HP printer started dropping IP address

Topic

New Reply

I have had the sudden onset of my HP P1505n printer dropping its IP address and therefore not remaining accessible to the network. It started after a failed attempt to upgrade my network by adding an ASUS AC68U router. Prev. network connected via ASUS RT N56U. Printer worked flawlessly through LAN connection, dynamic IP. Added AC68U, reconfigured the N56U as access point. WiFi portion worked beautifully for ~48 hrs then started dropping Wi fi connections left and right. From the start of the AC68U router addition, the printer would not keep its IP. Changed to static assignment of IP yet problem persisted. Would print the test page upon driver installation but “dropped IP” in process. ASUS tech support advised that router would not work in the configuration I wanted and authorized a return. I then rolled back network to prior configuration, without the AC68U (previous use of the RT N56U had worked flawlessly) but the dropped IP problem persists. Followed other Windows Secret’s threads advice but made no difference. Have uninstalled/reinstalled drives, changed IP addresses, used the virtual address, worked with ASUS support (they claim their routers do not support this printer and were surprised it ever worked in the first place), all to no avail. Any ideas/suggestions would be appreciated. ( All computers on network are running Win 7 – 64bit )

Reply | Quote

Replies

How do you know the printer is dropping the IP address?
That printer will allow you to connect via your browser. Can you connect and see how the IP address is obtained?
Have you tried connecting via the DNS name instead of IP address?

ASUS support are obviously not very bright, the printer is self contained and only needs an IP address to work.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

Thanks for the paragraph.

Reply | Quote

Please try and be nicer FN.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

Some of these may help ? http://www8.hp.com/uk/en/campaigns/wireless-printing-center/troubleshooting.html

Reply | Quote

Thank you for your insight. Sorry if I’m a little long winded. I’m not sure if it is the printer, more suspicious of the router (the DHCP server). Factory restore on the ASUS N56 router, re-entered all of the config. data (both manually and via saved config. file). Upon loading printer drivers, last step prints a test page. Then it won’t print, pings time out, the printed configuration page typically indicates that the IP, gateway, subnet all read 0’s. I can force a reset on the printer, browse to the configuration page and typically the IP address has changed. It does not seem to matter if the DHCP is set to manually assign the IP (static) or dynamic. Nor does it seem to matter if the printer config is set for manual or auto (tried it with all those combinations). Sudo15, Thank you for the suggested reading. I reviewed the link and have attempted those steps. Unfortunately, no change. Although in my multiple attempts to bring the printer back on, I seem to have created problems for the rest of the network. Now the TVs and Ipads are losing their connection altogether or remaining connected to the network but no Internet Access. Speculating, something to do with the IP leases expiring, it seems to happen in batches and the IP or default gateways keep changing (even when router set to keep them static)

Reply | Quote

Many of the threads on the HP Forums site indicate others having similar problems which spontaneously resolve. No such luck. I changed to a different static IP address at the printer and at the router. It’s keeping the IP address but it still will not print. Attempting to print test page fires up the printer which hums for few seconds then stop. At this point the printer is not longer recognized on network. ping times out indicating destination unreachable. After a hard reset, it has the same IP address, responds to ping/appears on network but still cannot print. In the meantime, I’ve been able to use the USB connection and HomeGroups to enable “network” printing. But this requires that I leave my station on. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Reply | Quote

It’s keeping the IP address but it still will not print. Attempting to print test page fires up the printer which hums for few seconds then stop. At this point the printer is not longer recognized on network. ping times out indicating destination unreachable. After a hard reset, it has the same IP address, responds to ping/appears on network but still cannot print.

As a matter of interest, have you installed the latest firmware update for the printer? I see one is available.

Reply | Quote

If you assign a static IP addresses and DHCP is enabled, you will have issues when DHCP tries to automatically assign an IP address that is already being used.

Unless you reserve the IP address in the DHCP server.

Jerry

Reply | Quote

Can you go back to your original set up just using the N56U to see if that still gets the printer to print ?

Could also be worth checking that the Print Spooler service is showing as Started and Auto, but having clicked on it you can use the Restart link top left.

Reply | Quote

Thank you for your help. The assigned static IP is outside the range of addresses for the DHCP (192.168.1.4 for the printer; DHCP is set for the range 192.168.1.50 through 192.168.1.245) which should avoid the address conflict. I did revert back to the original set up with just the N56U. I used the back up config. files that I had saves and I’ve tried manually re-entering all the settings. I’ve tried different cables. One difference is that in the prior set up I did NOT assign a static IP. But the DHCP server never failed to connect with the HP/issue the IP; it has always worked. I will look in to the Print Spooler settings. Thanks Again.

