Nothing printed: a step-by-step checklist
Work out where a print job stopped, from the bridge to the printer, and fix it using the exact message you see.
First: how were you printing?
- From an iPhone or iPad, through the Share menu → start at section A.
- Through the print bridge: a test page, To agent, occasions that print themselves, or an app → start at section B.
A. Printing from an iPhone or iPad
- Did the Share menu open? If you see "Can't open the share menu automatically here", tap that link to open the PDF, then tap the Share icon and choose Print.
- Is the printer in the Print list? The device and the printer usually need to be on the same Wi-Fi. Turn the printer off and on, then try again.
- Wrong size, or blank labels? Check Label stock on the Your labels screen matches the roll in the printer.
- Still stuck? In Ask Laberty, the assistant can email the labels to you as a PDF to print later, if your account has an email address.
More in Printing from an iPhone or iPad.
B. Printing through the print bridge
Step 1: Is the job waiting?
Admin → Printers & stock and Admin → Print bridge both show the queue: how many jobs are waiting, printed and failed. An app can check with GET /api/print?status=failed.
Step 2: Is the bridge running?
Look at the top of Admin → Print bridge:
- ● Bridge is running → go to step 3.
- ○ Not seen recently or ○ Never connected yet, with jobs waiting → the bridge isn't picking them up. On the bridge machine, run:
docker ps
docker logs --tail 50 laberty-bridgeIf laberty-bridge isn't listed by docker ps, start it with docker start laberty-bridge. On a Synology, start it in Container Manager. Make sure the bridge's computer hasn't gone to sleep.
Step 3: Read the bridge's log
| The log says | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
connected to https://laberty.app — waiting for print jobs | All is well | Send a test page and watch for the next lines |
LABERTY_URL and LABERTY_TOKEN are required. | The bridge started without its settings | Add both and start it again. See Installing the bridge |
LABERTY_TOKEN was rejected (401) | The key is wrong or revoked | See The bridge shows 401 or 403 |
Laberty refused this key (403): … | Wrong kind of key, or the plan | See The bridge shows 401 or 403 |
poll error: … (retrying in 5s) | The bridge can't reach Laberty | Check the bridge machine's internet connection. It keeps retrying on its own |
job 12: claimed — … | The bridge picked the job up | Read the next line about that job |
job 12: printed … or job 12: sent … bytes … | The job reached the printer | Paper still blank or missing? Go to step 5 |
did not report what is loaded; printing without checking | A Brother printer didn't answer the roll check | Normal for some printers. Keep In it now accurate |
job 12: FAILED — … | The job failed. The reason follows | Find it in step 4 |
Step 4: Match the failure
Failures also appear on the job, and many email your admins.
| The failure says | Code | What to do |
|---|---|---|
has no IP address set | no_address | Press Edit on the printer's card on Printers & stock and type its IP address |
Could not reach "…" at … | unreachable | The printer is off, its IP address changed, or the bridge is on another network (a guest Wi-Fi, say). Give the printer a fixed IP address |
did not respond (timed out) | The printer is off, or the address is wrong | |
refused the connection | The address is right but nothing listens on that port. Use 9100, or the port in the printer's manual | |
is not reachable from this machine | The bridge and the printer are on different networks | |
could not be resolved | Use the printer's IP address instead of a name | |
Wrong labels in "…" | stock_mismatch | Load the roll the job needs, or press Swap roll on the printer's card to match. See Wrong-label protection |
has no labels loaded | no_media | Load a roll |
reports a problem: … | printer_error | Fix what it names, such as closing the cover |
cannot print to Brother QL printers yet | The bridge is out of date. Update it | |
CUPS is not available on this machine | Give the printer an IP address instead. See CUPS | |
has no Brother model set | Contact support |
Once it's fixed, print the job again. Nothing was printed the first time.
Step 5: The bridge says it printed, but nothing came out
- Look at the printer: is it paused, out of labels, showing an error light, or its cover open?
- Check the IP address really is this printer's. Another device at that address can accept the job and do nothing with it. Compare with the address on the printer's own settings page.
- Check the printer's model on Printers & stock is right. A receipt printer sent a Zebra's language prints nothing useful.
- From the bridge machine, check the printer answers:
nc -vz 192.168.1.50 9100.
Step 6: A job stuck on "claimed"
The bridge took the job and then stopped, for example because it restarted mid-job. Once a job has been claimed for 15 minutes, Laberty puts it back in the queue the next time the bridge asks for work. So get the bridge running again (steps 2 and 3) and the job prints on its own. Don't send the job again as well, or you'll get two copies.
Still stuck?
Contact support and include:
- The printer's make and model, and how it's connected.
- How you were printing (iPad, test page, app).
- The bridge's log lines around the failure.
The log never contains your bridge key, but don't paste the key itself, or your .env file, into a message.
Still stuck?
Contact support and tell us what you tried. We reply by email, usually within 1–2 business days.