Jobs disappear from print queue without printing

[OlatheMike]

I have the following components:

 - HP Pavilion laptop running Windows 10 Home edition, version 1909, OS build 18363.719

 - HPE2349B (HP ENVY 5660 series) printer/scanner/copier

 - Google Fiber 500GB home wireless network

The laptop and printer have worked fine for more than 2 years until several weeks ago when the ability to print from Windows 10 over the wireless network to the HP printer suddenly stopped working. I can print fine over the wireless network from my iPhone and iPad. When attempting to print from Windows 10, the job appears briefly in the print queue with status "Printing", then disappears without printing.  I have run the HP Support Assistant troubleshooting actions at least 15 times and also uninstalled/reinstalled the HP printer software/drivers several times, but still can't print from the HP laptop. The HP Print and Scan Doctor 5.3 "Print Test Page" action sends the job to the print queue and it disappears without printing, but then the HP PaSD asks to print an "internal test page" which works!  So I think it's a problem with the print queue or print driver. When I did a live session with Microsoft support who took over my PC and ran a bunch of checks, they found "nothing wrong with Windows" and suggested contacting HP (which I didn't yet due to the support fee).

My next thought was to manually remove DLLs and/or registry entries, but I work mostly on Linux and am not very Windows savvy.  I appreciate any advice!

[TEJ1602]

@OlatheMike, Welcome to HP Support Community!

Follow these steps to download and run the HP Print and Scan Doctor Utility to solve the problem. 

Step 1: Check the print queue

1. Right-click the Start button  or the lower left corner of the screen, click Search, and then type Devices and printers.

2. From the search results list, click Devices and printers.

3. Right-click the name of your printer from the Printers section.

4. Click See what's printing to open the print queue.

5. With the print queue open, try to print your document again.

   • If the print job disappears from the print queue and does not print, continue to the next step.

Step 2: Download and run the HP Print and Scan Doctor

Follow these steps to use the HP Print and Scan Doctor to fix the issue.

 Download and run the HP Print and Scan Doctor to automatically diagnose and resolve printer hardware and connection issues.

If you cannot complete these steps, or if the steps do not work, continue to the next step.

Step 3: Uninstall the HP driver and software

Follow these steps to uninstall the HP driver and printer software.

1. If your printer connects to the computer with a USB cable, disconnect the USB cable from the printer, and then disconnect the cable from the computer.

   NOTE: 

   If you are asked to remove shared files, click No. Other programs that use these files might not work if you delete the files.

2. Right-click the Start button  in the lower left corner of the screen, click Search, and then type Devices and Printers.

3. Click Devices and Printers.

4. Right-click the icon for your printer, and then click Remove Device. The computer uninstalls the printer software.

Step 4: Rename the HPBXPSRENDER.DLL file

Follow these steps to rename the HPBXPSRENDER.DLL file.

1. Right-click the Start button  or the lower left corner of the screen, click Search, and then type %windir%.

2. Double-click the System 32 folder, double-click the Spool folder, and then double-click the Drivers folder.

3. Double-click the x64 folder or the w32x86 folder, depending on your operating system, and then double-click the 3 folder.

4. Right-click the HPBXPSRENDER.DLL file, and then click Rename.

5. Delete the DLL suffix, type OLD in its place, and then press Enter. The file name now displays as HPBXPSRENDER.OLD.

6. When the "If you change the file name extension, the file might become unstable. Are you sure you want to change it?" message displays, click Yes.

7. Close the window.

Step 5: Download and install the print driver

Follow these steps to download and install the print driver.

1. Turn on the printer.

2. Disconnect the USB cable from the printer, if necessary. The software installation prompts you to connect the cable if needed.

3. Go to HP Customer Support - Software and Driver Downloads.

4. If a Let's identify your product to get started page displays, click Printer, type your printer model number, and then click Submit.

5. If you need to change the operating system, click Change, select your version, and then click Change.

6. Under the Driver heading, click Download for the full software package, or click Basic Drivers for other driver options.

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. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

[OlatheMike]

Thanks TEJ1602 for taking the time to reply and for trying to help.

I following all the recommended steps, most of which I have already done several times.

Step 1: Check the print queue

Step 2: Download and run the HP Print and Scan Doctor
Step 3: Uninstall the HP driver and software
Step 4: Rename the HPBXPSRENDER.DLL file
Step 5: Download and install the print driver (the full software package).

One thing to note is that HPBXPSRENDER.DLL does not exist on my machine for my processor architecture, which is an 
Intel Core i7-8550U CPU for x86.  I only find that DLL under an AMD directory, so I think it is not in use.

C:\>dir hpbxp*.dll /s
Volume in drive C is Windows
Volume Serial Number is 1AE8-BA98

Directory of C:\Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\prnhpcl1.inf_amd64_a4bd007e111170fc\amd64

04/11/2018 07:33 PM 5,299,712 hpbxpsrender.dll
1 File(s) 5,299,712 bytes

Total Files Listed:
1 File(s) 5,299,712 bytes
0 Dir(s) 313,964,007,424 bytes free

After executing all the steps, the same behavior persists.  Print jobs go to the Print Queue with status "Printing" and then disappear, but never print.  I had my son try his Windows 10 laptop and it prints to the HP 5660 printer without a hitch.  Since 3 other devices (iPhone, iPad, other Windows 10 laptop) all can print over the wireless network to the printer, this is clearly a problem with my HP laptop, but I am at a loss to figure out the solution.

