Photosmart 6525 Internet Not Connected about 3 minutes after turning on

[rodavis44]

The Network Monitor trace revealed two different names being used by name registration and resolution protocols. They are the Device Name HPEC9A743A5BFE and Server Name HP3A5BFE.  The Device Name is the MAC address preceded by "HP" and is apparently entered by the printer installation software.  The Server Name is the printer's Hostname that I left set to the factory default.   

So I changed the printer's Hostname to agree with the Device Name.  Then the trace showed HPEC9A743A5BFE for all name registration and resolution protocol from the printer's IP address, including LLMNR (Link Local Multicast Name Resolution) to Destination 224.0.0.252 and BROWSER to Destination 192.168.1.255 (Broadcast port) that the printer itself was handling Workstation and File Server service for this name.

But even after making that change, the printer still lost the network connection after a few minutes.  I can't see any reason for it dropping off the network, unless it's a timeout waiting for a response to NbtNs registration requests.  That's a legacy protocol apparently left in by HP for Windows machines to register the name in PC NetBIOS.  Some web sources say it requires a response and others say it doesn't.  It should just take a few seconds of wait time to see if a failure response arrives to indicate the name is already in use.

That's one funny.  Another funny I saw is when I started cmd.exe and checked name resolution using the nbtstat -r and could see 56 names resolved but nbtstat -n only displayed the originally registered 6 names.  Question if HPEC9A743A5BFE is too long a name for NetBIOS to store in the name table?  The things is, I can't figure out how to change the Device Name to be the same as the shorter original Host Name (HP3A5BFE).

There's a lot of protocol indicating that everything is working OK.  I can see UDP messages to Destination 224.0.0.251, port 5353 (Multicast DNS port number) and to 239.255.255.250 (IPv4 Site-Local Address).  In addition, there are WSDiscovery:Hello Message (Web Services Dynamic Discovery)as well as SSDP (Simple Service Discovery Protocol) to 239.255.255.250.  I wonder if all of this is really necessary for ePrint and AirPrint?  Anyway, subsequent TCP messages contain what looks to me like appropriate Sync, Ack and Finish flags.  

From the protocol trace I can better measure the time that the printer is connected.  The IGMP:IGMPv2 Membership Report, for example, in one protocol trace at 1:13:28 PM to a final UDP message at 1:15:37 PM.  So it's about 129 seconds, probably 128 seconds if some binary timer is involved in knocking down the network connection.

I don't see how everything can work fine for several minutes and then stop working.  During that first few minutes after powering on the printer I can print wirelessly from my Notebook, print out an e-mail and attachment through ePrint and also print from my iPad using AirPrint!

[mustacheman]

I'm having the same problem. While following the 'Online Support' instructions to delete and add back the printer, a print in the queue printed.  At the end of the install it asked for a test print, it said printer not connected.

Is anyone working on this?  If no resolution by this weekend, it's going back.

[Herculean]

Another option would be to change the router channel to 11. This has been known to cause these types of intermittent connectivity issues.

Last but not least, upgrade the firmware on your router thru the router web server or thru their support website.


Thanks.

[rodavis44]

Updating the router's firmware was the first thing I did and even with the latest version installed the printer still lost network connection after a few minutes.  Over the course of 10 days of testing, I tried channel 11 and also channel 1.  Same result.  I've tried static IP address outside the range of LAN IP addresses assigned on the router.  Also, tried reserved IP address within the range because my router allows entering the printer's MAC address for it but not for static IP address.  Yesterday I contacted Sam's Club Technical Support and couldn't determine anything else I could try.  Their tech rep said they have a lab and would try to setting up a printer on their network with an external protocol analyzer to see what's happening.  I can only trace with Microsoft's Network Monitor 3.4 if the printer is installed on the same Notebook PC.  Actually, those NtbNs protocol messages I mentioned seeing are probably being sent out by the printer even if there isn't a PC on the network because it doesn't know if there is or not.  So it really should not be looking for an acknowledgement.

