Network host busy printing error - my solution

Rant first. My wife's old PC laptop finally died so I bought her a new Macbook (full Mac household now). Setting things up didn't go too bad (except dealing with Microsoft's BKF backup format). Lastly, I needed to add the printer which hangs off the Airport. The printer is a Brother MFC-8820D which worked fine from my Macbook Pro for the last three years. I could not get the printer working - always host busy. I tried LPD and IPP through the Settings, and then tried many more variations through CUPS (http://localhost:631/). No luck. The Apple website was very unhelpful; it has basic information and then intimates that it is the printer manufacturers problem EVEN IF IT WORKS DIRECTLY USING USB! Simply googling the topic shows that plenty of people have/had the same problem. Its obvious to me that the problem seems to be with the recent versions of OS X. My old Macbook Pro was upgraded through the problem and kept the correct settings.
I feel better now.
Anyway, here is finally how I resolved my problem.
1 Boot Airport (may be optional, but I needed to do it)
2 Connect to CUPS (http://localhost:631/)
3 Click Administration tab
4 Click Find New Printers
5 Click Add This Printer when it pops up
Note that no printers will be seen if you are not logged in. Login user name is probably first name followed by last name in all lower case. It won't ask you to log in until you try to change something. Trying to add a printer should bring up the login window.
My Airport printer popped up here and allowed me to add it. Worked perfectly afterwards. I tried this before booting the Airport but it did not show up then.
Hope it helps.

I found a solution. It works with this configuration:
Protocol: HP Jetdirect - Socket
Adress: socket://foo-host:9100
Queue:
i.e. you can leave it blank.

Similar Messages

How I fixed the 'network host busy" error

I've been down for a day solving the "network host busy' error.
First, I had fits trying to hook up this HP to my system. Here's the thread on that:
http://forums.techguy.org/networking/858081-laserjet-4500-mac-osx-10-a.html
Once all that was done, it was working.
The system was off and sometimes unplugged over the course of the evening.
I could not get it to work again.
It turned out that somehow during the course of events, the ip number of the printer had changed. I printed out the configuration page directly from the printer's configuration menu, and reset the ip address to match the new one.
Protocol in this case was HP Jet Direct socket.
Hope that helps someone out there. It looks like there are a lot of people tearing their hair out over this message and that there is no one solution.

I just found a solution to this problem and thought I would post it here, too.
I'm using a HP Photosmart C7280 with 10.6.1
Ever since updating to Snow Leopard, I kept receiving the "Network host busy" message. Today, I thought I would try running the network wizard feature on the printer itself, and after the printer connected to my router and I entered the password, the problem fixed itself. No more error message.
I'm not sure if this will work for everyone, but it did for me. Such an easy solution for such a headache-inducing problem.
Message was edited by: TNTWhite

"Network host busy" error

Hi, everyone. I have trawled this discussion list and followed all the advice available to no avail. Any help would certainly be appreciated.
The background is as follows:
MacBook Pro, 2.33GHz Intel Core 2 duo, 2GB RAM, currently running OSX 10.6.2. Software up to date. Previously on OSX 10.4.11 until 4 weeks ago. Printing to a networked HP 4100 with a fixed IP address in the office worked fine until last week, when a "Network host busy error, trying again in 30 seconds" error arose. Printing from the other workstations (iMacs on 10.6.2) on the network continues to proceed normally. Steps I have taken include deleting the HP4100 print queue and re-installing (several times) as IP>HPJetDirect socket to 192.168.1.100. Clearly the printer is online (it says so) and is identified as the correct printer driver is selected automatically (HP LaserJet 4100 series v 3010.107) and all the configurable options are correctly selected (trays 2,3 & 4, envelope feeder and duplex option) and toner supply levels are correctly read. Still get network host busy error. Rebooted the printer. No avail. Rebooted the router. No avail. Reinstalled HP printer drivers from here: http://support.apple.com/downloads/#printer%20drivers%20mac%20os%20x%20v10.6. No avail. Have also reset the printing system (losing all the other print queues in the process!) to no avail. Checked the printer setup on the iMacs that can print, and it is identical to that which I am attempting to install. Have I missed something? Anyone with any clues, please?

