HP OfficeJet 6500 (E709a) issue with duplexer

[Temp]

I recently purchased an OfficeJet 6500 (E709a - wired) under the assumption that it printed in duplex (automatically - I do not consider flipping pages as duplex).

Later finding out that the duplexer unit only came with the wireless version, I purchased a duplexer unit with the help of a HP tech.

Unfortunatly, the thing will not print duplex.

Yes, I have installed the duplexer. Since the E709a driver does not support a duplexer, on advice of HP I tried both the E709n and the 990c drivers without success. Yes, I changed all the configurations in the driver, including telling the driver that the unit was installed.

You might notice a little frustration - other than the driver advice, HP support so far has only givin me standard install/configuration information.

Can anyone help?
Thanks in advance.

[Bob_Headrick]

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Temp wrote:

I recently purchased an OfficeJet 6500 (E709a - wired) under the assumption that it printed in duplex (automatically - I do not consider flipping pages as duplex).

Later finding out that the duplexer unit only came with the wireless version, I purchased a duplexer unit with the help of a HP tech.

Unfortunatly, the thing will not print duplex.

Yes, I have installed the duplexer. Since the E709a driver does not support a duplexer, on advice of HP I tried both the E709n and the 990c drivers without success. Yes, I changed all the configurations in the driver, including telling the driver that the unit was installed.

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When you install the E709n driver and select a duplex print what happens?  Does the print happen but only on the front side of pages, or is there an error message when printing?

[BMET001]

I see one other thread that states that when installing the duplexer AND changing the driver to E709n, that the duplexer will function.  Have others been able to get it to work?  I don't want to spend $ on something that will collect dust.  If it is the same as the 930C, I would have to tell the driver the duplexer is installed and then set the printing properties to print duplex, correct?

Thanks

[cmf200micro]

i purchased the hp6500 on 11-22-09 and a sticker on it said that it duplexed.  you never get what you pay for.

[bryantsc02]

  Has this topic died or the discussion / solution been posted elsewhere?  I have a 709n & 709a, both new.  I setup the 709n on XP (fresh xp install) by running the supplied HP printer CD before connecting via USB.  Next I disconnected the 709n from the USB cable & moved the duplexer to the 709a and connected the USB cable to the 709a and XP automatically installed the printer as a 709a, without the HP CD in the system.  As expected with the 709a driver there was no option for automatic duplex.  Changing the driver to 709n allowed the option to automatically duplex on the 709a.  However, when an print job was queued to print a warning was displayed: ( The doc had been config'd to print using the auto two sided printer module but the module is not installed in the device. The doc will be printed one sided.)

  Printing automatic duplex on the 709n (709n driver) with the duplexer replaced by the paper guide from the 709a caused a paper jam as it tried to feed the paper back into the missing duplexer.  Changing the driver to the 709a removed the option to print two sided automatically.  Obviously neither of these situations came as a surprise.  The duplexer is a mechanical add on with no electrical contacts.  I hoped that there was a contact switch in the printer to detect the duplexer or an option in the setup to configure/disable the duplexer, I haven't found either.

  If there is a way to make this mixed combo work I'd like to know about it because I'd prefer the duplex in a location where wireless is not needed & don't need the duplexer where wireless would be useful.

[nikondy]

I have tha same problem in Windows XP and 7. Using both the E709n and 990c drivers didn't help at all...

Someone can help there?

[Andeafdod]

I too have this problem.  I changed the driver to E709n and made sure the settings showed duplexer "installed," and default preferences set to "automatic" (I also made sure that settings for the program I printed from (MS Word) showed it should print on both sides).  It prints fine, but only on one side of the paper.  Please help!

Edited to add:

I just printed the printer status report and it says the duplexer is "not installed" - this seems to be the problem.  Although the software recognizes it, the printer does not seem to.  I've removed it, re-connected it, etc.  But it won't recognize it.  Any ideas how to get the printer to recognize the duplexer?

[nikondy]

If we update printer's firmware with E709n's firmware could be a solution? Is this a reason to loose the warranty?

[Bob_Headrick]

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nikondy wrote:

If we update printer's firmware with E709n's firmware could be a solution? Is this a reason to loose the warranty?

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I have not been able to put my hands on a E709 for testing, but I would expect that the firmware for the E709N may not be compatible with the E709A due to the hardware differences.  If loading the E709N firmware damaged your E709A (made it unbootable...) I would expect that this would not be covered by warranty.

[Andeafdod]

So, is there no solution?  Does the E709a not accept the duplexer even though it has a place for it and is except for the wireless essentially the "same" as the E709n?  Should I just return the printer since it does not meet my needs?