Printer does not wake from sleep after upgrading to latest firmware

[bispy]

I recently upgraded my printer's firmware to 20190807, the latest version. The printer is connected wirelessly to my network and we regularly print to it and scan from it using several macOS and iOS devices.

Prior to the firmware upgrade we could always print and scan with no issues, when the printer was sleeping. It would simply wake up and print/scan the document. Since performing the upgrade this behavior has changed. We are no longer able to print to the printer once it sleeps. The only fix is to restart the printer, or interact with the menu buttons to cause it to wake up, and attempt printing again. Interestingly the scan functionality still works fine.

I have done a factory reset of the printer and the issue persists.

I've gone through HP's troubleshooting documents, which recommend performing a firmware upgrade to fix the issue. The irony here, of course, is that the firmware upgrade is precisely what ruined our printer.

Any suggestions to fix this? Maybe more importantly, is there any feasible way to perform a firmware rollback on this printer so it will work once again?

[asmita6658]

Hi @bispy

Welcome to the HP Support Community. I'd be happy to assist you with the connectivity issue.

Let's try the below steps to see if that helps -

1.) Remove All Barriers: Certain building materials can get in the way of weaker signals like Bluetooth. Metal, bulletproof glass, concrete, and plaster are particularly bad, and marble, plaster and brick aren’t great easy. So if you’re really struggling with interference, your first step should be to move your Bluetooth devices away from these materials. That means no brick walls between you and your devices, and definitely no metal desks!

2.) Change Router Channel: If you have an Apple router and you’re constantly getting interference with your WiFi, try rebooting it. Upon restart, the station will search for a new channel. Specifically, a different channel than the one your Bluetooth devices is using to communicate. If you don’t have an Apple router, you may need to instead go into your router settings and try changing the channel manually. Experiment with different channels to see which one works best.

3.) Move Closer to Your Router: If you often find that you’re getting interference when talking on a wireless headset while on a WiFi call (you’ll know because you’ll hear static), try moving closer to your router. This will give you a more robust WiFi connection, so the Bluetooth frequency can’t overpower it.

4.) Get Away From Microwaves and Fluorescent Lighting: Both emit frequencies of 2.4GHz, and moving away from them will distance you from the source.

I'd like to know the following to isolate the issue further-

1.) Are the printer and Mac connected to the same network?

2.) Is your router dual-band enabled i.e., both 2.4GHz and 5GHz? If yes, make sure the dual band has different SSIDs for 2.4G and 5G networks.

3.) What is the distance between the router and the printer?

4.) Is there an antivirus software installed on your Mac?

5.) Could you perform a ping test using the Mac Network Utility and let me know the results? Use the printer IP address to perform a ping test, the printer IP can be located by selecting the wireless icon on the printer display.

The wireless status menu on your Mac should also give us quite a lot of information that would help us identify the issue. You can press and hold option-click the WiFi icon and then use shift-command-5 to take the screenshot. Press the space bar when the icon turns into a camera. Share the ping test results and the screenshot with us.

Also, check with your Internet service provider if your router is able to forward 'Bonjour packets'.  Bonjour locates devices such as printers, other computers, and the services that those devices offer on a local network using multicast Domain Name System (mDNS) service records. The software comes built-in with Apple's macOS and iOS operating systems. 

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

Please click “Accept as 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!

Have a great day! 

[bispy]

Hello @asmita6658. Thanks for the response!

1. Remove all barriers: This situation persists even on my Mac that sits approx 6 feet away in the same room, with no barriers in between.

2. Change Router Channel: I have enterprise-grade Meraki MR33 APs. I have absolutely zero wireless interference at my house, I work in IT Networking and have amazing wireless at my home.

3. Move Closer to your Router: My home is blanketed in strong wi-fi. Again to reiterate, this issue started the moment I upgraded my firmware, so it is highly likely there is a flaw in the new firmware.

4. Get away from microwaves and fluorescent lighting: I have neither.

For your next set of questions:

1. The printer and Mac are on the same network. Some of my Macs are hard-wired to the same network and others are wireless. All have the issue.

2. My wireless access points are dual-band enabled and have distinct 5GHz and 2.4GHz SSIDs. I have done a wireless site survey at my home. Every corner of my house has very strong signal.

3. My printer is less than 10' from my router and shows full signal in its web interface.

4. My Macs run Cisco AMP for Endpoints. My iOS devices, which also have the same issue, do not have any antivirus. This issue is not antivirus related.

5. When the printer is sleeping and does not wake from sleep, I am unable to ping it. This was one of the first things I tested.

Again, I'm 99% sure this is related to the firmware. I have a career in IT, and would love to provide feedback and help your team isolate the firmware issue. I'm sure this has to be causing problems for others as well. If you have any other suggestions, do let me know, thanks!

[asmita6658]

@bispy

Thanks for getting back to us. 

Please try assigning a static IP to the printer - 

1.Open web browser - Chrome or IE or any other browser that you are using.

2. Type the IP address. 

Note - On the printer control panel, press the Setup button. Open the Network Setup menu, select Show IP Address, and then select Yes. Return to the Home screen to view the IP address.

3. Go to the Network tab.

4. Click on Networking from the left pane.

5. Then click on Network Address (IP).

6. Click on Manual IP Address and go to suggest a Manual IP.

7. Scroll down the screen and select Manual DNS server.

8. Enter the Primary and secondary DNS server from the Network Configuration page into the Manual Preferred DNS server field.

9. Click on Apply.

Refer to the video link for step by step instructions - Assigning an HP Printer a Static IP Address in Windows 8 | HP

Note : The video is for win 8 but steps are similar for other operating systems as well. You need to enter the IP address in the browser's URL or the address bar to access the printer page.

Static IP needs to be setup outside DHCP range- Since the default DHCP address range is between 100 and 149, you'll want to avoid all of the addresses between 192.168.1.100 and 192.168.1.149 when you're assigning static IP addresses. That leaves the ranges from 2-99 and from 150-254 wide open, which is usually plenty for most home networks.

Let me know. 

[bispy]

I run a highly-available DHCP Server using two Windows Server 2016 systems on my network. It is an enterprise-grade configuration. I have a DHCP reservation already for the HP Printer, so its IP address will never change. I've had zero issues with the printer until the firmware update was recently performed, and have used the printer with a reserved IP address for two years with no issues.

I'd say we can rule IP addressing out as a factor. However, if you are aware of a bug in DHCP Client on HP Printers, and think there is a reason like this to continue testing IP addressing, let me know. Otherwise I'm ready for any other suggestions you might have.

If you also have any documentation around rolling back firmware on an HP MFP M180nw, I would love that as well. I'm confident that applying the old insecure firmware on this system will fix the issue, and at this point I'll take insecure over rebooting almost daily. Thanks!

[asmita6658]

@bispy

I'm afraid, the firmware cannot be downgraded but we can perform an NVRAM reset. I have sent you a private message with the reset steps, specific to your printer. Check next to your profile Name, you should see a little blue envelope, please click on it.  

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

Please click “Accept as 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!

Have a great day!