imageCLASS MF644Cdw Airprint name keeps changing

[fcrwx]

I have a MF644C and about every week or so the Airprint name changes. This prevents me from printing via my Macbook Pro until I delete and re-add the printer. Under "Settings/Registration: Preferences: Network Settings > AirPrint Settings" I originally set the Printer Name to "Canon MF644C", then it suddenly changed to "Canon MF644C (dd:ed:b5)" and most recently changed to "Canon MF644C (dd:ed:b5) (dd:ed:b5) (7)". I really don't care what the name is, but why does it keep changing?

[Cyberic]

Trying to figure out why the printer would do this...

When starting up (or at random interval), the printer broadcasts its mDNS name and checks if "name already taken".

By not getting any response (either time-out or isolated from network), perhaps it wrongly interprets the "no response" and decdes to generate a new mDNS name by appending some version of a MAC address (and frankly, these characters are *not* a MAC address, perhaps some encoded subset version, but not the whole thing). Because it does this regularly/repeatedly, we end-up having a very long name even with "(5) (6) (7)" appended also, which makes it too long for devices to connect to it.

If this is an even remotely possible scenario, then a firmware update would fix it, either by extending the time-out for multicast DNS broadcast responses, or even trying to revert back to some "originally defined mDNS name" on next attempt, rather than keep appending to the previous one. That way, it would "at most" toggle between two names (not ideal, but immensely better).

Just my two cents...

[Darius]

Hi Cyberic.

If the information provided above does not help correct the problem, you may wish to contact phone-based support.  If you're located in the U.S., our support is available at 1-800-OK-CANON (1-800-652-2666) Monday-Friday from 10:00 am to 6:30 pm ET, excluding holidays.

If you're located outside of the U.S., you may find the correct website using the map on the Canon Global website: http://global.canon/en/support/

Did this answer your question? Please click the Accept as Solution button so that others may find the answer as well.

[rsarvis]

Darius,

Stop saying it's not Canon's problem. Every printer I've ever had from other companies has never had this issue. Now I buy a Canon printer for the first time, and I have to re-add it to every computer in the house every time the printer is turned off and back on?! That is insane, and it is unique to Canon. If you don't start singing a different tune, and find us a fix to this problem, you better believe I will not ever buy a Canon product again and will put on every review site I can find that this printer has this problem and not to buy it. Canon needs to understand that this is not an issue it can blame on the user or on Apple or anything else. It is a problem it needs to address and fast. And Canon needs to have better customer service. Blaming the customer is a bad strategy, esp when we're a pretty tech savvy bunch who knows we're not doing anything differently from what we should have to do. Get it together.

[Gleeplewinky]

Looking at the network traffice, it seems that the bug is with Canon's mDNS. What seems to happen is that when the printer is roused from sleep it broadcasts an mDNS request to see if it's name is already in use and answers itself that it is, so the printer changes its names because it's already using it.

[Cyberic]

@Gleeplewinky

Please refrain from posting multiple times in a row like jou just did, instead of grouping your contribution in a single post.

This triggers many notifications to everyone who subscribed to the topic and is considered as spamming.

Thanks.

[davidfokkema]

That being said, I completely understand the sentiment. This is a frustrating problem that required me to teach non-technical people in my household to remove and add printers when the printer stopped functioning, because I'm not always around when they simply want to print something.

If @Gleeplewinky is correct that the printer is answering its own mDNS ping request, this should be an easy bug to fix. By Canon. PLEASE. Fix this and report back on this thread so we know when to upgrade our firmware and sleep soundly again while growing back some hair. Thanks.

[Cyberic]

This thread is nearly a year old so I doubt that Canon cares enough about AirPrint users to fix the bug.

The scenario of self-rejecting the name was described before in this thread (last November) because the bug can be reproduced when printer is not even connected to network.

So yes, it's probably an easy fix, but Canon doesn't care.

