OfficeJet Pro 7740 Driver Issue

[ramahoney]

Hi everyone, I've been having a problem with our OfficeJet Pro 7740. When we bought it, it worked just fine, but as of late, everytime I try to print, the printer freezes and displays the following image:

 Error Message

I've tried several solutions I found in these forums, including partial and full reset, updating firmware, reinstalling drivers, using HP's support software, etc. Nothing has helped. I can still scan and print with ePrint just fine, I just cannot print directly from my PC. Finally, I opened a case with HP, all they told me was to switch the driver to the HP Deskjet 9800. This worked, and I've been happily printing since then. However, I have to print some 11X17 pages, and the Deskjet 9800 driver has a single tray, so I cannot print the larger pages without switching trays (a huge inconvenience). So here are the questions, has anyone else had this problem, has anyone else solved this problem, and if not, are there any alternative drivers which will still maintain the full functionality of the printer and (even better than HPs official driver) works?

[Raj1788]

@ramahoney

Welcome to HP Forums, 

This is a great place to get support, find answers and tips to your technical queries.

Appreciate all your efforts.

Are you using any app or are you using the print driver to print?

If you are using the printer driver to print, follow the below solution.

Try using HP Smart app and check if this helps you!

Click on this link: https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c04675142 for using HP Smart app.

Keep me posted, how it goes!

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution and Kudos buttons on the public post, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!

Have a great day!

Cheers:)

[ramahoney]

Unfortunately, this did not solve the problem. Through this app I can print internal reports, such as "Printer Status Report", and I can still print through ePrint, but as soon as I try printing any document (from within the HP Smart App or not), I get the same blue screen. I tried converting the driver back to the DeskJet 9800, and I can again print, but only with limited functionality (as mentioned in the OP).

[Raj1788]

@ramahoney

Thanks for your efforts,

I have sent you a private message, for more details that cannot be shared in a public post.

Can you please check your inbox on the forums page for the private message.

Have a great day!

[ShlomiL]

Hi,

A better workaround would be an alternate driver such as the Officejet Pro 7730 model which offer similar capabilities.

To install it download and run the following installation:

https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softlib/software13/printers/OJPRO7730/OJ7730_Basicx64_44.3.2218.exe

As soon as the installation screen opens, close it.

Click the Start button and type %temp% into the search bar, then open the shown Temp folder.

Open the latest HP installation folder which begins with 7z (e.g. 7zs1234), that would be the 7730 installation folder.

Copy its path from the top address bar.

Open the Control Panel > Devices and Printers.

Right-click the added 9800 icon and select Printer Properties.

Within the Advanced tab click on New Driver and follow the wizard.

Click Have Disk once reaching the printer selection pane and paste the 7z folder path located above, then complete the wizard and use the 7730 driver, that should allow similar capabilities as your original printer driver.

Regards,
Shlomi

[ramahoney]

Hi ShlomiL, thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, this did not do it either, it has the same behavior as the 7740 driver did (blue screen).

[ramahoney · Accepted solution]

After speaking with two different technicians at the customer support center, the second person made a brilliant observation (I really wish I had written down her name, because she deserves a lot of credit) which, it appears, was the cause of the problem all along! It is not really a driver issue, more like a limitation of the driver.

Here was the problem: my PCs name was too long! We recently switched to a new domain server, and the name for the domain is relatively long. Since this domain is added to the PC's full name, it made the PC's name too long, and the printer would fail. I shortened my PCs name from 42 characters to 36 characters, and everything started working again!

Thank you everyone for your suggestions, and especially thanks to the woman at the phone center who made this connection!

[ramahoney]

For anyone who comes accross this, I'd like to also point out something amazing that HP did. I've never been too thrilled with their customer support, but as of 12/20/2018, just a week after they found the cause of this issue, they have already released updated firmware which fixes the problem! This is absolutely amazing customer service, and I really appreciate that. Thank you HP!