I appreciate additional suggestions!

[TEJ1602]

@OlatheMike

Thanks for replying!

 I recommend you delete the driver and root level and retry, follow the steps below: 

1) In Windows, search for and open Programs and features 

2) Select your HP Printer 

3) Select Uninstall 

4) In Windows, search for and open Devices and printers 

5) In the Devices and Printers windows look for your HP printer. If you see it listed right-click on it and choose ‘Delete’ or ‘Remove Device’ 

6) Open up the run command with the “Windows key + R” key combo. 

7) Type printui.exe /s and click Ok. (Note: there is a space in between “printui.exe”

😎 Click on the “Drivers” tab 

9) Look for HP Printer driver. If you see it Click on it and click Remove at the bottom 

10) Select Ok 

11) Select Apply and Ok on the Print Server Properties windows 

12) Close Devices and Printers.

try the Windows built-in drivers. Follow the steps below:

•    Go to Control Panel - Devices and Printers - Click on "Add printer" and follow the on-screen instructions.

•    When the page prompts for the drivers, select "Windows update". The driver list will be updated.

•    Click HP, Hewlett Packard, or Hewlett-Packard in the Manufacturer pane, and then click the name of your printer in the Printers pane.

Refer to this document HP Printers - Installing and Using the Windows Built-in Print Driver for help.

Keep me posted. 

Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

[OlatheMike]

Hi TEJ1602,

I really appreciate your replies.  I went through the latest suggested steps and had to make a few adjustments since some of the actions were slightly different on my Windows 10 Home edition. Unfortunately, after uninstalling and reinstalling the HP printer software including the printer driver, I still experience the same problem of not being able to print. I am learning a few things along the way and plan to try going through the process again in a few days, hoping to stumble upon some set of actions that works! 

I will post another update again soon.

[TEJ1602]

@OlatheMike

Sure, keep me posted.

And if you have not tried the windows built-in drivers yet, please try and let me know the outcome.

Depending on the results we can further provide further assistance.

Cheers 🙂

[OlatheMike]

I am still having no luck.  After removing the printer in Windows Control Panel, I attempted to add it back by clicking "Add a printer" and it prompts for a WPS PIN, which is an 8 digit number found briefly on my HP 5660 screen.  I enter this in the Windows dialog box field and it finishes installing the printer, but then the printer status shows "Driver is unavailable" and the printer icon is slightly gray. The same "Driver is unavailable" message occurs when adding the printer in Settings -> Devices & Printers.

I opened the Windows Device Manager, under Printers found one "Unknown device" which is reported in Properties, General tab as:

Device type: Other devices
Manufacturer: Unknown
Location: on HP ENVY 5660 series (E2349B)

When I then choose "Update driver" and "Search automatically ...", a dialog pops up with these messages:

Update Drivers - Unknown Device
Windows encountered a problem installing the drivers for your device. Windows found drivers for your device but encountered an error while attempting to install them. HP ENVY 5660b series. An error occurred during the installation of the device. The driver cannot be installed because it is either not digitally signed or not signed in the appropriate manner. Contact your hardware vendor. If you know the manufacturer of your device, you can visit their website and check the support section for drivers.

I fought the "Driver is unavailable" for a while. I think (not sure) the problem was in trying to use the Windows printer driver.  Once I reinstalled to use the HP printer driver, the printer installed, but still won't print using the Print Queue.

[OlatheMike]

On the HP Envy 5660 printer, I tried "Restore Factory Defaults", but this also didn't help.

[TEJ1602]

@OlatheMike

Thanks for replying!

Try creating a new user account and install the printer- 

1. Tap the Windows icon.

2. Select Settings.

3. Tap Accounts.

4. Select Family & other users.

5. Tap "Add someone else to this PC."

6. Select "I don't have this person's sign-in information."

7. Select "Add a user without a Microsoft account."

8. Enter a username, type the account's password twice, enter a clue and select Next.

9. Tap the Windows icon.

10. Select the User icon at the upper left corner of the Start menu.

11. Select the new user. You'll then sign into your account with your password from step 8.

Use this link to download and install the new driver. Configure the printer and try printing.

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. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

[OlatheMike]

I tried creating a new Windows user and installing the HP printer package/driver when logged in as that user, then tried printing as that user, but the same problem occurs.  The print job goes to the queue, reports "Printing", then disappears without printing.

Does anyone know the low level technical operations that occur as a print job leaves the Windows print queue and is sent to the printer?  Does the print queue hand the job off to the printer driver?  What is the name of the printer driver/dll?  Is there some way to debug the driver or generate/locate log messages from the driver to know exactly what is happening, how far it gets, where the process stops, and any errors that might be occurring?