HP Officejet Pro 8600 N911g Firmware Update Fails

[Smizles]

I had no idea that users were still working on getting HP to address this issue. I'm willing to do whatever I can to help just because of the principle of the matter! On another forum I saw this copy-paste response after HP support "escalated" the issue back in November, 2019:

"Hello,

I regret to inform you that your unit has reached End of Support Life, which means that HP no longer has access to recovery discs, hardware or software for your system. If you prefer you can contact either our Home & Home Office Group or our Commercial Department in your area to see what current models may fit your needs. You also have the option of taking it to a local repair shop in your area.

We apologize for the inconvenience. 

-HP Social Media Support"

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Printing-Errors-or-Lights-Stuck-Print-Jobs/Officejet-Pro-8600-won-t-wa... 

For those of you astute enough to do your own research, you'll notice the latest firmware for this printer was published almost a year later in October 2020. How could that possibly be true if "HP no longer has access to recovery discs, hardware or software for your system"?

I smell a big sticking lie, and I really hate it when big corporations bully us wee little consumers, especially those of us that bought into their brand loyalty only for them to betray us while stabbing us in the back with their "new" model of printer that has the exact same features as the 10-15 year old models (albeit with non-sabatoged firmware and "eco" functions that actually have an off setting).

Please keep up the good work and relentless pressure on HP @Dave-AUS! I don't think this effort is a waste of time because quitting now would let the tech terrorists win. Please let me know if there's anything I can do to help, and I'll stand next to you and support this cause however I can!!!

[TCWNetOps]

I just read through 10 pages of frustrated N911 - OJ Pro 8600 printers users and upgrading firmware from CKP1CN1829AR to CLP1CN2011AR. I too can not upgrade. I have two N911 printers. One I purchased 05/30/14 - SN CN37GD6H0805KD. It works great, except for scan to email, eprint and the built in firmware updater do not work, because of the URL stored in the firmware code is no longer active as other users reported. This is lame that HP web admins removed a URL just because. I mean it takes no effort to leave web content in place. This unit has the issue with not being able to upgrade the firmware. The other unit I received from a client of mine as they upgraded to a different model. Surprising this unit has the current firmware. See image for message box when trying to run the firmware update.

Hey HP, can you give me a good reason to continue recommending your products to my clients as well as purchasing them for my use. HP was my go to manufacture for printers for 30 years. 

[Oliver7500]

I have the same issue,  since a few days scanningu tscanninguiessdoes not work due to missing security feature. Secure connections to ext. Mail Server are not working properly, therefore  may be a Webserver Update helle. Firmware Update is Not working as described. You may get me the update  instructions. Thank

Oliver

[Kumar0307]

@Oliver7500, Welcome to the HP Support Community! I’m here to help.

To assist you better, what model printer and what version of OS are you using?

Refer to this document to know how to find the Product Name or Product Number.

Click here to know different methods of updating printer firmware.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

[Oliver7500]

I' using Windows 10, mostly

[Dave-AUS]

Update:

After many calls troubleshooting only my setup, including using Mac, a fresh install of Windows, mobile hotspots, printer resets etc. I received the below email from HP support:

"Thank you for choosing HP.

We appreciate your great patience and full cooperation in taking time doing the troubleshooting with us.

It is recommended that if you would want to continue using the webservices, you may consider a printer upgrade instead because there is no further support available for this product as printer is obsolete.

As one of our valued customers, we can give you discount. Please check on this link for our HP Online Store https://www.hp.com/au-en/shop/

You may reply to this email if you have a specific HP product to purchase and just let me know."

Support kept trying to fix web services on the firmware version I had, even though (according to their new firmware's release notes) it was a known issue that web services would never work on that firmware version.  At no point was it investigated whether their firmware updater was faulty, nor was any manual process for installing the firmware explored.  Higher levels of support just kept coming back saying it was an "old printer" and ignoring the fact that HP had just released software for it.  The problem was always assumed to be at my end rather than theirs.  I thought I had to jump through these hoops to get to decent support, but it seems their support is only set up for the user being at fault and I could never progress.  Furthermore, my printer that web services had stopped working on (but was still "enabled"), now keeps dropping from my wireless network after all the resets.  I've had to hardwire it.  I assume because I can't now enable web services it won't set a keep-alive on the wireless interface while it's on standby (which can't be disabled).  

Suffice to say I won't be purchasing a replacement HP printer, and will be finding alternatives to recommend across my workplaces, peers and personal networks.  It's expected that third party interoperability will decline over a device's life, but it's another thing to just kill or move back-end services you build products to rely on.  I understand obsolescence, but these devices are just being sabotaged by HP.

[Dave-AUS]

Also TCWNetOps's experience appears to back my suspicion now that there's some sort of support expiry rule in the firmware updater that's preventing us from resolving our issues.  I note it appears to be the older serial number is running the latest firmware, which would debunk any technical excuse as to why this firmware couldn't be applied to fix our issues.

My device had always reported that there were no updates available from the printer interface.  It was only recently I discovered this was not functioning and returning a false negative (which is also poor product design).

[Kumar0307]

@Oliver7500

Let us try these steps:

Restart the wireless router, the printer, and the PC

Make sure the printer is connected to the internet.

Restart web services

Click here to know how to turn off web services. Refer to this document to know how to turn it on.

If the issue persists, perform the steps mentioned in this document - Cannot Connect to Web Services

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

[Oliver7500]

I followed your advise, without succes, the second paper ends up in a Firmware upgrade. Noew I did a 360° circle.

The update tools showed the following: (see schreen shot), The FW Upgrade is not applicaable to my printer.

Oliver

[Kumar0307]

@Oliver7500

If you have tried the steps mentioned in the attached document and the issue persists, please reach out to the HP Technical Support team in your region for further assistance. 

You may create a case on the website to obtain a case number if required. Kindly watch this video to know how.

Keep me posted for any other assistance.