Hi there,
If you have your HP printer queue configured exactly the same as other Mac's that are working fine, and with all the steps you have taken thus far, then I can only suggest that you either have a network issue or something blocking the path.
So first thing is to check that you are set to the same subnet as the other Mac's. This can be confirmed via the Network Utility under the Info pane. You may have to change the drop menu from Ethernet (en0) to Airport (en1) depending on what you use. Typically the first three sets of numbers of your IP address is your subnet, while the last number is your network address. So, based on the printers address of 192.168.1.100, your Mac should have a subnet of 192.168.1 and a network address other than 100.
If the IP address for your Mac is set to the same subnet as the HP then while Network Utility is still open, select the Ping tab, enter the IP address of 192.168.1.100, set the number of Pings to 4 and press the Ping button. You should get a response from the printer.
If you do get a response then it is safe to assume that the network setup on your Mac is okay. At this stage I would check that your Firewall is disabled (located in System Preferences > Security).
If the firewall is not enabled then my last suggestion is to create another printer queue to the HP, this time selecting IP > LPD for the protocol. Since HP wrote Socket then it is odd that it would not be working, but a network host busy would indicate that the Mac cannot either communicate with the IP address or the Port of the selected IP address. By changing the protocol from HP Socket to LPD you are basically setting the Mac to connect on port 515 instead of 9100.
Note that if the other Mac's show the print queue URL as "socket://192.168.1.100/" then they are using HP Jetdirect also so it would make no sense that your connection to the same port would fail. But it can't hurt trying an alternate protocol when you have tried everything else...
HTH and reply if needed.
Pahu

IP Printing Network Host Busy Error

I have a Dell color laser on our Novell LAN that I've always been able to print to from my PowerBook using the printer's IP address. Today I found a new PPD for that printer and installed it, now I can't print. I get this error:
"Network host 'nameofhost' is busy; will retry in 30 seconds . . ."
I can ping the printer and it's there. I can check the supply levels and it shows the correct levels. If I turn the printer off, I can no longer ping it or show the levels, so I know it's connecting correctly. I put the old PPD back in and I still get the same network busy error. I get the same error no matter which application I print from. Everything is set up the same as before, and it's setup the same as all the other printers I can print to. I can print to other printers on the network using the same method. I can print to this printer using my Windows PC and it works fine, so I know the printer/queue itself is not down.
If I had any hair, I would pull it out.
PowerBook G4 17 1.67GHz 1.5Gb RAM Mac OS X (10.4.6) Novell LAN printing via IP, Dell 5100cn Color Laser using correct PPD

Greg:
You gave me the hint that fixed it. I was setting up the new printer in SysPrefs using IPP protocol, but the printer was set up to accept LPD protocol. I changed it and now it works great. Thanks a bunch!!

Network host busy on USB connected printer

Appreciate any advice or tips. I have a HP Photosmart C4200 plugged via USB to iMac running 10.6.4, prints fine, and print sharing is on. From my MacBook Pro running 10.5.8 I can connect to the printer using hostname-iMac.local. No documents (Word, notepad, etc.) will successfully print from MBP to printer on iMac, all attempts result in Network Host "hostname" is busy; will retry in .....seconds. Seems like this should be simple, what have I done to complicate it? Thanks.

Only the print function is supported when a multi-function device is connected to the USB port on an AirPort router.
Advanced features like scan, copy, maintenance, etc are not supported at the USB port.

How to resolve "network host busy; will retry" message?

There was a thread on this question about a year ago but it didn't look like it was clearly resolved and I am running into the situation...
Prior to yesterday, my configuration was as follows: an iMac and a Windows laptop connected to a wireless network via an Airport Extreme Base Station; connected to the Extreme Base Station is a Brother printer.
Yesterday, I extended the wireless network with an Airport Express.
Now, I can still print on the Brother printer via the Windows laptop, which is located close to the Airport Express. However, I can no longer print from the iMac, which is located very close to the Extreme Base Station. Whenever I try printing, I get a message stating that the network host is busy and it will retry in 30 seconds.
Has anybody been able to resolve this issue?

I incorrectly set up the printer to use IPP , rather than LPD.

When attempting to print with HP P2015 cabled to AirPort Extreme, error message is "Network host (name) is busy". What's happening?

