Can't clear paper jam

[rpsguy]

Deskjet F380 All-In-One printer on Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit system:

Had paper jam and I pulled paper out from the front. Now I can’t reset or clear the printer to work. Followed all steps in HP online support and it will print test sheets but will not printer documents, still indicating “paper jam” on the device.  

[X-23]

Hello @rpsguy,

Welcome to the HP Support Forums!

I understand that you're getting a Paper Jam message on the front panel of your HP Deskjet F380 All-in-One Printer. I would like to offer my assistance today with resolving this issue. Thank you for including in your post that you are able to successfully print test pages and you have ran through all the troubleshooting steps to no avail. At this point I am going to have you check the printer one final time for any jams or debris to ensure that nothing was missed. Be aware that removing jams from the front of the printer can cause damage to the print mechanism. Because you had removed the jam by pulling the jammed paper out from the front there is a chance that a hardware print mechanism is now occuring.

To start can I please have you click here to access the Paper Jam troubleshooting steps. Once the support document opens please review the steps to verify that nothing has been missed. Even the tiniest piece of ripped paper or debris within the printers paper path can cause Paper Jam errors.

If you have confirmed that there is nothing inside of your printer, than it would appear that your printer has encountered a print mechanism hardware failure from which it cannot recover. I would recommend at this point contacting our Technical Support queue by phone to explore additional options.

HP Technical Support can be reached at: 800-474-6836.

If you live outside the US/Canada Region, please click the link below to get the support number for your region.

HP Worldwide Contact

Please let me know if the steps I provided resolve your issue. Best of luck! 🙂

[rpsguy]

Thanks for the responses X-23. I reviewed and completed again all the troubleshooting steps as you suggested but didn't help.   I will call the 800 number you suggested but I'm not optimistic since this printer is several years old and my guess is HP will suggest I simply replacing it.   I don't do much printing so I didn't want to purchase a new printer.

What I don't understand is how it can print a "Test Page" and the mechanism hardware works fine but it won't clear "jam" indication on the Control Panel-Hardware-printers, which by the way is the Microsoft page on the Control Panel of my computer; I was never able to get the HP printer window to appear although I get the HP window for my HP Scanjet 4050, sorry I digressing.

Is this mechanism hardware something that can possible be repaired?  thanks again for your help. rpsguy

[X-23]

Hey @rpsguy,

Thanks for getting back to me regarding this issue. I'm sorry to hear that the Paper Jam troubleshooting steps I provided failed to resolve your issue.

I must apologize for the referral for the defective print mechanism. I was under the assumption from your first post that the device (printer) shows a 'paper jam' message still, even though you were able to print Test Pages. If the computer actually displays the 'Paper Jam' message under the Devices and Printers folder for your HP Deskjet, this could indicate a communication issue with the computer. The computer may not be recognizing the hardware issue on your printer as resolved. Can I please have you follow the steps below to resolve this communication issue.

Please disconnect the USB Cable before proceeding.

Step 1: Uninstall Drivers:

1. Click on your Start menu
2. Select All Programs
3. Select the HP folder
4. Select your HP Deskjet
5. Select Uninstall

Please follow the onscreen instructions to complete the uninstall. Once the uninstall is complete please proceed to the next step.

Step 2: Clear Temp Folder:

1. Click on your Start menu
2. In the 'search programs and files' box located right above Start after you click on it, type %temp% and hit enter on your keyboard
3. When the Temp folder opens, select Ctrl + A at the same time on your keyboard. Everything in this folder will now highlight.
4. Select the 'delete' button on your keyboard. The Temp folder contains temporary internet files. No actual files or folders on your computer will be affected by deleting the Temp files. Should a Temp file still be used than you will automatically get the pop up to 'skip' that item.
5. Close the Temp folder once it is emptied
6. Right click the Recycling Bin on your desktop and select Empty Recycling Bin

Step 3: Install Drivers:

1. Please click here to download the latest drivers for your printer
2. Once the website opens please select the Download button on the top left
3. Once the download is complete follow the onscreen instructions to reinstall your printer
4. If using a USB Cable connection, do not plug in the USB Cable until the installer prompts you to

Once the installation is complete please test printing again to verify if the false Paper Jam error is resolved on the computer.

