my printer inexplicably stopped working - is it broken?

ixfd64 · 11-24-2010, 11:41 PM

OK, I have an HP LaserJet 4000 series printer that I use when I'm at my rental house. It had been working perfectly... until today. It would not print anything, and after a few minutes my computer would give an "error printing the document" message as if the printer was disconnected. I don't think it's a configuration problem because I did not change any settings recently. My landlady's daughters just came home from college, but I think it's extremely unlikely that they would tamper with my stuff.

The printer did display "data received" a few times, so I don't think it's a connection problem either. Is it possible that my printer is dead? The thing is pretty old, mind you.

Dopefish7590 · 11-25-2010, 01:30 AM

It does sound like it's dead... Have you tried printing using a generic driver to make sure it isn't though?

Shielder · 11-25-2010, 12:02 PM

On the side of the printer with the round air vent, there should be 2 small holes. The smaller one of these is a "Printer Engine Test" which bypasses the formatter unit (the bit that the print jobs get sent to and processed) and is supposed to test whether a 4000 is able to print at all.

If you get a long thin object (bent paperclip, pencil/pen nib, etc...) and insert it into the hole, it should press against a small switch which should eject a page with vertical lines on it. This should at least hopefully give you a slightly better clue as to what the problem might be, or at least eliminate that as being the problem.

11-24-2010, 11:41 PM	#1
ixfd64	my printer inexplicably stopped working - is it broken? OK, I have an HP LaserJet 4000 series printer that I use when I'm at my rental house. It had been working perfectly... until today. It would not print anything, and after a few minutes my computer would give an "error printing the document" message as if the printer was disconnected. I don't think it's a configuration problem because I did not change any settings recently. My landlady's daughters just came home from college, but I think it's extremely unlikely that they would tamper with my stuff. The printer did display "data received" a few times, so I don't think it's a connection problem either. Is it possible that my printer is dead? The thing is pretty old, mind you. __________________ fires Devastator at next poster Visit my forums!

11-25-2010, 01:30 AM	#2
Dopefish7590	Re: my printer inexplicably stopped working - is it broken? It does sound like it's dead... Have you tried printing using a generic driver to make sure it isn't though?

11-25-2010, 12:02 PM	#3
Shielder	Re: my printer inexplicably stopped working - is it broken? On the side of the printer with the round air vent, there should be 2 small holes. The smaller one of these is a "Printer Engine Test" which bypasses the formatter unit (the bit that the print jobs get sent to and processed) and is supposed to test whether a 4000 is able to print at all. If you get a long thin object (bent paperclip, pencil/pen nib, etc...) and insert it into the hole, it should press against a small switch which should eject a page with vertical lines on it. This should at least hopefully give you a slightly better clue as to what the problem might be, or at least eliminate that as being the problem.