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Author Topic: Z3100 – new SW – unstable HP Printer Utility  (Read 5613 times)

Vlad3

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Z3100 – new SW – unstable HP Printer Utility
« on: October 03, 2008, 11:28:50 am »

Hello,

I bought my Z3100 (24”) in June 08. I love the print quality and the overall sophistication.
Still, never before I have experienced so many little annoyances… and spent so much time on the phone with technical support personnel…

The famous star wheels, then the printer sometimes refused to stop when I canceled the job…

The tech support people here in Canada are very nice… still we go over the same things in cycles… uninstalling the printer… re-installing the printer…

Eventually I was told to update my firmware to TR12-7.0.0.3-5. I did and since then I’m experiencing new headaches with the HP Printer Utility. It is very unreliable. Sometimes it opens and displays full info, sometimes it only shows yellow triangles where the ink levels should be, sometimes it cannot locate the custom papers… and it is very slow…

I’m using MacBookPro with OS 10.4.11 and 2GB of RAM. I tried both the Ethernet and USB connections; there is no difference.

Did you experience the same? Any advice?

Thanks,

Vlad3
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Colorwave

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Z3100 – new SW – unstable HP Printer Utility
« Reply #1 on: October 03, 2008, 11:38:36 am »

Quote
Eventually I was told to update my firmware to TR12-7.0.0.3-5. I did and since then I’m experiencing new headaches with the HP Printer Utility. It is very unreliable. Sometimes it opens and displays full info, sometimes it only shows yellow triangles where the ink levels should be, sometimes it cannot locate the custom papers… and it is very slow…
[a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=226595\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a]
Vlad-
I experience the yellow triangles and inability to locate the custom paper list full time on my Z3100ps, running on 10.5.5 on a MacBook Pro.  The problem does not manifest itself when I connect over USB, but is always present over my ethernet network that is my normal connection to the printer.  I had this problem with the previous firmware/driver, as well as with the current firmware, but not with any version before that, when it worked perfectly over the network.  HP tech support has never been able to sort my problem out, and also told me that I was the "first" person to report this issue.  They said that until at least five people report this issue, it isn't considered a bug.  Please keep us posted if you ever manage to sort this out.  I've tried many different approaches on my end, to no avail.
-Ron H
« Last Edit: October 03, 2008, 11:39:00 am by Colorwave »
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Vlad3

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Z3100 – new SW – unstable HP Printer Utility
« Reply #2 on: October 04, 2008, 11:07:19 am »

Quote from: Colorwave
Vlad-
I experience the yellow triangles and inability to locate the custom paper list full time on my Z3100ps, running on 10.5.5 on a MacBook Pro.  The problem does not manifest itself when I connect over USB, but is always present over my ethernet network that is my normal connection to the printer.  I had this problem with the previous firmware/driver, as well as with the current firmware, but not with any version before that, when it worked perfectly over the network.  HP tech support has never been able to sort my problem out, and also told me that I was the "first" person to report this issue.  They said that until at least five people report this issue, it isn't considered a bug.  Please keep us posted if you ever manage to sort this out.  I've tried many different approaches on my end, to no avail.
-Ron H

Hi Ron,

Thank you for your reply!

Last night I was so frustrated that I unplugged the cord from the wall (for approximately 10 sec. - as I was once told by HP support technician). With TR12-6008 firmware this would trigger a short set up cycle. With TR12-7003 the printer always goes through the full cycle (approx. 30-40 minutes). But, in the end, I was getting the full status for the rest of the day!

This morning, as I'm writing these lines, the yellow triangles are back. Obviously, the sleep period moved things back. Very frustrating... Next time I'll do the same things but with USB connection only. BTW how long is your USB cord???

All the best,

Vlad3
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Colorwave

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Z3100 – new SW – unstable HP Printer Utility
« Reply #3 on: October 06, 2008, 11:37:13 am »

Quote from: Vlad3
Hi Ron,

Thank you for your reply!

Last night I was so frustrated that I unplugged the cord from the wall (for approximately 10 sec. - as I was once told by HP support technician). With TR12-6008 firmware this would trigger a short set up cycle. With TR12-7003 the printer always goes through the full cycle (approx. 30-40 minutes). But, in the end, I was getting the full status for the rest of the day!

