HP Print for Chrome printers randomly disappear/reappear

[Gonnzo92]

Apologies if I missed a prior thread with this topic.  I searched for an hour and couldn't come up with another posting of this issue, though it's hard to believe I'm the first. 

In preparation for the disappearance of Google Cloud Printing we installed the HP Print for Chrome extension on several Chromebooks in a small business office.  The HP printers (426 and 477) immediately appeared and printing appeared to work fine. 

In the weeks following the initial setup there have been reports of those printers simply disappearing from the list of available printers when users attempt to print (Ctrl-P, etc).  I blamed user misunderstanding at first but recently witnessed it myself.  When I first tried, I was able to print to a HP Print for Chrome printer. Then 10 minutes later when I went to show the user how to do it, those printers no longer appeared on the list (Destination -> See more).  We kept trying periodically as I poked at settings but never found anything to change.  Then about 45 minutes later they were back on the list again and the page successfully printed.  Other users reported this is exactly what they have seen every couple of days in routine usage.  There are 3 such printers in the office and they all disappear and reappear together.

Any chance one of you has witnessed this same behavior and has any good guesses how to address it?

HP Chromebook: Chrome OS 86.0.4240.199
Ubiquiti network components, Chromebook connected via wifi

HP 426 printers connected via hard wired ethernet ports

[Echo_Lake]

@Gonnzo92

Thank you for posting on the HP Support Community.

Don't worry as I'll be glad to help, however, to provide an accurate resolution, I need a few more details:

• Have you tried updating the HP Chromebook and printer software? 

Keep me posted for further assistance.

[Gonnzo92]

We did update the Chromebook OS (as of Jan 20, 2021). 

I'm not sure what is meant by printer software though: HP printer firmware? HP Print for Chrome (not sure how to update this one)? something else?

Thanks,

Brian

[Echo_Lake]

@Gonnzo92
Thank you for posting back. 

You can use the following additional options to print from a Chromebook.

• HP Print for Chrome app: Supports printing through the Chrome browser to USB and network connected printers. Go to Printing with the HP Print for Chrome App for more information.

• Wi-Fi Direct printing: To print wirelessly without joining a local Wi-Fi network, go to Printing with Wi-Fi Direct.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.
Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

[Gonnzo92]

Thanks for the additional suggestions.

HP Print for Chrome is exactly what this post is about.  I was hoping to find someone that could either confirm shared challenges or suggest a fix.  Unless this app is somehow different from the HP Print for Chrome that I've already installed?  I can probably reinstall or otherwise update to make sure I'm running the latest version too.

WiFi direct printing has not been tried, but I can if it would help the troubleshooting effort.  Printers and users are often separated by enough distance, and through concrete and metal surfaces, that I don't expect to get sufficient signal.  More importantly, those Chromebooks need to remain connected to the office wifi for the business apps that they run, so unless we can print via wifi without dropping the existing connection I'm afraid that won't be a viable solution.

Thanks,

Brian

[Echo_Lake]

@Gonnzo92

Thank you for posting back.

Guest or public networks (such as networks found in apartments, coffee shops, schools, or hotels) have additional security features that can prevent printing.

To print, directly connect your computer or mobile device to your printer with Wi-Fi Direct.

For more information, go to Wi-Fi Direct Printer Setup.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.
Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

[Gonnzo92]

Hi there,

Thanks for staying on this issue.  Please see responses below:

Guest or public networks: not relevant to this issue.  This is a private office with dedicated wifi completely in our control.  The network and access point equipment is Ubiquiti if that makes a difference.  The chromebooks in question connect via wifi for all office needs and have no hard-wire ethernet ports.  As mentioned before, the printers are hardwired.

WiFi Direct is not a viable solution even if it works perfectly.  We can't reasonably expect users to change their wifi every time they need to print throughout a day.  I can certainly give it a try if it will provide useful troubleshooting information toward a real solution however.  Just let me know.

Here's a bit more info in case it is useful: when a user loses access to HP Print for Chrome printers, all 3 disappear and reappear together: two are HP 426, one is HP 477.

Thanks again,

Brian

[Echo_Lake]

@Gonnzo92
Thank you for posting back.

I appreciate your efforts to try and resolve the issue.  As we have limited support boundaries in the support community as of now.

I would request you to contact our Support and our Support Engineers should be able to sort this out. HP Support can be reached by clicking on the following link: www.hp.com/contacthp/

Please feel free to contact us here anytime you need any further assistance. Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

[Gonnzo92 · Accepted solution]

It looks like we might have found the issue.  Reliable communications with these printers seems to rely on multicast DNS (mDNS), at least for this software.  On Ubiquiti Unifi controlled networks this is simply a matter of clicking a check box.  Since making that change a week ago we have yet to see the disappearing printer problem reported here.  It was previously uncommon to see the printers more than a few hours a day so this is certainly a huge improvement at least.  Time will tell.

Brian