MarcB IT was back on the road again, this time heading north to the leafy suburbs of Mt. Kisco, a place I last visited in Spring 2024 to buy a new Trek bike from the excellent folks at Bicycle World. But today’s trip wasn’t about bikes — it was about printers, Chromebooks, and a very persistent wireless connectivity issue.
The Call
Peter had reached out for help connecting his Canon PIXMA G6020 printer to his Chromebook. He had tried both wireless and USB methods, but nothing worked. After an initial exchange in early June, I hadn’t heard back — until yesterday, while I was working with the Appalachian Mountain Club, I saw a follow-up message in my inbox. Turns out Peter was still in need of support.
The Visit
I arrived at his home around 2:30 PM, and while I hoped it would be a quick fix, it ended up taking two full hours to get everything working properly. The Canon printer’s interface was not the most user-friendly — the display is small and the menus are buried — but with help from the user guide and a little backup from ChatGPT, I located the right menu to enter the Wi-Fi password for his Verizon router.
We successfully got the printer on the network, but the Chromebook still refused to print.
The Breakthrough
After some back-and-forth troubleshooting, I noticed a notification for a Chromebook update. I asked Peter to restart the laptop. And that made all the difference.
When the Chromebook rebooted, I saw a green indicator next to the printer’s name — a good sign that it was finally being detected. Peter opened a document and clicked “Print” — and it worked! The printer hummed to life, and out came his document.
The Twist
As we celebrated the success, Peter smiled and said something that caught me off guard:
“You know, I actually know a thing or two about computers. I’m a retired IBM computer scientist! But I still couldn’t figure out how to get that damn printer working.”
That moment really drove something home for me.
The Lesson
Even the most technically experienced among us can hit roadblocks with today’s constantly evolving tech. And that’s exactly where MarcB IT fits in — helping everyday users, professionals, and even retired computer scientists solve the frustrating issues that stand between them and their productivity.