When attempting to print with an HP P2015 cabled to an AirPort Extreme, the network won't connect to printer. The Print Que message is "Network host (name) is busy; will retry in (number) seconds." When I delete the file to be printed, the Print Queue screen says "Printer Ready".
More Information:
The printer's Queue Name is Hewlett-Packard HP LaserJet P2015 Series
The Location is "(my name) AirPort Extreme"
URL is "Hewlett_Packard%20%HP%20LaserJet%20P2015%20Series._pdl-datastream._tcp.local./ ?bidi" (for whatever that means)
Driver Version is 18.4
Printer Software is HP LaserJet P2015 Series
The printer is listed as a printer on System Preferences/Print&Fax screen
If I connect the printer cable directly to the iMac, the printer works fine.
Any helpful directions would be greatly appreciated.

I came across an Apple article last modified 6/2/08 (Printer troubleshooting for AirPort Base Stations and Time Capsule). It suggested the old standby, i.e., disconnect the AirPort Extreme Base Station from its power source, turn off the printer, turn on the printer, and reconnect the AirPort to its power source. It worked. I guess disconnecting the AirPort cleared out the network host. Yea.

Can no longer print wirelessly - False Message - "Network Host is Busy"

Fairly new to Macbook, but when I initially set up my printer wirelessly it worked fine. After recent 'updates' to the OS and HP drivers, I'm stuck with the 'network host is busy' problem that I seen in many other threads. There have been NO changes to my hardware - same router, same printer. Print jobs sit in queue and host is always 'busy' but it's not, really. There doesn't seem to be a good and actual "solution" for the issue yet. Here's the details:
Macbook Pro, 13"
Mac OS X 10.6.4
HP OfficeJet J6400 (drivers - 3.0.4 - just updated with the latest update from Apple)
Printer is running ONLY wirelessly, it is not hooked to a PC. It has an IP assigned by my router.
I have two PC's that print to it just fine, wirelessly.
I removed the printer from the Macbook, and re-installed it sort of manually using IPP as the protocol. The Macbook 'sees' the printer, and I can access the printer utilities to view ink levels, see the hardware/firmware information, etc.
I can also print a test page wirelessly from the Macbook, because as I'm told, printing a test page bypasses the drivers; and if you can print a test page but can't print normally, it would seem there's a driver issue, no?
One thing I don't know how to figure out is the 'queue name' so I leave it blank for 'default'. This is the only wireless printer and there are no other shared printers.
So I'm pretty well stuck, and have to move files or send links to my PC so I can print stuff (flawlessly) from there since the Macbook won't print at all - I always receive the 'network host is busy' message. The frustrating thing is, when I first installed it months ago, installation went very smoothly, and everything worked perfectly - until recently.
I know it's not just me, but any help is appreciated. Thanks!
Macbook Pro 13" Mac OS X (10.6.4) HP OfficeJet J6480 with latest drivers from Apple

Checking the HP web site I could not find a manual for the J6400 but there was a J6410 and its User Guide states the following...
1. Click the HP Device Manager icon on the Dock or in the Hewlett Packard folder in the Applications folder.
2. From the Information and Settings list, select Network Printer Setup Utility.
I also found the following HP wireless support site that suggests the print queue creation is performed by the HP software. No mention of how to configure the Mac queue manually.
http://h20563.www2.hp.com/p/_wireless/reconfiguring-system-help.html

Can't Print Wirelessly- "Network Host is Busy" - NOT!

Fairly new to Macbook, but when I initially set up my printer wirelessly it worked fine. After recent 'updates' to the OS and HP drivers, I'm stuck with the 'network host is busy' problem that I seen in many other threads. There have been NO changes to my hardware - same router, same printer. Print jobs sit in queue and host is always 'busy' but it's not, really. There doesn't seem to be a good and actual "solution" for the issue yet. Here's the details:
Macbook Pro, 13"
Mac OS X 10.6.4
HP OfficeJet J6400 (drivers - 3.0.4 - just updated with the latest update from Apple)
Printer is running ONLY wirelessly, it is not hooked to a PC. It has an IP assigned by my router.
I have two PC's that print to it just fine, wirelessly.
I removed the printer from the Macbook, and re-installed it sort of manually using IPP as the protocol. The Macbook 'sees' the printer, and I can access the printer utilities to view ink levels, see the hardware/firmware information, etc.
I can also print a test page wirelessly from the Macbook, because as I'm told, printing a test page bypasses the drivers; and if you can print a test page but can't print normally, it would seem there's a driver issue, no?
One thing I don't know how to figure out is the 'queue name' so I leave it blank for 'default'. This is the only wireless printer and there are no other shared printers.
So I'm pretty well stuck, and have to move files or send links to my PC so I can print stuff (flawlessly) from there since the Macbook won't print at all - I always receive the 'network host is busy' message. The frustrating thing is, when I first installed it months ago, installation went very smoothly, and everything worked perfectly - until recently.
I know it's not just me, but any help is appreciated. Thanks!

