HP Deskjet F4500 Series

[whymenow2025]

Hello all,

I received a Hewlitt Packard DeskJet F4580 from my grandma a couple years ago, and when I first installed it to my computer I had no issues whatsoever printing. However, at least a year ago, I got an error message on the printer, which originally I thought it was the ink cartridges, since the display kept flashing that the ink cartridges were empty. They were essentially brand new, they were just remanufactured. I did everything in terms of troubleshooting, and it all ended up coming back to there being no driver installed. So again I did everything to troubleshoot, and unfortunately I still haven't had any luck. I just went and bought new ink cartridges, the HP brand this time, hoping that would solve my problems and it hasn't. Can anyone help because I know that the F4580 has been retired and there are no help tools on the HP website anymore.

[BeemerBiker]

Use the full feature windows 7 driver listed here but read the warning first

https://drivers.eu/Printers/HP/Deskjet%20F4580

WARNING: THE ARCHIVE SITES BELOW ARE NOT HP AND PROBABLY HAVE UNWANTED SOFTWARE THAT WILL DOWNLOAD IF YOU ARE NOT CAREFUL

The following two sites have software for older systems that might not be available at HP. The driverscollection site is recommended more than the .eu one. Do not download any "driver downloader" or "updater". Please examine the buttons to ensure they download the actual driver and not a driver helper. Do not click on any advertisements or any page that has the word "AD"


https://us.driverscollection.com

https://drivers.eu/Printers/HP

https://drivers.eu/PC/HP

Close any popup that has "AD" in it. Download only official HP files. For laptops and desktops, the download filename will start with the two letters SP and have the form
SP153214.exe -or-
SP96885.exe etc.

Printer download will have the name or model of the printer in the filename.


Are these sites safe? No, both sites have malware.
Malware is "Malicious" software. Generally speaking this is software that is not considered a virus or trojan. It performs unwanted functions such as downloading newer advertisements or reporting what the user is looking to buy and offering alternative suggestions. Typically free games have these apps. Note that some users consider this to be a feature.
Type MRT in the windows search bar both before and after downloading.

I am sorry that HP no longer maintains old drivers but everyone runs out of space and patience eventually.

Let me know what you find out.

[whymenow2025]

Thank you so much for your advice! I was actually able to get the driver downloaded before I read your reply, but now I'm having issues getting the carriage to do what its supposed to and the paper feeder to work. I have been messing and cleaning inside this printer for hours. At one point I thought I had my problem solved. The carriage was moving as it should, but the paper feeder kept reading "out of paper" even with half an inch of paper in the tray. Once I finally got that error message to go away, the print rollers just wouldn't grab the paper to print my test pages. I opened everything up, wiped it all down, and now I'm back to square one with the carriage being "stalled" and not able to move properly, even though there are no apparent obstructions.

[BeemerBiker]

You may need to clean the rollers
https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c00994976

This video show a different OEM printer but is useful anyway
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eJBmi1_JXlQ

[whymenow2025]

I followed the video and cleaned the rollers. I also took off the top of the printer and cleaned more inside the carriage area, but now the carriage won't move from the center of the printer, so it's stuck in the "change cartridge" mode. I'm getting very frustrated. Also, now my cancel button seems to not do anything to reset the printer either...

[whymenow2025]

When I power off the printer the carriage moves back to the left of the printer, as it should, but as soon as I turn it on and the printer warms up, the carriage immediately moves to the center of the printer, as if the access door is open. It won't do anything after that.

[BeemerBiker · Accepted solution]

All I can think of is to watch a disassembly or two and see if there is a part missing or broken.