HP Deskjet Printer doesn't work!

[Mr Allen]

Above.

I know how to use Google, and I don't have the funds to buy a new Printer, I replaced the cartridges this afternoon and have printed 2 test sheets and 3 copies of my CV so far.

I am on a Chromebook PC if that matters.

 

[kay]

Ask my boyfriend about HP printers. He has switched to some other brand and is planning on throwing his last HP printer out the attic window. He keeps forgetting though and so it just sits there. Anyhoo, he has learned to hate HP printers and says he'll never go back.

 

[Mr Allen]

Ask my boyfriend about HP printers. He has switched to some other brand and is planning on throwing his last HP printer out the attic window. He keeps forgetting though and so it just sits there. Anyhoo, he has learned to hate HP printers and says he'll never go back.

Yeah that's not very helpful but thanks anyway.

Anyone care to actually HELP? And no, I am not buying another Printer or Googling the problem.

 

[tree]

Yeah that's not very helpful but thanks anyway.

Anyone care to actually HELP? And no, I am not buying another Printer or Googling the problem.

Sounds really frustrating.

So, you're saying you already used every kind of
on-line trouble-shooting source you could think of but
didn't find any answers?

And you just wish somebody could tell you exactly
how you can get the thing to work again.

 

[kay]

Yeah that's not very helpful but thanks anyway.

Anyone care to actually HELP? And no, I am not buying another Printer or Googling the problem.

Sorry I can't help, I know nothing about printers. Obviously you understand my boyfriend's deep frustration with printers. Goodluck, perhaps someone will give some advice. On an optimistic note I doubt you are using the same type of printer my boyfriend was, he has to have some wide format kind. Maybe you can find an answer out there for yours.

 

[Jorg]

Mmm it is a undercover truth that some companies install a chip in their devices like printers so they stop working after sometime making people go buy a new one because it's cheaper buying a new one that repair it, thats called programmed obsolescence.

Some years ago I had a HP C5580 and used it for some short papers, scaning documents and very light stuff. All of the sudden stopped working and when I went to repair service they told me it was cheaper to buy a new one.

Anyway, that chip/circuit may be resseted but I haven't made a research on how to do it.

I guess an Epson printer is better quality than a HP.

 

[tree]

Providing the model type and actual symptoms
sounds like it would be useful information
for anybody who is knowledgeable about printers.

A place to start.

It apparently was working, since Rich says in the OP that he did
print a couple, then it stopped working.

 

[Judge]

Yeah. HP Printer Hell.

I have an HP 5530 Envy on both wireless and USB and it took me nearly two weeks to discover not to use any other paper setting except "HP Photo Paper or Other Paper" no matter what kind of paper I was actually printing to. Plus that the "black ink only" setting (presumably for text only) didn't work at all. And that printing in grayscale in the "advanced" menu under "paper settings" I also had to set the color management to "ColorSmart/sRGB" or it wouldn't print at all. Though for color I stick to the Adobe RGB (1998) color management setting as my OS (Windows) and monitor defaults to that setting as well.

Once I figured these weird things out that there was no mention of it's been a very effective device with excellent results. Though I still cannot print a thing on the "black ink only" setting. Have to stick with grayscale even for simple documents. At least the ink in the cartridges hasn't dried up with long periods of non-use.

Essentially there's a ton of eccentricities like this that for whatever reason HP has chosen not to mention, with few customers commenting about it online. And the proprietary online troubleshooting systems from HP didn't solve anything either. Always wondered if other folks went through so much agony over a $100 printer. Hopefully owners of other model printers had an easier time.

Under the circumstances I figure I was just plain lucky in figuring enough out to be able to print, period.

 

[pjcnet]

HP Printers - Printing with the HP Print for Chrome App | HP® Customer Support may or may not be helpful if you haven't already been here.

I understand you are limited with a Chromebook, it's meant to be simple compared to Windows, but if something goes wrong there's a lot less you can do and I'm a Windows person (with some Linux server experience) with no specific Chromebook experience. If it's printing test sheets then it's unlikely to be an issue with the printer itself however, it's either the cable or a driver / software issue (if you are using wireless this could also be misconfigured and I would try a cable). I assume it's a USB cable, some devices won't work using low quality USB cables or longer cables, also some devices maybe problematic if you use a USB 2.0 cable with a USB 3.0 or 3.1 device if it's plugged into a USB 3.0 or 3.1 hub (most are backward compatible, but you may have to use a USB 2.0 hub on the Chromebook with a USB 2.0 cable if there is one or get a USB 3.0 cable), I can find out more if you give me the exact make and model of your Chromebook. Also which printer is it as sometimes there used to be tricks with HP Deskjet Printers and problematic drivers, for instance many will work with an older HP Deskjet 550C driver (if you manually install or select it), it's a basic driver without all the extras that is more likely to actually work without any issues, this was years ago however and I don't know whether it's still relevant or even whether you can manually select which driver to use on a Chromebook (or whether it's only auto-detected).

 

[Judge]

This thread reminded me also of when for no apparent reason, using my HP 5530 inkjet printer just stopped wirelessly sending print queues. Eventually I figured out that I should try to re-input the IP address and I got back my wireless functionality. (In the installation process it creates a number of troubleshooting links and "update IP address" is one of them. An easy "fix" in this instance.)

Unfortunately for all these experiences I had, I can't assume they uniformly apply to other operating systems like a Chromebook. Though my cousin went and purchased the same printer and had the exact same problems while using Windows 10 as her OS. Go figure. All I can say is that this particular HP printer could be pretty ornery at times.