HP Printer Randomly Printing Configuration Pages

[f1arcas]

I'm a IT systems administator for a hotel management / franchise company so I generally like to think that I know what I'm talking about. As of recent, many of our HP printers have been printing out network configuration pages at random points during the day. At times the number of pages they print is down right rediculous. I'm talking 50 pages or more. I've tried factory resetting the printers, power cycling, and updating firmware. Has anyone run into this isse before? And if so, what fixed the issue? As far as I can tell there have been no recent changes that could've caused this and it's starting to drive me insane. All associates uses the same print driver as print requests get sent to our print server first rather than from the workstation itself. The drivers that are used are the latest from HP's website and I make sure to install the correct driver for each model.

[Raj_05]

Hi @f1arcas,

Welcome to HP Support Community.  

Thank you for posting your query, I will be glad to help you.

It's certainly frustrating when unexpected issues like excessive network configuration page printing occur. Here are several suggestions to help you troubleshoot and potentially resolve the problem.

• Review Print Logs: Check the print logs on the print server to see if there are any error messages or unusual print jobs that might be triggering the issue.
• Printer Configuration: Double-check the printer settings, especially those related to network configuration and notifications. Ensure that there are no automated tasks or scheduled events triggering the printing of configuration pages.
• Driver Compatibility: While you've mentioned that you're using the latest drivers, consider verifying that the drivers are fully compatible with your print server environment. Sometimes, an update to the driver might cause unexpected behavior.
• Print Server Configuration: Review the settings on your print server, such as the print spooler and queue configurations. Make sure there are no issues with print jobs getting stuck in the queue or being duplicated.
• Firmware and Software Updates: Confirm that not only the printer firmware is up to date but also check for any updates to the print server software. Compatibility issues between the printer firmware and server software can sometimes cause unexpected behavior.
• Network Inspection: Use network monitoring tools to inspect the network traffic related to the printers. Look for any unusual patterns or excessive requests that might be triggering the configuration page printing.
• Security Auditing: Ensure that the printers are secure and haven't been compromised. Unauthorized access or malicious activity might result in unexpected print jobs. Review security logs on both the printers and the print server.
• Isolate Printers: If you have multiple printers affected, try isolating one printer from the network temporarily to see if the issue persists. This can help determine if the problem is specific to a certain printer or if it's a network-wide issue.
• Check for Physical Issues: Inspect the physical connections, cables, and network ports on both the printers and the print server. A loose or faulty connection might contribute to the problem.

By systematically going through these steps, you may be able to identify and resolve the issue causing the excessive printing of network configuration pages.

I hope this helps. 
 

Take care and have a good day.

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Alden4
HP Support