Pagewide pro 477 dw mfp - Printer freeze after software update

[AnnimalAnn]

I feel your pain!  Seriously!  Same thing happened to me. I'm on a fixed income and have a husband with stage 4 cancer so I didn't need this crap!  HP needs to realize they are messing with people's lives!  

[Repairatrooper]

If you have this problem and you are not able to fix it yourself, contact a local HP service partner as there is a Service Advisory issued by HP on this issue and they will pay the service partner to perform the downgrade for you.

[Gachot]

This is helpful as stating that if you are hungry you should eat something.

So I get in my company in the morning and the printer is a brick. I am not aware that it made an update over the night. So, if the printer isn't under warranty I would probably put it in the trash can without thinking twice.

It's like having a car that suddenly won't start in the morning for an unknown reason. Would you first call the authorized service to ask if they maybe did an update that doesn't work and tow it there or would you call your local shop for assistance and do as much as you can to understand what has happened overnight? So the service guy comes in a week or two and you have a working car again so you can go to work. In the meantime, use a bus.

Downtime, lost hours, lost profit, to whom do I send an invoice?

The second thing is that the update that broke the printers is still available and auto-update must be turned off. Like seriously **bleep**?! They could off just named an older working version as new and put it up so if the printer auto updates again it will do it with a working version.

This has been ongoing for 2 weeks and it clearly shows that HP doesn't care at all. Last HP product for sure. Even this post states that. There is no official solution on page 1 with a link and official instructions.

I would also expect a message from HP to my Dashboard where the affected printer exists. Nothing is done from their side. User experience 0.

I also remember that older 476dw had "apps" on it that HP decided to shut down. I would expect a printer update with this option removed from the panel. But no, you can still click it and get an error message that it is not available. They really don't care about users and their products as soon as they leave a shop, but do care for an original cartridge being used.

[ScottS99]

I managed to fix the issue without a USB stick. 

I went into Printer management as Administrator -> All drivers -> deleted all current drivers for HP 477DW

I then went into control panel -> add printer -> the printer that i want isn't listed -> add using IP -> Autodetect -> add printers IP -> generic network card -> HP -> HP DW477 driver -> restart printer -> when printer is online quickly -> press next in type in name. Driver was then installed and It was then able to print again and does not freeze.

[Kirill_Billen]

My PageWide Pro MFP 477dw printer had been frozen for about three weeks (since the end of September 2023). The touchscreen didn't respond, the power button didn't work, and print commands were not being executed. Simply turning the printer on and off did not resolve the issue. I found the correct solution through this forum. The steps below fixed the problem (execution time approx. 10 minutes):

1. I downloaded the firmware to my PC from HP's support page (HP PageWide Pro 477dw Multifunction Printer series Firmware Update version 2313A from May 9, 2023).

2. On my PC, I changed the file extension of the downloaded .exe firmware file to a .zip file. To do this, you may need to make file extensions visible on your PC. In Windows 7/8/10/11, this can be found in the ribbon of the file explorer under the 'View' tab > Show/hide section > File name extensions.

3. I extracted the downloaded firmware .zip file on my desktop (you can use a program like 7Zip, Winzip, or Winrar to achieve this).

4. I inserted an empty USB-A stick into my PC, right-clicked it, formatted it as FAT32, selected 'Quick Format' and hitted 'Start'. Keep in mind that formatting a USB stick will erase all the files on it. If your USB stick isn't empty, be sure to back up its contents before executing step 4.

5. Next, I copied all the extracted files (6 files and 1 folder in my case - 85 MB) from my desktop to the empty and formatted USB stick. The most important file in this is the one ending with the file extension .ful2.

6. I inserted the USB stick into the rear USB port of the printer and disconnected the Ethernet cable as well as the power supply. I left the printer without power for at least 10 seconds.

7. After 10 seconds, I reconnected the power by inserting the power cable (leaving the USB stick in and the Ethernet cable removed). At the same time, you need to continuously hold down the green illuminated power button in the front and keep tapping with your finger on the touchscreen.

8. While holding the power button and tapping on the touchscreen, the HP logo will briefly appear, and the screen will flicker until you see a black screen.

9. Now, you can release everything. In order to enter a secret menu, press the illuminated touch buttons on the left side of the screen in the following order: Home (top button) > Back (bottom button) > Home (top button) > Home (top button).

10. You will now access the secret menu, entirely in blue. Tap on the word 'Menu' and then a few times on 'Next' until you see the 'Drive reflash' option (the last option in the cycle).

11. Tap 'OK' and wait for about a minute. The printer will restart, and the problem will be resolved.

12. To be sure, I performed a 'full factory reset' of the printer, but I'm not sure if this contributed to the solution. This way, I disabled automatic firmware updates, which hopefully prevents the problem from returning. You can perform a full factory reset by repeating step 9 to access the secret menu.

13. Now I reconnected the Wi-Fi and the ethernet cable, removed the USB-stick and adjusted some settings (probably not necessary when not executing a full factory reset). Printer is still working the next day, so fingers crossed 🙂

[TXNETWORKGROUP]

I was losing my mind over this one.  Same here, connect to lan or wifi and frozen.  Had to unplug to restart.  I tried all the suggestions on this forum, reset, reflash with older and newer firmware.  No Joy.  I finally unplugged all the computers from the network.  I had only internet router connected the switch.  Connected the printer to the network and the darned thing did not freeze.  Plugged the computers back in one and at a time and the printer froze after 3 of 10.  I uninstalled the HP software. No joy.  I then removed the software from every computer in the c:\windows\system\spool\drivers and the program files folders. You actually have to delete the driver files.  Voila! Success!  Dancing in the office.  I then reinstalled the drivers and all is good again. No thanks to HP for NEVER posting a response.  Took me 3 weeks to figure this one out.

Hope this helps

[NIGHTRAVEN-ST]

Hi i tried to do the reflash however it just takes me to a green screen with the numbers 

1 2 3 4 5 is this normal or am i doing something wrong 

[TXNETWORKGROUP]

How I fixed it. Unplug printer from network before turning on. Go to EVERY workstation that has drivers installed. Programs and Features - Uninstall. Delete drivers from all windows printer driver folders in system32/spool. Delete HP 477 folders from Program Files 32 and 64 bit. Reboot workstation. Reinstall NEW deivers. I did Full Install. 

If even one workstation still has drivers in systen32/spool/printer/drivers,  the printer will lock up. No need to flash the firmware. 

Royal pain in the backside to HAVE TO DO ALL OF THIS - HP. But all is good now. 

Hope this helps

[grindat]

NIGHTRAVEN-ST, when I got to the blue screen, I made the mistake of hitting REFLASH, which brought the green screen.  Instead of REFLASH at the blue screen, the correct step is to hit MENU, and then DRIVE REFLASH at the next screen.  Good luck!

[Mephious]

Thank you !!