Simply can't print using mac os x 10.4.3

[colpaarm]

I've actually had this issue probably a little after 10.4. Basically, I go to print something (any application, doesn't matter) and nothing happens. And when I say nothing happens, it's as if I didn't click the print button. This happens with any printer I try and print to. Home printer trying to print to my windows printer via samba. Job printer on a network. Doesn't matter. I click the print button and it just sits there looking at me. I've searched and asked around, but nobody seems to have a solution to this problem. I've used windows, unix and linux all my life and have only been using mac for about a year and a half, so I'm not familiar with all of the issues with macs. Anyway, any help that can be provided would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[The Black Rock]

Does the printer actually show up in the "Printing" pane of the "Print & Fax" System Preference?

 

[colpaarm]

Yep, my printers show up in the list of available printers.

 

[The Black Rock]

Which ones are they by they way?

•Check the "Printer Setup…" and find out if the info's correct.

•Double-click the printer's name in the left hand pane. When the window pops up, does it say, "No Job Printing"? Try printing something and see if it changes.

•This all might be a driver problem, but that's really a next step.

 

[MacAficionado]

I would also look at firewall settings, Printer sharing settings, Windows sharing settings and so on.

 

[colpaarm]

Thanks, guys for the responses. Bottom line, they used to work. Then all of a sudden, I can't print to none of my printers. So information is not the issue. It can't be firewall issues because I can't print at work, but I also can't print at home and both myself and the printer are behind a router. No matter where I try to print (with my laptop), it literally is like I never hit the print button.

I'm trying to print to an Epson stylus CX5200 through samba (windows machine owns the printer) at home and a couple of HP laserjets at work.

A friend of mine suggested that I delete the drivers and reinstall them, althogh I'm not quite sure how to go about that. Would you guys know how to do that? Thanks again.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Thanks, guys for the responses. Bottom line, they used to work. Then all of a sudden, I can't print to none of my printers. So information is not the issue. It can't be firewall issues because I can't print at work, but I also can't print at home and both myself and the printer are behind a router. No matter where I try to print (with my laptop), it literally is like I never hit the print button.
I'm trying to print to an Epson stylus CX5200 through samba (windows machine owns the printer) at home and a couple of HP laserjets at work.
A friend of mine suggested that I delete the drivers and reinstall them, althogh I'm not quite sure how to go about that. Would you guys know how to do that? Thanks again.

Just Delete the printers from the Applications: Utilities: Printer Setup, and re-install the printers from scratch as if they were new printers.

This is S.O.P. when upgrading OS's or network equipment.

 

[mkrishnan]

Hmmm...you don't even need a printer set up to be able to access the print dialog, do you? I thought it comes up and lets you save a PDF even if you have no printer assigned? I could be wrong about that. It sounds rather like the daemon responsible for managing printing is not able to launch or run, or there is something corrupt in the files necessary to generate the print window that the core services provide upon app request.

Hmmm...which means that I'm suspecting stuff more like disk permission issues, filestructure anomalies, corrupted system files, or bad plist files.

Perhaps you can try spotlighting for "print plist" and moving all the com.apple.print plists to the desktop? And then try printing? This should regenerate all of these preferences files, in case they were corrupted somehow.