Printer/network problem

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Dell desktop and Acer laptop both running Windows 7 HP on LAN.  Printer on network is HP LaserJet M1522nf MFP.  This printer was previously connected to the Dell PC via usb cable but some time ago reconfigured to a dedicated port on the network router with the intention of making it available to the laptop without going through the PC.  The printer worked as expected for several months with the dedicated port, printing and scanning on request from the PC.

Recently added the HP software, downloaded from HP, to the laptop.  The installation was drama-free, and the printer printed successfully from the laptop.  However, with this change, the PC could no longer find the printer, which shows up in Start>Devices and Printers, but is ghosted and labelled as offline.  Both machines have the same HP software.  The printer name, assigned by the installation software, and port ID are the same in both machines.  If I remove and reinstall the software from either machine, the other machine can no longer find the printer, which then appears as above, thus unavailable.  I have tried removing and reinstalling the HP driver software in each computer several times, but can’t get both machines to see the printer at the same time.

When the target printer is ghosted, pages can be sent to it and are then stored in the queue.  It seems, as in the famous movie line, that “what we have here is failure to communicate.”  But I’m baffled as to what to do next.  Anyone?

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My guess

When you put the software on the second PC, it changed your connection to DHCP on that machine. So it changed the IP fixed address so the first machine can’t find it. Be sure to reset the fixed address on the printer, then be sure both PCs connect to that IP address.

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Slowpoke47

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Hm, a LaserJet M1522 MFP…

Was this one of those models that had the funny “feature” where an active connection from the official printer application on a computer is exclusive, as in a second computer has to wait for the first one to finish… and a toner cartridge status monitor is enough?

This should be easiest to test by turning off or disconnecting one of the computers and waiting for a while to see if it becomes available on the other one.

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Slowpoke47

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PKCano wrote:

My guess When you put the software on the second PC, it changed your connection to DHCP on that machine. So it changed the IP fixed address so the first machine can’t find it. Be sure to reset the fixed address on the printer, then be sure both PCs connect to that IP address.

I always assign network printers a static IP to prevent much aggravation.

Never Say Never

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Slowpoke47

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I have made sure the printer name and IP address is the same in both computers.  Yesterday when I shut everything down, the printer was responding to the PC print requests.  Today the printer is ghosted in Devices and Printers, showing as offline.  So far, I can’t relate these changes to anything I am doing, maybe I should once again remove and reinstall the drivers.

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Have you checked the static IP address on the printer itself?

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Slowpoke47

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Can you assign a static IP in the printer or router so it always stays the same? Could it be the printer is going into some deep sleep mode causing the issue? Any firmware updates available for the printer?

Never Say Never

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Slowpoke47

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Just thought of something else to try. Doesn’t HP have a utility with their printer software named Print Doctor or similar? It is run from the computer(s) having an issue. I believe it scans the network to update changed IP address and such. Have you tied that?

Never Say Never

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Slowpoke47

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One other performance test that can be done with a number of HP printers, and probably other brands, is ePrint.  It assigns an E-Mail address and when used prints a message and also sends a notification to the User’s address that it has been accomplished.  I have it set up on my HP LaserJet and HP OfficeJet even though they also work connected to my Router by Ethernet cable.

Before you wonder "Am I doing things right," ask "Am I doing the right things?"

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Slowpoke47

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PKCano wrote:

Have you checked the static IP address on the printer itself?

cyberSAR wrote:

Can you assign a static IP in the printer or router so it always stays the same? Could it be the printer is going into some deep sleep mode causing the issue? Any firmware updates available for the printer?

The printer shows the same IP address as displayed in the two computers.

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mn– wrote:

his should be easiest to test by turning off or disconnecting one of the computers and waiting for a while to see if it becomes available on the other one.

There does not seem to be any consistent behavior in this regard.  The laptop is usually shut down, whereas the PC runs for several hours on a typical day.  Once the system ghosts the printer icon, it does not change when one or the other machine is shut down.

I have removed and reinstalled the drivers several times, and at one point either computer could print.  But more typically, only one of the two machines can find the printer at any one time.