Reply | Quote

…The assigned static IP is outside the range of addresses for the DHCP (192.168.1.4 for the printer; DHCP is set for the range 192.168.1.50 through 192.168.1.245) which should avoid the address conflict…

I’d suggest set the printer to a fairly high IP (e.g.: 192.168.1.150) to help avoid IP conflicts with other connected devices.

You will also need to go into “Printer Properties” on each device you want to print from and change the TCP/IP port setting to match (i.e.: also 192.168.1.150).

Reply | Quote

If you assign a static IP addresses and DHCP is enabled, you will have issues when DHCP tries to automatically assign an IP address that is already being used.

I have static IP addresses and also those assigned via DHCP, I don’t have any issues as I know the DHCP pool.

Reply | Quote

Coochin, I’m curious. I selected/assigned a static IP address outside but BELOW the DHCP range. You are recommending a static IP that is outside but HIGHER than the DHCP range. Why higher rather than lower? I have assigned static IPs for all of my desktops, peripherals, TVs and connected devices except for the mobile devices that come and go. And thank you for your assistance.

Reply | Quote

Coochin, I’m curious. I selected/assigned a static IP address outside but BELOW the DHCP range. You are recommending a static IP that is outside but HIGHER than the DHCP range. Why higher rather than lower? I have assigned static IPs for all of my desktops, peripherals, TVs and connected devices except for the mobile devices that come and go. And thank you for your assistance.

In your #12 post you stated “…DHCP is set for the range 192.168.1.50 through 192.168.1.245…”.

In my #13 post I suggested 192.168.1.150 because it is within the DHCP range (192.168.1.50 through 192.168.1.245) but sufficiently high to avoid conflicts when DHCP assigns an IP to a new device.

In my experience a static IP address outside the DHCP range might not work, especially with low-cost home-network-type routers; depends on how intelligent the router’s firmware is.

Reply | Quote

Normally DHCP ranges are set at the bottom of the range, so adding static ones at the top reduces the chance of conflict. It doesn’t matter what addresses you use, as long as there are no conflicts.

cheers, Paul

p.s. I don’t use static addresses, I use the printer DNS name in the set up instead of the IP address and then it always works.

Reply | Quote

Thank you again for your input. I do not understand. Please explain where these settings are input.

Reply | Quote

Normally DHCP ranges are set at the bottom of the range, so adding static ones at the top reduces the chance of conflict. It doesn’t matter what addresses you use, as long as there are no conflicts.

cheers, Paul

p.s. I don’t use static addresses, I use the printer DNS name in the set up instead of the IP address and then it always works.

Thank you again for your input. I do not understand, using the DNS name instead of the IP address. Please explain where these settings are input.

Reply | Quote

Actually, static IP addresses should be assigned outside the range of DHCP IP addresses.

There is no need to use addresses outside the DHCP range as long as there is no chance of conflict. e.g. You have 3 computing devices and want to add a fourth with a static address. The static address only has to be above the 3rd DHCP address to avoid a conflict.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

Normally DHCP ranges are set at the bottom of the range, so adding static ones at the top reduces the chance of conflict. It doesn’t matter what addresses you use, as long as there are no conflicts.

cheers, Paul

p.s. I don’t use static addresses, I use the printer DNS name in the set up instead of the IP address and then it always works.

Depends on the router Paul, my router has a DHCP address pool of 192.168.1.64->252. I assign static IP address’s descending, eg .63, .62 etc.

Reply | Quote

With one router I used, the DHCP range was from 192.168.1.2 – .199 and I assigned my printer to .200 which worked fine.

While DHCP normally uses the lower end of the range, there’s no guarantee that it will as it can assign any device with any IP within the range unless a device has been given a reserved one within the range.

Depending upon what the range is default set to, it doesn’t matter if you use an address which is below or above as long it is outside of the range.

When I set up my Epson printer Network settings in the printer’s control panel following a router change, I have to put in the router’s shared key just as you have to do on a computer when initially setting up a router – have you entered the newer router’s pre shared key into the printer ?

