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- HP Community
- Printers
- Printing Errors or Lights & Stuck Print Jobs
- printer jam AND printer failure errors with 6978

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01-30-2021 10:27 AM
In a viscous cycle of error messages with this printer - 6978. Connected wirelessly.
Printer displays jammed paper message - I've pulled the tray completely out and shone a flashlight and nothing there. That clears the jam.
After a few seconds of clunking, another message displays: There is a problem with your printer or print system. ox6100004a.
Found this post - was able to do everything except remove the ink (ink didn't move over when I opened the lid).
Reset the printer.
Turn on the printer.
Wait until the printer is idle and silent before you continue.
Disconnect the USB cable from the rear of the printer. If your printer has a network or wireless connection, leave it connected.
Remove the ink cartridges from the printer.
With the printer turned on, disconnect the power cord from the rear of the printer and from the wall outlet or power strip.
Wait at least 60 seconds.
Plug the power cord back into the wall outlet.
NOTE:
HP recommends connecting the printer power cord directly to a wall outlet.
Reconnect the power cord to the rear of the printer.
Turn on the printer, if it does not automatically turn on.
The printer might go through a warm-up period. The printer lights might flash, and the carriage might move.
Wait until the warm-up period finishes and your printer is idle and silent before you proceed.
Reinsert the ink cartridges, and then close the ink cartridge access door.
If you receive a prompt to print a calibration page, do so.
If you disconnected the USB cable, reconnect it to the rear of the printer.
Try to print.
I had to "clear the paper jam" and then it finished clunking and got the printer driver error.
Updated firmware. Turned printer off with the button; over 10 minute later, I had to force it off and turn it back on. I "cleared the paper jam" and now I have the above printer error again.
(During this process, I've gotten the message that I didn't turn the printer off correctly when I did (excluding the time I mentioned above)
I have not delved into the steps about cleaning the printer head, rollers etc, because the error is quickly cleared when I pull out the tray.
Any ideas? Printer belongs to my aging mother (seriously), and I've spent the last 1.5 hours working on it and is out of warranty.
Thank you.
02-03-2021 06:50 PM - edited 02-03-2021 06:51 PM
So I found a video about the 6978 that fixed my printer. From the home menu, hit the backwards arrow (lower left corner) 4 times until you get to the support menu.
NOTE: the backwards arrow will not be visible. Press where you know it is. It works. If the support menu flashes by, start over and go slower.
Navigate over to the support menu.
Go to the reset menu.
Do a semi-full reset.
You will have to reset the printer again as if it's just out of the box, but worth it. I did receive error messages that made me think that I was stuck on a screen, but I was able to bypass. Try turning off and back on.
Another video - you can do a reset using the settings menu under printer maintenance.
Anyway, turned off and back on and it still works. Both issues resolved.
PS above troubleshooting NOT the answer
02-04-2021 09:25 AM
sorry if dup:
So I found a video about the 6978 that fixed my printer. From the home menu, hit the backwards arrow (lower left corner) 4 times until you get to the support menu.
NOTE: the backwards arrow will not be visible. Press where you know it is. It works. If the support menu flashes by, start over and go slower.
Navigate over to the support menu.
Go to the reset menu.
Do a semi-full reset.
You will have to reset the printer again as if it's just out of the box, but worth it. I did receive error messages that made me think that I was stuck on a screen, but I was able to bypass. Try turning off and back on.
Another video - you can do a reset using the settings menu under printer maintenance.
Anyway, turned off and back on and it still works. Both issues resolved.
PS above troubleshooting NOT the answer