I think at this point, since there have been so many iterations of driver installation, using various versions from the HP site, that I will remove anything that is HP-related and start from scratch.  Apparently this has not been the case as yet, because when I set up the fax parameters with a new installation, some of the fields are pre-filled- name, phone number for example.

One problem at the beginning of reinstallation is that there are multiple software choices on the HP site for this printer and I don’t know how to choose.  There are multiple versions of the main (large) file and several lesser options as well, and I am not informed enough to make an intelligent choice.

Perhaps someone here with more know-how than my own can look at this listing and offer some guidance:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-laserjet-m1522-multifunction-printer-series/3442750/model/3442754

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@Slowpoke47, I assume that when you write that:

One problem at the beginning of reinstallation is that there are multiple software choices on the HP site for this printer and I don’t know how to choose.  There are multiple versions of the main (large) file and several lesser options as well, and I am not informed enough to make an intelligent choice.

…you are talking about the printer driver, which is the first set of choices given on that HP support page. (It’s the item listed simply as “Driver” with no modifiers.)

The page is not a model of clarity as to which of those 5 files to choose, especially since they all include the English-language version. From the Readme file:

SUPPORTED LANGUAGE SOFTWARE DOWNLOAD LIST:

HP LaserJet M1522 Series Windows Full Solution-America/EMEA 1:
Arabic, Catalan, Deutsch, English, Espanol, Francais, Italiano, Nederlands, Portugues

HP LaserJet M1522 Series Windows Full Solution- EMEA 2:
Cestina, Dansk, English, Greek, Hebrew, Norsk, Slovak, Suomi, Svenska

HP LaserJet M1522 Series Windows Full Solution- EMEA 3:
Bulgarian, English, Hrvatski, Magyar, Polski, Romanian, Slovenian, Srpski

HP LaserJet M1522 Series Windows Full Solution- EMEA 4:
Eesti, English, Kasakh, Latviski, Lietuviskai, Russian, Turkce, Ukranian

HP LaserJet M1522 Series Windows Full Solution- Asia Pacific:
English, Indonesian, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Viet Nam

So I presume that you can pick any of them. Personally, I would select the first one, labeled “EMEA 1”.

Hope this helps.

 

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Slowpoke47

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Cybertooth wrote:

So I presume that you can pick any of them. Personally, I would select the first one, labeled “EMEA 1”.

I actually did use that one, removed and reinstalled more than once when these issues arose.  I also tried the EMEA 2 option, did not find any difference.  Of course, I used the same version in both computers at any one time.  This is the one currently installed.

And, since all have the same date, nothing to be learned on that score either.

The other files shown all have drop-down menus with additional choices, but I have no idea which ones to pick.  There are some with more recent dates in those lists, perhaps a clue there?  But, I can’t tell what file or files constitutes a complete software package.  What would happen if I installed redundant files?

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@slowpoke47, as far as I can tell from HP’s page there isn’t a “complete” software package for your printer, you merely pick and choose the parts you want/need.

If you’re starting from scratch, I would go with the EMEA 1 printer driver and then decide whether to install the PCL5, PCL6, or PostScript driver. It sounds like your printer can handle any of them. Which one do you have (or did you have) in there? (You can check by going to Devices and Printers.) The following websites might provide useful information to guide your decision:

http://www.differencebetween.net/technology/software-technology/difference-between-pcl-and-ps-drivers/

https://forum.support.xerox.com/t5/Printing/General-best-practices-PCL-vs-Postscript-Bidirectional/td-p/67669

EDIT: If you intent to connect the printer via USB, you may want to give preference to one of the Universal Printer Drivers that follows that second set, and then make a decision between PCL6 and PostScript. If I understand it correctly, you would be picking this UPD for USB instead of the UPD, not in addition to it.

 

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Slowpoke47

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The full solution listed is the feature complete printer driver, those rarely get more than a few updates. Universal drivers are cheaper to maintain.

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Slowpoke47

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I would like to add the drivers being cheaper to maintain, is a claim by printer manufacturers relating to adminstrative costs. Sorry for the lack of clarity.

https://www8.hp.com/us/en/solutions/business-solutions/printingsolutions/UPD.html?jumpid=af_s73wr2vct6

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Cybertooth

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The universal drivers may cover a wider range of printers and may have less model specific options. It appears you need to know what language your printer speaks Printer Control Language 5, 6, or Postscript. So if you have a printer manual it should tell you which data you can send in the specification.

