The green power button blinks continuously and the printer will not print any type of job. The last job printed was very clear so I don't think I need a new ink cartridge. The status of the printer shows it is ready. I do not have a manual for this printer.

buttons and lights The HP Deskjet printer buttons let you turn the printer on and off, cancel a print job, or resume printing. The lights give you visual cues about the state of the printer
cancel button

** Pressing this button cancels the current print job.

print cartridge status symbol and light **The light above the Print Cartridge Status symbol flashes when a print cartridge is low on ink or incorrectly installed.
resume button and light
**The light above the Resume button flashes when an action is required such as loading paper or clearing a paper jam. When the problem is fixed, press the Resume button to continue printing.
power button and light **
The Power button turns the printer on and off. It takes approximately five seconds for the printer to turn on after you press the Power button. The green light above the Power button flashes when printing is in progress. Caution! Always use the Power button on the front of the printer to turn the printer on and off. Using a power strip, surge protector, or a wallmounted switch to turn the printer on and off may cause premature printer failure

After installing a new cartridge and the blinking light is on Toner Low, it means that the photoconductor is almost full and should be replaced soon. Press and release the Continue button (green button) to clear the light sequence and continue processing the print job. If the light is still blinking, replace the photoconductor kit.

For further assistance, please call Lexmark Technical Support.

Press and release the Continue button (green button) to clear the light sequence and continue processing the print job. If the light is still blinking, the photoconductor is almost full and should be replaced

If the blinking light is on Toner Low (4th light starting from left), press and release the Continue button (green button) to clear the light sequence and continue processing the print job. If the light is still blinking, the photoconductor is almost full and should be replaced.

For further assistance, please contact Lexmark Technical Support

If the blinking light is on Toner Low, press and release the Continue button (green button) to clear the light sequence and continue processing the print job. If the light is still blinking, the photoconductor is almost full and should be replaced.

Toner light is ON, I would assume that the light is solid and not blinking. You can press and release to clear the light sequence and continue processing the print job. With the printer turned off, remove the toner cartridge and shake it to extend its life. Check the replacement toner cartridge if it is the one suitable for your region.

If the blinking light is on Toner Low, press and release the Continue button (green button) to clear the light sequence and continue processing the print job. If the light is still blinking, the photoconductor is almost full and should be replaced.

For further assistance, please call Lexmark Technical Support.

open printer properties and delete or cancel all pending print jobs

To check the light Pattern of your printer

Click on Light and Error HP Laser jet 1012 Printer

Check the error details from the above link

Condition of the printer Action/Description Ready

The printer is ready to print. No action is necessary. Processing

The printer is receiving or processing data. Wait for the job to print. Processing...(job name) Ready LED is blinking.

This message is displayed while the printer is processing a current job, but has not begun to pick pages. Processing...(job name) From Tray XX Ready LED is blinking.

This message comes up for any job, once the printer starts to pick paper. Manual Feed or Continuable Error

The printer is attempting to Manual feed, media is not loaded in the paper tray, media loaded is the wrong size or type. Verify that the correct media is loaded.

Press and release the GO button to continue printing. Out of memory

The printer is out of memory. The page you are printing might be too complex for the printers memory capacity. Try lowering the resolution. See Understanding print quality settings for more information. Door open, media out, no print cartridge, or media jam

The printer is in an error state that requires operator intervention or help. Check the following:

• The print cartridge door is completely closed.
• Media is loaded.
• The print cartridge is correctly installed in the printer.
• There is no media jam.

Printer initialization

A printer initialization is taking place. No action is necessary. Fatal error

All lights are on.

• Unplug the printer for 30 minutes, and then plug it back in.
• If the printer still has an error, contact HP Support.

All lights are off.

• Verify that the printer is turned on.
• Make sure that there is power.
• Unplug both ends of the power cord, and plug them back in.

Job Cancel

All the LEDs cycle. Canceling...(job name)

The Job Cancel button was pressed and the job is aborted. Power ON

All the LEDs cycle. Checking Paper Path and Checking Printer

This only occurs at power up. Cleaning mode/Engine test

A cleaning page or engine test page is printing.

All the LEDs cycle. Cleaning Page prints

Wait until the cleaning page is finished printing and the printer is in Ready mode. This could take up to two minutes.

Wait until the engine test page is finished printing and the printer is in Ready mode. Clearing Event Log

All the LEDs cycle.

This will happen automatically during an NVRAM Init and a cold reset. No message will be displayed. No Action is Necessary. Power On

Initializing

This occurs when the product is powered on and coming out of EDOS. No Action is Necessary.

See this article to resolve the blinking lights. Then see this article and possibly this one to clear the print queue. You may have to cancel an active print job to remove it, or reboot the computer. Here is the home support page for that model printer, should anyone have further questions or need more information.

I hope this information allows you to resolve this issue. If you need further assistance, please post back with a comment to this thread.
If I've managed to answer your question or solve a problem, please take just a moment to rate this post....thanks!

Turn off your printer and completely unplug the USB cable (from both the printer and the computer). Next check if the stopped document or the later documents are in the print spooler queue. If you can cancel all documents from the queue, do so. Otherwise: from Start Run (or the command prompt)
type: net stop spooler [enter]
then type: net start spooler [enter]

This works in XP and older MS Operating Systems but I've never tried it in Vista.

If you only enter the first command, you need to reboot the computer and then take a long coffee break after logging in before trying to print again.