Wifi direct not working despite showing connection to printer.

[tonyrichards]

I continually have the same issue with my HP 6978 printer trying to print from my HP 360 laptop.  I can connect to the printer via wifi direct but when I send a print job, it inevitably gets stuck in the queue with the 'Cannot print" error message.  Then when I sometimes log of the printer to connect to the web, it will miraculously print out the document, though not always.  ANd the HP printing app often doesn't see the printer, even though my computer does (says it's offline')

I cannot connect my printer to my wifi network for reasons I won't get into here.  

[sandytechy20]

@tonyrichards

Welcome to HP support community.

Use HP Print and Scan Doctor to check connectivity

Download HP Print and Scan Doctor.

1. Run HPPSdr.exe from the download location on your computer.

2. Once HP Print and Scan Doctor opens, click Start, and then select your printer.

   • If your printer in not in the list, turn it off and on, and then click Retry.

   • If there is a connection problem, follow the instructions in HP Print and Scan Doctor.

3. If a screen prompts you to turn on printer updates, click Yes.

4. If a screen prompts you to make your printer the default printer, click Yes.

5. Try to print.

Assign manual IP address and that should fix the issue.

To identify which IP address is currently assigned to the printer, do the following:

1. From the printer control panel, touch or swipe down the tab at the top of the screen to open the Dashboard, touch ( Setup ).

2. Touch Reports .

3. Select network configuration report.

Setting a Static IP Address

Once you know your printer’s IP address, entering it is pretty easy. Here’s what you do:

1. Run your Web browser.
2. In the Web browser’s address bar, type the IP address of your printer and press Enter. Assuming you entered the right address, the HP printer control panel should appear.
3. Click the Networking tab.
4. Under Connections, click Wired.
5. Under IP Address Configuration, click Manual IP.
6. Enter the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway in the appropriate boxes.
7. Click Apply.

You can refer this HP document for more assistance:- Click here

Let me know how it goes.

To thank me for my efforts to help you, please mark my post as an accepted solution so that it benefits several others.

Cheers.

[tonyrichards]

Tried the scan and print doctor - won't work with wifi direct, only if the printer is on a network.

The IP address the printer gives is not valid.

[Jeet_singh]

@tonyrichards

Let's try to restore the printer to the network defaults and then run the wireless setup wizard on the printer to the connect to the network.

To restore the printer to the original network settings

1. From the printer control panel, touch or swipe down the tab at the top of the screen to open the Dashboard, and then touch ( Setup ).

2. Touch Network Setup.

3. Touch Restore Network Settings. A message appears stating that the network defaults will be restored.

4. Touch Yes.

5. Print the network configuration page and verify that the network settings have been reset.

Next thing, I would suggest here is to print the network configuration page and check if the printer is restored. 

To print the network configuration page, 

From the printer control panel, touch or swipe down the tab at the top of the screen to open the Dashboard. Touch (Wireless) or (Ethernet) to display the network status screen. Touch Print Details to print the network configuration page.

Once done, Run the wireless setup wizard on the printer to connect to the network. For more details, please go through the User guide of your printer and scroll down to page number 90.

1. From the printer control panel display, touch (Wireless).

2. Touch (Settings).

3. Touch Wireless Settings

4. Touch Wireless Setup Wizard or Wi-Fi Protected Setup.

5. Follow the display instructions to complete the setup.

Next thing, I would suggest here is to do a root level uninstall and reinstall of the printer drivers.

• Press “Windows key” + “r” to get the “Run” window.
• Type "services.msc" to get Services – Go to “Print spooler” – Right-click and “Stop” the service.
• Now again open "Run" - Type “spool” and ok - Go to PRINTERS folder - delete everything in that folder.
• Go to services again - Start the print spooler.
• Now check for issue resolution.
• If the issue persists, also try clean installing the printer drivers. Here are the steps:
• First, unplug the USB cable from the printer if present.
• Go to Control panel – Programs and feature – Select all the HP OfficeJet printer entries and uninstall them.
• Now go to Control panel – Devices and printer – Select all the printer entries and remove the device.
• Press the "windows key" + "r" to get the "Run" window open - Type "printui.exe /s" (There is a space between .exe & /) and press enter.
• Under print server properties, go to drivers - remove any entry there as well.
• Again, go to the Run window, type – “c:/programdata” – Go to Hewlett Packard folder, remove any printer related folders & files.
• Restart your computer.
• Please click here to download and install the software..
• In the connection type window, select “Wireless” and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

Let me know how it goes!

That said, If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution and Kudos buttons, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!

Have a great day!

[tonyrichards]

As I said in my original post, I cannot connect the printer to the network I use for wifi for reasons too complicated to go into.  It's a given.

I bought the printer to use it via the wifi direct feature.

The fact that you have to write a 'solution' as long as the one you have shows how ridiculous it is that I can't easily connect my 2 year old HP laptop to my brand new HP printer according to the provided directions  using a feature HP touts highly.

It's a joke, really.

I expected much better from HP.

[sandytechy20]

@tonyrichards

I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details).

If you are unfamiliar with how the Community's private message capability works, you can learn about that here.

Thank you for visiting the HP Support Community.

Cheers.

[tonyrichards]

I bought a new router and successfully connected the printer to the network.  I know it has connected successfuly because it went online and downloaded updates successfully.

I reset the network defaults.

It's IP address still won't come up in my browser.

The HP Print and Scan Doctor still can't connect to it.

The HP Print and scan app still shows it as offline.

I turned off all my network firewalls.

Still nada.

Amazing in that my laptop is an HP Envy x360, less than 2 years old and I cannot get a brand new HP printer to work with it.

The HP printer app still 

[tonyrichards]

3 weeks later and still no solution from HP or this forum.

New HP printer.

2 year old HP laptop.

Both connected to the same nework.

Cann't talk to each other even though the computer shows the printers as visible on it's network.

HP Print and Scan doctor : useless, says it can't connect.

HP Smart (haha) App says printer offline.

Ridiculous.

And yes I reset the defaults, confirmed both are working on the nework, reset the router, et all.

This has become a joke.

[Cheron-Z]

@tonyrichards

Based on you comments I have re escalated your concerns for review and follow  up.

Cheers,