Printer working Scanner not working after changing to a static ip address

[Carpenter47]

I have an HP 7500A wide format printer.  I recently added a second router at my house to extend my wifi signal.  After that, the printer kept dropping the network connection.  So I set a static ip address of 192.168.1.250 for the printer.  Now the network connection seems solid, but when I try to scan from the Scan3 software on my Mac, it says it cannot find the printer.  I have a MacPro running OS X 7.5.  Thanks for any help.  

[Sunshyn2005]

Hi @Carpenter47 

It sounds to me like the scan software is looking for the printer with the previous IP address. In the Scan3 software you will need to Browse devices ad re-select your printer.

Honestly, there are a few versions of the HP Scan, there was HP Scan, Scan3, Scan pro and so forth. I don't remember exactly where the Browse Device is in your version. If you are unsure of where to find the 'Browse Devices' option, take a look at the following screen shot.

If your scan software does not look like this, you may need to click on HP Scan, next to the Apple icon on the top left, then select Preferences, and look for Browse Devices in the preferences section. Once the software reconnects with the printer you should have no further difficulty.

If you have any issue, let me know. If you can not find your 'Browse Devices' please post a screenshot for me to see to help jog my memory of the software.

[Carpenter47]

Thanks Sunshyn.   I found a browse printers window, but it had nothing in it to select.  Also, my iphone and ipad can no longer connect wirelessly to my printer now that I have changed to the static IP address.  Anything else I could try?  Thanks.  

[Sunshyn2005]

Okay, please open an internet browser on your devices and enter 192.168.1.250 into the address bar. If the printers Embedded Web Server page opens the devices are on the same network, if it doesn't we will reboot the network with the following steps;

1. Leave the router on, unplug the power cable
2. Leave the printer on, unplug the power cable
3. Turn off all the devices, computer, iPhone, iPad
4. Wait 1 minute
5. Plug the router back in and wait for the lights to become solid
6. Plug the printer in and wait for it to boot up
7. Turn on each device, one at a time

Now try entering 192.168.1.250 into the browsers again. If the page loads you should be able to print and scan from each device. If not let me know.

You may find some helpful information in the following document too while you wait to hear back from me; Printer Does Not Maintain Wireless Connection

[Carpenter47]

Ok, when I open the device 192.168.1.250 in Chrome, it opens, in Safari, in does not.  I am able to scan from the browser page.  In Scan 3, it still lists no devices when I open 'browse devices".   So when scanning from Scan 3, it still cannot find the device.  Since the device opened in Chrome, I did not try the network reboot.  Should I try that?  

Thanks.  

[Sunshyn2005]

I think we should go ahead and do the network reboot. Give it a try and let me know the outcome. Thanks. 🙂

[Carpenter47]

Sorry for the long delay - I had to go out of town.  I tried the reboot, but the computer still cannot find the scanner.  Also, our wireless devices can still not locate the printer.  Any other ideas?  Thanks.  

[Carpenter47]

Also, I went into the Scan 3 software to "browse devices", and it lists nothing there.  

[Sunshyn2005]

Hi @Carpenter47 

I am sorry to hear the issue is not yet resolved. Let's try something different. I have a feeling the issue might be related to the static IP address.  Please complete the following steps.

1. From the Home screen on the printer control panel, touch the Right Arrow button () to display the second navigation screen.
2. Touch the Network icon.
3. Touch the Down Arrow () to select Restore Network Defaults, and then touch Yes to confirm that you want to restore the network defaults for the printer.
4. Return to the second navigation screen, and then touch the Down Arrow to select Wireless.
5. Touch the Down Arrow to select Wireless Radio, and then touch Off to turn off the wireless radio on the printer.
6. Return to the Wireless Radio menu item, and then touch On to turn the wireless radio back on.

Now put the printer back on the network using the steps below;

1. On the printer control panel, touch the Right Arrow (), and then touch Network.
2. Touch Wireless, touch Wireless Setup Wizard, and then touch OK.
3. Touch the name of your network.
   If the list does not contain your network name, follow these steps to enter it manually:
   Touch Enter New Network Name (SSID).
   Enter your network name. Make sure that you type the uppercase (capital) and lowercase (small) letters exactly. Otherwise, the wireless connection will fail.
   When you finish entering the new network name, touch Done, and then touch OK.
   Touch Infrastructure, and then touch WEP encryption or WPA encryption.
   If you do not want to use encryption (a security password), touch No, my network does not use encryption.
4. If prompted, enter the WEP or WPA key, touch Done, and then touch OK to confirm. The printer attempts to connect to the network.

- Source for these wireless troubleshooting steps: Wireless & network section of the 7500a support page

At this point, you should now be able to Browse devices in the Scan software and see the printer. I understand you created a static IP because of having a second router, but let's back peddle for a moment to see if we can get the scanning working again. Typically having a second router causes issues as the printer detects 2 access points and I guess you could say 'it gets confused, but we will see what happens with a automatic IP address and go from there.

[Carpenter47]

Thanks Sunshyn.  I did all that, and am now back to my original problem - which was what inspired me to set up a static ip address for the printer in the first place:  my computer cannot find the printer.  Strangely, my iphone cannot find it after the default restore either.

 I wonder if the issue with the static ip has something to do with how I set up the static ip address. After giving the printer the new address in the browser,  I went to System Preferences, Print and scan.  I then deleted the printer, and re-added it.  I went to IP on the menu bar, and added the static IP address, under Protocol I selected HP Jetdirect - Socket.  When I tried to set it up using IPP, I got an error message saying "unable to connect to '192.168.1.250' due to an error".  It worked using HP Jetdirect - Socket, so I went ahead and set it up that way.