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R
Ross F Herbert
Participant
April 24, 2021
Question

Acrobat Reader DC causes printer error and will not print - restarts printer continuously

  • April 24, 2021
  • 1 reply
  • 1421 views

I am using Reader DC Ver. 2021.001.20150 and when trying to print a particular pdf file it cuases a printer error and causes a permanent loop where the printer restarts again, and so on ad-infinitum.

My system is Windows 10 32 bit and browser is Chrome Version 90.0.4430.85 (32-bit. My printer is Brother HL-L3270CDW.

 

I have downloaded this particular pdf file again and there is no difference. Acrobat has no problem printing any other pdf files I select in Windows Explorer. If I open the same pdf file with Chrome pdf extension the file prints without any problems. I have opened the same file with Sumatra PDF and it has no problems printing it out.

 

I therefore conclude that the problem is specific to Acrobat Reader DC and is a definite bug.

See screen grab of Printer driver in paused state.

This topic has been closed for replies.

1 reply

Dov Isaacs
Dov Isaacs
Legend
April 25, 2021

You didn't indicate what driver you are using for this particular printer, but this printer supports several different page description languages, including emulations of HP PCL and Adobe PostScript (i.e., not the genuine stuff). You might try updating your printer driver(s) or choosing a different page description language.

 

To be quite clear, there is absolutely nothing that Adobe software can do via a printer driver to cause a printer error and/or to force your printer to restart or even worse, go into a restart loop. The code coming out of the printer driver has that level of access; Adobe software doesn't have that type of access.

 

Why does this happen with Adobe Acrobat Reader with a particular PDF file? It is probably due to a combination of graphical objects on the page in question, the order in which they are presented by Acrobat Reader to the driver, and what the driver then does with same.

 

We would strongly recommend that you contact Brother Customer Support and see if there are any firmware and/or driver updates for this printer model and apply those. Otherwise, you might switch between which page description language you have selected for the driver. Or maybe Brother Customer Support has some further insight into what would put your printer into a restart loop.

 

- Dov Isaacs, former Adobe Principal Scientist (April 30, 1990 - May 30, 2021)
R
Ross F HerbertAuthor
Participant
April 26, 2021

Thank you for your helpful reply.

 

I have installed the latest full driver package for my printer from Brother and all printer firmware is up to date.

 

Since other pdf software (eg. SumatraPDF) has no problem at all in printing the same file there is only one possible cause to consider - and that is Adobe Acrobat.

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