Printing to HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw no longer possible like it was previously

[User_09032021]

I have an HP Color LaserJet Pro M255dw less than one year old, an HP Photosmart C7280 and two Windows 10 PCs all on a local wireless LAN. From either Win 10 PC I can print over WiFi to the Photosmart without problem. A few months ago I used to be able to print Microsoft Word documents and PDFs and JPEGs from both PCs to the M255dw with a 100% success rate for anything I tried to print. However recently I cannot print anything from either PC with a 100% failure rate on both PCs.

I tried removing the printer as a device from both PCs then rebooted and added the printer back to both PCs but still cannot print anything to the M255dw from either PC. The HP Smart app is loaded on both Win 10 PCs and can communicate with the M255dw to view status such as toner levels, IP address, MAC, serial #, etc.. From either PC I can ping the M255dw and can also connect to the IP address of the printer through a web browser to view status in the browser so the M255dw is communicating over WiFi with no problem.

From one of the PCs I attempted to print multiple times while viewing the print queue and viewed the print job showing job status first of “Spooling”, then “Printing”, then “Error Printing” for everything attempted to print. I ran the Windows 10 Troubleshoot Printer, Troubleshooter function which checked the Spooler Service and any Spooler Service error log and other troubleshooting check activities but returned “Troubleshooter could not discover any problems”.

Also from the HP Smart app on one of the Win 10 PCs I attempted the “Print Documents” function attempting to print different PDF documents but that failed to print every time with the Windows printer queue showing a status of “Error – Printing” each time.

.

I also used an Apple iPhone to print multiple photos over WiFi without any problem.

How do I get the M255dw back to printing like it did before from both Win 10 PCs since it is an extremely expensive door stop right now.

[Jay_G24]

Hi @User_09032021,

 I'd be happy to assist you  

I understand you are unable to print from your windows 10pc's.

Let's try and uninstall the printer software from the root level on your PC and install the full feature printer software.

First, unplug the USB cable from the printer if present.

• Go to Control panel – Programs and feature – Select all the HP printer entries and uninstall them.
  • Now go to Control panel – Devices and printer – Select all the printer entries and remove the device.
  • Restart your computer.
  • Click the bottom-left Start button on desktop, type device manager in the search box and tap Device Manager on the menu.
  • Once in device manager, click on the view tab in the top & choose “Show hidden devices”.
  • Then from the device manager list, check the entries under “Printer” – If there are any entries, please right click and choose “uninstall” – In the confirm device un-install pop-up, make sure you select the box which says “Delete the driver software for this device". 
  • Also, check the entries under "printer queue" and "imaging devices" and repeat the same exercise. Delete any printer entry or any entry which says “Unknown device”.
  • Once done, close device-manger. Then press the "windows key" + "r" to get the "Run" window open - Type "printui.exe /s" and press enter.
  • Under print server properties, go to drivers - remove any entry there as well.
  • Again, go running window, type – “c:/programdata” – Go to Hewlett Packard folder, remove any printer-related folders & files.
  • Once done you can try cleaning out your temporary files and cached files. You can try using automated applications like some cleaner software's that you can download from the internet.
  • Now restart your computer again.
  • Open the Run window again, type “services.msc” and press ok to get the services window.
  • Scroll down to “Remote Procedure Call (RPC)” – right-click and go to properties. Make sure the service is started and the startup type is “Automatic”.
  • Now scroll up and go to “Function Discovery Provider Host” – right-click and select properties – Change the startup type to “manual” and start the service.
  • Repeat the same exercise on “Function Discovery Resource Publication” as well
  • Windows image acquisition stop and restart the service 

Reinstall the drivers from the Software and drivers page

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

And, Welcome to the HP Support Community

Please click “Accept as 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!

Have a great day! 

[User_09032021]

Thank you Jay_G24 for your quick response with very detailed steps.  I completed almost all steps by executing all bulleted steps but stopped to ask clarification questions before executing the step of "Reinstall the drivers from the Software and drivers page"  which I have not done yet.

I assume you want me to use the embedded hyperlink you provided to go to Driver Product Installation Software, scroll down to the HP Color Laserjet Pro M255dw/M255nw Printer Full Software Solution to download and install the 149.2 MB file.  I ask since there are other options of downloading different software such as Printer Basic Software Solution, Print and Scan Doctor for Windows, 5 choices of Universal Print Drivers for Windows, and Easy Start Printer Setup Software.

The web hyperlink provided also give an option to install the HP Smart app but that is already installed.  There were no Color LaserJet Pro M255dw printer entries in Control Panel, Programs and Features. There is no HP Smart app listed in Programs and Features so I could not delete the app.  However there is an “HP Update” listed in Programs and Features, which I think might be incorrectly named where that is actually the HP Smart app but I wasn’t sure since I don’t want to delete valid entries for the Photosmart C7280, only want to delete entries for the Color LaserJet Pro M255dw.

