Alignment over and over and over on Officejet Pro 8500 A909a

[lnj]

Officejet Pro 8500 A909a, USB connected with iMac running OSX (10.6.5), when printeris  turned on, does diagnostic check, then goes to alignment.  alignment page prints, then display still says "aligning printer" and it sits there for several minutes, at which point the error message comes up saying "alignment failed."  It says to press "ok" to continue, at which point the display goes to usual standby mode.  I then try to print,a document, at which point the printer goes back to "aligning printer."  Every time I try to print, it goes to alignment. (Sometimes I get the one print out before it actually starts printing the alignment page.)  I tried the reset printing systems option in System Preferences, but no good.  I tried the usual reset procedure (unplugging, etc.) - no good.  Firmware version is DLM1FN0842BR.  Is there a hard reset?  Would ink quantities be a contributing factor?  (Cyan is depleted.)  I was just issued this printer at work, but before I buy $100 worth of new ink cartridges, I want to ensure the printer works.  Already, the brand new HP cartridge I bought (originally only yellow was depleted) is now half empty and I have yet to print more than 2-3 documents.   Any ideas?

[Daniel_L]

Hey Inj,

You may want to take a look at this article to get this issue resolved:

http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01624398

Hope this helps!

[lnj]

Thanks. Definitely gives the factors to consider. So far has not resolved, but will see. Hopefully it does not cost all my ink just to get the printer to be able to print (in time to replace inks and start all over again!).

[lnj]

Sorry...new data though.  I have now completey used up (according to the printer) a brand new ($20) HP yellow cartridge in the recurring head cleaning/alignments/etc.  And the printer still hasn't printed anything besides its own tests! The printer diagnostics claim the print hears are both "good" (not "fair" or worse).  And HP -  in its infinite wisdom has made it very difficult to use anything besides HP refills (at outrageously high costs) - so this whole exercise is moving quickly to the E-Waste bin - and we'll just buy some other brand from now on.  (Can you imagine buying a Camero and then having to buy only Chevy gas, oil, tires, etc.?)  I was really hopeful that this printer would work, but it is so "idiot proof" that it is idiotic itself.  (What's wild to me, by the way, is the alignment pages look GREAT, but the printer itself won't accept them.  Is there no way to just bypass or hack through all this stuff?)  Anyway, if there is no way to do a hard reset (not just unplugging) or some other major change, I guess we are through.

[scot008]

Hopefully, those at HP responsible for design and release of the HP Officejet pro 8500A are no longer working for the company.  My printer suffered the same problem discussed here and several others.  When it worked, it worked well, but it was a seriously aggravating experience.

I decided to switch printer brands after several decades of loyalty to HP.  However, I encountered a knowledgeable sales person at OfficeMax who was a retired aerospace engineer and persuaded me to purchase the HP Officejet pro 8600.  He owned both printers, and he agreed that the 8500 was poorly designed.  He, like me, was disillusioned with HP after decades of loyalty.  Unlike me, the retired engineer did some research and concluded that HP was appropriately humbled by the many complaints about the 8500 and had corrected all of the problems in the all-new 8600.  He purchased an 8600 and was so impressed that he persuaded his father to get one.  He told me there are a number of reasons why the 8600 is the best ink jet printer on the market, including direct delivery of ink to the printheads and lower cost-per-page color printing.

I took a chance, purchased and 8600, and do not regret it.  I put the 8600 to heavy use, printing over 1,000 co

[rodonisle]

Been thru all the help vids and pages and blew $$ on support phone call - and HOURS of frustration.  The software in this 8500 is designed to die and not to be re-setable.  The printer is physically fine (prints test and alignment) but HP says it is "worn out" and only designed to last 3-5 years, while all that is wrong is the software can't be reset to solve most ofl the  issues repeated in these forums.  If HP thinks selling us this ink sucking money pit and then making it impossible to reset the software will have us running out to get an "improved" HP printer - well only if PT Barnum was correct.

Admit to your errors HP and offer some correction or kiss your users (and repeat buyers) good bye.  Good bye.

[rodonisle]

 PT Barnum was correct.   Good luck.

[JKR2]

This worked for me, please watch:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jeBbsvU6rA

[Duane_D]

Hi!  Thank you for the update. 

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