This morning, as I'm writing these lines, the yellow triangles are back. Obviously, the sleep period moved things back. Very frustrating... Next time I'll do the same things but with USB connection only. BTW how long is your USB cord???

All the best,

Vlad3
Vlad-
I just use a 10' USB cord as a temporary connection to my MacBook Pro.  I'd need about a 30' cord to run it properly, which I suspect would not work correctly.  When you unplugged your printer, was it already turned off?
-Ron H.
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Vlad3

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Z3100 – new SW – unstable HP Printer Utility
« Reply #4 on: October 06, 2008, 01:00:58 pm »

Quote from: Colorwave
Vlad-
I just use a 10' USB cord as a temporary connection to my MacBook Pro.  I'd need about a 30' cord to run it properly, which I suspect would not work correctly.  When you unplugged your printer, was it already turned off?
-Ron H.

No, that's the thing! The tech support lady said they call it a hard re-set. Unplug the cord while the printer is on. Wait approx. 10 sec and plug it back. Then the cycle starts (long or short, depending on the firmware, I guess). It is considered an emergency procedure only - but it works, at least for me. I don't recommend you do it too often...

Cheers,

Vlad3

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Vlad3

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Z3100 – new SW – unstable HP Printer Utility
« Reply #5 on: October 06, 2008, 01:12:34 pm »

Quote from: Colorwave
Vlad-
I just use a 10' USB cord as a temporary connection to my MacBook Pro.  I'd need about a 30' cord to run it properly, which I suspect would not work correctly.  When you unplugged your printer, was it already turned off?
-Ron H.


One more thing... yesterday the tech people recommended to download the Z3200 firmware... which I did but didn't install it yet... an interesting alternative... I guess...

V3

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rdonson

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Z3100 – new SW – unstable HP Printer Utility
« Reply #6 on: October 06, 2008, 01:18:47 pm »

Quote from: Vlad3
One more thing... yesterday the tech people recommended to download the Z3200 firmware... which I did but didn't install it yet... an interesting alternative... I guess...

V3

I can't imagine how that would even work!
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Regards,
Ron

Colorwave

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Z3100 – new SW – unstable HP Printer Utility
« Reply #7 on: October 06, 2008, 02:02:26 pm »

Quote from: Vlad3
yesterday the tech people recommended to download the Z3200 firmware... which I did but didn't install it yet...
V3

!!!
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dajaka

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Z3100 – new SW – unstable HP Printer Utility
« Reply #8 on: October 06, 2008, 03:47:57 pm »

I started having the long startup cycle problem after upgrading my 3100 to firmware TR12-7003

Tech support sent a new formatter card, but I'm not convinced that was the problem although it did seem to fix it.

They called back today and said that there is a problem with IPV6 which is enabled in the latest firmware. I had already disabled it.
You might try disabling it in the printer control panel. They also said that you should use the ethernet connection rather than USB.

I think the 7.003 firmware definitely has some communications problems. Printing on my Mac (10.4) I now get an error message intermittently when one of my ink cartridges is very low: Printer reports warning. Please refer to HP printer monitor for further details.

When I open up the printer monitor it has no error, but printing is stopped and I have to restart the printer to continue. This doesn't happen all the time but only sometimes when a cartridge is very low.
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Colorwave

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Z3100 – new SW – unstable HP Printer Utility
« Reply #9 on: October 06, 2008, 05:44:47 pm »

FWIW:  I tried a hard restart with my printer and it had no effect on the communication issue over my ethernet network.  I also tried turning off IPv6, also with no change.
Out of curiosity, Vlad, when you have the issues with connectivity that cause the yellow exclamation marks for the ink levels under the Printer Status menu in the Printer Utility, do you get the ink levels to display when you hit the Supplies Details button?  This works every time for me, which tells me that the Printer Utility and Printer communicate correctly with some calls, just not when I ask for anything related to the Manage Paper List.
-Ron H.
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Vlad3

