HP Color Laserjet Pro M281fdw stuck in "Service Error 79" bootloop

[wbradley9204]

I've had this printer 2.5 years, never any problems until a week or so ago, when it started showing "Service Error 79".  Debug shows that printer works just fine when connected via USB, but using ethernet or Wi-Fi connection to network gives a "Service Error 79".

support.hp.com suggested a number of steps, from a power cycle to a soft reset to upgrading the firmware, and there happened to be new firmware available a few weeks ago (20201021).  However, none of those fix the problem.

Again, printer works just fine as a USB printer (not a viable long-term solution) but gives a "Service Error 79" when connected to a network.  Help?

[wbradley9204]

Okay, the issue appears to be that my printer auto-updated its firmware to 20201021, and that seems to be a bad release.

In a related thread, https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Printing-Errors-or-Lights-Stuck-Print-Jobs/79-Service-Error-Boot-Loop/... suggested downgrading to the 20200612 firmware release, and I haven't had a "Service Error 79" since I did that.

How do I disable automatic firmware updates?  (Otherwise, this is just going to happen again...)

[wbradley9204 · Accepted solution]

Found it.  DIsable automatic firmware updates from the control panel:

Setup -> Service -> LaserJet Update -> Manage Upates -> Check Automatically -> Off

[cis7850]

i located the 20200612 firmware and downgraded from 20201021 - all seems well after 4 hours

[HandiAndy]

I am stuck in a loop after downloading the bad firmware. How can I downgrade my firmware and get rid of the bad release? P.S. Thanks for wasting our time HP.

[wbradley9204]

@HandiAndy : see the URL I posted in the second post on this thread; that will direct you to instructions where you can download a firmware release from June and upload it to your printer.  Then see the instructions I listed in the third post; that will show you how to disable auto-updates so the printer won't just go download the bad firmware again.  Good luck!

[HandiAndy]

Fantastic. Problem solved. Many thanks. Thanks to all of you for being so helpful!

[SOK421]

I can not seem to get my printer to be operational long enough to downgrade the firmware.  Before it is fully downloaded it starts rebooting and so the firmware downgrade never makes it..  It's been 5 days, I'm thinking of crying just because not that it will help.

[wbradley9204]

@SOK421: The problem with the new firmware is that it will generate a Server Error 79 when it tries to access the network -- Ethernet, Wi-Fi, doesn't matter.  The solution is to take your printer completely off the network, use your PC/laptop to download the old firmware, then use a USB cable to transfer the old firmware to the printer.

If your printer is connected to the network using Ethernet, just unplug the network cable.  If your printer is connected to the network using Wi-Fi, then unplug it, wait about 30 seconds, then plug it back in ... and once the printer boots to the "Ready" menu, you have a window of 15-30 seconds when you can click the Wi-Fi icon in the upper-right corner and turn off Wi-Fi.  (If you wait too long, the printer will try to access the network via Wi-Fi and you'll get a Server Error 79, so you'll have to try again.)

Once you get the printer disconnected from the network and it's safely booted to the "Ready" menu, then you'll be able to follow the instructions to download old firmware and transfer it to the printer.  Best of luck!