Note
Determining Printer Problems
Troubleshooting Flowchart
If the printer is not responding properly, use the flowchart to determine the problem. If the printer does not pass a step, follow the corresponding troubleshooting suggestions.
If you cannot resolve the problem after following the suggestions in this user’s guide, contact an HP-authorized service or support provider. (See the HP Support pages at the front of this user’s guide.)
Macintosh users: For more troubleshooting information, see page 97.
1
Does the control panel display READY?
NO
YES
Go to step
2
.
The display is blank and the printer’s fan is off.
The display is blank but the printer’s fan is on.
The display is in the wrong language.
The display shows garbled or unfamiliar characters.
A message other than
READY
is displayed.
Check the power cord connections and the power switch.
Plug the printer into a different outlet.
Check that the power supplied to the printer is steady, and meets printer specifications
(page A-17).
Press any control panel key to see if the printer responds. Turn the printer off, and then turn the printer on. If this does not work, contact an
HP-authorized service or support provider.
(See the HP
Support pages at the front of this user’s guide.)
Turn the printer off. Hold down
[Select] while turning the printer on. Press
[-Value+] to scroll through the available languages. Press
[Select] to save the desired language as the new default.
Press [Go] to return to
READY
.
Make sure the desired language is selected from the control panel.
Go to page 79.
Turn the printer off, and then turn the printer on.
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2
Can you print a configuration page?
NO
Print a configuration page to verify that the printer is feeding
paper correctly (page 101).
YES
Go to step
3
.
A configuration page does not print.
A blank
page prints.
A message other than
READY
or
PRINTING
CONFIGURATION
is displayed.
Check that all trays are properly loaded, adjusted, and installed in the
printer. (See the sections on loading paper, starting on page 30.)
Check that the sealing tape is not still in the toner cartridge. (See the getting started guide or the instructions that came with the toner cartridge.)
Go to page 79.
From the computer, check the print queue or print spooler to see if the printer has been paused. If there are problems with the current print job, or if the printer is paused, a configuration page will not print.
(Press [Cancel Job] and try Step 2 again.)
The toner cartridge might be empty.
Install a new toner cartridge.
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3 Can you print from a software application?
NO
Print a short document from a software application.
YES
Go to step
4
The job will not print.
A PS error page or list of commands prints.
If the job will not print, and a message is displayed, see page 79.
From the computer, check to see if the printer has been paused.
If the printer is on a network, check that you are printing to the correct printer. To verify that it is not a network problem, connect the computer directly to the printer with a parallel cable, change the port to LPT1, and try to print.
Check the interface cable connections. Disconnect and reconnect the cable at the computer and the printer.
Test the cable by trying it on another computer (if possible).
To verify that it is not a computer problem, print from another computer (if possible).
Make sure the print job is being sent to the correct port (LPT1, or network printer port, for example).
Check that you are using the proper printer driver (page 17).
The printer might have received a nonstandard PS code. From the
Configuration Menu in the printer’s control panel, set
PERSONALITY
to
PS for this print job only. After the job has printed, return the setting to
AUTO
(page B-10).
If you are using a parallel connection, make sure the cable is IEEE-1284 compliant
(page A-19).
If the printer is on a network, print a configuration page (page 101) and verify in the
Protocol Information that the server name and the node name match the names in the printer driver.
Make sure the print job is a PS job, and that you are using the PS driver.
The printer might have received PS code when it is set to PCL. From the
Configuration
Menu, set
PERSONALITY
to
AUTO
(page B-10).
Reinstall the printer driver. (See the getting started guide.)
Check that the port is configured and working properly. (One way to check this is to connect another printer to that port and print.)
If printing with the PS driver, from the Printing Menu in the printer’s control panel, set
PRINT PS ERRORS=ON , then print the job again. If an error page prints, see the instructions in the next column.
From the Configuration Menu in the printer’s control panel, make sure that
PERSONALITY=AUTO
(page B-10).
You might be missing a printer message that could help you solve the problem. From the Configuration Menu in the printer’s control panel, temporarily turn the Clearable
Warnings and Auto Continue settings off (page B-12) and then print the job again.
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4
Does the job print as expected? (Continued on the following page.)
NO
Print is garbled or only a portion of the page prints.
Printing stops in the middle of the job.
Print speed is slower than expected.
A control panel setting is not taking effect.
Check that you are using the proper
printer driver (page 18).
[Cancel Job] might have been pressed.
The data file sent to the printer might be corrupt. To test, try printing it on another printer (if possible), or try a different file.
Check the interface cable connections. Test the cable by trying it on another computer (if possible).
Check that the power supplied to the printer is steady, and meets printer specifications
(page A-17).
Simplify the print job.
Add more memory to the printer
(page C-1).
Check settings in the printer driver or software application.
(Printer driver and software commands override control panel settings.) Turn banner pages off. (See your network administrator.)
Replace the printer cable with a
high-quality cable (page 9).
Reduce the job’s complexity, print at
a lower resolution (page B-5), or
install more printer memory
(page C-1).
From the
Configuration
Menu in the printer’s control panel, turn the paper reforming setting off
(page B-14).
You might be missing a printer message that could help you solve the problem. From the Configuration
Menu in the printer’s control panel, temporarily turn the Clearable
Warnings and Auto Continue settings
off (page B-12) and then print the job
again.
