How to stop the blinking power button?

[MarkG1234]

I am mostly happy with my printer, except one very annoying "feature", the blinking power LED on the front of the printer.

This printer is a SOHO printer, it sits on my desk and the flashing LED is a very disturbing visual distration.  It also flahses all night, lighting up the room.  I have to explain to the wife, that some braindead fool didn't understand the way in which this printer is used, and decided that having a permenently flashing light to indicate the printer is "ready" all night, every night, was somehow an appealing feature.

Short if disabling it with the centre-punch, is there a way to stop the **bleep** thing?

Thanks.

[Copier-Pro]

I haven't had one like this before to repair but i think that the printer is blinking maybe because of toner low or even a energy save setting.Maybe try and disable some settings and see what happens.Hope this might help you.

[MarkG1234]

Its not toner low, or any other warning, its a new printer and it routinely flashes, seemingly just to annoy users.

[sabretooth04]

I believe the flashing power light says the printer is ini sleep/standby mode.  I assume it comes on steady when you start a print job.

There is no way to disable this feature.  However a black piece of tape to cover the light will work.

[MarkG1234]

I had considered a low tech but looks rubbish solution like tape, but I was hoping for a printer setting to do this 😞

[markusd]

It is very annoying indeed. A firmware update that allows to turn the light off entirely or at least the blinking would be greatly appreciated!

[ChorizoCat]

Thank you for bringing up this important, but likely overlooked issue.

The blinking power light is a horrible design flaw.

Firstly, why is this blinking?

A blinking light would make sense for temporary, emergency conditions like, paper out, or printer door open. And perhaps, when actively receiving a fax.

It should not be there for extended warnings like, toner low. 

It definitely should not be blinking to indicate a normal power on situation. It's hard to fathom where the design team got this inspiration from, or how the product made it through usability testing. I don't know of any other product in the world that operates like this. Bizarro!

Secondly, the light is way too bright for a normal office. And terrible for a home. My retinas!

Third, why is is 5000K Daylight white bright? Shouldn't it be a green color or amber or blue...

Finally, why not put the indiator light on the display panel?  - where all the other user controls are?

Curious, why is the power button on the front anyway? On my old laserjets, the power is on the back or on the side / back. Do they expect users to keep powering the printer off and so frequently? Weird?!

Yes the temporary solution is to cover it with tape, though some firmware update to control this would be appreciated.

The long term solution? fire the designer! 

Please fix this!

[ChrisND]

I have a HP LaserJet Pro Colour MFC Printer M281FDW and it blinks in sleep mode and is very annoying.

Many people seem to be saying the same, and no-one saying it is a good idea.

This is HP's website and they aren't listening to their customers.

Update the firmware to make it optional and provide an ability for us to download and install on the printer.

[JackyJacky]

I just installed the M281FDW, have the same issue, it is annoying, Please HP provide any solution to disable that.

[Repairatrooper]

Rather than damaging the printer, just put a piece of tape over it or dark nail polish. In defense, most users want to know when the printer is on so they don't power cycle, thinking it is not on.