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Slowpoke47

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Cybertooth wrote:

If you’re starting from scratch, I would go with the EMEA 1 printer driver and then decide whether to install the PCL5, PCL6, or PostScript driver. It sounds like your printer can handle any of them. Which one do you have (or did you have) in there?

Just finished removing all HP files from the PC.  I’ll follow your suggestion and start fresh with EMEA 1 using a fresh download.  Not sure what PCL5 or PCL6 are, but I did have them as well.  Did not have PostScript driver, don’t know what that is or if it applies.

The printer will retain its dedicated IP address in the LAN (meaning no usb) so (hopefully) it will print from the laptop without the PC booted up.  I’ll try not to add any redundancy in those smaller files, but would there be a problem if I did that?

I’ll review the links in your post tomorrow, before installing any files.  Thanks!

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You should only need to install one of these printer driver on a computer.

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cyberSAR wrote:

Doesn’t HP have a utility with their printer software named Print Doctor or similar?

Don’t recall seeing anything like that

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Printer offline
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https://support.hp.com/us-en/topic/diagnostics?category=printing&issue=printer-offline

Never Say Never

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mn– wrote:

Was this one of those models that had the funny “feature” where an active connection from the official printer application on a computer is exclusive, as in a second computer has to wait for the first one to finish… and a toner cartridge status monitor is enough? This should be easiest to test by turning off or disconnecting one of the computers and waiting for a while to see if it becomes available on the other one.

Not sure what you mean here- but we have never had pending print jobs on both computers at the same time.  What does “a toner cartridge status monitor is enough” mean vis-a-vis this issue?  I can try to investigate with a little more info, thanks!

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Slowpoke47 wrote:

Not sure what you mean here- but we have never had pending print jobs on both computers at the same time. What does “a toner cartridge status monitor is enough” mean vis-a-vis this issue? I can try to investigate with a little more info, thanks!

Meaning, while one computer is querying the printer about how much toner is remaining, the other is unable to print… or scan or whatever.

A frequent annoyance with direct shared multifunction devices regardless of brand name, less common with larger models; usually worked around by having direct connections only from a specific server and then sharing through that server, not the device directly.

Slowpoke47 wrote:

Not sure what PCL5 or PCL6 are, but I did have them as well. Did not have PostScript driver, don’t know what that is or if it applies.

PCL and PostScript are printer command / page definition languages. You know, the kind that tell the printer to put a capital A in a sans-serif font at the top left of a page, then more letters… modern printers often support more than one input language.

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Currently all printer software files are removed from both computers.  Tomorrow I will start fresh.

Since we want the scan and fax functions from the PC only, I could put the EMEa1 driver on the PC and the PCL5 or PCL6 driver on the laptop, if either of those standing alone will print without any other software.  I already know the printer will print from any of these three drivers.  Is it possible that plan will “fool” the system into allowing both machines to operate the print function?

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Cybertooth

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As we say at home, that sounds like a plan.

Regarding the issue where the printer’s listing gets grayed out, check out the following exchange from the Xerox support forum that I linked to earlier:

Q:

Also, regarding bi-directional communication– once we have configured a print queue, is there any good reason to leave bi-directonal communications on?  Our experience has been that it generally triggers a significant delay in accessing or printing to a queue while the server queries the printer.

A:

As for the Bi-Directional setting in the set-up you have described it might be best to turn it off.  Here is an explanation of the feature.  When enabled Bi-directional communication automatically updates the printer driver with the printer’s installed options. The driver’s Printing Preferences will report information about the printer’s operational status, active jobs, completed jobs and paper tray status. However, it may be helpful to disable bi-directional communication in the following instances:

• Printing over the network is slow.

• A status message appears in the print queue and prevents other jobs from printing.

That discussion is specific to Xerox machines, and I don’t know if your HP model includes this “bi-directional communication” feature. However, the overall discussion might yield some clues as to what to do in your case.

