Why won't square recognize my ethernet printer?

[erikatonn]

I have been using the same ipad and ethernet connected receipt printer (star micronics tsp100) for 2-3 years and about 2 weeks ago it stopped working. I bought the newest ipad. Everything is up to date. I've done troubleshooting with square, star micronics, and my internet provider. Eah party says their device is working properly but I cannot get a connection. Anyone experiences the same issues or have any advice?

[ryanwanner · Accepted solution]

A couple of things to try, some of which you may have already done...

-Power off the printer, then power it on while holding down the feed button. When you hear a beep, let the button go. It should print a diagnostic sheet and then after a pause print a sheet with the printers IP address on it. It should be very close to your tablet’s ip address (usually something like 10.0.0.##). If the ip address isn’t close, the printer probably isn’t connected to your router. 

-In my shop I have a public and private network. One time my tablet decided to connect to my public network, which meant it couldn’t find my printers at all. Took two days of heavy troubleshooting to figure that one out... *sigh*

-Try deleting the printer station your printer is associated with in square and creating it again. I haven’t seen it recently, but I do know that sometimes square can bork itself when it comes to printers. 

-Check your WiFi signal at the tablet. A weak WiFi signal can sometimes cause printer issues. 

-Put the Square app on another device (like your phone) and see if you can see the printer from there. 

Hopefully one one of these can help get that printer working again @erikatonn !

[ryanwanner · Accepted solution]

A couple of things to try, some of which you may have already done...

-Power off the printer, then power it on while holding down the feed button. When you hear a beep, let the button go. It should print a diagnostic sheet and then after a pause print a sheet with the printers IP address on it. It should be very close to your tablet’s ip address (usually something like 10.0.0.##). If the ip address isn’t close, the printer probably isn’t connected to your router. 

-In my shop I have a public and private network. One time my tablet decided to connect to my public network, which meant it couldn’t find my printers at all. Took two days of heavy troubleshooting to figure that one out... *sigh*

-Try deleting the printer station your printer is associated with in square and creating it again. I haven’t seen it recently, but I do know that sometimes square can bork itself when it comes to printers. 

-Check your WiFi signal at the tablet. A weak WiFi signal can sometimes cause printer issues. 

-Put the Square app on another device (like your phone) and see if you can see the printer from there. 

Hopefully one one of these can help get that printer working again @erikatonn !

[EagleBBQ]

I have a square ipad connected to wi-fi and a Star Micronics MC-print3 connected to the same network but through a LAN wired connection.  My ipad does not see the printer.  Is there a way to get this to work?  I talked with Star and they made sure the printer was on the network and working properly.  I want to use the Ipad outside on wi-fi and have it print to the kitchen so I cannot use a direct USB connection.

[AdamB · Accepted solution]

Welcome to Seller Community, @EagleBBQ!

I'm merging your post into a different thread about ethernet printer issues which has some solid suggestions by @ryanwanner you can try. If those don't resolve the issue I also recommend taking a look at our printer troubleshooting guide.

[cr0c0diledentis]

Did your issue ever get fixed?  I am having this same EXACT problem.  A

[EagleBBQ]

It turned out the mesh router system I am using caused the problem.  Even though they are on the same network any intermediary connections cause the printer not to be seen.  I connected the printer via an ethernet cable to my router and then connected each device to the router, not the mesh system that is run by the router, and then the printer was visible to all devices.  Also, after a power outage the devices connected back to my mesh router system, because it has a stronger signal, so I had the problem again.  I had to go back in and make sure they were connected directly to the wireless router.  I do have a guest login on the network also and that doesn't work for connectivity to the printer either.  You have to figure out which network the printer is on and all your devices have to be on that exact network.

[Valentina]

Hi there, @cr0c0diledentis 🦷🐊 

It looks like @EagleBBQ responded to your questions - just wanted to make sure you saw their response!

If you still need a hand, our team can take a look at your account with you to help a shine light.

