Unable to print SINGLE-sided

[AHH22]

Brand new MFP M227fdn, just set up a few days ago.  Connected to a Windows 7 PC.

The default is to print on both sides, which is fine.  BUT, there are some things that I need to print single-sided.  I have found that, even if I go in on the Print menu of my application and manually switch to single-sided, and even if I go into Printer Properties and choose single-sided, it still prints two-sided.  This happens both with Word documents (Word 2010) and PDF files (Acrobat Reader DC).

In other words, no matter what single-sided settings I select, the printer insists on printing everything 2-sided.  Seems like clearly some bug in the printer driver software that it does not recognize when applications tell it to print 1-sided.

Googling reveals that others have run into this issue (on both Windows 7 and Windows 10), but I have not seen a workaround (other than printing my document as several individual pages, one at a time), or any indication that HP is fixing the bug.

[dansdaduk]

The following links may (but may not) provide some assistance:

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Inkjet-Printing/Can-t-disable-duplex-on-M475dn/m-p/3414481 

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Inkjet-Printing/Duplex-on-LJ-M401dn-will-not-turn-off/m-p/5087556

http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/LaserJet-Printing/HP-Laserjet-M506-Tray-3-always-duplex-s-but-no-other-...

Assuming that it is a driver fault (as alluded to by at least one of the above links), it may be worth changing the printer's own default setting for Duplex from On to Off.

Do this via the Embedded Web Server on the printer; this example is for a LJ Pro 400 Colour MFP M475dn, but I'd guess that the EWS on your model looks similar:

[AHH22]

I'd like to try this, but I can't find any way to access EWS.  How do I do that?  Things I find online give instructions for bringing up EWS with a networked printer, but mine is connected directly with a USB cable.

[dansdaduk]

As your printer is a network-capable model, you could set it up on your network, then use the EWS.

Alternatively, you can probably change the default duplex setting via one of the menus accessible via the front panel controls.

[AHH22]

Unfortunately, that duplex setting is NOT accessible from the control panel on the M227fdn.

Maybe I will see if I can borrow a network cable from work and get to EWS that way.  As a matter of principle, I'm reluctant to spend my own money on a network cable for something that may or may not successfully work around a bug in HP's driver software.

How difficult is it to switch over to Ethernet after I've gone through the whole Setup procedure for a USB connection?

[AHH22]

After a bit of work, some interesting results on this problem.

I found an Ethernet cable and figured out how to connect the printer in Network mode.

Then I went into EWS, and found the Duplex setting.  It was ALREADY off.

Then I tried some printing.  If I print with the printer via the Network connection, everything works fine, and I can get single-sided if I ask for it (and Duplex if I ask for that).

But if I print with the printer via the USB connection, even though the EWS tells me default Duplex mode is off, no matter what I do it always duplexes.

That suggests to me that HP's printer driver for printing through a USB connection has a bug that always forces Duplex no matter what the application tells it, while their Network driver for the same printer does not have the bug.

So, if others come here with the same problem (at least if they are printing via USB connection), I think the advice on how to fix it is that they should get an Ethernet cable and print via Networked mode -- that seems to fix the problem completely (without needing to do anything in EWS).

[dansdaduk]

Rather odd results.

I'd expect that the driver would normally be the same, regardless of the transport mechanism (i.e. which port is used).

So the implication would seem to be that your method of setting up the printer with a network port has installed a different driver than the one installed when you set the device up with a USB port - I can't, off-hand, see why this would be the case.

If you wanted to do some more experimentation, you could probably:

• Note  which port is currently being used for the network printer instance; check by viewing the Ports tab of the Printer Properties dialogue mof the printer instance in question); the type will be either a Standard TCP/IP Port or a HP Standard TCP/IP Port.

• Similarly, note which port is being used for the USB printer instance.

• (Temporarily) change the port associated with the network printer instance to refer to the port associated with the USB printer instance, and test.

• You could also do a test after changing the port associated with the USB printer instance to use the network port associated with the network printer instance.

[AHH22]

It does not seem to be related to the Port.

I don't find anywhere to see the port "type" that you mentioned, but the relevant ports are the following:

USB002 -- Description: Virtual printer port for USB

VNB3J13781 -- Description: HP network re-discovery port monitor

I switched the Network printer to use port USB002, and it still correctly did single-sided.

When I tried switching the USB printer to use the VNB port, I got a dialog saying I had multiple devices connected and asking me to choose one -- at that point I exited because I was afraid I might foul something up.

So it seems like it must have gotten one driver (with a bug) when I initially set up the printer with the USB port (following the setup instructions), and then somehow gotten a different driver, without the bug, when I added the Network connection.  I did the latter via the HP "Device Setup and Software" program that had been installed on my machine when I first set up the printer.  The former was done by downloading setup files from hp.com as described in their Setup instructions (I didn't use the CD that came with the printer, which it also gave as an option).

It does seem like maybe there were different things going on using the Device Setup & Software program than there was in my initial installation -- for example it took me through some screens to register my printer with HP which had not appeared when doing the initial setup with the USB.

[dansdaduk]

Not sure exactly what a "HP network re-discovery port monitor" is.

The dialogues I was referring to are (for example, with one of my local printers - not one of your models):

The driver identity:

The port in use: