Firmware has major errors - HP Officejet Pro 9010 series

[KENW7EKB]

I have been having serious issues with this printer from practically the day we first bought it. First of all, the blue light that supposedly lets us know that the wireless system is working has never lit. Ever. Secondly, I find from the big operator's manual on the printer that the wireless unit is disconnected and never starts if the wired LAN cable is plugged in to its socket on the back of the printer, yet when I disconnect that, the system STILL never fires up the wireless unit.

Thirdly, sometimes, the wired-network works, but even then, Windows still reports the printer as being "offline".

At present, the only way we can use the printer is via its USB port.

Despite what has or has not been written in the manual about this, I suspect that if/when the USB connection is active NONE of the other interfaces will work, INCLUDING the wired LAN interface.

Although this printer is now fairly old, it seems to me that HP needs to do a MAJOR rewrite of the firmware for this printer.

We also own an older HP Officejet Pro 8610 and THAT printer has ALWAYS worked.

We have both printers "networked" but the 9010 has been a constant problem. SOMETIMES it will work, other times it will not. I would not recommend that anyone ever buy this printer.

I have repeatedly tried to access the special sub-menu in order to reset the printer, but THAT has been an ordeal and has seldom worked. It worked once, but never again.

Color me disgusted with this thing.

Ken Gordon

[KENW7EKB]

OK. From other documentation on this printer, the HP Officejet Pro 9016, it is clear that if one uses the USB connection, ALL OTHER interface connections are disabled.

However, removing the USB connection does NOT re-enable any of the now disabled interfaces.

IMHO this is a really very poor way of making this printer available. In my opinion, as a long-time (30 years) IT Professional, ALL interfaces should be available at all times.

I would think that a new firmware upgrade should permit this.

Despite removing the USB connection, NONE of the other interfaces will re-activate. The interface we really MUST have available is the wired-network one, since there are several other computers in our small network who need to use this printer.

Not having the wired interface available makes this printer essentially useless for anyone but the one who has the USB connection immediately available.

I am reluctant to do a full reset on the printer since I do not know what the full result entails, and I do not want to "brick" the printer. I have done the Semi-Full Reset on it twice and doing this does NOT reactivate the other interfaces.

Please advise.

Ken Gordon

[KENW7EKB]

The BIG problem with no longer having the wired interface active and available is that 1) I can no longer receive any firmware upgrade from HP, and 2) my Instant Ink system will no longer work.

In order to update the firmware, I would need that file sent to me via e-mail or downloadable from HP's website somewhere, and then I would have to manually load that into the printer. This is fraught with possible errors and I really don't want to attempt it. Yet without an updated firmware which would address all these issues, the printer is, essentially, useless to our office.

The only interface that continues to work OTHER THAN the USB interface is the Wifi-Direct one, which I find to be extremely odd.

Ken Gordon

[KENW7EKB]

For HP Support:

I have unplugged the printer from is AC power source, and have left it unplugged over night. Result: no change. I have turned it off and left it overnight. Result: no change.

Is it true that by activating Wifi-Direct, all other interfaces are automatically disabled?

Is there danger of "bricking" the printer by doing a full reset?

What information must be re-entered into the printer after doing a full reset?

PLEASE ADVISE.

Ken Gordon

[KENW7EKB · Accepted solution]

OK. After some 4 days of work on this problem, and with help from our son, Colin, who is an IT Pro, we have a partial solution: there are at least two things which need to be updated in the firmware for this printer, an HP Officejet Pro 9016 All-in-one.

1) The security features need to be updated so that the printer recognizes the new WPA-3 data from a network-attached device, such as a router.

2) The firmware needs to be modified so that the printer's interfaces, wireless, NIC, and USB can all be used simultaneously, if necessary. This MAY not be able to be done, but if it can, that would most certainly help the user in a big way.

In my case, the information that the Support Folks at HP gave me was a help, but did not directly address the issue here.

First of all, the small blue light which would indicate that the wireless interface was working has NEVER, EVER lit. I now believe that this is, most likely, a hardware failure in my particular printer. I only discovered that my many attempts to reset the network devices to their default settings from the printer's front panel had actually worked when I accidentally printed off a report from the printer which detailed the wireless device's settings. This reported that the wireless interface was ON, the signal from the router was GOOD, but there was no connection to it.

Secondly, when attempting to do the automatic wireless setup, trying to connect to our router, each time it failed, with the notification that the router had "no security". This seemed to indicate to me that the wireless interface itself had failed. This was not the case. Our son and I finally decided to change the security settings in the router to the older WPA settings, and suddenly, everything worked.

From data posted on HP's website concerning the 9010 series, it finally became clear that attaching any other interface would AUTOMATICALLY de-activate any other interface. For instance, if the wireless interface is working, and you then plug a cable into the back-panel NIC connector, that automatically disables the wireless interface. In like manner, if you (out of desperation) decide to try to use the USB interface, by plugging a USB cable from your computer into the USB socket on the back of the printer, THAT disables the printer's NIC.

In short, the feedback from the printer was NOT sufficient for me to really tell what was actually going on with my actions to correct my issue.

All is well, now, and I am finished with this thread. I hope my experiences will help someone else here.

Ken Gordon