Printer communication problem

[Pa]

I have a general-purpose HP laser jet black and white printer, a Laser Jet Pro M402dn. It is a network printer connected to my router through an ethernet cable, and has its own IP address. It worked flawlessly in that setup for the first two years I had it. Now intermittently it fails to print from one or two computers, both iMac 27-inch. The printer just says "error" on the LCD and the printer window from System Preferences says "Check the printer for errors". However, I can print the same document from my MacBook Pro, which accesses the network wirelessly. The iMacs are both connected to the router through ethernet cables.

I have tried uninstalling the printer from each computer and reinstalling it. I have tried rebooting the printer and the computers.

I think the problem may have started when we replaced my wife's iMac with a new one a few months ago, but I'm not sure. Nevertheless the problem is intermittent and affects both computers.

Does anyone have any idea what could be going on?

 

[Ann_JS]

You might want to check with HP's site to see if they have posted a new Driver for that printer.

 

[bpdougd]

How are the network addresses assigned to the network devices? Sounds like a duplicate address problem.

 

[little big man]

Most HP printers will show a config page if you try to hit the local subnet IP address that is assigned to them. When I can't hit that page in the browser, I power off/on the printer and perhaps even reboot the router to get new IP addresses issued to everything that it *thinks* is on the network.

Sean

 

[Pa]

How are the network addresses assigned to the network devices? Sounds like a duplicate address problem.

Most HP printers will show a config page if you try to hit the local subnet IP address that is assigned to them. When I can't hit that page in the browser, I power off/on the printer and perhaps even reboot the router to get new IP addresses issued to everything that it *thinks* is on the network.

Sean

I was able to access the configuration page using the IP address. In the "Event Log" I find several instances of a 20.0000 error, which means "Insufficient Print Memory". That seems strange since it happens when trying to print a one or two page pdf document.

The Recommendation action is:

Turn the printer off, and on again, and then try printing the job again. If the problem persists, try using a different print driver. Download print drivers from the support website for the printer. Go to www.hp.com/go/support.
When using the PCL 6 driver, use the “optimize for raster path” setting.
Add additional memory if possible.

That web link leads nowhere. I'm going to try to force new IP addresses as Sean suggests.

 

[Growltiger]

IP addressing
Rather than hoping to assign a new IP address by turning on and off etc, it is far better to simply assign a static IP address to the printer. This is what I always do with static devices in the house I need computers to communicate with, such as printers, satellite receivers etc.

You do this through the printer menu. You need to choose an address which is in the addressable range of the router, but outside its DHCP range. Once you have done this you configure the computers to tell them the IP address of the printer. This eliminates many kinds of potential problems. And you need to make a note of this address and never forget it. On some HP printers you can configure it to diisplay its IP address when it is idle.

Insufficient memory error
Go to the computers that are triggering the problem. Look at the printer or print driver settings. These will include all kinds of stuff like default paper size, print resolution etc. Check if there is a memory setting in there, there may be. Check that it is set no greater than the amount of memory in the printer. If you don't know how much memory is in the printer, make the printer print its test page that shows its specification. This is usually done by holding down various buttons on the printer (read the manual). Also you can try reducing the resolution from (I'm guessing) 600 to 300 and see if that makes it work.

 

[MortyCapp]

I was able to access the configuration page using the IP address. In the "Event Log" I find several instances of a 20.0000 error, which means "Insufficient Print Memory". That seems strange since it happens when trying to print a one or two page pdf document.

The Recommendation action is:

Turn the printer off, and on again, and then try printing the job again. If the problem persists, try using a different print driver. Download print drivers from the support website for the printer. Go to www.hp.com/go/support.
When using the PCL 6 driver, use the “optimize for raster path” setting.
Add additional memory if possible.

That web link leads nowhere. I'm going to try to force new IP addresses as Sean suggests.

There seems to be a new firmware posted in August this year:
https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-laserjet-pro-m402-m403-n-dn-series/7458627/model/7458632

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/swdetails/hp-laserjet-pro-m402-m403-n-dn-series/7458627/model/7458632/swItemId/lj-154181-12

HP LaserJet Pro M402 and M403 Series Firmware Enhancements andFix List for date code 20190712

• Corrected multiple vulnerabilities CVE-2004-0230,CVE-2019-6323, CVE-2019-6324, CVE-2019-6325, CVE-2019-6326,CVE-2019-6327, including potential security impact XSS, CSRF andPotential Buffer Overflow.
• Fixed the issue that printer may not get the trusted IP address under the 802.1x authentication network.
• Fixed the issue that no paper mismatch reported for somespecific paper sizes.

