Just purchased the 2.0 Sharing Switch from Amazon - Order # 114-3922987-9670623 Serial # 298297.
Purpose is to share a printer (Brother HL-2170W) between two iMac desktops. Initially the switch worked as I set up the device using the two provided USB A male - B male cables and a single printer cable (2.0 USB A male - B male) from the printer to the USB port on the device. Did a test run for each iMac switching between both computers using the Plugable device and each computer responded by successfully printing a test print.
On the second attempt one computer works (green light) when printing but the other computer (blue light) does not work. I am getting a message that indicates that ‘the printer is not connected’.
Can you help me troubleshoot this?
Hello Paul,
Thanks for reaching out and posting! I apologize for the issue you’re experiencing using the USB Sharing Switch with your printer and computers. The issue could be that the switch might be defective, or there may be something computer side that is giving us trouble. To help identify if the issue is with the switch or on the computer side, could you try the following and let me know what happens?
- Swap the cables around on the back of the switch. Does the issue occur with a single computer on both ports, or does it only happen to the computer connected to the blue lighted side of the switch?
- Try using a simpler USB device, such as a keyboard or mouse, with the switch. Does the issue happen with other devices, or just the printer?
Let me know what happens when trying both sides of the switch and other USB devices and we can take things from there. If you have any questions, please let me know, and I look forward to working with you on figuring this out!
Regards,
Patrick
Plugable Technologies
www.plugable.com/support
Tried the mouse experiment and both computer’s cursor was able to function when switching from A to B port. Tried switching cables between the back of the sharing switch and following up by switching from green to blue. The computer that was originally hooked up to the blue (B) port did not work when hooked up to the green (A) port regardless of varying the cables.
Hello Paul,
Based on the information you’ve provided, it sounds like the issue is on the computer side and that the switch is working properly. This is because the issue followed the computer in question to the other side of the switch and the mouse was working on both computers with the switch without issue. In some scenarios, complex devices (such as printers) do not function properly over USB switches or hubs and it appears that’s what we’re encountering here. Unfortunately, we do not have any other troubleshooting that would be useful in resolving this issue.
If you would like, we can process a refund for the switch and have you send it back to us, as we would not want you left with a device you couldn’t make use of. If you’d like to proceed with the refund, please contact us by emailing support@plugable.com with your Order ID and we would be happy to get that refund started.
Regards,
Patrick