Firmware corrupt - ready 2 download - hp laserjet 400 color m451nw

[Micamale]

Hi, this morning I've found my HP laserjet 400 color m451nw offline with the following error msg: 

Firmware corrupt - ready 2 download.

And eveything I've tried in order to reboot it didn' work (like turning off for more than an hour).

The printer is on a lan but now it's not anymore on-line and reachable.

I've tried to download and lunch the Firmware Update Utility but the printer cannot been found.

Any help?

Many thanks

[John_Getzke]

Bring a laptop to the printer and temporarily reinstall the printer as a USB connection. Disconnect the printer from the network and then try the firmware update utility again. Should find the printer from there.

[Micamale]

Thanks for your reply.

However, when I connect the printer to a laptop through a USB cable, the install software doesn't see the printer and doesn't conclude the installation at all.

Any other ideas?

Many thanks!

[John_Getzke]

Check the Device Manager when you plug in the printer to the PC.  If there is nothing in the DM regarding the printer then your printer may have been bricked.  Otherwise as soon as you plug in the printers USB cable the DM should flicker and refresh.  Objects should appear under USB or printers depending on the PC OS.  Likewise they should instantly dissapear as soon as you remove the USB cable from the PC. 

A bricked printer will require a formatter board replacement to bring it back online. Its worth giving HP a call for somethign like this.  Firmware update related failures will sometimes get extended warranty.  If so HP can send out a tech or a replacement printer for you to remedy the problem.  On newer models the firmware is stored on a hard drive which can be reformatted without any hardware replacement.  By looking at this model I would assume a hard drive based firmware reload is not an option.

[Micamale]

I've just done it: I confirm an icon  appears under the USB window in DM but its name is "Laserjet 3020" (that is not the name and model of this printer".

So it seems that the PC sees some hardware, however the HP installing software doesn't....

[John_Getzke]

Is it possible you are plugging in the incorrect USB cable by chance?

If not then the hardware drivers will need to be uninstalled for your current printer and then reinstalled.  You can right click on the 3020 and choose Uninstall from DM.  This will make the object dissapear from the list.  Then run through the USB installation again. This should allow the PC to correctly identify the printer model and restore the hardware drivers necessary to communicate with it.  Perhaps your firmware upgrade will be successful from there too.

[Micamale]

Unfortunately, after unistalling the driver the icon disappear, but then I plug-in again the printer and the same icon with the wrong name comes back again, and the HP software still looks for the printer with no success.

I've made it a few times and I'va also changed Laptop and cable......

It's a nightmare.

[John_Getzke]

Something is pointing the PC to the wrong hardware files for your printer.

Right click the printer in DM and try an Update driver instead of an Uninstall device next.  This time Windows should prompt you to provide it with a path to the driver files you downloaded from HP.  Move the driver files to a safe and permanent position on your PC.  Then proceed with the hardware driver wizard and point the wizard to the folder containing those files.  The PC should update the hardware files from there and in theory rename the device in DM.

[Micamale]

Sure, I'll try this.

However, where do I find the correct driver for my printer?

I've just found the install utility software that works only automatically when found the printer.

And on the HP site I see only generic drivers:

> HP Universal Print Driver for Windows PCL5 (64-bit)

> HP Universal Print Driver for Windows PCL6 (64-bit)

> HP Universal Print Driver for Windows PostScript (64-bit)

Which one of those is the right one?

I have Windows 7 64Bit

Many thanks 

[John_Getzke]

Any of the UPDs should be an acceptable option for your troubleshooting.  However I tend to find the PS/PostScript driver to be the most successful for my environment.  I'd start with that one then fall back on PCL5 and finally PCL6 after that.