HP OfficeJet Pro 8120e

[mdgdb]

Why can’t this printer work as intended? I set it up to automatically start at 7 am and shut down at 7 pm, and while it starts as scheduled in the morning, come 7 pm, it does shut down, but within few minutes it will start again. And there is no way I can get it to behave how I set it up! I can only completely turn that feature off. And this is the second printer that does the same thing. The first one did exactly the same, together with some other unexplainable errors, but that one is gone now, to the rubbish bin where it belongs.

Why have this feature to auto start and finish, if it can’t do it???

[Raj2111]

Hi @mdgdb 

Welcome to the HP support community.
 

I understand you're experiencing an issue with your HP device, and I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. I'm here to help you today.

Let's try to troubleshoot and see if we can resolve the issue.

Possible Causes and Solutions

1. Power Settings Conflict

• Verify Auto Power Settings: Double-check the scheduled power on/off times in the printer’s settings. Sometimes, a misconfiguration or small change can interfere with the schedule.
  1. On the printer’s control panel, navigate to the Settings menu.
  2. Find the Auto Power On/Off settings and ensure they are set correctly (both start and end times).
• Check for Software Conflicts: If you have HP Smart or another software utility managing the printer, check whether there’s another setting or feature in the software that may be overriding or conflicting with the scheduled power settings.

2. Firmware or Software Issue

Check for Firmware Updates:

1. Open the HP Smart app or go to the HP Support Website.
2. Search for firmware updates specific to your HP OfficeJet Pro 8120e.
3. Follow the instructions to update the printer's firmware to the latest version.

Reset Printer Settings: Sometimes resetting the printer to factory settings can help resolve conflicts with power management or other features.

• To reset, navigate to Settings > Restore Defaults > Restore All Settings (this will reset the printer to its factory settings and remove all customized configurations, including auto power settings).

3. Scheduled Task Interference.

Windows Task Scheduler (if the printer is connected to a computer): If you're using a Windows PC to manage print jobs, a scheduled task might trigger the printer to start or restart unexpectedly. Review the Task Scheduler for any tasks related to the printer that could be causing this behavior.

External Devices: If the printer is connected to a network, a wake-on-LAN command or network print job might cause the printer to power on automatically. If this is the case, check the network settings or disable the wake-up feature from the printer’s settings (if applicable).

4. Energy Saver or Sleep Mode Features

1. Navigate to the printer’s Energy Saver Mode or Sleep Mode settings.
2. Try adjusting or disabling these modes and check if the issue persists.

I hope this helps! Keep me posted.

Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
 

-Regards
Raj-HP Support

[Repairatrooper]

Likely a device on your network is communicating with the printer and causing it to wake up.

[mdgdb]

Yep, been there, done that. Upgrade done, resetting done, tried it all, on the first printer, and on the second printer. This is the second printer of the same kind in about a month (actually a replacement for the first one which was indeed faulty) that is exhibiting exactly the same behavior as the first one. For the first printer, I did not even have the HP Smart app to manage printing, and it still did the same with auto start and finish – starting at will. For this printer, I do have the HP Smart app, and the setting in it are exactly the same as on the printer: Mon to Fri, start 7 am, shut down 7 pm. Or it’s 7:00 and 19:00, depending of where you look.

It usually starts at 7 am, and it usually shuts down at 7 pm, but not always. Yesterday didn’t even start in the morning. On Wednesday, it shut down at 7 pm, but then it decided to start up a few minutes later, without my doing anything to initiate that. I don’t see how it can be triggered by something, somewhere, unless I set it up myself. And I didn’t set it up, nothing other than on the printer itself.

But nothing can help a crappy software! Here we have the date and time option, and I set it to Time Format 24 hours. Yet in current printer time it shows 24 hour format, and elsewhere it shows 12 hour format, but not everywhere! On the printer, it’s 24 hour format, in HP “Smart” it’s a mix, and my own computer is 24 hours.  And then you have the “Auto shutdown” option on or off, and it gives option after how many hours to shut down if enabled! What the heck for, if I have the Schedule on and off enabled?! Seems like a conflict in itself! One is in the “Energy Setting”, the other is in the “Power Schedule”! Seriously?

In the task Scheduler I see nothing, other than some HP Print Scan Doctor, two of the kind actually; one says it’s “Printer Health Monitor”, location: \HP\HP Print Scan Doctor, the other one says it’s “HP PSDr Printer Health Monitor”, location: \HP\HP PSDr. So unless there is some sort of a conflict there, I don’t know. I don’t see the point of these two existing together. They seem to be one and the same thing, just slightly different names.

Thanks for your reply anyway.

[mdgdb]

Thank you too