 

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Slowpoke47

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Slowpoke47 wrote:

Currently all printer software files are removed from both computers. Tomorrow I will start fresh. Since we want the scan and fax functions from the PC only, I could put the EMEa1 driver on the PC and the PCL5 or PCL6 driver on the laptop, if either of those standing alone will print without any other software. I already know the printer will print from any of these three drivers. Is it possible that plan will “fool” the system into allowing both machines to operate the print function?

Unless someone advises otherwise, I will be following this plan at some point later today. I’ll go with the EMEA1 file for the PC and the PCL6 for the laptop.  (This latter has a 2019 update.)

My understanding is that this should be all we need in both machines.  But there is a Firmware entry in the list, do I need that as well?

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Firmware date is 2013 but looks like it may help in your situation. Note that you have to have the HP software installed prior to updating firmware. In my mind you shouldn’t have to install different drivers on each machine. The same software and drivers should work.

This firmware update includes the following enhancements and fixes:
Fixed an issue that under a certain case printing over the network does not work unless a cold restart is performed.
Fixed a paper size localization issue in control panel copy menu.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/swdetails/hp-laserjet-m1522-multifunction-printer-series/3442750/model/3442754/swItemId/ma-70811-8

 

Never Say Never

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Started fresh with this issue today.  Downloaded and installed the EMEA1 driver file in the PC.  The installer had no difficulty finding the printer.  Installation proceeded as expected, EXCEPT- with all HP programs supposedly removed from the machine, the fax setup still pre-filled name and phone number during fax setup.  Test page printed correctly and the printer showed in “Devices and Printers” as ready.

In laptop, downloaded and installed the Universal PLC6 driver with no issues, test page good and printer appeared in “D’s and P’s” as ready.  At this point, able to print from either computer.

Next- shut down both computers but left printer on.  On restart of both machines, laptop showed printer as ready but PC showed it as offline (ghosted).  Shut down laptop, PC still showed printer as offline.

Went to pop-up “Printer Properties” in both machines and unchecked printer sharing, no change- ready in laptop, offline in PC.

Next, tried to uninstall printer driver in laptop, but it did not appear in program list.  Back to “D’s and P’s” pop-up in laptop, checked “remove this device” which happens instantly, not enough time for actual driver to be removed.

In PC, downloaded/installed Firmware from HP site, this installer sent 3 docs to printer, which was still “offline.”  Docs appear in print queue but, of course, did not print.

I know from experience that if I reinstall the EMEA1 file in the PC, full functionality will be restored.  But, then the printer will be unavailable in the laptop.

What am I missing here?

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@slowpoke47, check out the various sets of instructions on these pages:

https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-to-change-a-printer-from-offline-to-online

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_vista-hardware/how-do-i-change-my-printer-status-to-online-it-is/c13d7dd1-78a5-4e7c-b8a2-314899713370

(Note that the first link contains two sets of instructions, one by Bennett Gavrish and the other by Lauren Farrelly, so you actually have three approaches to dealing with your issue.)

See if any of these resolves the issue on the computer that shows your printer as offline. To judge by the number of people in the MS forum who said they had the same question, it’s not at all an uncommon problem.

Let us know what happens (if anything).

 

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Slowpoke47

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Update- after leaving the PC in sleep mode for a short while, the HP printer no longer appears, ghosted or otherwise, in the D’s and P’s lineup.  The HP software remains installed.  What’s up with that?

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Cybertooth wrote:

@slowpoke47, check out the various sets of instructions on these pages: https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-to-change-a-printer-from-offline-to-online https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_vista-hardware/how-do-i-change-my-printer-status-to-online-it-is/c13d7dd1-78a5-4e7c-b8a2-314899713370 (Note that the first link contains two sets of instructions, one by Bennett Gavrish and the other by Lauren Farrelly, so you actually have three approaches to dealing with your issue.) See if any of these resolves the issue on the computer that shows your printer as offline. To judge by the number of people in the MS forum who said they had the same question, it’s not at all an uncommon problem. Let us know what happens (if anything).

We were both posting at the same time.  Thanks for the leads.  As just noted, the printer has now gone completely awol.  Back to this tomorrow.

