Printer is randomly printing pages for the last few weeks. They all have HOST: localhost and more

[Camper123]

A few weeks ago, my trusty 7760 started to randomly print pages that I did not request.  They seem to have HOST:  localhost and a lot of GET, HOST, POST, Content-Length, Contenty-Type lines.  I've emptied the print queue, restarted the sprint spool, checked the drivers, restarted the printer, and other steps that various forums recommended.  I believe it may be a software change from HP, as the newest version of the hp tools for printers is dated around the time that this issue started.  It is eating up my paper and ink.  Very annoying.  Any ideas?

[CalgaryChef]

We have recently started having the same problem. 

An example of the lines that are printing out are:

GET /DevMgmt/ProductStatusDyn.xml HTTP/1.1

HOST: localhost

GET /cdm/system/v1/status HTTP/1.1

HOST: localhost

Post /ipp/print HTTP/1.1

Content-Length: 187

Content-Type: application/ipp

HOST: localhost

etc.

We are unclear on what is triggering these weird printouts. They seem to happen randomly. 

We tried the following some of the suggestions online about unplugging the printer, modem, and computer and waiting 10+ minutes. That had no effect

We tried unchecking the "Show informational notifications for local printers" in the Advanced Tab of the Print Server Properties. This also had no impact.

I'm hoping that adding my situation will help an HP expert provide some advice or suggestions.

[Nal_NR]

Hi @Camper123,

Welcome to the HP Support Community. 

I'd be happy to help you! 

To provide you with an accurate solution, I'll need a few more details:

Have you recently made any changes before the issue started?

Have you tried to do a root-level uninstall and reinstall of the printer drivers?

Note: This could be compatibility issues with your Current OS.

In the meantime, let's try these steps here: 

Perform a Hard reset on the printer and make sure that the printer is connected directly to the wall outlet and not to the surge protector.

With the printer turned on, disconnect the power cord from the rear of the printer and also unplug the power cord from the wall outlet.

Remove USB cable, if present.

Wait for 2-3 minutes, press and hold the power button on your printer for about 30 seconds to remove any additional charge.

Now plug back the power cable straight to a wall outlet without any surge protector or an extension cord and then plug back the power cord to the printer.

Turn on the printer and wait till warm-up period finishes and the printer is idle.

Please follow the below steps this could fix the issue.

Open the Devices and Printers folder, right-click the HP UPD, and then select Properties.

Click the Device Settings tab.

In the Installable Options section, set Printer Status Notification to either Enable or Disable.

Click OK.

Figure : Enable or disable Printer Status Notifications

1. 

Once done, restart the printer and check. 

If the issue persists, I would suggest the next option would be to uninstall the printer from the root level and then reinstall them by following the steps below: 

• Press “Windows key” + “r” to get the “Run” window.
• Type "services.msc" to get Services – Go to “Print spooler” – Right-click and “Stop” the service.
• Now again open "Run" - Type “spool” and ok - Go to PRINTERS folder - delete everything in that folder.
• Go to services again - Start the print spooler.
• Now check for issue resolution.
• If the issue persists, also try clean installing the printer drivers. Here are the steps:
• First, unplug the USB cable from the printer if present.
• Go to Control panel – Programs and feature – Select all the HP LaserJet printer entries and uninstall them.
• Now go to Control panel – Devices and printer – Select all the printer entries and remove the device.
• Press the "windows key" + "r" to get the "Run" window open - Type "printui.exe /s" (There is a space between .exe & /) and press enter.
• Under print server properties, go to drivers - remove any entry there as well.
• Again, go to the Run window, type – “c:/programdata” – Go to Hewlett Packard folder, remove any printer-related folders & files.
• Restart your computer.

Please click here to download and install the software.

• Connect the USB cable if prompted and follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation.

If this does not help, I recommend you contact phone support for hardware issues.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted for further assistance.
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!

[CalgaryChef]

Thanks for the suggestions. I tried to follow them all and in the end, the problem was unchanged. I did have some challenges following some of the steps. They were:

1. In the Installable Options section, there was no option to set Printer Status Notification to either Enable or Disable.

2. I was able to uninstall the printer drivers for our printer but the ones in the list below were not able to be removed and all gave the same error when I tried.

Everything else was able to be done as you described.

In the end, If I print from notepad or Word, after the job finishes the printer displays "printing..." which after some time prints the garbage. If I print another job then part of the garbage prints first. I had mixed results pressing Cancel, on the printer, while it displayed printing... Sometimes it seemed to clear the garbage out of the buffer and other times it still seemed to print. We tried to closely watch the printer queue to see if something flashed by related to this garbage but nothing was visible.
We thought if we turned the printer off after we printed using the "on" button it might prevent these pages of garbage. The printer did shut down as normal, but a few minutes later it powered back up and printed the garbage. Pulling the USB cable seemed to do the trick but as others have said, that is not a good long-term solution.

Any other suggestions you have would be appreciated.

[Nal_NR]

Hi @CalgaryChef,

Welcome to the HP Support Community. 

I'd be happy to help you! 

  Fabulous analysis. Spectacular diagnosis of the issue before posting. Kudos to you for that.

This might require one-on-one interaction to fix the issue over the phone. 

For that to happen, we will give you additional instructions/information via Private Message.

Please check your inbox on the forums page for the private message.

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

[CalgaryChef]

I called the Tech Support number provided. They said that since the HP Photosmart 7760 is about 14 years old it is not supported. They recommended we use hp.com forums to get support and to consider getting a new printer. If I find a solution I'll update this post.