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0x000006baWorth attention

Windows Printer Error 0x000006ba

What it means

"The RPC server is unavailable", seen when connecting to a shared printer or when opening printer properties. RPC is how one Windows machine asks another to do something, and the message means the request went out and nothing answered. The most frequent cause is the plainest one: the print spooler on the computer sharing the printer is not running. Check that machine first, at services.msc, and start Print Spooler if it has stopped. Set its Startup Type to Automatic while you are there, because a spooler left on Manual will be stopped again after the next restart and the error will come back looking new. The same message appears when the sharing computer is asleep, has been given a different address by the router, or has been renamed. Any of the three leaves your machine calling an address where nobody is listening. Confirming you can reach it at all, by opening \\COMPUTERNAME in File Explorer, separates a network problem from a printer one in a few seconds. On your own machine, the spooler matters too: RPC calls for printing go through it, and a stopped spooler locally produces the same wording. Restart it before assuming the fault is at the other end. Where the two computers can see each other and both spoolers are running, a firewall is usually blocking file and printer sharing on the machine that shares the printer, which is a setting on that machine rather than on yours.

Guides that cover this kind of fault

A guide written for 0x000006ba itself is still being checked against the manufacturer's documentation. These cover the same underlying problem and are filed under printer not printing.

Common questions

What does the 0x000006ba error mean on a printer?

"The RPC server is unavailable", seen when connecting to a shared printer or when opening printer properties. RPC is how one Windows machine asks another to do something, and the message means the request went out and nothing answered. The most frequent cause is the plainest one: the print spooler on the computer sharing the printer is not running. Check that machine first, at services.msc, and start Print Spooler if it has stopped. Set its Startup Type to Automatic while you are there, because a spooler left on Manual will be stopped again after the next restart and the error will come back looking new. The same message appears when the sharing computer is asleep, has been given a different address by the router, or has been renamed. Any of the three leaves your machine calling an address where nobody is listening. Confirming you can reach it at all, by opening \\COMPUTERNAME in File Explorer, separates a network problem from a printer one in a few seconds. On your own machine, the spooler matters too: RPC calls for printing go through it, and a stopped spooler locally produces the same wording. Restart it before assuming the fault is at the other end. Where the two computers can see each other and both spoolers are running, a firewall is usually blocking file and printer sharing on the machine that shares the printer, which is a setting on that machine rather than on yours.

Is the 0x000006ba error serious?

It is worth attention but not alarm. Switching the printer off, unplugging it for a minute and checking for anything physically in the way resolves a large share of cases before anything else is needed.

Different code or problem?

Switch off and unplug a printer before reaching inside it. If a fault involves the power supply or internal electronics, or the machine is under warranty, contact the manufacturer or a qualified technician. Full disclaimer. Brand and code names are trademarks of their owners; PrinterFixUp is independent and unaffiliated.