79 Service error code

[Oscar98008]

Turn off your house Wi-Fi. if the  printer can connect to the network it will give you time to turn it off in the printer network settings.

[LJJP]

I have the same issue with my M281fdw after the last upgrade.  You can reinitialize the software and turn off the wi-fi by putting your finger in the lower right side of the printer control panel as the system boots up. This will take a few minutes.  The issue is when you try and print when the wireless is turned on.  This includes not only when you try to print from your PC but also if you try to print an internal 281 document.  WiFi Direct does work, and it works as a connected printer if the Wi Fi is turned off.  

I agree HO needs to resolve this.

[ckobayashi]

The firmware update has been removed from the downloads section, hopefully they address a solution soon. 

[LJJP]

I think I found a solution from a Reddit user. Install a older version of the firmware.  At least it has worked for me. Here is the link  Hope it works for you too.

https://www.reddit.com/r/printers/comments/jpgpp3/hp_laserjet_pro_m280_m281_printer_series_20200612/...

[ShellyG63]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I've been struggling with this issue for 2 days! I am currently set up with the USB cable. Once I run the updates can I turn the wifi back on?  

[csprinter1]

Wifi can remain on, but you might want to keep printer settings to NOT allow updates, at least until a new firmware update is released.  Although it does appear that HP is no longer pushing out the bad firmware update.

[JohnGerling]

Thanks to all who suggested and confirmed the solution to turn off wifi. It worked for me and I am now able to print and scan again via USB as before. However, hoping that a wired ethernet connection might work I connected the ethernet cable and the cyclical 79 service error returned same as before. Disconnecting completing from the network is the only solution for me. 

But if indeed the root cause is a bad firmware update and firmware updates can only be administered via a network connection, I am basically screwed because there is no way to repair the damage HP caused to my printer. Is that how others see it?

[csprinter1]

If you have your wifi turned off, do not make the ethernet connection for internet, but connect the printer to a PC with internet access via USB.  Then you can follow the Reddit solution described above by downloading the previous firmware version and pointing that installation software to your printer that is connected to the PC.  First step is to turn off wifi and not allow the ethernet connection so the error code condition will stop.

[csprinter1]

Essentially, you are downloading the firmware downgrade app on your PC and running it on the PC with the printer connected via USB.  Wifi turned off on the printer, and no ethernet network connection for the printer.