Printer detection issue...

[Farmer]

This is an HP Color LaserJet 1500L. Worked fine on a Dell P4. We recently upgraded to an HP model (P4 2.8GHz) running XP SP2.

I thought installing this printer was just going to be plugging it in, but Windows does not detect it properly, listing it as an Unknown Device. I have downloaded the drivers from HP, and have pointed Add Hardware to the correct .inf file for install, however, Add Hardware refuses to except the driver as appropriate for the device.

Strangely, under Add Printer, it detects the drivers fine (installing it as an HP 1500L), however, since the system has no such device, simply adding a printer does not solve the issue.

It is connected via USB; I have tried all the USB ports, same result. Windows detects a device connected, it just lists it as an Unknown Device. Is there anything to be done in BIOS to allow printers (I don't think so). Is there anyway I could go about resetting or updating printer firmware? I am beginning to believe this is a printer side issue.

 

[Kaspian]

Was your other printer connected via usb or lpt1? Can you connect your new printer via lpt1? Just curious....

 

[wpshooter]

Have you tried updating the drivers for the Unknown Device in control panel/device manager and pointing it to the place you dowloaded and possibly unzipped the HP latest drivers for your printer ?

edit: P.S. - You should probably have installed the software for this printer on your computer before you hooked the USB cable to the computer.

 

[gorcorps]

I have an HP printer and they are very picky about software and drivers and stuff. Uninstall anything you may have for the printer and unplug it... then install the software... then you can plug it in and do the drivers. HP pretty much needs its software running in the background in order to function correctly.

 

[kristof007]

This all might be a little confusing and I am not sure if you know but a good way to get rid of it in my opinion is to plug it in and look at in system devices and uninstall the unknown device while there. Then unplug get everything else off. Then install drivers and then plug it back in. Good luck with all!

 

[Farmer]

Kaspian:

USB. If I can find an printer cable, I will try.

wpshooter:

Yes. pointed them to the folder with the correct (according to HP's website) .inf and it refuses to accept HP 1500L as the correct device.

gorcorps, kristof007:

Yes, I tried doing that as well. However, whenever I do plug it in, it still detects it as an Unknown Device. The problem is, I cannot 'install' the software before I install the printer because the drivers HP has available on their website do not come with an installer.

Fortunately, we got HP to send us a 1500L install CD, so we'll so if that helps. Thanks for all the responses.

 

[kristof007]

No installer! That sucks. I had a relatively similair issue with a Canon scanner and we got the installer and it even came with some free software which wasn't junk. But good luck with it all.

 

[Farmer]

The issue has been resolved. The CD came in today, installed without a hitch, and the printer is working perfectly now. Thanks for all the responses.

 

[Kaspian]

Originally posted by: Farmer
The issue has been resolved. The CD came in today, installed without a hitch, and the printer is working perfectly now. Thanks for all the responses.

Time to celebrate!!!!! :thumbsup: :beer:

 

[kristof007]

Congrats!

 

[Farmer]

You guys won't believe the reason:

Well, I thought the issue was resolved after the CD install, but it wasn't. The printer was picked up for about 5 minutes, then it dropped back to being an 'Unrecognizable Device.'

So, since it picked up and dropped, we were leaning toward a cable issue. So, we swapped out the 10-foot USB2 cable (that worked with the old Dell system perfectly) for a 3-foot USB2 cable that had come with a Plextor DVD-+RW at the office. Voila, it picked up and installed automatically; we were printing away in a matter of seconds. So, I ran to Radio Shack and got a 6 ft USB2 cable. Came back, plugged it in, didn't work, same old problem.

I know that signal diminishes with cable length, but it shouldn't be that drastic over the few feet that it was (3 to 6 to 10 ft).

Any responses from the more knowledgeable?

 

[kristof007]

WOW! I am not a knowledgeable one but you should send an email to HP and see what they have to say. I guess your stuck with getting a 3ft cable. I have never heard of something like this before.