I talked to them on the phone 8 months ago, they accepted the bug and said it would be fixed "some day" (which probably means "not in the lifetime of our printer")

I too had to teach non-technical people to fix when I'm not around.

Instead of teaching them to remove / add, I told them to fix the name on the web page as it's easier

Steps are :

- Connect to http://IP-address/ (fixed)

- Click to login (admin)

- Click on Settings / Network / First option at top (IPv4)

- At the very bottom, remove the extra stuff after the name

- Click OK and try printing again

Even my youngest 10yo manages to do it when he needs to print from iPad or Mac

I agree fixing the firmware would be best but I won't hold my breath for it (anymore) and buy another brand when this printer is dead. I've advised my customers to do the same.

[Gleeplewinky]

> As stated previously in the thread, if Airprint is not working for the MF644Cdw, we recommend the printer be

> removed and then re-added to the Mac OS computer using the Canon-produced drivers,

This is not a good solution. It doesn't address the AirPrint bug at all, and, at this current time, the Apple AirPrint drivers provide better quality than Canon's drivers. Also, Canon does not provide a mechanism to unsintall their software. You can't install Canon drivers on non-omputers that use AirPrint.

> on a non-Airprint wireless or wired network connection.  Support for Airprint drivers is provided exclusively by Apple.

This is incorrect. The Canon device provides both mDNS and AirPrint support. AirPrint doesn't actually use drivers per se in that it is a file transfer protocol. It requests metadata about the printer's options via HTTPS, then posts PDF or JPG to the device via HTTPS. That's all it does. It relies on mDNS for device discovery.

> If the mDNS of the printer is being changed, the cause will be either the computer or the router. DNS (Doman Name Server)

> is controlled primarily by the router, though the computer can have enough control to alter settings on the printer

> (as occurs during some wifi setup methods).

This is incorrect. Multicast DNS (mDNS) is not controlled by the router, that's the whole point of the protocol. The mDNS query is broadcast to the local network segment and the devices on the network self-identify with their own response rather than rely on the DNS service. In this scenario, the DNS server is, effectively, the printer itself as it is the party that responds to the mDNS broadcast and announces itself. Neither the router nor the device initiating the request have influence over the name.

> While disabling mDNS may cause Airprint to no longer work, standard networking protocols will continue to function for \

> the MF644Cdw.

This is correct, but it is not a solution to the problem since it prevents AirPrint printing (used by phones and tablets to print).

[chrismarquardt]

Same here. The suggested solutions don't help. The mDNS name keeps changing automatically (it gets something like  "(ab:cd:..) added to its name), which causes the printer to not be accessible any longer from our Macs.

Removing and re-adding the printer is only a temporary solution. With the next (automatic) mDNS name change, the problem starts fresh. 

Disabling mDNS is not an option here.

Why does the mDNS name in the printer change automatically? This is not a driver issue. The printer should keep its assigned mDNS name, but it doesn't. 

[davidfokkema]

I'm pretty sure the following is happening:

1. after some time, the printer gets a new IP address from the router (DHCP)
2. the printer broadcasts itself on the network
3. someone (my MacBook Pro?) replies that that Bonjour name is already taken by the old IP address, since I've previously added the printer to that device
4. the printer changes it's Bonjour name

Step 3 is actually quite senible, I think. If you have multiple identical printers and they are not switched on at the same time, you still do not want them to have the same Bonjour name. So allowing my Mac to tell the printer that that generic name was previously seen so the 'new' printer better pick a new name is not that strange. At least I think this is what's causing this.

I'm pretty sure I've fixed this as follows:

1. in my router's admin interface I gave my printer a permanent static IP address
2. restarted the printer and checked that my printer indeed now has that static address
3. followed these instructions (https://support.usa.canon.com/kb/index?page=content&id=ART170068&cat=6225B022&actp=LIST#bonjour) to change back the bonjour name to something sensible (instructions were a bit outdated but I was able to find the 'airprint settings' page.
4. removed the printer from my devices and added the 'new' printer

Hopefully, this was the final time I had to do that. So far, so good.