HP Envy 5540 only prints black and white

[Iffwithab]

 HP Envy 5540 only prints black and white   Hopefully someone has a solution.

[DavidSMP]

Hi @churnsway,

Good Day.  Thank you for posting your query in the HP community.  I read the post regarding issues with the printer not printing in color. I will be delighted to assist you here.

Superb description and spectacular troubleshooting and commendable diagnosis of the issue before posting. Kudos to you for that. 🙂

For better clarity and to assist you better I would require more information regarding this:

• Did this occur after a power outage?
• Did you try making copies in color and check?
• What Operating system is being used with the printer?
• Is it Windows or Mac? What is its version?
• Did it happen after a recent Windows update?
• Did you replace cartridges and check again?

It looks like a hardware issue with the printer. For now, try these steps:

• Make 2 copies in color directly from the printer without any communication from the computer.
• If it does not copy in color, then perform all the relevant steps from this link: http://hp.care/2j653Pt

Now check if the issue gets fixed. If the problem continues then contact HP phone support to get the printer or the cartridges replaced as one of them is faulty. I am being honest about it by keeping your best interest in mind.

HP Technical Support can be reached by clicking on the following link: http://hp.care/2r9wSvP

• Once the support page opens please select the country in which you're located. Next, enter your HP model number on the right.
• Next, choose the 'Contact Support' tab at the top and scroll down to the bottom of the 'HP Support- Contact' page to fill out the form provided with your contact information.
• Once completed click the 'Show Options' icon on the bottom right.
• Lastly, scroll down to the bottom of the page and select 'Get phone number.' A case number and phone number will now populate for you.

They will be happy to assist you immediately.

If the unit is under warranty, the manufacturer’s warranty should take care of it for you.

If it copies in color correctly and if the OS is Mac

• Then reset the Mac printing system from this link: http://hp.care/2gOrf2g  and add the printer by following the steps from the associated video. It should fix the issue.

If the OS is Windows then uninstall and reinstall the software by following these steps and that that should fix the issue.

• In Windows, search for and open Programs and Features.
• Select your HP printer.
• Select Uninstall.
• In Windows, search for and open Devices and Printers.
• In the Devices and Printers window look for your HP Printer. If you see it listed, right-click on it and choose "Delete" or "Remove Device.”
• Open up the run command with the "Windows Key + R" key combo.
• Type printui.exe /s and click OK.
• Click on Drivers tab.
• Look for HP Printer driver. If you see it click on it and click Remove at the bottom.
• Select OK.
• Remove all instances of the same.
• Select Apply and OK on the Print Server Properties windows.
• Close Devices and Printers.
• Restart the PC again.

Then download the latest full feature driver from http://hp.care/2rIgkZ5 and install it on the computer after selecting the correct operating system.

Connect the printer to your computer only when the setup prompts for the printer.

This should fix it for you

Please perform all these steps patiently as it is critical to resolving the issue. The trick is to remain patient, please.

Hope this helps. Let me know how it goes. To simply say thanks, please click the "Thumbs Up" button to give me a Kudos to appreciate my efforts to help. If this helps, please mark this as “Accepted Solution” as it will help several others with the same issue to get it resolved without hassles.

Take care and have a blessed week ahead. 🙂

Cheers!

[Iffwithab]

Nothing as complex as that. The issue is your software and downloading the one from your website is what caused the issue. I found the solution elsewhere. I had to uninstall the software I downloaded from your website and reinstall using the disc that came with the printer and turned off automatic updates.. Works fine! Let me know when you fix your software and you can stop crippling my printer with rubbish bugs.

[7oby · Accepted solution]

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@Iffwithab wrote:
I had to uninstall the software I downloaded from your website and reinstall using the disc that came with the printer and turned off automatic updates.

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That's exactly the ONLY solution for this problem. Unfortunately HP offers only current and broken drivers on their website.

@hp : Please provide a working driver e.g. by revoking the latest driver.

broken (only black / white in Win10 even after clean reinstall):

Filename: EN5540_Basicx64_1119.exe or EN5540_Full_WebPack_1119.exe
version : 40.11 (online)
release date : 24.04.2017 (online)

version: 20.79.1.6594 (device manager)
driver date: 10.02.2017 (device manager)

working:

Filename: EN5540_72.exe

version: 17.59.0.4199 (device manager)
driver date: 18.12.2014 (device manager)

Do a google search with "envy 5540 black white site:h30434.www3.hp.com" and find many suffering customers. Regardless as "marked as solved" - the underlying issue has never been solved.

Color Printing is simply missing (see screenshots):

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Inkjet-Printing/option-to-print-in-color-is-missing/m-p/6224929/highli...

Solution in each case is : reinstalling the (old) driver from disc:

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Inkjet-Printing/My-HP-Envy-5540-will-only-print-in-black-and-white/m-p...

[JPWarwick]

Thanks 7oby.  You are completely correct even now in December 2019!  I followed the HP advice, uninstalled and re-installed using the latest full software pack from their website. Problem was then even worse with the choice of B&W or colour removed from the printer preferences and advanced menus - and still printing only in B&W.  I still have the original CD that came with the printer but as my laptop does not have a CD drive, I found the EN5540_72.exe file online  and downloaded it.  Went through another uninstall and reinstall process and at last am back to being able to print in colour.

The mystery here is what suddenly caused my printer to stop printing in colour when it had been fine - was it some OS update or printer firmware update I wasn't aware of?  Also, why are the latest driver packs on the HP website useless and why haven't they fixed this problem?  It is ridiculous to have to drill down through multiple forum posts and then have to revert to an earlier level of software to get things working again.