"Unable to connect to the printer" message keeps appearing

[bigby65]

I just recently bought a new HP Deskjet Plus 4155 All-in-One printer and followed the setup instructions using HP Smart app. When checking the Instant Ink page, it tells me the printer is Online with a green checkmark, but I also get the following message: 

Unable to connect to the printer.
Check your connection and try again later.

Synced Dec 27, 2020 6:52 AM

The printer has no problems with actually printing from my laptop, no matter the application. It's only when I attempt to check the Instant Ink page where I have the problem. I've followed all the troubleshooting instructions, contacted Virtual Chat, run the Print & Scan Doctor software, and even turned off my firewall. None of this has changed anything. The printer came with "Instant Ink Ready" cartridges, but is it because the initial Instant Ink replacement cartridges haven't been shipped yet?

The icons on the printer screen show that the printer IS enrolled in the program. Any help would be greatly appreciated, and thank you in advance.

[bigby65]

I ended up having to connect to a different Wi-Fi network of mine, uninstall & reinstall HP Smart App, and reconnect the computer. It's now connected to Instant Ink home page, but it's not giving me any information about the number of pages used nor the number of plan pages.

[bigby65]

Now I'm back to getting the message again. It's constantly telling me it's not installed, yet it is. Every time I go to check the advanced settings on the EWS, it takes forever for the Web Settings Summary panel to appear. I had to remove the admin password from the security settings as well, since I'm fed up with CONSTANTLY having to enter the thing. HELP!!!!!

[Livalorie]

I have had this same issue since Dec 19th. But my printer shows "offline" on the website but "online" in the app. I have had no response.

Here is a link to my post and all I tried. I have the same printer as you but am on a MAC.

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/HP-Instant-Ink/Web-Services-will-not-enable-but-printer-works/m-p/7906...

Let me know if you figure it out.

Thanks.

[bigby65]

Now I'm getting conflicting messages from everything. HP Instant Ink shows that it's connected/syncing (intermittently but still no information about my Instant Ink pages when it DOES sync) ; HP Smart shows that it's not installed; and HP Print and Scan Doctor shows 4 instances of the exact same printer with different names, 3 of which are installed and one that isn't. WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?!? PLEASE HELP!!! I have print screens of each of these issues.

[TEJ1602]

@bigby65, Welcome to HP Support Community!

Follow the steps below-

Update the printer firmware

Download available firmware updates from the HP website

With the printer on and connected to the computer, go to HP Customer Support - Software and Driver Downloads, and then identify your printer. Look for and install any available firmware updates. Refer to the document HP Printers - Updating or Upgrading Printer Firmware

Assign manual IP to the printer

The steps on how to set a manual IP address can be found here.

For the DNS servers please use 8.8.8.8 for the Manual Preferred DNS Server and 8.8.4.4 for the Alternate DNS server. These are Google’s public DNS servers.

Restart the devices and check the status.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

[Livalorie]

Hi, 

Thank you for responding.

All of these steps were taken over the phone several times.

I read on another post that the instant ink account needs to be deleted and reset but no one has done that for me so I just canceled it. If it can be resolved I will re-enroll but for now, I will work the old-fashioned way and buy my ink as I need it.

[bigby65]

Well that MIGHT help with the connection issue, but it doesn't help me when it keeps saying "Not Installed" in the Printer Settings tab of the HP Smart app. Also, why am I seeing 4 different instances of this printer in the HP Print & Scan Doctor app?

[WFH89]

I have a similar-sounding problem, except my Instant Ink home page insists my printer is offline, so says it is unable to check ink levels and send new supplies, yet it records the pages printed and acknowledged when I just replaced a cartridge.  So it seems my printer is connected fine, but refreshing the link makes no difference to the error message, which has been there for 2 weeks.