Printing in the Air
Paul Blachford says: Apple has published guidance on using the Mac Pro in either orientation at support.apple.com/HT201379. In essence, ensure the Mac won’t roll, and leave its ports accessible – careful use of BookArc has these covered. Also consider the space around the Mac, and where emitted heat is directed. Can you cast light on why AirPrint suddenly stopped working? It worked faultlessly between my iMac (2013), MacBook Pro (2010) and iPad Air (2014) and my Canon MG4150 printer for a year or more. Suddenly on 23 November, all the devices reported that they could not connect to the printer via AirPrint.
A USB cable connection from the iMac still worked OK. And the MacBook Pro could access the printer via Bonjour wirelessly through the iMac, and thence via the USB cable. But the iPad has no print capability.
My wireless router (an HG635 super router supplied by TalkTalk for use with a part-fibre connection to the exchange) shows the printer as connected, although sometimes with only its MAC number and no IP number. Reconnecting the printer to the wireless network made no difference. Then, following a discussion forum lead that it is a good idea to delete and re-add printers after a major operating system change such as Yosemite, I did so in System Preferences > Printers and Scanners. In the “Add” window there was no AirPrint option but there was a “Canon IJ Network” option showing the printer’s MAC address.
Once added, this works fine, enabling wireless printing from both the iMac and MacBook Pro. But the iPad simply reports “no AirPrint printers” although the Apple website still shows the MG4150 as an AirPrint-compatible printer.
Then I remembered that a recent software update had installed a new software update (version 3.1) to Canon Inkjet Printer Software. Has this somehow disabled AirPrint? Or could it be some change that I’m unaware of have been made remotely by TalkTalk in my router’s settings? Ian Winkworth Matt Bolton says: We think the solution to your AirPrint woes may be simple enough that you don’t need to tinker with any network settings. As well as the recent update to your printer drivers, which you already have, Canon issued an AirPrint firmware update for your model on 30 September, days after the introduction of iOS 8. You only need this update if your printer’s firmware is not already at version 2.010 – you can check your existing version by downloading the update from http://bit.ly/1CNbBrY and following the instructions provided with the software. Canon’s release notes for this update do a poor job of explaining exactly what the update addresses, but this is the next thing you should try. Let us know how it works out.