Reply | Quote

Thank you for that clarification, I misread your post. I have the IP address for the printer (.4) set below the DHCP range (.50 -.245) so as to avoid the address conflict. When the printer mysteriously drops its IP address I cannot see anywhere in the DHCP server files that the .4 address has been assigned to anything else. I’m also assigning the address at both ends, in the router’s DHCP settings and on the printer’s and all of the other devices’ configuration settings. The only devices left to dynamically address are the mobile devices. And I’ve turned all of them off (removed batteries if possible). I will try setting the printer at mid and high end ranges. Is there any advantage to assigning all devices eliminating the need for the DHCP altogether? I don’t have any guests jumping on the network.

Reply | Quote

When you give a device an IP address you also have to give it a router address. The device then registers the IP address and a preferred name with the DNS server. This can also be done manually, but not in a home environment. e.g. Windows Secrets has an IP address but its DNS name is http://www.windowssecrets.com.

To find the DNS name of the printer you can connect to the printer, it should be on the first screen.
1. Open your browser and enter the IP address of your printer, e.g. http://192.168.1.4
2. Test the DNS name. Open a Command Prompt and type: ping printerDNSname
e.g. ping SEC0015998E717A
3. You should see something like this: Pinging SEC0015998E717A.home [192.168.1.73] with 32 bytes of data

To use the DNS name to connect to the printer.
1. Show the printer in View Devices and Printers
2. Right click on the printer and select Printer Properties.
3. Click the Ports tab. The current port will be selected.
4. Click Configure Port.
5. Enter the printer DNS name in the 2 top fields (name, IP). Do not change anything else.
6. Click OK.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

The printer configuration page and web interface page indicate the “host name NPI0AA6D9”, but ping command returns a “could not find host, check name” error. pinging the”Product name” of HP LaserJet P1505n gives the same “could not find host”. I can find no specific entry for “DNS name”; I must be looking in the wrong spot for the DNS name.

Reply | Quote

If you know the IP of the printer try this: ping -a x.x.x.x
Where x.x.x.x is the IP address.

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

If you know the IP of the printer try this: ping -a x.x.x.x
Where x.x.x.x is the IP address.

cheers, Paul

Well one problem fixed, another one arises. I tried your method of utilizing the DNS name and now the printer is maintaining its connection and prints on my main computer. It still prints once when using 2 of the other computers, but the IP connection is holding and the router is not reassigning or dropping it. But out of the blue, my QuickBooks file (the multi-user version with 3 licenses, installed on the hard drive attached to the router for multi -user access and which worked flawlessly until now will no longer open. I’m get corrupt file error messages indicating that there is a network access configuration error. Not sure why the other computers can only print once, but at least my main computer is back to printing. Thanks for all of your help. Off to the QuickBooks Forum.

Reply | Quote

Well one problem fixed, another one arises. I tried your method of utilizing the DNS name and now the printer is maintaining its connection and prints on my main computer. It still prints once when using 2 of the other computers, but the IP connection is holding and the router is not reassigning or dropping it. But out of the blue, my QuickBooks file (the multi-user version with 3 licenses, installed on the hard drive attached to the router for multi -user access and which worked flawlessly until now will no longer open. I’m get corrupt file error messages indicating that there is a network access configuration error. Not sure why the other computers can only print once, but at least my main computer is back to printing. Thanks for all of your help. Off to the QuickBooks Forum.

Turns out this QB problems was unrelated, just coincidental that it happened while I was trouble shooting the HP problem. The Seagate USB 2 TByte hard drive attached to the router, where the QB file is stored was going into sleep mode while QB was connected, creating a corrupt file. Fortunately, I had a back up.

Unfortunately, the HP problem returned in a different fashion. The IP address is static and stable (can ping from any computer) but no longer prints. The print goes to the que, the sometimes disappears, sometimes just hangs up. Can still ping the IP, can access the printer through web interface, can print through the USB cable but NOT through the IP/LAN connection. I’ve uninstalled/re-installed 3 different versions of the drivers from different ports with no success.

Reply | Quote

It’s possible the printer has a problem. Have you reset it?
Does the printer register that a print job has been sent – flashing lights etc?

cheers, Paul

Reply | Quote

It’s possible the printer has a problem. Have you reset it?
Does the printer register that a print job has been sent – flashing lights etc?

cheers, Paul

Yes it is possible the printer has the problem but it doesn’t appear to be the case. There are two computers (Netbook and Dell desktop that is the exact same set up as my main computer) that both print via the LAN with no problem. While the “what’s printing”/printer status window indicates that the job has been sent, there are no indicators at the printer end that it was received. I’m not sure how to verify this. I have completely reset the printer. I can print fine if I connect to the printer via USB.

