We are experiencing an unusual issue with universal printing for some of our users. The universal printer either is offline to begin with or goes offline after printing two or three documents. Rebooting the remote PC seems to fix the issue temporarily but after a few prints, the universal printer goes offline again. I checked our settings and universal printing is enabled for all users and the mode is “Allow redirection of printers using any driver”. The users affected are all using Windows 10 version 1909 (and one person is using Windows 10 version 2004). The actual printers that universal printing is accessing are fine. Our parallels remote application server is Version 17.0.1 (build 21475) and the agents on the clients are version 17.0.21475. I’m not sure where to begin troubleshooting. Thank you!
Hi! That sounds really frustrating, but don’t worry, we can work through this. Let’s start by checking a few key things. First, you mentioned universal printing is enabled. Can I ask if you’re using the generic driver or specific manufacturer drivers for the printers? Sometimes, manufacturer-specific drivers can cause issues with redirection, especially in virtualized environments.
We’re using the regular drivers that the printers came with, not the generic ones. Could that be the issue?
Yes, it’s definitely worth testing with the generic driver or PostScript drivers. Universal printing often works more reliably with these, especially if the printers are being redirected over a remote session. I’d suggest swapping to a generic driver temporarily to see if that resolves the problem.
Okay, I’ll try that. What else should I check in the meantime?
Next, let’s verify the Parallels setup. You’re using Parallels Remote Application Server 17.0.1 and the client agents are on version 17.0.21475, right? It’s important that both the server and clients are on the same version. Sometimes, version mismatches can cause instability. Could you double-check if they’re both fully updated?
I’ll check the versions again, but I believe they should be the same. Should I look at anything specific in the Parallels settings?
Great! In addition to checking the versions, it’s worth reviewing any session timeout or disconnect settings on the Parallels server. Sometimes, if sessions time out too quickly, printers can go offline. Are there any session management settings that could be causing the disconnect after a few prints?
Hmm, I haven’t looked into that yet. I’ll take a look at the session timeouts. Anything else I should consider?
First take a look at the session timeouts then we will see what we have to do further…