Trouble updating firmware on LaserJet 4100

[DCC500]

Hello all,

Looks like I may have put my topic in the wrong forum. I probably should have put my issue here in the enterprise forum. If anyone could take a look at my issue and update it (there or here, I'm subscribed to both topics) I would appreciate it.

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Printing-Issues-Troubleshooting/laserjet-4100-firmware-unable-to-updat...

If an admin can move my post over to this forum (or wherever it belongs) so that the appropriate people see it I'd appreciate that too!

Sorry, new to these forums and discovered the 'user' forums before I found the 'enterprise' forums.

Thanks,

-Derek

[printer_guy]

Hello Derek, I am an HP Support Engineer. I am speaking for myself and not for HP but I believe that I can assist you.

The LaserJet 4100 series firmware wasn't flashable; to update the firmware required replacing a DIMM installed on the formatter.  I don't subscribe to the original forum this was posted to so I am adding my response here.  The symptomatic behavior you describe sounds like "page spew". 

What driver and version are you using and what is the OS?

[DCC500]

Hi,
Thanks for the reply. The 'page spew' happens on occasion from different machines on our network. We are using the PCL6 Universal Print driver on most of the systems, I'm not certain that they all have the same version. Some are -32 and some are -64 bit.
I didn't realize it was a DIMM firmware. That explains why I can't update it. Odd that I could download a firmware and there are instructions included to update it via FTP and the JetDirect interface if it's not actually updatable. Is that DIMM even still purchasable or is that out of production?
Thanks,
-Derek

[davidzuts]

Since this is an older printer, I would use the pcl5 or postscript driver rather than pcl6. Also if you still have an issue I would check on the condition of the jet direct card as you could be having a communication issue. I do not know where you downloaded the firmware upgrade since it has never been available on the hp site since it is not flashable.

[printer_guy · Accepted solution]

Hello Derek Cunningham, I am an HP Support Engineer. I am speaking for myself and not for HP but I believe that I can assist you.

Well, it took some digging.  The last firmware release that I could find was bit release August 2, 2003 (version 1.040.2) part # C4168-67907 listed as "KIT-ROC DIMM HPCS".   That said, as of March 31, 2009 the product no longer has support and service parts may no longer be available.  I gathered this information per your request directly - however, don't believe that updating the firmware will resolve the "page spew" issue reported.  I went through the firmware fix list for the various firmware DIMM releases and didn't see anything matching your symptomatic behavior.

If your print work-flow is point-and-print (clients printing through a print server) please ensure the server and clients drivers match.  You can always remove the client printer connection and reestablish to ensure the matching binaries vend.  Version of driver is important as older device specific drivers would not be supported or even stable with current operating systems.  I would suggest switching to the Microsoft OS inbox driver for testing.

Suggestions were made to try PCL 5 or PS, I think the critical thing here is to ensure you are using the latest available driver for your product and OS.

[DCC500]

Hi,

I figured out what happened. I simply went to the HP site and did a search for "Laserjet 4100 firmware". What I find is actually Laserjet 4100mfp printer firmware, not the old LaserJet 4100N.

http://h20565.www2.hp.com/portal/site/hpsc/template.PAGE/public/psi/swdDetails/?lang=en&cc=US&swItem...

Our users that do go through our print server all have the same driver. Some of the systems print to a local TCP/IP port though, and I'm not entirely positive that those all have the same driver. We are going to update our print server in the near future to a 64 bit OS and I will have to make sure both 32 and 64 bit drivers are avaiable from the server. (current print server is a 2008 32-bit OS and only serves out 32 bit drivers so new 64 bit Windows won't use the print server)

But that's a different topic.

Thanks all for helping clear me up on our 4100. I was confused but now I understand!

[DCC500]

printer_guy, wow! That's great information. As you can see from the previous post I had the wrong printer I was trying to download firmware for. The jetdirect cards seem to be okay but I'll take a closer look next time someone has the page spew problem.

Thanks a lot for the help. At this point it's probably not worth going after the firmware updates anyway. I hope in the near future we can upgrade to a newer printer in those spots anyway. Too bad as the 4100 just won't quit!

[printer_guy]

Hello Derek Cunningham, I am an HP Support Engineer. I am speaking for myself and not for HP but I believe that I can assist you.

Glad I could help!  If you want to chase the page spew issue later down the road feel free to post again and the community will do its best to assist.