Greetings!

I'm really hoping that someone here can help me, as Microsoft and HP have been of absolutely no use so far. Here is my issue: I have a laptop running Vista, connected via WiFi to my DLink wireless router. I have an HP OfficeJet 6000 E609a Series printer connected to the router via an Ethernet cable. This setup has worked for me since getting the printer about a year ago--to the tune of > 1800 pages printed. Suddenly, last week, I could no longer print, but all I get for an error message is "Error - Printing".

This is what I've tried:
* Pointed my laptop's browser to the printer's page in the router. Successfully printed diagnostic pages, realigned print heads, cleaned print heads, etc. Tried to print a test page from Windows: Error - Printing.
* Checked for driver updates (there were none available).
* Downloaded and ran HP's diagnostic software (everything checked out fine).
* Uninstalled the printer and all related software.
* Downloaded all software for this printer from the HP site and installed new (multiple times).
* Vista tells me that the printer is "Ready" and recognizes when it is "Offline" but fails to print from any application.
* Connected the printer via USB and installed appropriate drivers. This does work as long as it's connected in this manner, but it's highly inconvenient.
* Installed new ink cartridges, which work when the printer is connected via USB.

So obviously, there is some kind of problem with Vista and the drivers. However, I have not installed any new software or hardware around the time of the first failure, I do not receive automatic HP updates, and I do not generally receive automatic Windows updates, though Vista seems to have a knack for resetting this feature. I do not know the last time I received a Windows update, but I don't recall there being one last week.

I would GREATLY appreciate any ideas anybody might have. I'm at my wits' end.

Many thanks in advance.

-John

My "guess" is the IP address for the printer in the Vista laptop printer properties is the not IP the printer is actually using. You should be able to see the IP assigned in your router's tables, or by manually (from the printer's front panel) printing a network setup report.

Note this can happen if there was a power failure and the IP addresses for the attached devices are re-assigned by the router. To prevent recurrence, use static IP assignments instead of DHCP - at least for the printer.

Here's what I get when I print off the printer's network config:

Network Status: Ready
Active Connection Type: Wired
URL(s) for Embedded Web Server: http://192.168.1.2
Firmware Revision: TGP2FN0907AR
Hostname: HP3532B3
Serial Number: MY96R2J0VT057W

IPv4
IP Address: 192.168.1.2
(a bunch of other stuff)
________________________

My printer's properties show the port to be HP_192.168.1.2_MY96R2J0VT057W
The printer's location shows: IP=192.168.1.2,Host=HP3532B3

This seems to be correct to me, but I'll admit that networking isn't my strong point. Should I be looking somewhere else? If not, do you have any other thoughts?

Many thanks!
John

That looks to be right. Do you have more than one computer using that printer? If so, do they print correctly? Otherwise, I would probably totally uninstall the printer and reinstall it.

I have a PC that's connected to the router via a Ethernet cable. Unfortunately, the power supply is toast and I'm awaiting a replacement that should be here any time.

However, I have uninstalled and reinstalled that printer numerous times, with the same result every time now. I'm about ready to throw my laptop through the wall, but that won't really solve the problem, other than I could just get a Mac and not have to deal with Windows anymore.

Thanks for helping, though. Can you think of a reason that uninstalling and reinstalling the printer wouldn't help?

Many thanks!
John

If you enter 192.168.1.2 into your browser, can you access the printer's internal menu?

I'm sorry, but I taken out of commission for quite some time after this thread's last posts, and only now that I've had cause to get back on here do I see that I never closed it out. BUT...I'm still having the problem. I did everything you'd asked, and when I reinstalled it, the computer did recognize it as a network printer and everything worked just peachy...for about a week. Then all the same issues came back. I did all the recommended things once again, to no avail. If anybody reads this an has any new ideas, I would really appreciate some more help. I can print if I take my laptop and plug it in directly, but the wireless method used to work, and I believe that it should be able to work again!

Many thanks to all of the great helpers at this awesome site!

Cheers!
John