[Herculean]

Hi rodavis44,

Sorry to hear you are still experiencing these issues.

Another free protocol analyzer tool you can use is Wireshark - http://www.wireshark.org/download.html

If the Sam's technicians are able to stay connected within their system, then I suspect your router is the issue.

Regards.

[mustacheman]

RODavis,

I called HP support.  After about an hour of doing everything I did, he said his supervisor told him it is a McAfee friewall problem.  Then tried to sell me a $60 fee from HP Smart Friend.

I called McAfee.  He took remote access, restored the firewall settings and the printer ran. 

Hope it works for you.

[rodavis44]

During the first few minutes after powering up, I can run the Print and Scan Doctor and it doesn't see any problems with my Norton firewall.  Besides, as I stated previously, my Notebook doesn't even have to be on the network for this problem to occur.  It happens with AirPrint and ePrint and they should work regardless of any PC being on the network or not.  As far as the router's firewall is concerned, I did try it with open NAT filtering instead of secure.  Printer still lost network connection.  Although my router also has SPI (Stateful Packet Inspection), I didn't try disabling it because that's mainly for denial of service attacks and I don't believe it should affect printer operation, especially when it's in the same network.

[rodavis44]

I returned the HP 6525 printer to Sam's Club for a full refund.  Then I picked up an Epson Workforce WF-2540 for $89.  My first Epson printer since the old dot-matrix days.  I might have bought another model HP printer but I wanted one with an Ethernet port just in case I encountered the same problem with the Epson.  But all HP models with an Ethernet port are too big to go in my desk cubby-hole.

Well, the Epson installation was quick and easy.  Within 30 minutes after taking it out of the box it was working over my wireless network.  I didn't need to use the Ethernet port to connect it to my router.

The Epson stayed working too.  It even stayed up during its first firmware update!  No static or reserved IP address.  No disabling the firewall.   Same router configuration I had when I first started installing the HP 6525.  After returning it, I had reconfigured my router back to its original settings, except I left SSDI broadcast enabled  to allow easier discovery of my new network devices in the future.

After looking over a protocol trace done when powering up the Epson, I believe I was on the right track with the Device/Server name mismatch issue.  The Epson uses the same name for everything.  

Looking back at the HP 6525 trace done after I changed its Device Name HP3A5BFF to match the Server Name HPEC9A743A5BFE, I was still getting HP3A5BFF in the LLMNR message (Link-Local Multicast Name Resolution).  I think it was this mismatch that caused the printer to drop its network connection after a few minutes.

The Device/Server name mismatch may be due to something that was downloaded to the printer during installation.  As  I stated before, I wanted to change the Server Name to agree with the Device Name HP3A5BFF but I couldn't see anywhere it could be changed.  This kind of name mismatch shouldn't have happened in the first place.

So this problem was not my router and it was not my Windows 7 Notebook.  It was the printer after all.  I don't know if the Server Name is configured by installation software or if it's in the firmware.  But HP needs to look at this issue and determine how such a name mismatch can occur between the Server Name and the Device Name.

[VC10Rocks]

I have EXACTLY the same issue even down to the 3 seconds and also have a Netgear Router, I reckon HP are fully aware of this issue but wont say anything for commercial reasons. The problem is either with the router or the printer. I have never had any issue with my router which I have been using for 5 years. During that time i ran an HP3310 using wireless and had no problem. I can easily use the printer on USB, but unfortunatly no one in the house hold can print. I guess HP would be very happy if we all went out a bought a printer each!!

[VC10Rocks]

So if HP make a product that does not work with certain Netgear routers we have to buy a new router, while HP's competitors seem to be able to make printers that dont have this issue. The fact so many people with Netgear routers are having the same issue with THIS family of printers is convincing this is a class issue. I doubt HP will bother to even try and fix it, there will be a new range out in 6 months.