• ×
    Information
    Windows update impacting certain printer icons and names. Microsoft is working on a solution.
    Click here to learn more
    Information
    Need Windows 11 help?
    Check documents on compatibility, FAQs, upgrade information and available fixes.
    Windows 11 Support Center.
  • post a message
  • ×
    Information
    Windows update impacting certain printer icons and names. Microsoft is working on a solution.
    Click here to learn more
    Information
    Need Windows 11 help?
    Check documents on compatibility, FAQs, upgrade information and available fixes.
    Windows 11 Support Center.
  • post a message
Guidelines
The HP Community is where owners of HP products, like you, volunteer to help each other find solutions.
Archived This topic has been archived. Information and links in this thread may no longer be available or relevant. If you have a question create a new topic by clicking here and select the appropriate board.
HP Recommended

I have an HP LaserJet 1200 which is my default printer and has worked reliably for years.  Nothing new recently....same Desktop Computer, software, etc.  I have a Dell desktop running Windows 7 Professional with SP 1.  All of a sudden my LaserJet will not print.  When I go to document status it indicates "error".  If I power down the LaserJet it works when powered back up.  However, this is short lived as before the day is out it will return to "error" status.  Once again powering down and back up returns it to operating status.  I have tried everything I know of but cannot resolve.  Thanks for any advice.

13 REPLIES 13
HP Recommended
Sound like a cable or usb issue where the port is dying. Try another usb port or another cable to see what happens.
HP Recommended

Thanks for the reply.  I will try a new cable/USB port and advise results. 

HP Recommended

Hi,

 

It could possibly be a sensor issue, where the printer is mistakenly indicating a paper jam.   There are secondary error codes on that printer that indicate specific errors.  When that initial error comes up, which lights are flashing?  Make note of this.

Then push the large button on the front panel and see which indicators light up then.  Make note of them and please repost this information.

 

If you are getting a high pitched squealing sound during a print cycle it may be your scanner motor is on its way out.

It may also be a fuser assembly issue.

HP Recommended

Additional information on the error status.  The lights on the front panel of the LaserJet 1200 printer remain green, as in normal ready state.  There are no blinking or amber lights.  The only error indication I get is by going to Control Panel-Printers-HP 1200-documents.  At that point document status indicates "error" and there is no printing.  I now notice that if at that point I power down the HP 1200, and then power back up, documents in the queue do in fact print out.  Shortly after, however, the printer returns to the error status as reported above.

 

I am now beginning to believe that there is a printer malfunction  and that all is OK with the USB port and interface.

HP Recommended
I doubt it is a printer issue. To test when this happens just press the button on the printer for 2 seconds and see if it prints a demo page. If it does, then the printer is working and somehow your computer has lost communication either with the port on the printer, or port on computer or cable itself. What I would do first is delete the printer from the computer completely and then turn both the printer and the computer off. Turn the computer back on and when it is ready, turn the printer back on and see if the computer finds it a reloads the necessary software.
HP Recommended

I did as you suggested and the printer in fact does print out the Self Test/Configuration page after pushing in the front printer button.  I also followed your suggestion for removing the printer and powering down the computer and printer.  By plugging in the printer once the computer was powered up it automatically did the driver installation and going to control panel showed that the HP 1200 was successfully installed.  I printed out a test page (from the computer) and it worked just fine.  Printing from  the computer worked for a while and then once again the error condition occurred.  I moved the USB cable to 2 other ports with the same results.  I have yet to swap out the USB cable, which will be my next step.  I'm not optimistic about the cable, however.  This error doesn't seem to be symptomatic of a cable problem.

HP Recommended
Check you settings for the usb port and there may be time out or other settings which can be changed so communication continues after a long idle period.
HP Recommended

Thanks for the input.  I checked the USB settings but could not find any that I could alter related to a timeout.  However....previous inputs have helped.  The printer, as you thought, is functioning properly.  It is definitely on the computer/USB interface side.  Through time I was able to verify that leaving the printer powered up and restarting the computer allowed the printer to work properly.  The really strange thing at the moment is that 3 days ago I powered down only my computer, powered it back up and all worked just fine and for some reason is continuing to work fine.  It has not returned to the failed error condition like it used to.  I'm baffled but happy that it works.  Thanks to your inputs I at least know it is on the PC side of things if it does occur again.

HP Recommended

I wonder if I might resurrect this topic.  I'm having the exact same problem that Halusja was having.  My HP 1200 Series has been a very reliable printer for years, then suddenly it stopped printing. The documents in the queue just sit there and the status shows Error. I can hold in the large button for two seconds and it will print out a self-test page.  I have changed out my USB cable, just in case that was a problem, but I don't believe it is. I mean, it seems to me that, if I plug the cable into the computer, then into the printer, if the computer says "Doink doink" then that means it has received information over that cable, which means it is functioning.

 

I have gone so far as to completely delete the printer from the computer, disconnect it, restart the computer, the go the HP's site and d/l the latest drivers. But it's a race -- because once I plug in the printer, Windows 7 begins installing drivers for it. And I note at the HP Drivers page a comment that I can d/l the same driver(s) from Microsoft.  At any rate, this time I did d/l a different driver. The first one comes up labeled as HP Laserjet 1200 Series PCL5 and the new one comes up as HP Universal Printing PCL5 (v5.7.0). I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the Microsoft installed one as well as this new one, the v5.7.0. Still no difference.

 

I don't know if this might have anything to do with things, but I figure I should give you a complete history, just to be well . . . complete. Originally I was using a Parallel cable with this printer and ran it directly into my PC when I had an older mobo that still had a parallel port. Later, I installed a print server on my network -- made by Hawking, it supported 1 parallel and 2 serial printers. So I used the parallel port, and it worked fine over the network for years. Then suddenly it stopped working. I switched over to USB, but still no joy. So I disconnected the printer from the print server and hooked it straight to the PC. Still nothing.  Later I revisited the Hawking print server and discovered that it was completely dead to the world -- totally unresponsive.  My router doesn't even see it on the network.  So it appears that I had parallel failures. Which is kinda freaky, but not unheard of -- I've run into this sort of thing often enough working on old cars, for example.  I would check the printer out with a parallel cable but my latest mobo does not have a parallel port.

 

I've always been somewhat disappointed that the 1200 series has no LCD panel or anything. Just one button and two lights. I'm guessing that watching the lights flash in a certain order after pressing the button in some fashion may provide the user with some information as to an internal problem, but I haven't been able to find out anything with regard to this yet.

 

So, other than tossing this printer onto the junk heap, got any ideas?

 

 

 

Archived This topic has been archived. Information and links in this thread may no longer be available or relevant. If you have a question create a new topic by clicking here and select the appropriate board.
† The opinions expressed above are the personal opinions of the authors, not of HP. By using this site, you accept the <a href="https://www8.hp.com/us/en/terms-of-use.html" class="udrlinesmall">Terms of Use</a> and <a href="/t5/custom/page/page-id/hp.rulespage" class="udrlinesmall"> Rules of Participation</a>.