Setting Default Tray on M553

[InfinityMedical]

Anyone know how to set the default tray on the HP Color Laser Jet Enterprise 553?  Mine always goes to Tray 1.  It's closed so I have to go over to the printer and press the button to tell it to go to Tray 2.  Any advice appreciated.  It's making me batty! 🙂

[corp-it-admin]

We're having the same problem. The printer expects to print from the manual feed/tray 1 even when print settings are set to default tray 2.

this is maddening.

we're using windows 7 the printer is shared out though a windows server 2012 unit.

[Chickdey]

Is there a solution to this yet?  Im having the same issue. 

[EmiLe-FR]

Not solved yet ?

Same problem on M680!!

Who is the genius at HP who has decided to set the manual feed as the default tray (tray 1)?

[MiguelDA]

Which driver are you using? Which application are you using? Which media size/media type are you setting in the driver? Which media size/media type are you setting in the application?

These are the conditions that make the printer choose tray 1:

- Tray1 in AnySize/AnyType and loaded and the job requests tray as Printer Select or Tray1.

- Job requests Printer Select and the Administration -> General Print Settings -> Manual Feed is ENABLED (the default for this setting is DISABLED).

- Job specifies Tray1

- A job requesting either an unsupported size or type in the tray selected by the job (for instance, envelopes from Tray2 will result in a mount for Tray1).

- A job requests Manual Feed as the input source.

- A job requests a size/type that is not configured in any tray will result in a mount for tray1 if:

--- The tray is specified in the job but Administration -> Manage Trays -> Use Requested Tray is set to "First"

--- The tray is Printer Select.

Could you please verify which of the conditions described above is happening?

[PhoenixM]

@Migual: "Which driver are you using? Which application are you using? Which media size/media type are you setting in the driver? Which media size/media type are you setting in the application?"

You're making this a lot more complex/convoluted than it is. I JUST installed this printer in Windows 10 (it's a network printer in the office), and have not customized the settings at all. I have 8.5x11 paper in Tray 2 (since it is the one that's designed to hold a ream). But whenever I print, it always tries to go to Tray 1 first, and won't pull/print paper from Tray 2 until I push a button on the printer allowing it to ignore the (empty and retracted) Tray 1.

So this is an incredibly simple case which reflects the NORMAL way that somebody who just set up the printer would expect it to work.

[kengetz]

Same problem. New installation of macOS Sierra, default settings on the printer. M553DN--always wants to print to Tray 1, which is closed and has nothing in it, while Tray 2 is full of letter-sized paper. Maddening--unless I override print settings every time, it always sits there waiting for me to do something. Must be some way to tell the printer which tray to use as its default.

[tonerspills]

Here is how I would troubleshoot this across the wide variety of operating systems listed above.

First, start with the printer;

Run a configuration report by using the printer control panel

Go to Administration/ Reports/ Configuration page

Then check the lower right corner of page 1 report.

Ideally, tray 1 would be set to "any size" and "any type"of paper. Tray 2 would be set to letter size and any type or plain.

Second, I would check the following settings on the printer;

From the printer control panel go to Trays / Manage Trays

A. Use Requested tray has 2 settings Exclusively and First - I suggest First

B. Use another tray - I suggest enabled

c. Override A4/Letter- I suggest yes.

The configuration page will help you verify that tray 2 is set to letter size. If you see something like "Custom" on your configuration page- they you need to adjust your paper guides to make sure it is set on letter. These guides get knocked off the proper settings all the time when people load paper, I have alot of service calls that are really just the guides being off. Also, on the M553 model I have had service calls for this very issue because someone closed Tray 1 with an envelope still in tray 1, this triggers the black sensor flag at the bottom of tray 1 that tells the printer that tray 1 has paper in it. I had another customer place an asset ID Sticker inside tray 1 since they didnt use that tray, the sticker came loose, and managed to ball up where this flag is located.

Miguel was just trying to get some baseline information for us to help all of you with your problems. While it may seem simple, if you are using a program like Citrix or other web or cloud based software- regardless of what the printer is set up to do, settings in that software will override the settings on the printer. For Citrix based printing, you need to ask your IT department to use the UPD (universal print driver) rather than the product specific PCL 6 driver. Make sure you are using the latest version of the UPD or the M553 driver, I have had occasions where an IT deptartment would just reuse the same IP address to install a printer, but not change the driver- so a driver for a CP3525 may not perform correctly when printing to a M553.

The printers are doing this most likely because there is a driver or software setting that is in direct conflict with the printer settings. It's very frustrating, so we want to try and help you all work through these problems. We can not see your computer, we don't know what operating system you're using, we dont know what driver you are using, we dont know what software application you're having problems with- so we need to ask for all information relevant to helping you solve your problems.

Just last week I had 2 service calls for people that hated their stupid HP printers. 1 service call was the paper guides knocked off of letter size, and the other service call was for software that had the default paper type set as cardstock. Neither case had anything to do with the printer, but the end users frustration had prevented them from performing basic troubleshooting.

The best way to determine if the problem is with the print driver or the softare you are using is to print a test page directly from the print driver. If the test page will print from the print driver without prompting you to load paper in tray 1, then the problem resides in how your software is set up. If the test page from the driver promts for paper in tray one, then adjust your driver setting so that it does not, or try a different driver.

Regarding software and web/cloud based programs. Just because a print driver is set correctly on your workstation, does not mean the software you are using is running the same driver. That software might have its own driver installed, be using a driver on a server rather than the one installed localy on your client machine, or be using a shared printer.

Here is what the driver settings look like on my machine (which are the factory defaults), which is on our WIN 10 workstations and prints without prompting for paper to be loaded in tray 1. These settings may need to be adjusted and saved in order to work correctly in each of your situations respectfully.

[tonerspills]

MAC users may want to check this page for troubleshooting tips. This was a huge problem with the "El Capitan" update as well

Mac sierra printer problems

[TWillson]

I really appreciate your helpful post, tonerspills. Thank you! Unfortunately, I am still haveing some trouble. I put address labels in Tray 1, then used the print dialog box to indicate that I wanted to print from Tray 1, and over and over again it would insist on printing to Tray 2. And when I emptied Tray 2, the printer would insist that I load that tray (there was no option to change to another tray).

It finally worked, but only after I selected "manual feed" -- is that normal? (And later, it seemed not to work when I followed the same steps.) I followed your steps and adjusted some settings, but now the printer wants to print only to Tray 1 if I leave it unspecified (printing a PDF on letter-sized paper, with which Tray 2 is full).

Seems like specifying a tray should cause the printer to use that option EVERY TIME, and leaving it unspecified, the printer should know to use letter (Tray 2) or legal (Tray 3), and NOT Tray 1 (which is empty).

Feeling a little baffled by this. Thanks!