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Please open your Start menu, type “services,” and select the Services result. Then, scroll down the list of services on your PC (the one where the HP printer disappeared from) and see if you have the “HP CUE DeviceDiscovery Service” listed.

If you do, then consider disabling that service as described here.

Good luck: you may need it.   🙂

 

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Slowpoke47

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Cybertooth wrote:

Please open your Start menu, type “services,” and select the Services result. Then, scroll down the list of services on your PC (the one where the HP printer disappeared from) and see if you have the “HP CUE DeviceDiscovery Service” listed. If you do, then consider disabling that service as described here. Good luck: you may need it.

A little while ago, I found that not only had the printer gone missing, but it was not listed in “All Programs” and therefore, no fax or scan.  Just now loaded a second instance of the driver hoping to complete some stuff today, and that gave me back those services.  While heaving my sigh of relief, I saw this response, thank you!  As mentioned, I’ll chase this tomorrow using the links you have posted.  I wonder if I can still find an old Smith-Corona typewriter?

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Cybertooth

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Cybertooth wrote:

https://www.techwalla.com/articles/how-to-change-a-printer-from-offline-to-online

This worked- printer has come out of hiding.

Cybertooth wrote:

Please open your Start menu, type “services,” and select the Services result. Then, scroll down the list of services on your PC (the one where the HP printer disappeared from) and see if you have the “HP CUE DeviceDiscovery Service” listed. If you do, then consider disabling that service as described here.

This “service” now disabled-.

Many thanks- it’s easy when you know what to do!

As mentioned previously, yesterday I added a second instance of that printer in hopes of completing some desk work then.  That effort succeeded, and that second instance now removed.  I’ll be investigating later to see what the overall status of the printer is in the laptop.  If all is not well, with the help you have so kindly provided, I may well be able to achieve the goal here, which is just to be able to print from either the PC or the laptop.  I’ll report all the (sordid) details.

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Cybertooth

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Nothing further to report on the printer/network saga yet… but this morning on bootup an odd thing happened.  Immediately upon opening Firefox, a flashing “Administrator” shield appeared in the tray.  I clicked on it, assuming no harm could come from that, and the familiar pop-up appeared (Do you want to let … make changes to your computer) while the rest of the screen darkened.  Nothing I haven’t seen before.  The name shown was Hewlett-Packard and the program offered was an update.  I clicked yes and immediately the following additional pop-up appeared, notice it seems to be incomplete:
At that point, nothing visible happened.  This is the second time I have seen this blue pop-up, although the first time it just appeared by itself, unlike today, when the sequence mentioned above came first.  There was no means to allow or dismiss this pop-up, and since, as mentioned, it was incomplete, I assumed it was some sort of phishing attempt or suchlike.  The only way I could get rid of it was to reboot as it didn’t respond to any sort of mouse clicks and remained on top of anything else on the screen.  Anyone else run across this?  If so, what did you do?

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That is the HR software/driver update from HP that you installed when you installed the HP printer software. It is no phishing, it is HP printer update. – Let it do so.

You can initiate it from the Windows menu under HP as well, I think.

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Slowpoke47

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PKCano wrote:

That is the HR software/driver update from HP that you installed when you installed the HP printer software. It is no phishing, it is HP printer update. – Let it do so. You can initiate it from the Windows menu under HP as well, I think.

Thank you.  I was suspicious because clicking on the yes button yielded no action that I could see, and that blue pop-up was incomplete and could not be acted upon.  I’ll start it from the All Programs menu, as you suggest- there is an update item under the HP listing.

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PKCano wrote:

That is the HR software/driver update from HP that you installed when you installed the HP printer software. It is no phishing, it is HP printer update. – Let it do so. You can initiate it from the Windows menu under HP as well, I think.

Started this from the All Programs menu, the only update offered was an item to alert me to future updates.  The download failed, but the software is currently up-to-date, and HP support for this printer has long since been discontinued.  I’ll not chase this any further.

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Just finished loading the PCL6 driver into the laptop.  Test page printed ok.  No visible repercussions on either machine on restart.  Looks like my goal is achieved, thanks to all who offered wisdom here.  If the “ghosting” issue re-emerges, I’ll go back to Cybertooth’s  links again to deal with that.

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Cybertooth

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