P3005 and 4250 prints two letters top right THEN print job?

[mountainman99]

It does not happen all the time and that is what is extremely annoying, especially when I am printing checks via our accounting software as I waste a check and the rest are out of sequence.

Basically when I try to print sometimes it will print a page with only two letters (usually TP but not always) in the top left and then it prints the job fine on the second page.

I am the tech guy at our business (but not a professional, just picked it up as I went through life ) and I can't figure it out. I have searched numerous forums but can't find an answer. I have the latest drivers and have uninstalled and re-installed both printers numerous times.

I can't figure out any pattern either. Anyhooo, maybe someone can help:

Printers: HP P3005 and HP 4250 Laserjets which are not networked and are hooked directly into my and my co-workers PC's running XP (mine is the P3005).

thanks for any info.

 

[RHBlakeman]

Have you tried the latest firmware?

Go to hp.com and click download drivers, put P3005 in the box. Pick your machine submodel then look for cross-platform for the BIOS/firmware page.

If nothing changes after proper firmware upgrade then you likely have one of the pain in the butt controller chips known to be problematic on the P3005's. There are two different formatters - one with parallel and USB for non-network P3005's and one with USB and ethernet embedded for the network P3005. Liberty Parts Team at lbrty.com has had the best pricing on them for refurbished and they dont require a core return. Give the firmware upgrade a shot and see how it works first. If no change then replace the formatter but be sure to reflash the firmware after the replacement. Also be sure to print a config page before you replace so you have serial, total page counts and maintenance counts to load into the new formatter using the service menu. You will need a service PIN code - google P3005 service PIN and you should get a list on printertechs.com with the HP PIN codes. If you need a manual you can download on feedroller.com - look in the left nav bar near the bottom for the service manual icon.