Bonjour Service Name changes unexpectedly after being set on m402dn printer

[pzingg]

Afer setting the Bonjour Service Name via the web interface to an m402dn printer, a few hours later we find that this name has been changed (without our intervention).  A numerical suffix, like "-1", "-2", etc. gets applied to the name. We are up to "-4" and "-5" on some of these printers already.

Because of this unexpected service name change, all of the printing clients who were connected using the original name can no longer print, and we have do delete and re-add the printer connection. This is happening on more than one m402dn on our campus.

All of the printers are using static IPv4 addresses.

Are there some services or settings on the printer or on my network that I can change to prevent this unwanted behavior?  

[Seven709]

Same problem here,  small home office mostly macOS and iOS devices and a MFP M477fdn with AirPrint. Every now and then the Bonjour Name of the printer changed by itself (increasing the suffix number) leaving all devices unable to print until the name is set to the previous one via web interface.

Most inconvenient ... 😞 

BTW: already at *-9 as of today ...

[ShlomiL]

Have you installed your latest printer firmware and checked?

It can be installed from HP Support using below link:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers

Additionally, as you say you have multiple printers, each printer is assigned with a unique name and not having duplicate names bn any chance?

[Seven709]

Frankly speaking I did not recently checked. However, the currently installed Version for my M477fdn is from 20190113. And this printer is the only one in my network, thus the name is unique indeed.

[ShlomiL]

Hi,

using your printer’s IP address access its EWS page from your browser, within the networking tab look for Bonjour or AirPrint settings.

Can you see the Bonjour Name actually configured for the printer with the added prefix or mayit only appears through your Mac as a such while the listed name setting remain as before?

This is to better understand if a such may occur due to a connection problem, or any other cause..

Shlomi

[Seven709]

Basically the "flow of things" is as follows:

1. The Bonjour Name of the printer is "M477fdn-7" and configured on the printers website (as an example for a starting point)

2. Mac's can add this printer under this name via Systemsettings and print

3. A few days later the printer appears offline in the mac. In the printer's website the name is now "M477fdn-8"

Now you have two options to fix it:

In Systemsettings browse and find the "new" printer "M477fdn-8" 

or

In the website, rename the printer to "M477fdn-7"

after one of these actions you can print again.

4. And the cycle repeats

Please note, that we are printing somewhat seldom, sometimes not only once per week. Therefore I have currently not even a rough estimation when the name switch take place. But it seems that the situation is stable for at least two days. And yes, until now the printer is powered on 24/7 for convenience reasons.

And yes, in the Mac's Printer Settings the name of the printer appears exactly like the Bonjour name configured on the printers Website.

And thank you very much, your support and effort in this matter is very much appreciated.

Seven709

[Creobiz]

Hi, thanks for your answer, what do you mean with the added prefix,  my printer have a Bonjour name: HP OfficeJet Pro 7740 series [88805E] and a Domain name: HP3C528288805E

I changed the printer Bonjour name ( simplified) and after a while the name changed again to  HP OfficeJet Pro 7740 series [XXXXXXX] where the data between the brackets is changed. Still have not figured out what is triggering the name file, please help its a nightmare to reinstall the printers on all our Mac worksstations.

thx

Erik

[ShlomiL]

Sorry @Creobiz, an HP Officejet Pro 7740 printer have nothing to do with this thread which discusses HP Laserjet printers.

Please post a separate thread on this matter, it have nothing much to do with this thread although may similar.

Thanks,

Shlomi

[ShlomiL]

You are much welcome @Seven709.

I do not have any solution to offer but trying to figure what may cause a such.

Could you please let me know a rough estimate of how long you would think this issue is going for you?

Would you say you experience this for weeks, maybe months?

Have you made any changes recently that you aware of, have you updated the printer firmware recently that you aware of?

Shlomi

[Seven709]

Hi Shlomi,

as an educated guess .. less than a month but more than a week ... please note that this issue occurs right from the beginning (November last year) but only recently I found the time to do some troubleshooting, beside just re-installing the driver. Firmware update done in February. However, during the course of the troubleshooting I disabled IPv6 support, just to eliminating that factor.

@Creobiz: IMHO this might be a relevant piece of information. Although the actual name change is different (because it is a different model and class) the basic fact seems to be the same: A configured firmware value (Bonjour Name) changes by itself.

To form a hypothesis:

HP printer seem to change there configured Bonjourname all by itself triggered by a yet unknown cause. This might be due to a flaw in the firmware module related to Apple / AirPrint support. Furthermore, since the same module is very likely being used on various types of firmware, different printers might be affected.