I think you should add the printer using the default browser (Bonjour), or, More Printers > HP IP.

Re: Printer "saying network host is busy retrying HP 6500 E710n-z

I have just set up my new All-in0one printer HP 6500710n-z and each time i print WIRELESSLY it does not print rather I get an error message saying" NETWORK HOST IS BUSY, RETRYING......" I am lost and need to print urgently what to do?

What router? What operating system?
Download and run this utility: http://h20180.www2.hp.com/apps/Nav?h_pagetype=s-926&h_lang=en&h_client=s-h-e17-1&h_keyword=dg-NDU&ju...
What does it say?
Say thanks by clicking "Kudos" "thumbs up" in the post that helped you.
I am employed by HP

Printing problems - Network host is busy, will retry in 30 seconds . . .

Configuration: 3 machines on the network
1. iMac with Snow Leopard 10.6.8 (wired connection)
2. Ubuntu Linux 11.04 (Natty Narwhal) server on IA64 with CUPS 1.4.6 (machine is called tusko)
3. MacBookPro with Snow Leopard 10.6.7 (wireless connection)
4. The server has a fixed IP address 192.168.1.10, the iMac is 192.168.1.12 (static also)
5. The MacBookPro is getting an IP address from the DHCP server in the router (Linksys e4200)
6. I can ping any machine from any other machine.
Procedure:
1. I set up a HP LaserJet 1012 on the Linux box using the CUPS GUI (http://localhost:631/)
2. CUPS shows the print queue as "idle, Accepting jobs, Shared, Server Default), I can print a test page properly from the server
3. The printer shows correctly as "HP LaserJet 1012 @ tusko" on both macs in System Preferences - Print & Fax
4. If I print a file to this printer from either Mac, I see "Network host 'tusko.local' is busy; will retry in 30 seconds . . ." this message repeats until I finally kill the print job
Since this is an all-Apple setup (CUPS being out of Apple), the solution is going to be something very basic that I am doing wrong (btw everything IS powered up) -- question is WHAT?!
I also tried connecting the printer directly to a USB port on the iMac, sharing it, and printing to the shared printer with the MacBookPro - same problem.
Thanks in advance for your help!

Hi Greg:
Thanks for the response.
Sorry, I'm using IPP. As an experiment, I printed a test page from Firefox running locally on the server, and that prints fine. So I have pointed CUPS at the right printer driver.
The other thing I've tried is to reset the printing system on the iMac by control-clicking in the area below the listed printer in the Print & Fax dialog and saying yes to "are you sure" when it warns about resetting the printing system. That leaves a blank pane. Then I started Word,
and invoked print. It came up with no printer selected, but offered a choice of the HP. When I select that, I see messages about gathering printer info (I expect that's Bonjour doing its thing), and the printer re-appears in the Print and Fax pane. When I "Print", I'm back to the usual problem.
Do you think I have something set incorrectly in the router?
Thanks.

Print Server - Network host is busy

I have set up SLS as a print server with an HP laserjet connected via usb.
If I add the printer to OSX10.6 clients I get an error whenever I try to print anything stating the "network host xx is busy will retry in 30 seconds"
I can print no problem from Windows clients - just not Macs
Any ideas most welcome - I have tried pretty much everything I can think of at this stage?

I had exactly the same issue with a Epson USB printer. I do not have a Windows machine, but all the Macs were showing "Network host is busy, will retry in..."
It is working now. I did the following:
Installed the printer as a USB printer on the OS X server
In Server Admin, at the server.local, I selected the services tab, and put a check mark against Firewall.
I then selected the Firewall service and under the service tab, I allowed traffic on IPP and LPR ports.
I then recreated my print queue using only IPP as protocol.
My client could connect to this printer as it was advertised as a Bonjour printer @ servername.
This works even though I have not turned on the firewall service (no green dot) but it seems toggling these ports choices in the Firewall service did something.
Good luck.

