Cant use Printer Claim Code to connect to HP Connected account, says is connected to another account

[Mikki_G]

No matter what I try I cannot connect my printer to my HP Connected account.

I have repeatedly removed Web Services and tried readding them.

When I print the info, I get a page with an email address at the top <blah>@hpeprint.com, and that does work.

BUT

When I use the 16 character code (4 blocks of for alphanumerics), it says that it is invalid.

When I use the HP Smart App, to try to enable Web Services I get an error which says "Printer connected to another account" then underneath it says "This printer has already been associated with an HP account."

I have tried

• restarting the printer
• reinstalling the software on my mac
• turning off Web Services on the printer
• turning off Web Services from the embedded web server via a browser

There is one strange thing on the embedded web services page.  In the picture it shows a green tick between the printer and the "world" icon.  Then it says

Web Services Status: Enabled

Internet connection: Not Connected

Printer connection to HP Connected: Connected

 ==>

What does this mean that the Internet connection is Not Connected, especially as I can send a file to the email address <blah>@hpeprint.com and it successfully prints out !

I have wasted hours on this and there is no online help on Google or HP that has anything that fixes it.

Please help.  Thanks

[Dragon-Fur]

@Mikki_G

I can offer no real help here; I can tell you what happened to me recently.  Perhaps the telling of my story will help you track down what has happened in your situation.

The HP Connected Account Caper of 2018

Edits - Content edited for the sake of brevity.  

Earlier content highlights:

Ensure the HP Connected login account you are using now is the same email login used to set / add printers to HP Connected (in the past).

• Search email history for key phrase "ePrint mobile registration" for the purpose of tracking previous HP Connected setup activity.
• If needful, use the recovery steps in HP Connected to retrieve userid / password login credentials.

Thank you for participating in the HP Community Forum.

We are a world community of HP enthusiasts dedicated to supporting HP technology.

[Mikki_G]

@Dragon-Fur thank you for taking the time to give your long comprehensive reply, which may help others.

I searched my email archive for the string, and cannot find it anywhere.  I have even searched for all emails from HP.com and HPConnected.com in case there are any clues.  But no 

I only bought the printer in question in July, and I have an email from when I set up the printer which is sent to the email account that I am already using to log in to HP Connected, the one that I cannot connect the claim code to.  At the original time of set up  in July I don't think I set up Web Services as I wanted to get it going to print some work I needed to print. 

I have another email address I previously used to login to HP Connected which I logged into and that had an old printer associated with it, but not the new one I am referring to.  Just in case, I disassociated the old printer, but still no use.

In the documentation it says to disassoicate the Web services with an HP Connected account, just remove web services, and then when turning it on again you can associate with a new account.  This is clearly not happening in my case.

Also each time I generate a claim code, it has the same <blah>@hpeprint.com email address (which I guess makes sense).

I am really grateful for your response, but my circumstances mean that I still cannot fix it.

I suspect that within HP there are different components managed by different teams and something is not talking correctly to something else (from a software perspective).  Also searching the forums there are lots of people who have problems with using their claim code.

[Dragon-Fur]

@Mikki_G

Rats.  (Not a particularly eloquent response, I admit.)

The fact that you are receiving the same claim code each time seems to indicate that the "get new claim code" steps are not working and (apparently) cannot self-correct.

Website Support Troubleshooting, How-to, Video Tutorials

• HP Instant Ink
• HP Connected

The documentation includes  How-to and Troubleshooting.

For example:  Having Trouble Claiming Your Printer?

I did not see anything that includes receiving the same claim code over and over.  Presumably, this means it is just not supposed to happen.  (No help, there.)

More ideas...

Restart everything, including your router.

Try switching off Web Services and leaving the service disabled for a longer period of time.  How long?  Unknown; I would leave the service "off" for ten minutes.    (I have absolutely no idea whether there is any correlation between the amount of time the service is switched off and when that service is enabled (switched on).)

You could try creating yet another HP Connected account and assign the login to yet another email address.  Even if this works, it is more workaround than fix - you should not need multiple HP Connected Accounts.

If you are in the USA / Canada, contact Cloud Services during  their regular business hours.

USA or Canada, call Cloud Services: 1-855-785-2777

Monday to Saturday 8 a.m. ET – 11 p.m. ET and Sunday 10 a.m. ET - 7 p.m. ET

Rats.  I am likely missing something obvious.  If I have a moment of enlightenment, I will post back and update.

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We are a world community of HP enthusiasts dedicated to supporting HP technology.

