Printer lost Instant Ink connection after 5/8/24 update to HP Smart app

[kimiye]

Printer has been working fine with Instant Ink for for ten (!) years with wired internet connection to router (not wireless, not USB to PC).  Was able to send jobs from several PCs on network.  Loaded the HP Smart app to my new Windows 11 PC on 4/22/2024. Connection was fine, jobs were flowing, and it's showing print history in app and online through the end of April.  

Today, repeatedly got the error message that the printer is not connected to internet / Instant Ink. The printer menu says it's connected to my local network, and I can send jobs to it which fail on Instant Ink connection. Rebooting printer changes nothing. Unplugging and replugging internet cable changes nothing. The HP Smart app on my PC can see the printer over my local network and show me the ink levels. It says it's online, but does note that it occasionally goes to sleep.

The only change I can find is an apparent update to the HP Smart app on 5/8/2024 on my Windows 11 PC. The lost connection error started since then and persists. 

I am still able to print by going to the printer and manually clearing the connection error message for each job, but what a pain! I'm afraid the printer will stop working if the connection to Instant Ink isn't restored soon.  I suspect something in the HP Smart app update broke the verification with Instant Ink. I really hope this isn't some attempt to force me to buy a new printer since this one is still working fine after ten years. 

FWIW, I've always used Instant Ink and have never installed any off brand or used ink cartridges.  My account is paid up to date.

[Irwin6]

Hi @kimiye,

Welcome to the HP Support Community.

Thank you for posting your query, I will be glad to help you.

I see that you are facing an issue with your printer that shows it is not connected to internet.

A) Please follow the steps below to perform a power drain.

1) Take out the cartridges

2) Unplug the power cord from the printer & wall.

3) Press and hold the power button down for 15 seconds and release the power button, wait for about 30 seconds.

4) Plug the power cord back into the printer and wall, ensure the printer is plugged into the wall & not into a surge protector.

5) Insert the cartridges back into the printer.

Remove the cartridges > Unplug the power cord > Wait for 30 seconds > Plug the power cord back in > Insert the cartridges

B) Kindly refer to the steps on this link to update the printer firmware and let me know if that resolves the issue.

C) If the issue still persists, refer to the steps from this link to further troubleshoot.

Please mark this post as “Accepted Solution” if the issue is resolved and if you feel this reply was helpful click “Yes”.

I hope this helps.

Take care and have a good day

Irwin6

HP Support

[Menmamazar]

Hi, I had the same problem, with another printer (HP LaserJet MFP M234dw, 3 months old). Between the 4th and 10th of May I barely used it, so I hadn't noticed the disconnection until today. (and anyway  the HP Smart app on windows said it was connected...) It seems it updated its firmware on the around the 8th of May (that is the date of a downloadable firmware update in the HP site). (I have a message in my iphone HP smart app that the printer updated its firmare)

Just looking around in the HP smart app (on windows 10), I went to printer configuration, then  advanced settings then HP web services. (there is a picture of a laptop with arrows connecting it to a printer and a cloud) I noticed it said something about HP Connected, and a blue button to "Activate" as if it was not (it should be). So i clicked on it and it now it says there "web services status: Active, Internet connection: Connected, Printer to connection to HP connected: connected.

And now entering on the instant ink site, the printer status is online and it shows a correct and updated history of printed pages. 

I think the firmware update may have "restored to default" that feature in the advanced settings or something like that

PD: I have the app in spanish so the names of the app configuration pages may be slightly different but i hope it is enough to locate them.

Hope that helps anyone 🙂

[kimiye]

Thanks for the detailed proposed solution.  However, as I suspected it might, the problem resolved itself within two days without me having to go through any of these time-consuming steps.  This means something must have changed on the HP side that restored their recognition of my printer and my Instant Ink subscription. 

I don't expect to have my suspicions verified, but this wouldn't be the first time that a corporation changed software that broke my installation, and then the problem mysteriously cleared without fanfare after I publicly pointed out the problem. 

[kimiye]

Thanks for taking the time to help me. I did look up the configuration you mentioned, but my smart app on Windows 11 did not offer the Activate button.

As it turns out, the problem resolved itself within a few days without me having to go through any steps to "fix" my printer.  Thanks also for verifying that I'm not the only user to experience this disconnection issue.