Z3200 Reboots While Receiving Files

[plasakow]

Z3200 Spontaneously reboots when fed large files.  This is an intermittent issue where the printer will reboot after receiving a large print (20mb+) file. It has also rebooted once when printing an internal diagnostic image. I'm also not certain that the size of the file is correlating- it just seems that way as I haven't observed the rebooting with small files.

-It's a Z3200 A 24" non-ps
-I've checked that all cables on the mech control card are well seated.
-The error log reveals nothing extraordinary.
-Same results when printing from different computers with different OS, or when printing local port or network.
-The printer firmware is the latest release
-My other printer- an identical Z3200 on same network- doesn't have this problem.

Any ideas would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Kyle Jackson]

Hi, well that's disturbing...    And 20 MB is far from being a large file, it's pretty small tbh so it shouldn't be doing anything unusual like that.

When you say it reboots, does it actually show something on the screen to indicate that it "knows" that it's shutting down to restart? Or does it simply flick off and then on again as if the power was lost?

I'm asking because the second case might be something like a power interruption issue, where the power is literally getting shut off (either inside or outside of the printer). Whereas the first case sounds more like a software-ish gremlin (maybe hardware-triggered) that causes some kind of error condition that triggers a system restart.

The event logs would be my first stop, but it sounds like you've already gone there. Just in case tho, the one I check is thru the HP Utility / web interface. In HP Utility I go to the firmware update option, and it pops open a browser. Then on the Support tab it's Service support -> Printer Information. Another window opens, then it's the Event logs tab. It shows System Errors, Warnings, and Printhead Errors.

Another thought is the file space. Are there a lot of job files stored on it? Maybe try clearing up some space. I don't know if a disk health issue could cause a reboot, like a bad sector or something maybe.

Next I would hit the Service Test menu (described in the service manual) to check the Electronics Module. (Basically turn printer off with front power button, next press and keep holding OK, Up, and Power buttons, all 3 at once, until the power button stops flashing, about 20-30 seconds. Then Electronics Module in the menu.)

I don't know if something as simple as replacing the CMOS battery on the formatter board would help, but it's an option too if it's old.

[plasakow]

Thanks, Kyle. You're in Ottawa? Funny... in my day job I direct plays. I'm from the US, so  I had to go to Reddit to see what this line from the one I'm working on now meant:  "(Ottawa sounds like) a million people all being very quiet together. Shh!. We're in Ottawa. Shhhhhhh."  I got some pretty funny responses.

See responses in bold after your points:

Hi, well that's disturbing...    And 20 MB is far from being a large file, it's pretty small tbh so it shouldn't be doing anything unusual like that.

When you say it reboots, does it actually show something on the screen to indicate that it "knows" that it's shutting down to restart? Or does it simply flick off and then on again as if the power was lost? Flick on/off.

I'm asking because the second case might be something like a power interruption issue, where the power is literally getting shut off (either inside or outside of the printer). Whereas the first case sounds more like a software-ish gremlin (maybe hardware-triggered) that causes some kind of error condition that triggers a system restart.

The event logs would be my first stop, but it sounds like you've already gone there. Just in case tho, the one I check is thru the HP Utility / web interface. In HP Utility I go to the firmware update option, and it pops open a browser. Then on the Support tab it's Service support -> Printer Information. Another window opens, then it's the Event logs tab. It shows System Errors, Warnings, and Printhead Errors. Nothing in logs, either through front panel or web interface.

Another thought is the file space. Are there a lot of job files stored on it? Maybe try clearing up some space. I don't know if a disk health issue could cause a reboot, like a bad sector or something maybe. Z3200s can't store files. I think that the only reason they have a hard drive is for temp storage, since flash memory was expensive 15 years ago when the beasts were designed.

Next I would hit the Service Test menu (described in the service manual) to check the Electronics Module. (Basically turn printer off with front power button, next press and keep holding OK, Up, and Power buttons, all 3 at once, until the power button stops flashing, about 20-30 seconds. Then Electronics Module in the menu.) Done that, got the tee shirt.

I don't know if something as simple as replacing the CMOS battery on the formatter board would help, but it's an option too if it's old.It's worth a try.

[Kyle Jackson]

Lol don't get me started on this town...    (Truth tho...)

I had hoped one of those tests might have shown something.

They can definitely store files on the hard disk. There's actually some print jobs still on mine from the previous owner that they didn't erase. You can check/erase via the web interface.

The power flick on/off unannounced doesn't sound good... Especially in middle of an internal diagnostic print.

If haven't done a full power off (front button then back button) in a while, it might be worth trying it, to trigger a file system check. I can't remember if it does an FSCK from the front button power on or only from the back button. Manual just says it does it when powering on, and also every 90 days.

Also if it's some kinda of loose connection / shorted cable, I wondered if it's triggered by motion? These things wobble quite a bit with the carriage yanking back and forth. It might be aggressive but maybe shaking it somehow might cause it to happen manually? Might at least help figure out if it's physical vs software.

Really at a loss on this one 

[GST]

To me this sounds like a filesystem error, you can try to remove the battery on the formatter and boot it up without.
This will cause it to do an fsck on the disk and eventually fix errors. It will take quite some time to boot up.
Power off an re-insert the battery then and see if that helped.

regards

[Kyle Jackson]

@plasakow did you have any luck with this?

[Kyle Jackson]

...oh dear, I'm worried there's another Z3200 at the bottom of a canal somewhere...

[plasakow]

I apologize for ghosting this thread. I had some life issues arise.

Somehow I was wrong earlier- turning off the "printer handles color management" did the trick. Thank you very much for your advise and concern.

[Kyle Jackson]

No worries, glad to hear it's sorted out now. Kind of surprising that setting would cause the printer to reboot. I always use "App manages colour" and have never encountered that issue.

Since that option involves the printer driver on the computer, it expands the list of possible causes beyond just the printer hardware. Like maybe the driver version might have an effect. I've noticed that the later "universal" driver versions from HP ("V3", "V4") are not very usable for our printers. One of the main things that doesn't work correctly is bi-directional communication with the printer, so any interactions between the computer and printer via the driver. So far I have not had any driver version newer than 2012 (so version 61.12x...) work correctly with my Z3200ps (and Win 10).

Anyhow no idea if that's part of the issue when using "Printer manages colour" in your case, but it might be something to check out in addition to the earlier suggestions.

Cheers