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Zebra Printer Errors Out Multiple Times a Day

  • 1.  Zebra Printer Errors Out Multiple Times a Day

    Posted 08-09-2022 09:24
    Good morning all,

    We have a customer (v2019 Advanced PU4) who uses multiple Zebra printers to print labels.  Everything is set up to print via Bartender as set up by ScanForce Support.  All of the printers except for 1 work fine and never have any issues.  The 1 printer in question errors out on a label multiple times a day, causing a backup in the label printing.  ScanForce Support has put a lot of time in researching the issue, but the error is not happening in Bartender as far as we can tell.  The error happens when it hits the printer queue.  When this happens, all other labels sent to that printer get backed up until the error is cleared out and then it will start printing again.  Their IT Team has looked at the settings of the printer and say there's no different setup than the other printers which do not error out.  They even replaced the printer with a newer model but the issue persists.  SF Support also tried to create a new form specifically for that printer since it was using the same form as another printer, but that did not change our results.

    I'm sure I'm leaving out other information that would be helpful, but if you have any ideas on what's going on and a resolution to the issue, we would appreciate it. Happy to provide additional details as needed. Thanks,

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    Chris Love
    Accounting Systems, Inc. (ASI)
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  • 2.  RE: Zebra Printer Errors Out Multiple Times a Day

    Posted 08-09-2022 09:35
    Do you get different results if the printer is setup through a Server or direct from the workstation? Is it connected to the network with a built in NIC or are you using a print server? When you say it "Errors out" what error are you getting? Do you get any output? What driver are you using and what Zebra printer is it?

    If it is in the queue, I would not think it is a Sage, Scanforce, or Bartender issue unless there is something wrong with the print file. How many print jobs are you talking about 20 or 100s or 1000s in a day?

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    Todd Martin
    MBA Business Software
    https://www.mbabsi.com
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  • 3.  RE: Zebra Printer Errors Out Multiple Times a Day

    Posted 08-09-2022 09:49

    Todd,

    May not be able to answer all of those perfectly, but I'll do my best. The printer is set up on the server and not direct on the workstation.  All of the printers are set up this way (7 total printers, 3 of which I know are set up the same and have no issues, the other 4 may be set up exactly the same, but not 100% sure, though I do know they're not direct on the workstation).  

    I'm going to say it's a Print Server as opposed to built in NIC because they do print a lot of labels throughout the day.

    The error is generic.  Just says "Error - Printing". 

    What do you mean by "Do you get any output"?  Labels are printed prior to the error, and labels are printed after the error is cleared out. Not sure if the label that errors out eventually prints or not or if a user has to go in and reprint it.

    For the printer that errors out, it is using ZDesigner ZM400 300DPI (ZPL).  The 2 other printers I know are set up similarly to this one both use ZDesigner ZM400 200 DPI (ZPL).  The printer previous to the one erroring out was using the 200 DPI and still threw errors. The newer model of it uses the 300 DPI. I'm thinking this also answers your question about what Zebra printer it is.

    We're not sure how many labels they send to the printer(s) a day, but we do know that when labels are sent, it's only 1 label and only 1 copy of the label sent to the printer at a time.



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    Chris Love
    Accounting Systems, Inc. (ASI)
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  • 4.  RE: Zebra Printer Errors Out Multiple Times a Day

    Posted 08-09-2022 10:14
    I'm not sure if it is a print driver issue, however, I always use the Bartender print drivers with a Zebra printer when using Bartender to print labels.

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    Doug Higgs
    Midwest Commerce Solutions, Inc
    (312) 315-0960
    Chauffeur, Chef, and Personal Assistant to Sprinkles
    ------------------------------



  • 5.  RE: Zebra Printer Errors Out Multiple Times a Day

    Posted 08-09-2022 14:08
    Thanks, Doug.  We may try this as well.

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    Chris Love
    Accounting Systems, Inc. (ASI)
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  • 6.  RE: Zebra Printer Errors Out Multiple Times a Day

    Posted 08-09-2022 10:16
    https://www.seagullscientific.com/support/downloads/drivers/

    ------------------------------
    Doug Higgs
    Midwest Commerce Solutions, Inc
    (312) 315-0960
    Chauffeur, Chef, and Personal Assistant to Sprinkles
    ------------------------------



  • 7.  RE: Zebra Printer Errors Out Multiple Times a Day

    Posted 08-09-2022 13:43
    See if you get different results going direct to the printer. This may tell you if there is something with the server managing the printer queue. I would prefer it all go go to a server and be managed there but this may help show what the issue is. If it continues direct from workstation then it may be the driver (if you use the same driver as the server) or network/device.

