HP 4600 Color Printer stays in "Initialize" Mode

Uninstall and reinstall with the latest software from http://support.hp.com for your OS. That should repair any connections that have broken.

Hello,
All cartridges have to be installed and have toner or the printer will not initialize.

I've seen this exact error a few times on the 4101s & turned out to be a bad EIO hard drive.If you replace the drive, you'll most likely have to download the newest firmware & load it to get every feature back.
You can try & initialize the drive first though:
- Turn off printer
- Press & hold [Start] button
- Turn printer on, wait for all 3 LEDs to stay solid then release button
- Press & release [Left] arrow button (should read "Initialize Disks" on display
- Press & release [Select], then wait for printer to warm up
Listen also to the drive & if you hear it clicking over & over then it's bad & will need replaced.

remove color or black cartridge, close the lid, let the printer initialize, and then reopen lid and add 2nd printer cartridge...
this should sove the problem

try holding down the go button while turning on the power...this will reinitiailize the printer and possibly wipe out some network settings, but may fix your problem...

Do the EEPROM initialize reset;

Start with the printer OFF
1. Hold down RESUME and then hold down POWER
2. release RESUME
3. press RESUME twice, then release POWER
4. Let green light blink until printer is done futzing
Select function with RESUME press POWER to execute:
presses - light color - function
Number of presses - light color - function
0 presses - green - Test print (or exit service mode on i960)
1 press - orange - EEPROM info print (plus grid nozzle diagnostic on i960)
2 presses - green - EEPROM initialize
3 presses - orange - Reset waste ink counter

If I could be of further assistance, let me know. If this helps or solves the issue, please rate it.
Thanks, Joe



I’m happy to assist further over the phone at https://www.6ya.com/expert/joe_8b8c2cd6ce148309

Turn the printer on.
2 As the printer performs its power-on sequence, press and hold the PAUSE/RESUME (HP Color
LaserJet 4600 models) or MENU (HP Color LaserJet 4610n and 4650 models) button until all
three lights on the control panel are lit.
3 Press . The message INITIALIZE DISK appears on the control-panel display.
4 Press The printer initializes the hard disk and continues its power-on sequence.

HP.com doesn't have any answers to this question on their support pages, but it sounds like a mechanical problem. Sounds like you'll need to take it in for service.

Yes this is normal. Everytime someone prints, the printer exits power saving mode and the fan will stay on. If you leave it on and don't print to it overnight, the fan would shut off in the mornig. But you probably turn the printer off everynight and are printing all day, so you don't really have to expectthe fan to power down unless its not being used for an long period of time idleing.

Try taking the disk out and format it on a PC first.