The Color LaserJet Pro M255dw is only used over WiFi so there is no USB cable.  The Color LaserJet Pro M255dw was not found in Control Panel, Devices and Printers since it had been deleted earlier during troubleshooting.

In Device Manager there was nothing called “Printer” but the closest to that was called “Multifunction adapters” which listed the Color LaserJet Pro M255dw so I right clicked and chose “Uninstall device” and after that was never prompted or allowed to “select the box which says “Delete the driver software for this device"”.  That option was only available in the beginning to choose either to delete the driver or uninstall the device; it was impossible to choose both options. 

The Color Laserjet Pro was not found under Imaging devices.

Device Manager, “Print queues” contained 2 entries of Color LaserJet Pro M255dw which were dehighlighted/grayed out not bold font, both were deleted..  Print queues did not contain “Unknown devices” but Other devices contained 2 entries of “Unknown device” so they were deleted.

I did not see any entries in Print Server Properties specifically for the Color LaserJet Pro M255dw. There were entries for HP Photosmart C7200 series and Photosmart C7200 series fax so I kept them.  I also did not remove the 2 Microsoft enhanced Point and Print compatibility entries for x86 and x64 Processors, Microsoft IPP Class Driver, Microsoft Print to PDF, Microsoft Software Printer Driver and Microsoft XPS Document Writer v4 since they were generic but not specific to the Color LaserJet Pro M255dw.

In C:\ProgramData\Hewlett-Packard there was a folder HP Print Settings containing 2 files:  HPeb7ljl.cfg and HPkr33ku.cfg. Both files only contained <device> and <config_file> of hpc7200t.exp with no other <device> entries in that file, and <config_file_version> was dated March 2007 which was multiple years before the Color LaserJet Pro M255dw was invented so I left both files alone.

I looked in C:\ProgramData\HP folder and found an HP ColorLaserJet M255-M256 folder I did not create containing a subfolder PDSMQ which had no files including no hidden files but deleted HP ColorLaserJet M255-M256 folder and subfolder anyway.

I used CCleaner Free to remove cookies and temporary files and restarted again.

Remote Procedure Call (RPC) was already started with Automatic startup type. Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Locator was not running and was set to manual but I did not change that.

Function Discovery Provider Host was already running and set to Automatic so I changed it to Manual but did not stop the process.

Function Discovery Resource Publication was already running with Automatic (Trigger Start) so I changed it to Manual and kept it running.  When I saved my change then Windows modified the Startup Type to Manual (Trigger Start)

Windows Image Acquisition was already running with Automatic startup so I stopped and started.

I can finish the steps once I have confirmation to download and install the HP Color Laserjet Pro M255dw/M255nw Printer Full Software Solution.

Thank you.

[Jay_G24]

Thank you for the detailed response.

Please install the HP Easy Start Printer Setup Software released on Sep 7, 2021.

Here is a link -https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-color-laserjet-pro-m255-m256-printer-series/2944...

Hope this helps!

Keep me posted!

[User_09032021]

1. Downloaded and ran HP Easy Start Printer Setup Software released on Sep 7, 2021.
2. Followed instructions to setup wireless printing on M255dw which overwrote previous setup since I had to type in new SSID and corresponding password, but it used that information to successfully authenticate onto the wireless LAN.
3. Printer displayed green checkmark indicating successful setup completed.
4. Presented with choice of 3 download options:
   1. HP Smart (Recommended)
   2. Full software
   3. Basic Software
5. Since HP Smart was “Recommended” I download and installed this even though it was already on the PC and started it.
6. Instructed to launch Printers & Scanners which I did.
7. Instructed to click Add a Printer or Scanner which I did.
8. Clicked on the M255dw that was detected on the WiFi network
9. Clicked on “Add Device”
10. Showed "Connecting" with a progress bar incrementing underneath.
11. Received error message “Driver is unavailable”, and now the printer is listed under Printers & scanners along with the Photosmart and Microsoft devices.
12. I can click on the M255dw and it gives me only one option to Remove device but I have not done that yet.  There is no option to "Open queue" or "Manage" that does appear on the Photosmart or Microsoft Print to PDF.  I cannot find where to update driver.
13. The M255dw status displayed under Printers & scanners stays constantly at "Driver is unavailable".  I can ping the printer, and I can also use a web browser to connect to http://(IP address) which displays HP Color LaserJet M255dw  so it is communicating over TCP/IP.

Not sure what to do next.

Thank you.

[Jay_G24]

The full software must be installed, could try installing the full-featured drivers?

Let me know!