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Z3100 – new SW – unstable HP Printer Utility
« Reply #10 on: October 06, 2008, 10:34:35 pm »

Quote from: Colorwave
FWIW:  I tried a hard restart with my printer and it had no effect on the communication issue over my ethernet network.  I also tried turning off IPv6, also with no change.
Out of curiosity, Vlad, when you have the issues with connectivity that cause the yellow exclamation marks for the ink levels under the Printer Status menu in the Printer Utility, do you get the ink levels to display when you hit the Supplies Details button?  This works every time for me, which tells me that the Printer Utility and Printer communicate correctly with some calls, just not when I ask for anything related to the Manage Paper List.
-Ron H.

Hi Ron,

Today the HP Printer Utility worked fine - but I was connected via (short) USB cable... it suggests something...

Nevertheless, the HP Preview took eons to show up and further eons after each touch (the spinning rainbow wheel)...
(Unlike the ordinary Preview, HP Preview gets selected as a sub-menu via PDF icon in Mac OS X printer dialogue. In my view it is a wonderful preview, it just takes ages to run).

Finally, to answer your question, yes when I use the Ethernet connection and have the usual problems, the Supplies Details button works fine.

Take care,

Vlad
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Hellstan

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Z3100 – new SW – unstable HP Printer Utility
« Reply #11 on: February 01, 2009, 08:46:20 am »

Quote from: Vlad3
Eventually I was told to update my firmware to TR12-7.0.0.3-5.

And where did you find it ?
To me, in the download page, it becomes 7.0.0.3 again.

Vlad3

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Z3100 – new SW – unstable HP Printer Utility
« Reply #12 on: February 01, 2009, 07:58:22 pm »

Quote from: Hellstan
And where did you find it ?
To me, in the download page, it becomes 7.0.0.3 again.

Never in my life I spent so much time on the phone with tech support like after buying my Z3100! My Epsons clogged badly but there were no other problems. Z3100 doesn’t clog and it outputs beautiful images - but the software is highly questionable.

To make a long story short, after upgrading to firmware 7_0_0_3 (you are right, it reads 7_0_0_3-5 but shows as 7_0_0_3) I basically gave up on HP Printer Utility under Mac OS 10.4 - endless yellow triangles and constant communications errors…

Nevertheless, lately I moved up to Leopard and installed the HP Printer Utility for OS 10.5 (I had nothing to lose) – and things are better!

Since the new set up the HP Printer Utility is suddenly reliable and there are no communications conflicts between Z3100 and my MacBookPro.

I only had one UNRELATED issue lately: either Ilford Galery Gold Fibre Satin or HP Barite profile I downloaded from their respective web sites got corrupted and started shutting down my printing…

Catch 22 again… HP tech blaming Apple, Apple blaming HP… I eventually fixed it by erasing both profiles…

I sometimes think that we all should ask HP to extend our warranty. The waste of time, ink and paper is/was unbelievable… and I’m sure the issues will always come up in the future. How much do they charge for each support call???

Cheers,

Vlad3


 

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Min

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Z3100 – new SW – unstable HP Printer Utility
« Reply #13 on: February 01, 2009, 10:27:58 pm »

Everything was printing wonderfully until i updated the firmware to 7003...now photoshop cs4 crashes when i try to print. Im using Mac Pro with Leopard, z3100 is ethernetted, and tried to upgrade the driver and the printer utility now nothing works right. Can get it to print so long as i dont ask it to update the custom paper presets, but what good is that!? I also run the printer on an xp machine with cs3...no problems there whatsoever. When it comes to the Apple, i sure wish id left well enough alone! im at a total loss on what to do. Spoke briefly with HP, calling about another issue, they said lower your RAM usage in CS4 (!) but its probably an Apple problem ... aarrgg. I switched to mac for what I thought were obvious reasons....the printer showed up and was ready to print with no effort on my part.... until...

how do i clear out all the updates on the mac...printer utility, drivers etc?...course i guess if its a firmware thing that wont help....but dont i need to have the lastest driver with the latest firmware? I also understand that Apple does an auto update on this printer that can cause a problem...how do i over ride that?

min
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