 

[Pa]

There seems to be a new firmware posted in August this year:
https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-laserjet-pro-m402-m403-n-dn-series/7458627/model/7458632

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/swdetails/hp-laserjet-pro-m402-m403-n-dn-series/7458627/model/7458632/swItemId/lj-154181-12

HP LaserJet Pro M402 and M403 Series Firmware Enhancements andFix List for date code 20190712

• Corrected multiple vulnerabilities CVE-2004-0230,CVE-2019-6323, CVE-2019-6324, CVE-2019-6325, CVE-2019-6326,CVE-2019-6327, including potential security impact XSS, CSRF andPotential Buffer Overflow.
• Fixed the issue that printer may not get the trusted IP address under the 802.1x authentication network.
• Fixed the issue that no paper mismatch reported for somespecific paper sizes.

Thanks, Morty. I have downloaded the new firmware, and I'm trying to install it now. In the updater window it's on the step "Device Discovery" and I've had the spinning roulette wheel for about two minutes now with no further progress. Apparently it can't find the printer.

 

[Pa]

Bingo!

Thanks Morty.

 

[Pa]

You might want to check with HP's site to see if they have posted a new Driver for that printer.

As you saw from the above, that was indeed the problem. Thanks, Ann.

 

[Pa]

Apparently that was not the problem, as it refused to print this morning. Since this always seems to happen with pdf files, I was getting suspicious that the problem might be my old and outdated (2010) copy of Adobe Acrobat. To test that idea I just started a 7-day free trial of Acrobat Pro DC and I was successful in printing a pdf doc that would not print from my old version of acrobat.

 

[MortyCapp]

Apparently that was not the problem, as it refused to print this morning. Since this always seems to happen with pdf files, I was getting suspicious that the problem might be my old and outdated (2010) copy of Adobe Acrobat. To test that idea I just started a 7-day free trial of Acrobat Pro DC and I was successful in printing a pdf doc that would not print from my old version of acrobat.

Good thinking.
That brings back memories.
Years ago I had an HP inkjet printer that could not print pdfs from Adobe, the second page would always have a massive all black circle in the middle. Huge drain on ink cartridges.
The only way to avoid this was using a non Adobe PDF reader.
What you can try to look at (in the good old days the print management tool would display this information) is how large a simple document becomes once it is sent to the printer.

 

[MortyCapp]

apparently you are not the only one,
FYI only
https://community.adobe.com/t5/Acrobat/Cannot-Print-Any-PDF-file-MacOS-High-Sierra-10-13-2-Error-can-t/td-p/9629040

 

[Pa]

What you can try to look at (in the good old days the print management tool would display this information) is how large a simple document becomes once it is sent to the printer.

I haven't found a way to see that information.

On another subject, I did reboot the printer and the router and it came up with the same IP address for the printer.

 

[MortyCapp]

I haven't found a way to see that information.

On another subject, I did reboot the printer and the router and it came up with the same IP address for the printer.

re IP address, is this good news ?
Growltiger's suggestion remains in my opinion the best, set a fixed IP address.
I do this for all my fixed devices.

 

[Pa]

re IP address, is this good news ?

I don't know.

Growltiger's suggestion remains in my opinion the best, set a fixed IP address.

That means I have to somehow tell all my computers what that IP Address is and I don't know how to do that.

 

[MortyCapp]

I don't know.

That means I have to somehow tell all my computers what that IP Address is and I don't know how to do that.

Don't worry then.
I am not a Mac user and would only be able to show you how to do it in Windows (dead easy).
Your set up should work, you are most likely right that it is a software (Adobe) issue.
If not less us know.

 

[MortyCapp]

Google is my friend:
simple ways to PRINT to fixed IP printers

https://support.cc.gatech.edu/support-tools/howto/direct-ip-printing-mac-os-x

For this to work you must have set the IP address in the printer first.

 

[Mike Buckley]

I've never paid for any version of Acrobat and I've always been able to print PDFs. Consider downloading the free version of Acrobat Reader and try printing from it.

 

[Pa]

I've never paid for any version of Acrobat and I've always been able to print PDFs. Consider downloading the free version of Acrobat Reader and try printing from it.

I'm not familiar with the latest version of Acrobat Reader, but I've always preferred the full Acrobat because of the editing capability, Maybe the current version of Acrobat Reader does this.

I got acrobat for nearly nothing before I left the payroll at VT.