20 Most Recent HP LaserJet 4000 Printer Questions & Answers

If you get a bunch of meaningless symbols on the page the usual causes are a corrupt or wrong print driver, a bad communication cable or a failed formatter or possibly a print job stuck in a queue on the computer that you connected the printer to (pending jobs often corrupt when you reconnect your printer). Unplug the parallel or network cable from the printer and restart and then try to print the configuration page. If it prints then plug in the communication cable and try printing again. Still bad after that reinstall the printer driver. If a fresh driver does not work, try a different cable.

If you have an HP jetDirect card in one of the expansion slots it has failed and needs to be replaced.

Have you tried to press the Online Button on the printer controll panel? It is the big Green button.

Please Clarify, does it say offline on the printer itself or on your printer driver. If it says offline on the printer itself, normally pressing the go button should put it online. However, at the age of that printer the buttons could be dirty/worn out, I have had control panels fail quite often as of late. If it is saying offline on the computer driver then that is a whole different set of issues and I would need to know what operating system you are running.

I realize when I say this that you will be a little skeptical but I will say it anyway . the Paper may be damp - do you notice any curling from your print if only printed on one side? this is the easiest way to test for damp paper- while the paper is damp the Electrical resistance is much higher than when its dry and this is what typically gives a Light copy however once the paper has been though the Very Hot fuser rollers to \'fix\' the first side, the paper has been force ably dried and so the second side is much Stronger in toner. try a new ream of paper and see if that helps

use a print server !

Program/software you use to print? File details can be found at printer properties/printer setup. Disable File Detail/File Information.

Press and hold SELECT while turning on the printer. Hold SELECT until "Select Language" appears.Release SELECT. INITIALIZING appears. Wait for LANGUAGE=ENGLISH to appear.Press -VALUE+ repeatedly until the desired language appears.Press SELECT to save your choice. An asterisk (*) will appear beside the selected language.Press GO to exit the menu.

Hello There,

After working with HP for quite sometime,

here is what i recoimmend.

1.Ensure that paper trays are loaded properly, so that paper can feed from the tray
2.Check the input area for obstructions, such as paper in the path or visible damage to the paper path near Tray 1.
3.Remove the print cartridge and lift the green handle attached to the metal plate underneath to check for paper in the paper path.
NOTE: Try swapping the tray and print cartridge with one from different printer, same model. Determine if issue follows the tray or the print cartridge.
4.Ensure that paper is feeding correctly from the appropriate tray (try using a freshly opened **** of paper).
a.Inspect the pickup assembly by removing the paper tray in question to look inside the printer.
b.Locate the rubber roller with a purple, plastic hub (paper feed roller).
c.Locate the paper pickup assembly that is directly behind the paper feed roller. The paper pickup assembly consists of a shaft with four half-moon shaped rubber and white plastic rollers attached to it.
d.Rotate the shaft to locate the half-moon rollers and ensure that it turns easily.
e.Locate the black plastic coupler shaped like a dog bone that is immediately to the right of the shaft .
f.If either the pickup assembly or the coupler is missing or damaged, the printer will need to be serviced.
5.Do not fan paper to separate, bend the **** into a U shape to break the sheets free from one another.

NOTE: If the steps listed in this document do not return the printer to a READY state, service may be required. Contact the HP Customer Care Center for more information
Please feel free to leave a testimonial if this works and please do not forget to click 4 thumbs.

Cheers!

Sounds like you need a new formatter.
Power off and remove and reinstall the formatter. See if that makes a difference.

Go to www.hp.com/#support
download the latest PCL5 drivers.
while you are there, download the latest firmware.

For instruction on setting up a HP JetDirect network printer, please click on this link and follow my instructions :-
http://www.fixya.com/support/r3559242-setting_up_hp_jetdirect_print_server_p