Get "filter failed" error message when trying to print to HP LaserJet P1102w printer

[u74D3FFqUftJnN]

Recently when I try to print PDF documents from Adobe Acrobat DC, to my LaserJet P1102w, I get the error message 'Stopped "- filter" failed' as the job freezes/fails in the print queue.  This seems to happen with all PDF documents.  I can print to other HP printers (not a P1102w) in my household.  I am on a Mac running Catalina 10.15.5. 

This "filter failed" error message is unique to printing from Adobe Acrobat DC on this printer.  I can print documents from Word to this printer,  with no problem.  I can also print from Photoshop to this printer with no problem.  I can also open PDFs in Safari and print them to this printer.  So this error happens with all PDF documents getting printed from Acrobat DC, to this printer.

This behavior is recent.  The printer has worked successfully for months.  It might have come in when I updated Acrobat DC in the past few weeks.  So I think it is a new bug introducted in Acrobat.

I have tried deleting this printer and driver, and reinstalling the HP printer drivers for this printer but it has not helped.

I am connected to the printer with a USB cable.

I am a Creative Cloud subscriber.

[janes_p]

Hi Amal,

FYI - I just totally uninstalled Adobe Acrobat (through the CreativeCloud utility) and also deleted Acrobt folders and then reinstalled Acrobat.

I updated the printer drivers to the most recent version (2019, CUPS driver, as my printer Brother MFC-9970CDW is a rather old model). As before, printing from all other applications works fine.

I STILL cannot print (same problem as before).

Is there anything more what I need to do? I couldn't find any more messages from Adobe after the review with your engineering department.

Please have them checked the program code for the ROOT CAUSE of the issue, i.e. the condition which triggers the «filter falied» error message.

KR ...Peter

[Amal.]

Hi @janes_p 

Our development team requires some logs from the affected machine, could you please help us get AcrobatPrintLogs

• Place the plist file from https://adobe-my.sharepoint.com/:u:/p/sanskritis/EU1167CugPRMnUAFSp0qJlAB1ZIhON-SKedoamZhxd2XBQ?e=qK... at location /Library/Application Support/Adobe/Acrobat/DC/Preferences
• Execute the print workflow 
• Logs will be generated at a location similar to  /var/folders/t9/93cz_sz9075d4nl5hqrlc6n00000gn/T. 
• The temp folder where the logs are generated is different for different users which is common only upto  /var/folders. 
• To get the exact path of the file use the following command on terminal “ sudo find / -name AcrobatPrintLogs.txt “ 
• once you get the complete path eg like /private/var/folders/jk/vgtyw__s2dsdphtygd_0jslr0000gn/T/AcrobatPrintLogs.txt 
• One can see AcrobatPrintLogs

Also, cups the error logs from the administrator machine if the printer is connected to network.

Enable cups logs by running this command on terminal- cupsctl --debug-logging

Collect error log from location- /var/log/cups/error_log

Please let us know in case of any difficulties.

Regards

Amal

[janes_p]

Hi @Amal.

This issue is still pending - I cannot print directly from Adobe Acrobat for several years now.

Please have your engineering department checked the PROGRAM CODE for the ROOT CAUSE of the issue, i.e. the condition which triggers the «filter falied» error message - IMO this is the systematic approach which must be followed NOW.

I have conducted all suggested measures, most of them multiple times (overall I have spent many days in chasing this defect).

My assumption is that this is an access right issue of some printer queue files, as these access rights are tightened with every major release of the operating system (macOS in my case) - no chance to figure this out through trial and error for the tons of Adobe files in various folders.

Please CHECK THE PROGRAM CODE an report your findings.

[SteF88]

Hello Janes, just to check if could help, i just fixed my same issue with these steps:

system pref - printers - right click and reset printing system ( or you can just remove the installed printers)

then go to ~/Library/Printers and from there i just removed the entire HP folder

then reinstall the drivers and try to print again.

Hope this will work also for you.

cheers

[janes_p]

Thanks, SteF88 - unfortunately still not working 😕

[Kevin Stohlmeyer]

We had the same issue way back when. Our work around was to print using a generic driver, not hte specific HP driver. This was a known HP desktop printer issue at the time.

[Ryan31155778emr1]

MacOS Ventura (latest/something or other)
HP Color Laserjet M653 - not exciting, but the error is printing an invoice.