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[Mikki_G]

Dragon-Fur Once again thanks so much for your helpful suggestions.

Great minds think alike - I turned off Web Services about 8 hours ago, switched it back on just now and tried again ...

... same result.

Also, to clarify, I am getting a different claim code every time, but the same Printer Email Address each time [ <blah>@hpeprint.com].

I had already found the Website Support Troubleshooting steps - and they do not work as expected.

One interesting thing I noticed this time, is that I have been using the Printer Code - in the form XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX where X is alphanumeric charaters, and the last 10 are the serial number of the device.  There is also something on the troubleshooting page for when web services are already enabled which says 'if your HP ePrint email is "abc@hpeprint.com", then "abc" is your claim code.'.  I tried that too, just using the abc bit.  Same result.

Also, that contradicts the picture on the Add a Printer page on the HP Connected site for my login, at the bottom, which shows there are two types of claim codes, and I should be using the XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX one.

Finally, I will try to speak to HP when there is someone in the office - here in the UK.

Thanks so much once again for your brain storming, as this might help others too.

[Mikki_G]

Oh, and found this on the Virtual Agent, which sheds some light on the different formats of claim code, and may help others, but I could not find this level of explanation anywhere else:

Troubleshooting printer claim code issues

• The information sheet did not print or the claim code is not listed: Note the HP ePrint email address on the page or the printer. The characters before the @ symbol is your claim code. For example, if your email is abc12345@hpeprint.com, then abc12345 is your claim code.

• A “Printer already claimed” message displays: Turn web services off and back on to get a new printer claim code.

• An “Invalid Code”, “Unexpected Error”, or “Printer Code Expired” message displays: Wait 5 to 10 minutes, and then enter the claim code again. Occasionally there is a delay in the activation process. Make sure your code has not expired:

  • If your code is one long string without any spaces (like “XXXXXXXXXXXXX”), then it is only valid for 48 hours after the info page prints. If you do not complete the steps to add your printer within 48 hours, print the info page again to get a new code.

  • If the printer code is four groups of numbers and letters separated by spaces (like “XXXX XXXX XXXX XXXX”), then the code does not expire. If you print another info page, you get a new code. Printer codes printed previously are no longer valid.

[Dragon-Fur]

@Mikki_G

Stubborn thing.

Between us, we have covered what little I know about the subject.   (Little enough - I am not an HP employee and my experience in this area is limited.)

Apparently, as I have encountered elsewhere in life, what I think I know and the useful bits of what I know are separated by inscrutable details.

I would expect the final fix, though elusive, is not complicated.  If you wish to do so, let us know what you find.

Good Luck.  

Happy New Year !

Thank you for participating in the HP Community Forum.

We are a world community of HP enthusiasts dedicated to supporting HP technology.

[Mikki_G]

I have been on the phone to a wonderful lady from HP Tech Support.

We have tried all sorts of things, but nothing has fixed it so far.

Even Factory reset, and semi-full rest.

We connected via a hotspot to ensure it is not my network blocking things.

She is going to do some more research as the Web Services page still says Internet Connection: Not Connected which her and a colleague found bizarre as the printer clearly was connected to the Internet.

If all else fails then she thinks it is a faulty printer, so they will replace it.

My next scheduled call for an update is on the 3rd Jan, so will know more after that.

Thanks again @Dragon-Fur for your assistance. 

Happy New Year all.

[Dragon-Fur]

@Mikki_G

If the problem is not the printer....

Sounds a bit like a server problem on the HP side.

If that is the case, nothing you do on your side will have any effect.  Servers can get themselves into some odd states. 

Someone perhaps needs to track down the server and reboot it, check the database, or throw a metaphorical rock at it.

OR, much less likely but could cause a similar "banging on the door and no answer" - there might be a network box that needs a reboot / reset / kick.  Networks, too, can hang in a half-way state -- not dead, and not healthy.

Is that what is happening?  No idea.  I am retired IT; we tend to blame a lot of things on servers and network.  Smiling.

If the problem is the printer hardware, it is easy enough to have a replacement sent out.  It is somewhat of a hassle (on your side) to set up the hardware and reload the software - and worth the effort if the problem is resolved.

Good Luck.

Happy New Year 2019 !

Thank you for participating in the HP Community Forum.

We are a world community of HP enthusiasts dedicated to supporting HP technology.

[Mikki_G]

Having retried the claim codes again, HP said they will replace the printer under warranty, and I should have the new one next week.  

Hopefully that will work !