Envy 7640 turns off and I can't turn it back on

[LZCenter]

I leave my printer on all the time and have had no problems until recently.  For about the last month, the printer has turned off if it hasn't been used in a while.  Like overnight.  (My sleep setting has been at 5 minutes.)  I cannot turn it back on by depressing the power button.  The only way to turn it on is to unplug it.

The only power management feature I see is the sleep mode.  No auto on/off, which still should allow me to power up again.

Help appreciated.

[KrazyToad]

@LZCenter

I have gone through your Post and would like to help

Please ensure the printer has the latest Firmware. You can refer to this Link:

If the issue persists, try assigning a Manual IP Address

1) Obtain the IP address of the printer – You can touch the “wireless” icon on the printer control panel to obtain the IP address.
2) Type the IP address on your web browser to obtain the printer EWS page on your computer.
3) Go to "Network" tab - General - Select "Network protocols" - Select "Enable IPv4 only" (or similar) - Apply the settings.
4) Go to the “Network” tab – Click on “Wireless (802.11) – Then click on “Network address (IPv4)
5) Click Manual IP
6) If you see a Suggest a Manual IP Address button, click Manual IP address, and the Manual IP addresses are automatically filled out for you.
7) If your page does not have a button to suggest a manual IP address, type the IP address, subnet mask, and default gateway using the numbers shown in the report you printed.
 

Keep me posted how it goes

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the "Solution Accepted" on this Post and it will also help other community members with similar issue.
 

[LZCenter]

Thanks for the reply.

Missing the firmware link.

[KrazyToad]

@LZCenter

My apologies. You can refer to this Link: https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c02919168 for Firmware update

[hdtodd]

Auto Save mode on the 7640 is set and cannot be changed by the owner.  Why? 

The timeout can be set at 5, 10, or 15 minutes, but not "0" or "never".  Why?

I feel like I'm being "gaslighted".  I'd swear that this printer worked just fine, for several years now, until just a few weeks ago.  My wife could print, then not print for a couple of days, then print again just fine, with no attention needed  by the printer.  Now, within the last week or so, the printer goes idle after a few minutes; the blue WiFi light stays on; screen goes dark; and printer won't print unless power cycled. 

We didn't change any settings!!!  What the heck is going on here?

I looked at various forum "solutions": no option for changing Auto Save to off (though it times out well before the 2-hour setting); no option to disable Energy Save Mode; though it was nonsensical, I set the DNSes to 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4 per one "solution".  None of those fixed the issue.  Yes, I've always had a static IPv4 address on that printer; no IPv6.  The firmware is reported to be up to date.  I don't see anything else to try.

We just got rid of our spare 5xxx printer as its firmware died (really?).  Is this a new planned-obsolescence program from HP?  After 30 years of exclusively buying HP printers, I've have enough trouble with the last few that my next printer won't be an HP.  The question is whether that change comes this weekend or when this one dies -- which may have already happened.  'Til then, HP has the option of continuing to get my HP ink revenue stream (which is substantial, since my wife prints a LOT of photos, on HP paper, for her genealogy).

Anyone have a clue about how to fix this -- one that really works for the 7640? 

[LZCenter]

Likewise.  I tried everything except fooling with the IP addresses.  Not comfortable with that.  My experience was exactly the same.  Worked fine for years and suddenly started going to sleep and became non-functional without a restart.

[hdtodd]

KrazyToad,

Thanks for the suggestions, but I had seen them before and done that. 

• Your link on firmware wasn't in your message, but I checked several times today and the printer reports that the firmware is up to date.
• I had assigned the IP manually already; and disabled IPv6.
• I set the DNSes to be 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4, as I had seen in one suggestion.
• I re-created the printer on my Mac with the manual IP assignment method; it found the printer, identified its type, and picked the right driver (irrelevant for this issue, but I tried to cover all bases).

Again, this is a recent issue -- just started happening that the printer disconnects after a timeout and has to be power-cycled to print.  Then only stays alive for 10-15 min and disconnects again.  Power is on; screen is black; blue WiFi light is on.  But neither the printer system on my Mac nor the HP Utility program nor the web browser can get to the printer.  It has to be power cycled.

Any other ideas?

[KrazyToad]

@hdtodd

I suggest we try a Semi Full Reset. Since these steps are specific to your printer, I have sent a private message with the instructions

Please check your private message icon on the upper right corner of your HP Forums profile.

Next to your profile Name, you should see a little blue envelope
 

Thank you

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the "Solution Accepted" on this Post and it will also help other community members with similar issue.
 

[LZCenter]

If you were replying to me, there are no instructions in my private message file.

[hdtodd]

KrazyToad,

Thanks: I got your instructions on how to do a semi full reset.  (You might want to send those to LZCenter, too, as he/she has the same issue.)  But I'm not going to try the reset right now.

This issue seems to have gone away on its own:

• No firmware updates were done
• No settings on my Mac were changed
• No settings on the printer were changed (once I'd ensured the settings from earlier postings)

It was failing two days ago, after I last tried to find and fix the problem, but yesterday printed just fine after being unused all night. Checked again this morning, and it's still accessible after being idle overnight.

HOWEVER:

While I can get to the printer with "HP Utility" from my Mac, and while my wife can print from downstairs without power-cycling the printer, the "open embedded web server" button on the "additional settings" page of "HP Utility" does not reliably bring up that page, and attempts to open that page from the browser also fail.  Try again after a couple of minutes and it comes up.

So our primary issue with the printer has fixed itself. 

Our secondary issue of not opening the web browser immediately is something we can live with, but it may be an indication of the underlying firmware problem that caused the printer to be inaccessible.

I'll follow this up if the problem occurs again and I've tried the reset option.

David