Had this happen to a customer this morning.  After verifying that the issue only occurred when printing a PDF from Acrobat, not Preview.  Down the rabbit hole with color, .ICC, etc. but ultimately had a tray error pop up on the printer during some seemingly random interaction when testing.  At any rate, there was a checkbox to "Allow Acrobat to Choose Paper Source Based on Document" checkbox that, when ticked caused the error to go away.  When un-ticked back to "filter failed".  I suspect the error is in-fact with HP, but only when interfacing with the Acrobat printer outputs.

Hope this helps someone.

[janes_p]

Thanks Ryan!

In my case it's a Brother MFC-9970CDW which causes the error. My guess is that it's not a printer issue, but rather Acrobat's poor handling of printer driver return codes (users with oder printer models reported similar errors). Printing from Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Preview, ... works fine.

As printer settings are different for every manufacturerer, I don't have your your (HP) option available.

I keep hammering on Adobe for years now to properly investigate the root cause of the error message, with no result so far.

In addition, with every macOS update I have more difficulties to get my scanner to work (most recent Brother scanner drivers are dated 2019).

Although my Brother printer is very sturdy and in a good condition, I just ordered a more modern device, hoping for more up-to-date software drivers.

[janes_p]

Addendum - I just got my new Brother MFC-L3770CDW up and running - everything is now working flawlessly (out of the box), both printing and scanning from Acrobat are fine.

[Abambo]

Thanks Ryan!

In my case it's a Brother MFC-9970CDW which causes the error. My guess is that it's not a printer issue, but rather Acrobat's poor handling of printer driver return codes (users with oder printer models reported similar errors). Printing from Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Preview, ... works fine.

By @janes_p

My guess is that Acrobat uses the printer driver extensively to set all the parameters, and poor implementation of those drivers on the macOS makes it difficult to Acrobat. It's only a guess, since Acrobat works well on Windows machines with little or no errors and the same printers.

[janes_p]

Addendum - after an update (both macOS to Sonoma, and Acrobat) my previously working environment with the new printer had the same problem as before (filter failed).

[donna33071162krgh]

I had the same problem.  I tried many potential solutions, and nothing worked.

IF it is just SOME pdfs, it could be security added to the pdf before it is sent to you that prevents you from printing it.  If it is a PDF, and if it is a filter error, the author may have put Adobe's security enhancements on it to limit printing -- this happened with my Amtrak ticket.

[Abambo]

If the security settings are the issue: Ctrl/Cmd D (document properties) – check the security settings. If they allow printing, then the issue is not caused by the settings.

[Roger5F91]

Acrobat updated itself recently and I now have this "filter failed" problem. The "reset printers" approach outlined above did nothing to change the behavior. I am unable to print any PDF, which renders the program (and the whole idea of PDF's to some extent) rather useless for my purposes. Any solutions on the horizon?

Mac OS 14.0

Acrobat Build: 23.6.20380.0

HP Color LaserJet Pro M478f-9f

[janes_p]

No solutions so far - I am having this problem for many years now (macOS many versions on Intel and Apple Silicon), and despite countless outreaches, Adobe was so far unable (or unwilling) to solve the issue (ridiculous in the light of all the new AI announcements).

I found this thread - https://discussions.apple.com/thread/254401010?login=true&sortBy=best, which provides at least a structured (albeit very technical) way for further root cause analysis, but so far I did not yet have time to investigate further.

[Roger5F91]

So another year has gone by and I still can't print PDFs from Acrobat Pro despite may happy hours spent trying all of the sugested fixes. It seems utterly stupid that I have to send my PDFs to Preview in order to print them. It's been almost four years since I first started having this problem. 

How about applying some of that AI development time to solving a real world problem? 

[Kevin Stohlmeyer]

@Roger5F91 this is an old issue normally resolved by updating the printer drivers - it has nothing to do with Acrobat.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/8284346?sortBy=rank

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Printing-Errors-or-Lights-Stuck-Print-Jobs/Cant-t-print-Filter-failed-...

etc etc. Google your specific printer brand/model and filter failed to see what their support has for a resolution.

[Roger5F91]

I've long since upgraded to the most recent drivers and firmware on the printer. (checked again today for updates, nothing new since 2020). Other software prints the same PDFs successfully using the existing drivers suggesting it's an Adobe problem, not a print dirver problem. 

Meanwhile, Help. Adobe.com says "Solution: We are working toward fixing this issue. Meanwhile, you can print your PDF file as an image. Learn how to specify the resolution and print a PDF file as an image."  This suggests pretty strongly they know it's a problem and haven't fixed it yet. 

I'd love to talk HP or Apple or anyone into solving the problem, but given that it's only a problem in Acrobat that seems unlikely.