Question

HP Colour Laserjet 4600 offline

Asked by: cbsbutler

Morning,

Our 4600 is persistantly reporting itself as offline.
The only way to bring it back "online" is to turn it off and on again.

How can I stop it taking itself offline?

Many thanks,
Antonio

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Asked On
2009-07-16 at 01:05:46ID24574892
Topics

Printers by HP

,

Printers

Participating Experts
3
Points
500
Comments
30

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Answers

 

by: GeisrudPosted on 2009-07-16 at 08:22:24ID: 24870056

Check the data cable.  I recently had a printer doing similar (and worse) because the USB cable had become faulty.

 

by: cbsbutlerPosted on 2009-07-16 at 09:04:05ID: 24870581

It's a network printer.

 

by: GeisrudPosted on 2009-07-16 at 09:25:28ID: 24870844

Then check the network cable, or try a different cable.

 

by: GeisrudPosted on 2009-07-16 at 09:25:55ID: 24870853

And cabling all the way to the print server

 

by: GeisrudPosted on 2009-07-16 at 10:34:56ID: 24871567

Failing that, your next step should be to test the network port on the print server, and the NIC on the printer itself.

 

by: cbsbutlerPosted on 2009-09-03 at 06:33:56ID: 25250455

Hi, tested the cable by using a cable tester either end. How do you test a network printer's nic?

 

by: GoldsimPosted on 2009-09-21 at 03:11:36ID: 25381451

Print a hardware page from the printer. There may be a buton for this near the network port on the printer or you could try holding the printer button down as you turn the printer on. This should give you the IP of the printer.

Put the IP into a web browser which will take you to the printer set up utility. From here there may be a way of testing the function of the printer.

You could also try pinging the printers IP when it goes offline to see if you are getting a response from its NIC.

 

by: GoldsimPosted on 2009-09-21 at 03:22:09ID: 25381501

There is now feedback.

 

by: cbsbutlerPosted on 2009-09-21 at 04:12:03ID: 25381709

There is no option on the web interface to "test the printers function"

When the printer goes offline it is not possible to ping it.

 

by: GoldsimPosted on 2009-09-21 at 05:24:17ID: 25382150

Is it clients and server that cannot ping or just server?

 

by: GoldsimPosted on 2009-09-21 at 05:25:09ID: 25382161

Possibly try postscript driver. Sounds very odd, but I know how these things an be.

 

by: cbsbutlerPosted on 2009-09-21 at 06:07:29ID: 25382431

It is using a PS driver. There are no PCL53/6 drivers available from HP for this printer model.

I have only tested pinging from a client machine. I will try from the server, but I can't see how that would be any different than from a client. :(

 

by: cbsbutlerPosted on 2009-09-21 at 08:39:05ID: 25384043

Hi, my bad.
It is using PCL6 drivers. It has just gone offline, I could still ping it from the client and the server even though it was reporting as offline.

I have changed to PS drivers now and will monitor how this goes for the next week.

 

by: GoldsimPosted on 2009-09-22 at 01:00:13ID: 25390451

Ok let me know how you get on.

 

by: cbsbutlerPosted on 2009-09-22 at 08:03:42ID: 25393624

Hi goldsim,

All clients and the server are using the latest PS drivers available from the HP website.
The printer has gone offline again.

 

by: cbsbutlerPosted on 2009-10-05 at 02:36:24ID: 25493600

Hi goldsim, any other ideas?

 

by: GoldsimPosted on 2009-10-05 at 03:02:54ID: 25493740

Has the printer definatley got a static IP. Can you get to the config page or print a network info page?

 

by: cbsbutlerPosted on 2009-10-05 at 03:13:25ID: 25493793

It definitely has a static IP.

What information do you require off the config/print a network info pages?

 

by: b0lsc0ttPosted on 2009-10-12 at 11:41:31ID: 25553820

The static IP isn't one in the range of those assigned by DHCP?  If so change it.  It should still be in the range that will work for your subnet but keep it out of the DHCP range.

I see you tested the cable but can you try a different cable?  Then I would try another port on the switch/router.  Do you have another network printer that works without this problem?  If so a great test would be to move the printer to that location.  Have this one use the same cable, IP, etc.

The problem could be the NIC card in the printer.  That would probably mean sending it in or trying to order a replacement.  The tests above would be nice to do before this more expensive option but if you have eliminated the rest then it is most likely the port itself (or card).

Let me know if you have a question about any of this or how it helps.

bol

 

by: cbsbutlerPosted on 2009-10-27 at 07:23:43ID: 25672736

Hi, THe IP is not assigned by DHCP and is not one that is in the DHCP range.
Will plug the printer into another working port to test this and report back

 

by: b0lsc0ttPosted on 2009-10-27 at 10:34:51ID: 25675132

Thanks.  Let me know what you find out.

bol

 

by: cbsbutlerPosted on 2009-10-29 at 03:17:14ID: 25692039

Hi b0lsc0tt,

I've just had to turn the printer off and on again as it was reporting to be be offline, despite the control panel saying "Ready"

 

by: b0lsc0ttPosted on 2009-10-29 at 08:26:20ID: 25694744

Isn't that the "solution" you mentioned in the question but seemed to have to repeat regularly?  It seemed you asked this to figure out a better way than that quick fix.  It is an odd problem I'll admit so I won't be disappointed if you said turning it off and then on this time completely fixed it (for the long term).  I just wanted to point this out in case you were just back to where you started.

bol

 

by: cbsbutlerPosted on 2009-10-29 at 08:35:29ID: 25694851

hi bolsc0tt... I'm just pointing out that changing the cables hasn't resolved the issue... in the sense that it has gone offline again.

What would you recommend as our next step?

 

by: b0lsc0ttPosted on 2009-10-29 at 08:57:00ID: 25695075

Oh ... thanks for clarifying. The previous post made it seem like you had solved it and were posting the solution. Obviously I misread it though. :)

A final, easy thing to try would be assigning a new IP address. Do you have other network printers? If so you could swap the IP and see if that works better in this printer.

You might also look for the option (either using the Menu or sometimes a switch right near the ethernet port) to do a reset of the network settings (i.e. factory reset or hard reset). You will need to reenter or set up some stuff so might want to have the configuration printed out but that would be worth trying if you haven't.

Otherwise it is some hardware issue and you need to consider repair, replace, etc. I don't have a recommendation for that situation without considering the age of the printer, costs of the options and other factors. The 4600 printer is good and was a decent investment but you wouldn't want to replace the NIC to have some other part fail in 6 months. I do know that HP and their service people do sometimes have a service option that will basically refurbish the printer (i.e. replace the stuff that is likely to break and need it). That could give a whole new life to the printer and they are often reasonably priced. If it included fixing the NIC, if the other things don't work, then even better.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have a question or how it works.

bol

 

by: cbsbutlerPosted on 2009-10-29 at 09:05:50ID: 25695153

Hi bolsc0tt,

I've reset the configuration and configured it with another printers IP, and given the other printer a new IP.
Will test this for a week, failing that will look into hardware upgrades.
Thanks very much for your assistance.

20120131-EE-VQP-002

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