Don't hesitate to reach out by phone or email by logging into your Square account and heading here.

P.S. Welcome to the Seller Community ✨

[EagleBBQ]

I have two square registers and a square stand along with a mc-print3 connected to one register and a Star TSP100 III connected to the LAN.  I had Star help me set up the printers and they found them working.  My problem is that only the register that is connected to the TSP100 can see and print to it and none of the terminals can see the MC-Print3.   I have not been able to get these to work properly.  I have tried the different basic troubleshooting.

[amalay01]

I have two square terminals, and both use the same Ethernet printer. I no longer see the ethernet printer from one of our terminals, but I can see it and print from my phone when I look there. Both terminals are connected to the same WiFi. I’ve restarted my terminals, unplugged and reset the printer, disconnected and reconnected to the same wiki network, and still cannot see the Ethernet printer from one of the terminals. 
any ideas?

[ryanwanner]

@amalay01  Next thing I’d recommend checking is verifying your troublemaker terminal has the latest Square version and OS version as well. Since your phone and other terminal is seeing the printer usually the app version becomes the culprit. 

[Rmeylink]

Please help me troubleshoot.  I have turned Bluetooth on and off, my printer on and off, reset, pair ....everything I can think of but it still shows a good connection but will not show up as connected in Square.

[nika]

Sorry you're having trouble @Rmeylink! I moved your post here so you can check out the troubleshooting steps that ryanwanner listed. Give those a try and if you're still having issues, go ahead and give our Support Team a shout.

[PeachHouse]

I have a new star printer on the network.  It shows up when I add printer stations to all 3 Square Registers, but it is missing on all 3 Ipads.  The old printers are working fine on the ipads.  

[ryanwanner]

Hey @PeachHouse !

First thing I'd verify is that you're running the latest version of both the POS app and your iOS version. I've seem some really weird issues pop up when there is a version conflict.

Since your Registers can see it, I'm assuming it's ethernet based. The iPad pos only can see networked ethernet printers. USB or bluetooth printers can only be seen by the device it's linked to.

Next, please verify you're on the same network as the printer. I can't tell you how many hours I've spent troubleshooting printer connections only to find that they were on the public network instead of the private. *facepalm*

Is your router assigning IP addresses or are you programming the IP address? If you're programming the IP addy, you'll have to point your tablets at that IP: Here's a help page on how to do that

If none of these ideas help, let us know and we will see what else we can try!

[Tonya_]

Having the same problem and so frustrated. I have been using the Star TAP100 with my iPad Square register since 2021 and in the last week, the printer will NOT print receipts AND the draw will not open automatically.

at my wits end!  

[Arie]

Heya @Tonya_ & @erikatonn 👋
 

I'm sorry to hear about the trouble connecting your printer to your hardware. Is the printer coming up when you're trying to look for new devices at all? Have there been any changes to your network configuration? I'll keep an eye put for your reply.

[Tonya_]

I ended up calling Square Helpdesk and we got it going (deleting then adding new device/hardware) one of those things that I could have sworn I had tried multiple times & then suddenly it works 🥴 

sadly, as of close of yesterday, it was showing disconnected again.

I am calling our internet provider today to make some changes to see if that helps. 

[Candlestore]

@Tonya_ ;

May I suggest you go to your Stores Router Settings and set the Star Printer up as a Static Address.  I was having the same issue after a power failure, and found out that my Printer had a Different Network Address than what Square was looking for.  Since I have set it with a Static Address if it does not connect I check which WiFi I am on, regular or Back up in my case, and if I am on the correct one I unplug the printer for 20 seconds so it clears out the memory and gets the address from the router.  I have found also that after the power flashes the Star printers sometimes is back online before my router is assigning IP addresses and the Star printer does not have the correct address.  The unplug for 30 seconds fixes this.  

You would need to contact the instructions for your Network Router to learn to setup Static IP addresses.