Please respond to this post with the result of your software and driver troubleshooting. Good luck! 🙂

[rpsguy]

Thanks for response x-23,

When I open the “All Programs” and open the HP folder there is no “HP Deskjet” There is: HP Solution Center; HP Update; Folder: HP Potosmart Essentials and inside: HP Potosmart Essentials 3.5 and Uninstall HP Potosmart Essentials 3.5. Folder: Scanjet with another folder and  varies elements related to my Scanjet, but nothing related the Deskjet 380?   Hopefully you can see the image I inserted below which shows my completing the first step in your response. This printer would show up as an HP thing on my old computer but when I got this new laptop with Windows 7 it switched to the windows windows for all things related to the printer. I tried to find a way to change back to the HP view so I could see ink levels, which the windows view never showed, but without success.

I cleared the Temp folder, if exception of a few things that I had to "skip" which are related to Adobe stuff.

I can go to Windows-devices and remove the printer put apparently not a HP place?

[X-23]

Hey @rpsguy,

Because you do not have an HP Deskjet F380 option under the HP folder that indicates that the Full Feature driver may never have been properly installed on your Windows 7 computer. Can I please have you follow the steps below to manually remove the driver and reinstall.

Step 1: Remove Driver:

1. Click on your Start menu

2. Select Devices and Printers

3. Right click on your HP Deskjet and select 'Remove' or 'Delete Device'

4. Once the printer is gone, click on any device in the Devices and Printers folder once just to highlight it.

5. Click Print Server Properties at the top.

6. Click on the Drivers tab

7. Click on your HP Deskjet

8. Select Remove at the bottom

9. In the Remove Driver and Package window select 'Remove Driver Only' and select OK.

10. Click Apply and OK

11. Close Devices and Printers

Step 2: Install Drivers:

1. Please click here to download the latest drivers for your printer
2. Once the website opens please select the Download button on the top left
3. Once the download is complete follow the onscreen instructions to reinstall your printer
4. If using a USB Cable connection, do not plug in the USB Cable until the installer prompts you to

Once the installation is complete please test printing again to verify if the false Paper Jam error is resolved on the computer.

Please let me know if these steps work for you. I look forward to hearing from you! 🙂

[rpsguy]

I tried but got a message that the Driver con't be removed/deleted because it was in use? See screen shots below as I went through your suggested steps.

[rpsguy]

If you can't red the screen shots let me know I'll send larger images

[rpsguy]

I have been tring to figure how this printer Driver would show "in use" and maybe it's a device I have set up like a switch to go between two computers.  I've showed some screen shots below of what I believe is this device. I also have a UBS splitter or expander (not sure what it's called) that plugs into a USB port and then let's or provides several USB ports for other things.

 

[X-23]

Hey @rpsguy,

Thank you for getting back to me. The pictures that you have provided are very helpful.

The 'In Use' message may be due to the print system within your computer. I'm going to have you check the Print Spooler on your Windows system to ensure that no corrupted print jobs are in there preventing us from removing your print driver.

1. Click on your Start menu
2. In the 'search programs and files' box type services.msc
3. Hit enter on your keyboard
4. When the Services window opens scroll down until you see Print Spooler. Click on Print Spooler once just to highlight it.
5. In the top left click on Stop to stop the Print Spooler service.
6. Minimize the Services window. We will need to come back here.
7. Click on your Start menu again
8. Select Computer
9. Select your C Drive
10. Select the Windows folder
11. Click on System32
12. Click on Spool
13. Click PRINTERS. You may get a permissions warning. Just hit 'continue' on this.
14. The PRINTERS folder should be empty. If there is anything in this folder, right click and 'delete' it.
15. Once the PRINTERS folder is empty, close this window.
16. Reopen the Services window we previously minimized
17. Click on Print Spooler again just to highlight it
18. Select 'Start' in the top left hand corner
19. Once the Print Spooler is Started, close the window

USB splitters or extenders may cause communication issues when printing. There is a chance that the USB extender that you are using may have been causing the Paper Jam message to continue to appear on your computer after the jam had been removed from your printer. You can use USB extenders, but if you have slow printing, or communication issues in the future with your USB connected printers, you would want to bypass the USB extender and plug your USB connected device directly into the computer to see if the issues still occur. In this case, the extender should not be affecting the 'Driver in Use' issue that you're experiencing so it should be fine to continue to use the extender for the time being.

Now that the Print Spooler has been checked can I have you access the Print Server Properties again to see if your computer will now allow you to remove the driver for your Deskjet.

If the issue message still pops up, just proceed with the steps to install your drivers. Please ensure that your Deskjet icon is deleted from Devices and Printers before attempting to reinstall.

1. Please click here to download the latest drivers for your printer
2. Once the website opens please select the Download button on the top left
3. Once the download is complete follow the onscreen instructions to reinstall your printer
4. If using a USB Cable connection, do not plug in the USB Cable until the installer prompts you to

Please let me know if these steps work for you. Fingers crossed! 🙂