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Does the job print as expected? (continued)
NO
YES
Go to step
5
.
The print job is not formatted correctly.
Pages are not fed correctly or are damaged.
There are print quality problems.
Check that you are using the proper
printer driver (page 18).
Check the software settings. (See the software help.)
Make sure paper is loaded correctly and that the guides are not too tight or too loose against the paper stack.
(See the sections on loading paper, starting on page 30.)
Adjust the print resolution
(page B-5).
Check that REt is
on (page B-5).
Try a different font.
If you are having problems printing
custom-size paper, see page 53.
Go to page 89.
Downloaded resources might have been lost. You might need to download them again.
If pages are wrinkled or curled, or if
the image is skewed on the page, see page 89.
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5
Does the printer select the proper trays, output locations, and paper handling accessories?
NO
YES
For other problems, check the
Contents, the
Index, or the printer software help.
The printer pulls from the wrong tray.
An optional accessory is not working properly.
A message other than
READY
is displayed.
Make sure paper trays are correctly configured for paper size and type
(page 60). Print a configuration
page to see current tray settings
(page 101).
Make sure the tray selection (or paper type) in the printer driver or software application is set correctly.
(The printer driver and software application settings override the printer’s control panel settings.)
Print a configuration page to verify that the accessory is installed
properly and is functional (page 101).
Configure the printer driver for the installed accessories (see the software help).
Turn the printer off, and then turn the printer on.
Verify that you are using the correct optional accessory for the printer.
Go to page 79.
If you do not want to print from
Tray 1, remove any paper loaded in the tray or change the
TRAY 1 MODE
setting to
CASSETTE
(page 58). By
default, paper loaded in Tray 1 will be printed first.
If the optional duplexer will not duplex, check that the rear output bin is closed.
If the optional duplexer will not duplex, you might need to install more
memory (page C-1).
If you want to print from Tray 1, but cannot select the tray from a
software application, see page 58.
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Troubleshooting Flowchart for
Macintosh Users
YES
1
Can you print from a software application?
NO
Print a short document from a software application.
Go to step
2
.
The Macintosh computer is not communicating
with the printer.
Auto Setup did not automatically set up the printer.
The printer driver icon does not appear in the
Chooser.
Make sure the printer’s control panel displays
(page 91).
READY
Make sure the correct printer driver is selected in the
Chooser. (There will be a printer icon beside the name.)
If the printer resides on a network with multiple zones, make sure the correct zone is selected in the AppleTalk
Zones box in the Chooser.
Make sure the correct printer has been chosen in the
Chooser by printing a configuration page (page 101).
Make sure the name of the printer displayed on the configuration page matches the printer in the Chooser.
Make sure AppleTalk is active. (Select this in the
Chooser.)
Make sure the computer and printer are on the same network. From Control Panels in the Apple menu, select the Network (or the AppleTalk) control panel and then choose the correct network (for example, LocalTalk or
EtherTalk).
Set up the printer manually by selecting
Configure.
Reinstall the printer software.
(See the getting started guide .)
Select an alternate PPD
(page 99).
The PPD might have been renamed. If so, select the renamed PPD
(page 99).
Make sure the
LaserWriter
Chooser extension resides in the
Extensions folder. If it is not present anywhere on your system, then obtain the
Macintosh
LaserWriter driver from
Apple.
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NO
2
Does the job print as expected?
The print job is not sent to the desired printer.
The print job
has incorrect fonts.
YES
For other problems, check the
Contents, the
Index, the printer software help, or
page 91.
The computer cannot be used while the printer is printing.
Another printer with the same or similar name might have received the print job. Verify that the printer name matches the name selected in
the Chooser (page 99) .
If you are printing an .EPS file, try downloading the fonts contained in the .EPS file to the printer before printing. Use the HP LaserJet Utility
(page 21).
If the document is not printing with
New York, Geneva, or Monaco fonts, go into the Page Setup dialog box, and select Options to deselect substituted fonts.
Turn Background
Printing on in the
Chooser. Status messages will be redirected to the
Print Monitor, allowing the computer to continue working while the printer is printing.
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Note
Selecting an Alternate PPD
1 Open the Chooser from the Apple menu.
2 Click the LaserWriter icon.
3 If you are on a network with multiple zones, select the zone in the
AppleTalk Zones box where the printer is located.
4 Click the printer name you want to use in the Select a PostScript
Printer box. (Double-clicking will immediately generate the next few steps.)
5 Click Setup... (This button might read Create for first-time setup.)
6 Click Select PPD....
7 Find the desired PPD in the list and click Select. If the desired
PPD is not listed, choose one of the following options:
•
Select a PPD for a printer with similar features.
•
Select a PPD from another folder.
•
Select the generic PPD by clicking Use Generic. The generic
PPD allows you to print, but limits your access to printer features.
8 In the Setup dialog box, click Select, and then click OK to return to the Chooser.
If you manually select a PPD, an icon might not appear next to the selected printer in the Select a PostScript Printer box. In the
Chooser, click Setup, click Printer Info, and then click Update Info to bring up the icon.
9 Close the Chooser.
Renaming the Printer
If you are going to rename the printer, do this before selecting the printer in the Chooser. If you rename the printer after selecting it in the Chooser, you will have to go back into the Chooser and reselect it.
Use the Set Printer Name feature in the HP LaserJet Utility to rename the printer.
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