Paper feeds in ok but printing aborted

[Trunkmonkey007]

For the last day my printer will feed paper into itself ok, but then doesn't print anything and spits the page right back out.

It draws it in normally, goes up the back where it changes direction and comes up to the normal stopping point as if it were going to start printing. There is nothing unusual about the feed what so ever up to the point when printing would normally begin. No odd noises, no gear grinding. The paper is never damaged and emerges in pristine condition every time. The print cartridge actually does move a half a stroke, at which time the paper is quickly fed all the way out of the printer and then stops.

No warnings on the display. No audible beep that the printer likes to do when it's unhappy. It just escorts out the paper and then acts like nothing happened. The print job  shows as complete. This happens with photo paper and regular paper.

I believe this problem started when I was giving a push to the back of a 5x7 photo. I have to do this or else the photo paper doesn't feed all the way in and stops just short of where it needs to be to get pulled through properly. I think I was pushing a little hard. There must be a sensor that I tweaked or damaged and now the printer will load paper, but immediately spits it back out.

THERE IS ONE EXCEPTION which I find odd, and maybe it's a clue to the source of the problem. The cartridge alignment test page will print every time. But nothing else. Only the alignment page.

[Dilip_18]

Hi@Trunkmonkey007,

Welcome to the HP Support Community! I'd like to help!

I see you are experiencing printing issues with the HP Officejet 5610 All-In-One Printer.

I have a few recommendations 

• I would recommend using our HP Print and Scan Doctor, and let me know what happens.
• Make sure your devices are properly connected with each other, and the network or the cable you use to connect these devices is normal. You can also try restarting your HP printer. Turn it off completely and unplug the power cord, leave it for a couple of minutes, and then plug the cord back and power on the printer.
• Make sure there is paper in the tray(s), check the ink or toner cartridges aren't empty, the USB cable is plugged in or the printer is connected to Wi-Fi. And if it is a network or wireless printer, try using a USB cable instead.
• The printhead could be clogged, and you might need to clean the printhead several times to restore print quality. Use an automated tool from the printer control panel to clean the printhead. caution: Never turn off the printer when ink cartridges are not installed.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

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