Reply | Quote

I may have stumbled upon the problem/solution. Two of the 5 networked computers print with no difficulty. All are part of the same homegroup using the same Win 7 64 bit and the same HP P1505n driver set up. But I noticed this AM that in what I’m calling the “printer status window” (“see what’s printing”), the computers that were not working did not show a port, once a job was sent (while those that did, displayed the 192.168.1.4 port). I also noticed in top bar of the printer status window, next to the name of the printer HP LJ P1505n, (almost grayed out so I hadn’t noticed it before, likely due to my choice in desktop color schemes) it read “Use Printer Offline”. I selected “Printer” then clicked on “Use Printer Offline”, those words disappeared and it has been printing regularly ever since. I’m not sure why some driver installations had this feature selected and others did not. But this appears to be the variable that was preventing the printing. Thank you to all who helped me along the way.

Reply | Quote

Well, that solution was short lived. I’m back to having the drivers loaded, click print and nothing happens. Job appears in the que but just sits there. I can still ping the printer at the same static IP. That graphic interface confirms the static IP address remains the same at the printer end of things. The router indicates the printer is online. The TCP/IP port is set to the same IP . The SNMP is unchecked (in the port settings). I have noticed that sometimes the port configuration has the option to “use the same device even if IP changes”. And no flashing lights on the printer to indicate that the job was received by printer.

Reply | Quote

Is Network Discovery and File and Printer Sharing turned on for the computers that are not working?

Thank you for your assistance. Yes, all computers belong to the same home group with network discovery and file and printer sharing are set to share on all machines. If I connect via the USB and then leave that computer running, the others can utilize the connection (peer to peer), but I cannot figure out why the ethernet connection stops printing. The ethernet connection would be my preferred route. . I’m stumped.

Reply | Quote

I apologize in advance forth the length of this post, but it may help others.
JWoods, thanks for your interest and your assistance. I took your advise to the max and So…..I wiped the “printer slate clean” and started over then methodically re-installed the drivers. Beginning with Programs & Features, I uninstalled anything to do with HP (but there were still remnants around with the drivers popping up and upon attempting to delete, get the message that the drivers were still in use). Then I ran the install/uninstall utility from the HP website that came bundled with the latest drivers (but there were still remnants around). So I opened the command line and stopped/restarted the spooler (from a command line in admin. mode, “net stop spooler” then “net start spooler”, proceed to %systemroot%system32spooldriversw32x86 and %systemroot%system32spooldriversx64 and deleted any remaining files (drivers still popping up). Then I ran CCleaner and cleaned up the registry. But the driver kept popping back up in the Device and Drivers window. So I went to the MS website, used a utility called MicrosoftFixit50979 (https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/2793718 which is only for Win 2008 and Win 7) which completely erases any/all printer drivers. There are actually two versions: the full version, Microsoft Fix it 50979, deletes all drivers and Microsoft Fix it 50984, the “lite” version apparently doesn’t delete everything. The full version will delete the PDF driver, any Epson, Brother, Canon print drivers, any and all print drivers from what I can tell (so be sure you have copy to re-install before dropping that bomb. In retrospect, I should have tried the “lite” version first). Once it appeared that all of the computers were totally clean of the HP drivers, I installed the latest driver via the utility from HP. Assigned a static printer address at the router and at the printer. Turned off the SNMP (both in the printer settings via the web interface and on each of the computer ports/drivers). All the computers are on the same homegroup and set to share. So far I can print from every computer. I did have to go in and check the SNMP settings if there were multiple user log ons for one computer. And I did notice an oddity that whichever computer I configured first is the fastest. The others may have several minutes of lag time and in the printer monitoring window, it will often list the same print job twice (but it only prints once). I’ve restarted, shut down for a hour, changed users and so far, all computers can still print. Of course this could all change by tomorrow. Thank you to all who have helped me along the way.

Reply | Quote

JWoods, thanks for the suggestion.

OK, now I’m lost. Scratch that, I’m found again.

What should I expect to see under Adapters and Bindings tab settings and the Provider Order tab settings?

Curious, the HP printer does not show up on the map nor does is appear after selecting show all devices.

Reply | Quote

JWoods, thanks for the tip, my MS network was at the bottom. That stepped things up a bit.

Reply | Quote