    Number of printing labels would not indicate if you have a print server translating TCP to USB or Parallel/Serial compared to a built in NIC. This would be a device connected to the printer. If the ethernet cable is direct to the device you have a built in NIC. If you have the device, they are usually not that large, then you have a print server device. Although, I have seen people use full workstations as a print server (either windows or Linux). The thing to look at is if there is this in between device then it may be getting bad or sending bad print jobs. Here is an example of a Parallel one Zebra P1031031 Zebra Kit External Print Server IPv4 - Newegg.com notice it connects direct to the parallel port. You can try connecting it differently to see if you get a different result. If TCP, try USB, if USB try parallel.

    Quick way to have tested if it is the printer is to switch one that works without issue with the one that doesn't and see if the problem follows the printer or if it follows the device. (It may be good to test with the same print form or process to make sure the two mirror what print jobs they would have).

    I wasn't sure if the error was shown on a label (garbage printing and the print queue stops) or if it was just that it was sitting the queue not allowing anything to process. 

    If it is the same print process (Inventory labels from Sage 100) every time and it will just stop with the queue, it sounds like it might be a communication issue. How do you fix it? Turn off printer? Does it ever print what was stopped in the queue?

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    Todd Martin
    MBA Business Software
    https://www.mbabsi.com
    ------------------------------



  • 8.  RE: Zebra Printer Errors Out Multiple Times a Day

    Posted 08-09-2022 14:13

    In Device Manager or Printers and Scanners, it's named "Printer136 on dc1". I think the printer itself is named Printer136, so it's shared out from somewhere. 

    Port:  LAN_Printer136
    Desc:  TCP/IP Advanced Port Monitor
    Printer:  Printer136

    As far as we can tell, it's not a garbage label.  It's a valid and good label that is just randomly erroring out that stops the print queue as you mentioned.

    Right now the main fix is to just Cancel out the job that errored out and the other queued jobs will print fine.  I don't know if the job that errored out is ever printed without someone going back in and reprinting it.

    I'll mention some of these suggestions and try to get some clarification on others from the customer in the meantime.



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    Chris Love
    Accounting Systems, Inc. (ASI)
    ------------------------------



  • 9.  RE: Zebra Printer Errors Out Multiple Times a Day

    Posted 08-09-2022 14:21
    Check the driver version used on each machine (server and client).  Windows does weird things when there is a mismatch.
    I believe fonts and resolution matter too for Zebras (...I think if there is a mismatch it prints as a re-scaled bitmap instead of having the printer render the output itself).

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    Kevin Moyes
    Technical Systems Analyst
    Munjal White Consulting Co.
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  • 10.  RE: Zebra Printer Errors Out Multiple Times a Day

    Posted 08-09-2022 16:20
    From IT:  
    Supposedly using Bartender print drivers?  Though the drivers are named ZDesigner. Not 100% sure this is true based on that, but I also don't know what Bartender drivers for Zebra printers are called.

    Printers are connected to a network using Built in NIC.

    Hundreds (?) of print jobs sent to the printer a day.

    Ethernet cable is plugged directly into the printer.

    There is an in between device called "dc1".  "This is an IP Printer and needs to be because the servers are hosted in the cloud and not onsite".

    Issue stayed with the device, not the printer.

    Pretty sure they only use these printers for printing Inventory Label Printing task.

    Fix it to cancel the stuck job and the NEXT label prints, not the one that errored out.

    All settings between the printers are exactly the same.  All models were the same except the current Printer136 is a replacement and newer model, but same issue.

    Replacement model also has the latest firmware from Zebra.

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    Chris Love
    Accounting Systems, Inc. (ASI)
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  • 11.  RE: Zebra Printer Errors Out Multiple Times a Day

    Posted 08-09-2022 18:48
    Sounds like the issue is with the "dc1" device.

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    Kevin Moyes
    Technical Systems Analyst
    Munjal White Consulting Co.
    ------------------------------



  • 12.  RE: Zebra Printer Errors Out Multiple Times a Day

    Posted 08-09-2022 19:25
    Could also be something silly like a bad cable or network port.  Intermittent hardware issues are so frustrating to troubleshoot.

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    Kevin Moyes
    Technical Systems Analyst
    Munjal White Consulting Co.
    ------------------------------



  • 13.  RE: Zebra Printer Errors Out Multiple Times a Day

    Posted 08-09-2022 19:17
    If it were me, I would assign a static IP to the printer then install the printer / driver on each computer that prints labels and set the port to the ip address.  This bypasses the print server.  If that works then you know it's most likely the print server causing the issue.

    ------------------------------
    Doug Higgs
    Midwest Commerce Solutions, Inc
    (312) 315-0960
    Chauffeur, Chef, and Personal Assistant to Sprinkles
    ------------------------------