Wireless printing - network host is busy/unreachable?

Hi everyone,
We installed a wireless (Lexmark X9350) network printer on our Airport network (behind ADSL + router with DHCP functions enabled).
The printer software installation finished successfully but gave a warning that the printer had not been added to the printer list and could/should be added manually. After having done this, wireless printing to the X9350 doesn't seem to be working: error: Network host is busy, unreachable, .... The same occurs on 10.4 (Tiger) and 10.3.
However, wireless printing from 2 PCs (WindowsXP) on the same wireless network works ok. Printing test page with USB cable attached to the Mac seems to be working as well. Any tips how we can get this wireless printing working for the Macs?
Thanks,
Guy

I meant specifically, after clicking ADD and then clicking More Printers, is there a Lexmark proprietary protocol choice that you used - something like "Lexmark network inkjet?" That will be the only way to add the printer - not IP printing.

HT1218 What causes error "Network Host 192.16x.0.1 is busy. Will retry in 30 seconds."

Wireless Printer error shows network host as busy. Cannot reconfigure to re-connect. It was printing ok. Then I tried to scan a doc and then it wouldn't print again. I have internet access. Receive email, etc. Tried reinstalling the printer software several times. Printer says it has successfully completed connection to the Router. But I continue to get the error "Network Host is busy. Will retry in 30 seconds." And it never prints. Also, printer config option is greyed out.
1. What root cause generates that error message?
2. What settings should I reconfigure?
3. How do I re-configure settings?
I am not a techie...a busy frustrated Grandma at home. Need step by step, just to get to the right menu.
Thanks for help.

Hi Greg:
Thanks for the response.
Sorry, I'm using IPP. As an experiment, I printed a test page from Firefox running locally on the server, and that prints fine. So I have pointed CUPS at the right printer driver.
The other thing I've tried is to reset the printing system on the iMac by control-clicking in the area below the listed printer in the Print & Fax dialog and saying yes to "are you sure" when it warns about resetting the printing system. That leaves a blank pane. Then I started Word,
and invoked print. It came up with no printer selected, but offered a choice of the HP. When I select that, I see messages about gathering printer info (I expect that's Bonjour doing its thing), and the printer re-appears in the Print and Fax pane. When I "Print", I'm back to the usual problem.
Do you think I have something set incorrectly in the router?
Thanks.

Printing: Network host is busy

This seems to be a recurring problem; I've seen several posts on older versions of OS X. I have an Epson Workforce 630 printer and a Netgear WNR2000v3 router; the printer was previously on a wired connection to the router, and all was right with the world. Yesterday, I started getting the error "Network host 'EPSON555CB3.local.' is busy. Will retry in XX seconds...". Since then, I have tried connecting wirelessly, via IP address, using LPD, etc. ... but no luck. Any suggestions? TIA!

Thanks for the reply. With ping getting a reply then at least you know that it is not due to the lack of a connection between the Mac and the printer that is causing the error message.
It could be the driver, although for it to be working and then not after no apparent update to the Mac or printer, it would be unlikely. So an update may not help, although for many the act of removing the queue so that they can install a new driver is enough to resolve their symptom.
What I would suggest is to remove the printer queue and add the printer again, selecting the Default view in the Add Printer browser to locate the printer on the network. The reason for selecting the Default view rather than an IP protocol like LPD is that many vendor printer drivers have not been written to support these IP protocols. Instead they have been written for Bonjour or a proprietary protocol meaning that they must be added using the Default view, which displays printers using broadcasting protocols.
One other point. Seeing the device in the Finder is no guarantee that the printer is still present on the network. The printer appearing in the Shared section of the Finder is a result of SMB protocols and is generally there so that you can use the memory card slots of the AIO. The trouble with SMB is that it can take a while to appear in Finder and take just as long to disappear due to caching. So unless you can actually select the printer in Finder and connect, then this is not always a reliable view.
But the ping result is, so if the symptom occurs again (assuming you get it fixed) then use the ping to check that you have a path between the Mac and the printer.

Network host busy printing error - my solution

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