Troubleshoot Common Printing Issues

There are many common issues that occur when attempting to print. Follow the list below for the most common ones, as well as their solutions. For general printing instructions, see Printing on Middlebury Campus (go/howtoprint/).

Return here easily using go/printissue/.

If you still need a hand after reviewing the applicable troubleshooting steps below, see Getting Help with Printer Issues (go/printerhelp/).

Contents

• Network

  • MiddleburyCollege

  • Unable to see printers

• "Hold for Authentication"

  • Update print credentials from the Print Center

  • Update print credentials from the Keychain

• Job submitted, but not on printer

• Paper size

• Poster printing

• Staff/faculty printing

• Restricted access

• DNS

Network

MiddleburyCollege

You must be connected to the MiddleburyCollege network—either via wireless (WiFi) or ethernet—in order to print. Printing does NOT work on the MiddleburyGuest or eduroam networks.

Unable to see printers

While on the MiddleburyCollege network, the two most common factors of being unable to see the printers are VPN and (Mac-only) Limit IP address tracking.

• VPN: Use of private VPN software (other than Middlebury's Global Protect) will cause problems with Mobility Print setup and use. If you use a VPN, you must first turn it off before you can print.

• Limit IP address tracking: this setting enables iCloud Private Relay on macOS, which can prevent the Mobility Print service from discovering on-campus printers. Fix this by clicking on the Details... (or i ) button next to the MiddleburyCollege network and turn OFF Limit IP address tracking. 

"Hold for Authentication" 

This message may appear in the Print Center (print pop-up window) under the job (submitted document) when printing on a Mac.

Make sure you are using your Middlebury credentials, i.e., your full Middlebury email address (username@middlebury.edu) and email password.

• You can confirm your Middlebury password is correct by using it to log in to a different service, such as your email (go/mail/)—to make sure you can manually input and thus check the validity of your password, use a private/incognito window.

• If you used different credentials (e.g., your computer username and/or password), have recently reset your Middlebury password, or input your username or password incorrectly, you will need to update the credentials saved: see below the options to update the print credentials (Name and Password) from either the Print Center or the Keychain.

Update print credentials from the Print Center:

1. Click the refresh button on the far right of the job.

   

2. A login prompt should appear; provide your Middlebury credentials.

3. Click OK; the print job should proceed as desired.

Update print credentials from the Keychain:

1. Use these instructions to find and delete the printer (see Printers under Example items) from the Keychain. 

2. Attempt to print to the printer again using your Middlebury credentials. 

• wait 15 minutes. You account may be temporarily locked (i.e., the system flagged too many incorrect password attempts). Your account will automatically unlock after about 15 minutes, after which you can try again. 

• check your network settings: — see Unable to see printers above. 

Job submitted, but not on printer 

The credentials used to install / authenticate for individual printers will be charged for any print jobs submitted to it, regardless of who is logged on to the computer. Make sure the printing credentials are correct to your account. 

You can check if jobs have been submitted properly to your account and are ready to print using the Jobs Pending Release tab on go/papercut/. 

Paper size

One of the most common issues with oddly formatted print jobs (or the printer error "no paper available") is incorrect paper size selected, e.g., you have selected A4 (8.27in x 11.69in) instead of the correct Letter (8.5in x 11in). 

Poster printing

You cannot poster print (i.e., printing to plotters) from your personal device. You must submit the print job to the Poster Release Station from a lab computer, then release the job to print on the plotter from the Poster Release Station.

See go/poster/ for detailed poster printing instructions.

Staff/faculty printing

Not all features of the print driver are available when using Mobility Print. Refer to College-owned personal-use computer for network printer installation instructions.

Restricted access

Certain printers have restricted access to certain departments, staff, etc.; you may see ones included in the list of available printers that you cannot use.

DNS

Alternate DNS (Domain Name Service) settings may prevent discovery of on-campus print servers. To fix this, you can manually remove added DNS server entries and allow the device to get DNS server information automatically when leasing an IP address.

How To Geek's Ultimate Guide to Changing Your DNS Server explains how to manually set DNS server settings; removing them will cause the device to retrieve DNS server settings via the Internet Service Provider, which is middlebury.edu when on campus. On macOS, consider creating a New Location if above settings do not work.