Incoming and Outgoing Printer Ports

[SoCalGuy]

You are VERY KIND to offer to try this first on your machine.  I will await your reply and summary of the steps you took.

I DO remember that during the ToTAL DRIVER pkg installation there was an ADD PRINTER button, but I never had to use it because my printer had been recognized by the software during installation.  I gather you are going to rerun either the TOTAL DRIVER install pkg or, perhaps, Printer Doctor, both of which I have.  The thing is that unless you have the same issue I'm having "Printer cannot accomplish two-way communication, please unblock port 461", we aren't necessarily going to know if adding another printer through any process will solve MY problem. SO....

In the interest of science, I too am willing to devote one of my PCs to testing your suggestions.  I have a "spare" that I use to test things like this and right now it has the same configuration and issue as my other three.  All are running Win 10 64bit and  all of them have the latest HP Win10 driver for my printer (HP OFFICEJET L7590) installed.  No two of the PCs is the same otherwise.  That's supposed to be solved by the wisdom at MS when they install the OS.  And I assume the HP wizards know how to accommodate the different hardware too, if it's running win10.  That's what specs are for. (I'm an engineer, but not a S/W engineer.  In my field we have to get it right the FIRST time because we can't go back and keep fixing it.)

[VisionAiry]

I'm waiting on it to finish installing and I will give you the play by play so far.  So I found the install file in C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\HP\Photosmart C6300 series by simply clicking in the box below (search the web and windows) and typing only the model number of my printer (c6380) and it acted like it was going to do a first time install then stopped.  Will reply momentarily while I look into why it didn't finish as the box just disappeared. Just going to be straight with you on that one - so far it's being weird but no damage yet as my Solution Center scanned beautifully for me on my first experience so I know it's working still.

[VisionAiry]

Do you have HP Support Assitant in your system tray by your clock? Question mark or blue i in a circle icon I guess.

[VisionAiry]

I chose to go to the website and download the drivers straight to my computer.  Everything kept recommending I choose the update and install assistant but my HP Support Assistant is still running in the background doing something but it hasn't changed since I pressed the button to check for updates and messages which is exactly what the website instructed me to use.  But, no, I'd rather have the "download only" on my computer so I can use the install file if need be.  I understand I already have an install file on my pc but I want a fresh one in my %temp% folder since that was likely cleaned out during the win10 upgrade or any disc cleanup I may have ran since the update.

While I wait for it to upload, I used to do a lot of work in the %temp% folder to resolve assorted issues.  Anything downloaded from the web leaves traces behind in that folder that do not appear anywhere else on the PC.  Still takes forever like the first time install but that's exactly what I'm attempting to do.  

About the ports, if you can print and scan the only other incoming and outgoing ports are for HP ePrint and printer apps.  You do not have to mess with ports if the main functions work.  It's a software flaw in combination with your router but nothing to do with ports.  The computer's IP is communicating, the software is the one having the issue. Ugh sooo slow. I just don't want to forget what I've done and I dont want to leave the page for fear I lose all this before I post it.

Checking system (step 1) for anything at my work, I hardly ever uninstall/reinstall on the first few attempts at least.  Do that too many times and you clutter up the registry. However Step 2 recommended I do that. I chose to custom uninstall and uninstall the Photosmart Essentials (I never use it anyway).  Well it's going to ask me to reboot soon.  If my Solution Center still works after this I will let you know. Only taking 37 minutes so far lol imagine had I uninstalled it first.

[VisionAiry]

Alright, my ink levels seem more accurate than before and I now have a new driver (WSD that printed successfully).  I say give it a shot on the test PC because the only worse case scenario is you can't remember which of the two printers to print to.  In summary, remember to only install the download. If you have options to customize the installation do so choosing the bare 4 or 5 min (digital imaging, full feature, OCR and maybe one other of your liking ignoring or deselecting any options I call bloatware).  And the only awkward or unexpected event, disregarding the fact it wouldn't install at first, was after the reboot I didn't see any more options to a) set it as default b) share it) or c) send a test print.  No extra printers in Solution Center either. You may have it tho because one may show connected and one doesn't.  Conclusion: it's worth a try as my test was pretty successful, not totally, but just pretty much.

[SoCalGuy]

Wow!  I applaud what you just did.  I'm not yet sure I know what you are suggesting I do.  Let me clarify:

To install the win 10 driver for my HP L7590, I first totally removed the prior product.  I even used REVO to ensure all the trails were removed.  Then I installed the updated driver and that's where I'm at now.

I did that same operation on all of my PCs and now all of them have that latest driver installed, and you know where I stand.  So what differently should I now attempt on the "experimental" PC?

[VisionAiry]

The moral of the story - don't have to bother uninstalling the printer software for this experiment.  Just install it again as if it was the first time and see if you can see the printer as connected now in Solution Center.  I hope that work for you!

[SoCalGuy]

No luck. Here are a few more details:
A) even though the Solution Center showed the printer DISCONNECTED, it would print & scan from all the PCs. The PC I'm experimenting with has been wirelessly printing and scanning.

B) print DOCTOR has no problem finding the printer and gives me an IP for it of network (10.0.0.2). The printer is connected to my wireless router using the NIC port on the router. Solution Center has no problem finding the printer via the Web Print tool.

C) The printer shows up in win 10 Settings/Printers & Scaners & as the Default printer in Device a Manager

D) The complete driver can't locate the printer, even if I type the 10.0.0.2 IP address into the Printer Install advanced process, yet that the IP that Print Dr found

E) Print Dr never completes. I think it's stalled at the stage where it tries to locate the Fax or Scan, about 95% of the progress bar. I have to open Task Mgr & then it finishes.

[VisionAiry]

This is one of those times I would I could remote into a PC to mess around with it.  Thank you for trying though.  I have to go out of town for the weekend.  I will try to reach out to your Monday with any other suggestions.

[SoCalGuy]

Thx. Have a safe pleasant trip. We will have to pick this back up mid November if you're ok with that. I have some travel that will begin when you return.