Canon LBP3100, LBP6000 and HP Laserjet Professional M1130 and M1210 Series Print Problems.

One of the benefits of mono laser printers like these is that there are not too many parts likely to go wrong. Where an inkjet relies on thousands of nozzles remaining unblocked the laser printer has a continual process based on rollers; and in a mono printer that isn't very complicated. Many faults will be cleared by changing the cartridge, which contains about three-quarters of the parts likely to wear out as well as the toner for the print process.

Won't Print

Power Supply

If the printer simply doesn't work check that the power light is on - in may be difficult to see in sunlight. If the printer is turned off and on again does it make start-up noises?

Laser printers almost always have an IEC C14 3-pin power inlet. Check that the cable is firmly pushed into the printer - these cables don't click into position and quite frequently problems turn out to be a cable not fully pushed home. If the printer still has no power check the fuse - UK BS1363/A cables have a fuse built into the plug. Most laser printers sold in the UK will need a cable and fuse rated at 13 amps (but check the user guide).

Laser printers should not be plugged into a UPS, unless they are specifically rated for the task (few are). When the fuser comes on at the beginning of a job it imposes a large load for several seconds and the UPS voltage may fall. If this does not crash the computer it may cause a problem for the printer. Printer manufacturers advise against using extension leads and surge protectors as well - once again the problem is the possible voltage drop. An issue of this kind would probably mean the printer couldn't complete a self-test or confuguration page either.

If the printer does start up normally and can print configuration pages - but doesn't print from the computer - then there seems to be a communication issue.

Communication

All of these printers have USB ports. USB is very reliable on modern computers although some produced in the 1990s did have problems.

Check that the USB cable is connected properly at both ends. Try a different USB cable. Try a different USB port on the computer. Try disconnecting all USB devices except the printer.

Check that the computer can "see" the printer (command "lsusb" in Linux).

The HP printers install their drivers using HP Smart Install . Smart Install provides the print-drivers to the computer from the printer when the USB cable is plugged in. The printer effectively responds as a USB flash-pen would. Smart Install is rather more convenient than having to remember where a CD is kept, or install from the Internet.

Smart Install is supported for Windows XP, Vists and Windows 7. Where appropriate it will also work across WiFi protocols.

To work automatically, a Windows computer will need to have AutoPlay enabled. Otherwise if the HP Smart Install Drive appears but does not launch automatically run SISetup.exe manually.

Installing from CD is still possible - and required for Apple Mac.

Linux users will need to download drivers from the Internet or use HPLIP.

Full details are in an HP PDF Smart Install Questions and answers"

Ethernet Communication

The HP LaserJet Pro M1212 has wired networking. The LaserJet Pro M1217nfw has wiFi using Wireless Ethernet 802.11b/g/n.

Network connection might ideally be as easy as USB - BUT:

Although Ethernet devices can announce themselves and auto-configure the process hasn't worked all that well until recently. Implementation and terminology has differed between vendors.
USB is a point to point wired connection and the communication protocols are fixed by the driver, so the configuration is inherently simple. An Ethernet can be shared by a thousand users (or more). Those that are to use the printer all need drivers to do so, those that are not may need to be disabled or even excluded from finding it. Half a dozen print protocols can be used to transport information to the printer, more including manufacturer specific e-print services.

Whilst network communication is more difficult to set up it is usually the best way to share the resources provided by a printer. It is provided on all but the lowest cost devices.

It isn't possible to give a full outline of how to setup and test a network connection here but for cabled networks:

Check that the link lights are on at each end. If either end of the cable lacks a link-light something is wrong.

With wired or wireless networking:

Print a configuration page from the printer and verify that it has obtained an IP address that matches those used on your local network.
Check that you can ping the printer from a PC. On a cable connected printer the amber activity light should intermittently flash, once for each ping test and perhaps randomly at other times due to network broadcasts.

We generally recommend wired networks for office use. These printers aren't exactly portable so there is no great reason for them to use WiFi. It may simplify installation but it tends to lead to more problems.

Printers installed using automatic configuration (such as DHCP) may change IP address. Install the printer at a fixed address if possible.

Using a Microsoft operating systems open the Printer Properties and click the Ports tab. Verify that the current IP address for the product is selected.

If you installed the product using the HP standard TCP/IP port, select the box labeled Always print to this printer, even if its IP address changes

If you installed the product using a Microsoft standard TCP/IP port, use the hostname instead of the IP address.

Software applications may need to be set up to select the corrrect printer and driver.

Print Performance Problems

These print engines are intended to be low cost so the page layout task is performed in the computer by the driver software. More expensive printers usually support print languages such as PCL and PostScript.

Blank Pages

Remember that print jobs can contain blank pages and verify this isn't intentional. A typical reason is to start a chapter on an odd page in a duplex printed document.

Try printing a configuration page. If this isn't blank but pages from the computer are it implies a problem with the computer application or the computer print driver (You aren't trying to print white text are you?).

Pages that should be printed but are actually blank can be one of the following:

If the cartridge is new then the sealing tape may be still in place. Cartridges are generally shipped with a sealing tape between the developer and drum, it has a coloured handle which is pulled when the cartridge is installed. If the tape is not removed, or if it snaps then the toner can't reach the drum and pages will be blank. Remove the sealing tape if possible.

The cartridge is empty. Toner eventually runs out. Older printers used an optical path or a magetometer to detect when toner was low. Almost all recent printers use a chip mounted on the cartridge to record use. The chips also help the printer manufacturer guard against refilling - most printers will display a message on the control panel complaining when a cartridge is empty or presumed so because it has been refilled but not re-chipped.

Laser printer cartridges can be run to the point where they are entirely empty and the print fades with no harm to the printer. (That isn't true for inkjet printers, where completely emptying the cartridge will damage the printhead.

A great many issues can push a blank page at the end of a print job. Typically it is simply that the user has left a lot of trailing carriage-return characters at the end of a document, which they should delete.

Screen shapes bear no relation to printed pages. Although Windows software often tries to produce pages where What You See Is What You Get small discrepancies can sometimes result in a page seeming to fit on the screen but actually overflowing onto the next page in print. Try adjusting the print margins.

Many print drivers will also print separator pages at the beginning or end of a job - in Microsoft Windows the option is offered under the Advanced tab.

Many Websites seem to push an extra blank page at the end of printing with some footer or disclaimer information on it. This seems to be caused by something in the CSS pushing a block round.