Multiple printers quit working

[phwashington]

Today we have had multiple printers quit working. We have tried
various print servers but none seem to work. When we tried a second
print server the system indicated that it could not connect to the
printer. After power cycling the 2 printers test pages were able to
print. Then we tried printing a single pdf page and both printers
quit working. Two users reported that they had sent print jobs to 2
different printers and found that they printed out an hour or 2
later. There are about 6 printers involved and 3 different print
servers, all are having problems.
Printer models include hp 1200, 2430, 4100, 2600. None seem to be
working that well.

 

[Tony]

Today we have had multiple printers quit working. We have tried
various print servers but none seem to work. When we tried a second
print server the system indicated that it could not connect to the
printer. After power cycling the 2 printers test pages were able to
print. Then we tried printing a single pdf page and both printers
quit working. Two users reported that they had sent print jobs to 2
different printers and found that they printed out an hour or 2
later. There are about 6 printers involved and 3 different print
servers, all are having problems.
Printer models include hp 1200, 2430, 4100, 2600. None seem to be
working that well.

I'll bet this is a networking issue.
When you refer to printservers are these the sort that are connected to each
printer or are they PC's set up as a printserver?
What sort of network do you have? Is it peer to peer or is there a central
server or servers? Are there routers or switches involved?
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

 

[phwashington]

I'll bet this is a networking issue.
When you refer to printservers are these the sort that are connected to each
printer or are they PC's set up as a printserver?
What sort of network do you have? Is it peer to peer or is there a central
server or servers? Are there routers or switches involved?
Tony
MS MVP Printing/Imaging

Thanks for the reply. It was caused by a system sending out arp
responses or arp poisoning the network. Dang, so many clues once we
found it. We initially ruled out arp poisoning because we had a
number of file share services which were working fine. We finally set
down on the computers which had the worst problems and I think in less
than five minutes we had gathered enough evidence to realize that our
theory was incorrect and we were getting bogus MAC addresses and
within 5 more minutes we isolated the system sending the problem.
What a screw up. The system happened to be plugged into a managed
switch where we could isolate it and see it rather quickly. Well it
got us managed switches on the other 50 production systems that are
running on our network, once I pointed out to them that if one of
those went out we may have to conguer and divide the network to find
the offending system.
So if anyone wants to know what this feels like. It's like having a
great three point shot at the buzzer to win, but instead of taking it
you step up to shoot an easy jumper from the foul line and miss.
After the game you hit that shot 10 times in a row.