen. I have a Pixma printer that I WAS using on Wifi, with a static address & router reserving it. The printer was prone to losing its network connection and have to be rebooted to get it back. No wired Ethernet alternative. I ended up using it with USB.
I can't speak to how Macs do their thing. To answer your last question.....The router has a pool of IP addresses it can assign. For example, With the router's own address being 192.168.0.1 (other routers can have different first three numbers), devices can be assigned numbers from 2 to 255 (the last number). When a device loses its lease on an address, that address goes back into the pool of available ones.It can then be assigned to another device that requests an address when it comes onto the network and asks for one.
06-16-2025 03:56 PM
I do see that my Pixma has an Ethernet socket, as well as a second socket that I would take to be USB, but it is not shaped as such. Perhaps I can set up a wired connection. I've also found that the router is set up with a lease time of 3600 seconds. Learning, learning!
Thanks --
06-16-2025 04:16 PM - edited 06-16-2025 04:17 PM
Printer has a USB-B port. It's different than what's on a computer. Shaped like a square with the top two corners cut off at a 45 degree angle, so the printer cable can only be inserted one way. Computers have USB-A ports (rectangular with a plastic bar in it), or USB-C ports (a flattened oval.
If you go with a wired Ethernet cable connection, still use a static IP address for the printer.
06-20-2025 11:36 AM
I did go Ethernet. (The USB cable would need to be too long). I used a 50 foot cat 6 cable (the router is in another room), identical to that which I already use to connect the desktop. Run through the basement. Easy setup and connection (well, other than running the cable), works well, and the printer only had to be found on the initial run. I didn't address, if you will, the IP address issue at all. With the LAN connection the printer WIFI is disabled, and in PP&L the printer is now identified with a long string of characters that I do not recognize, but which is definitely not an IP address. In any case, all seems well. Thanks again for your interest.
06-20-2025 01:18 PM
You're very welcome!
Using a DHCP-assigned address shouldn't be a problem, unless you turn off the printer when not using it. Leaving it always on keeps the address.
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