Printer printing blank pages only, cannot even print a quality report or clean the cartridges

[iTunesbug]

The printer prints only blank pages despite my switching it off (including taking the AC off for several minutes) and back on again or resetting back to factory settings. I can neither clean the (fresh and original) cartridges as the printer will spew the paper and ask to insert new sheets. Same phenomenon with attempting to print quality or printer reports to no avail. Therefore this does not seem to be related to the Mac computer but indeed to the very HP printer itself.

Thanks much for any help.

[Kumar0307]

Hi @iTunesbug

Welcome to the HP Support Community. I understand the printer is printing blank pages. I'd be happy to assist you. Let us try these steps to resolve this issue:

Check estimated ink levels

1. From the Home screen on the printer control panel, touch the right arrow .

2. Touch Ink Supplies.

Reset the printer

1. With the printer turned on, disconnect the power cord from the rear of the printer.
2. Wait at least 60 seconds.
3. Reconnect the power cord to the rear of the printer.
4. Turn ON the printer, if it does not automatically turn on.
5. Wait until the printer is idle and silent before you proceed.

Note: HP recommends connecting the printer directly to a wall outlet rather than a surge protector or a power strip.

Update the printer firmware

Click here to know different methods of updating printer firmware.

Perform steps 5 and 8 from this document. Try printing.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

Click the “Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

Have a great day! 

[iTunesbug]

Dear Kumar,

Thanks you for your most kind assistance. I have tried, to no avail, every bit of your advices but cleaning the printhead manually yet. As to replacing the printhead altogether, it is more expensive than buying the current best in class printers from Epson, Brother or Canon (https://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-all-in-one-printers,review-2026.html) so I hope I can resuscitate my HP otherwise. I remember facing related issues earlier in the life of the product and being advised by HP to take some steps that involved pressing an invisible part on the side of the Touchsmart screen to divulge a secret yet very effective menu to reset and fix things gone awry. Would that that ring a bell? 

[Kumar0307]

@iTunesbug

I assume you are referring to perform a semi-full reset that will not help in this case as it is a hardware issue. Please contact our HP Support team for Service Options:

1) Click on this link - www.hp.com/contacthp/

2) Select your product type below.

3) Enter the serial of your device.

4) Select the country from the drop-down.

5) Select the appropriate option based on your preference.

6) Fill the web-form and proceed further.

Keep me posted for any other assistance.

If you feel my post solved your issue, please click “Accept as Solution”, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

[iTunesbug]

Dear Kumar,

Thanks again. I did buy the HP support on line for19.95€. I called the HP support number and your colleague had me test the copier function alone and it worked perfectly both in color and B&W! She concluded the printer's inability to print both quality and status reports or else to print from my Macbook was therefore not a hardware issue but a software issue. Unfortunately I had called 10' before closing time and we were not able to proceed any further and I had to call again the next day: I then had a totally opposite and shocking experience. Your other colleague backed off and insisted the printer could not be serviced because he did not know it and the warranty had expired. He insisted to find out if I had bought the HP support over the phone or on line. He put me on hold several times for infinite periods of time and told me I had to get reimbursed for the HP support I had bought and call it quits. I protested given my excellent experience the night before so he finally yielded and told me he was doing an exceptional favor to help me. Unfortunately he went straight for a semi-full reset and  had me bath the print head "in a plate with some tap water". The net is after this 1h05' ordeal on the phone (your colleague was checking a manual and was totally irresponsive and silent at times. He also wanted me to erase all of my other printers in system preferences: I had to vehemently stop his madness), the printer now is completely useless: not only it cannot print but it can no longer copy or scan. Your colleague asked me to disconnect and called me back for another 20' offering me a 20% discount to buy a new HP printer which I'm not sure I'll use given this horrendous experience. Can I just ask you however: if the printer was indeed able to copy before the HP support mess, can I rule out that the print head was the issue? Thanks very much again

[Kumar0307]

@iTunesbug

If you were able to make a copy on the printer, it means the printhead is working fine. However, when I had asked you to print test pages from the printer, you had mentioned in your response that the printer would not print anything.

As you have paid for technical support, I understand your concern and I bring your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP.

They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact.

Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details).

If you are unfamiliar with how the Community's private message capability works, you can learn about that here:

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/First-Time-Here-Learn-How-to-Post-and-More/How-To-Send-A-Private-Messa...

Thank you for visiting the HP Support Community.

[iTunesbug]

Thanks a lot for your relentless attention. It is much appreciated. It is accurate indeed that the printer would refuse to print any of the test pages (e.g. quality report) neither from the printer itself nor from the MacBookPro. I had not thought of testing the photocopier and that's what the HP support lady zeroed in first thing without asking me any prior question. Much to my surprise I then witnessed the copier to be working whilst the printing function would still be impaired.

Meanwhile, I have taken on to thoroughly clean and let dry the print head so much so that upon reinserting it the printer took it for  a brand  new printhead. Yet it would still report a printing system failure after attempting to align the cartridges. However, upon trying several times  to no avail, I thought of connecting through the Macbook and  suddenly succeeded to scan and  extract the printer information. That action resurrected the basic touch smart menu on the printer! I then proceeded immediately to try to photocopy again and it worked, both in colour and B&W. I then tried to  print the test pages (quality reports etc.) straigjt from the printer and for the first time sin ce the incident it worked! I then resorted to printing from the MacBook, and met success again. The only caveat is the printer 1) sporadically reverts into unprompted 5' cartridges alignment and declares failure at the end, and 2) sees all of my neighbours wifi network but mine! Other than that I can manage with a USB link and by ignoring the cartridge alignement bug unless I should perhaps consider a simple factory reset, just to clean things a bit?

[Kumar0307]

@iTunesbug

The alignment may fail if the printhead or the ink cartridges are blocked or gone bad. Cleaning the printhead or ink cartridges often resolve alignment issues and helps resolve print quality problems at the same time.

If you have tried cleaning them already as you mentioned and the issue persists, this could be a hardware issue with the printhead. It may work intermittently.

To reset the printer to its factory settings, go to Setup > Tools > Restore factory defaults.

Keep me posted for any other assistance.

[iTunesbug]

Many thanks. I will let you know how things pan out (after the covid19 confinement period). Best regards

[Kumar0307]

@iTunesbug, sure. Keep us posted for any other assistance.