Canon PIXMA not printing

Hey everyone, I really need some help here😉

So, here’s the deal: I’ve got this Canon PIXMA printer that’s been sitting there gathering dust, disconnected from any computer for at least five years now.
I finally hooked it up to my laptop running macOS today and managed to get the drivers installed without any issues. But once I power it on, the second and third buttons flash orange for a split second before turning off, leaving only the first yellow light active. It won't actually print anything, though; every single file I try to send just sits in the queue with an error message next to it. When I tried running the troubleshooter for the first time, it told me "A print job in the print queue is preventing other print jobs from printing." Even though the troubleshooter claimed it fixed the issue, absolutely nothing changed. I even went into the command prompt as an administrator and ran a net stop spooler followed by a restart, thinking the service was just stuck, but that was a total waste of time. 🙂...now when I run the troubleshooter again, it doesn't even show an error anymore.

What am I supposed to do? Did the ink dry up inside or something? Honestly, I don't even know what these lights are trying to tell me. 🙂
It’s driving me insane that the thing won't even pull a blank sheet of paper. Will buying new ink refills actually fix this, or am I just throwing money down the drain if the hardware itself refuses to respond?!
Oh, and one more thing; since this printer is ancient and definitely out of production, does anyone even know if you can still find replacement cartridges or refills for it? If you do, do you have any idea what they cost? I need to know if it’s even worth trying to save this thing. 🤷
Thanks in advance🙂

brightnomad12 said:Hey everyone, I really need some help here😉

So, here’s the deal: I’ve got this Canon PIXMA printer that’s been sitting there gathering dust, disconnected from any computer for at least five years now.
I finally hooked it up to my laptop running macOS today and managed to get the drivers installed without any issues. But once I power it on, the second and third buttons flash orange for a split second before turning off, leaving only the first yellow light active. It won't actually print anything, though; every single file I try to send just sits in the queue with an error message next to it. When I tried running the troubleshooter for the first time, it told me "A print job in the print queue is preventing other print jobs from printing." Even though the troubleshooter claimed it fixed the issue, absolutely nothing changed. I even went into the command prompt as an administrator and ran a net stop spooler followed by a restart, thinking the service was just stuck, but that was a total waste of time. 🙂...now when I run the troubleshooter again, it doesn't even show an error anymore.

What am I supposed to do? Did the ink dry up inside or something? Honestly, I don't even know what these lights are trying to tell me. 🙂
It’s driving me insane that the thing won't even pull a blank sheet of paper. Will buying new ink refills actually fix this, or am I just throwing money down the drain if the hardware itself refuses to respond?!
Oh, and one more thing; since this printer is ancient and definitely out of production, does anyone even know if you can still find replacement cartridges or refills for it? If you do, do you have any idea what they cost? I need to know if it’s even worth trying to save this thing. 🤷
Thanks in advance🙂

If you aren't worried about the ink situation, it might be worth it.

Just take it to a local repair shop and they'll probably have it sorted in five minutes.

For maybe around $33, you'll end up getting way more prints out of it than any cheap new inkjet you'd buy today.

Basically, just forget about using color.

So, will that actually fix the issue? My real question is why isn't it even pulling paper in the first place? Is that whole process just hardwired together or what?
And what’s the deal with the "forget color" part? Does that mean it won't be able to handle color printing at all?
I know these might sound like pretty stupid questions, but I've had a few people tell me, "That printer is ancient, and if the ink is dried up, you should just toss it and buy a new one."
Why on earth would I do that when this is a perfectly good machine that I can just refill myself?😕

Alright, one more dumb question: how often am I supposed to actually use the printer to prevent this whole dried-up ink mess from happening again?
Because right now, I really need it, and I'll probably be printing quite a bit for a few months before I go back to not using it for a year. I need to show my folks how to print something once a month or whatever.🙂

Thanks

brightnomad12 said:So, will that actually fix the issue? My real question is why isn't it even pulling paper in the first place? Is that whole process just hardwired together or what?
And what’s the deal with the "forget color" part? Does that mean it won't be able to handle color printing at all?
I know these might sound like pretty stupid questions, but I've had a few people tell me, "That printer is ancient, and if the ink is dried up, you should just toss it and buy a new one."
Why on earth would I do that when this is a perfectly good machine that I can just refill myself?😕

Alright, one more dumb question: how often am I supposed to actually use the printer to prevent this whole dried-up ink mess from happening again?
Because right now, I really need it, and I'll probably be printing quite a bit for a few months before I go back to not using it for a year. I need to show my folks how to print something once a month or whatever.🙂

Thanks

The printer itself is pretty much indestructible. Think of it like a bike frame. If you have issues with a bike, it’s usually the tires, not the frame. Here, the problem is the cartridges. Buying new ones costs as much as a whole new printer sometimes. And refilling isn't exactly Plug and Play.

Especially not when you're using unverified ink like you are.
Take refillable cartridges, for example.

It's true, there are third-party refills available, but you never really know which ones are going to work and which ones are junk.