HP Deskjet 9650 Printer - Printer is not responding (nothing prints)

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Printer is not responding (nothing prints)

Check the printer lights

If the Power light is blinking, be patient. Complex documents containing many fonts,
graphics, or color photos take longer to begin printing. If the Power light is blinking, the
printer is processing information.

See

“Printer lights reference”

for descriptions of printer lights and what they indicate.

Check the power

See

“Power cannot be turned on”

.

Check the cables

Make sure the printer cable (USB, parallel, or network) is firmly connected between
the printer and the computer.

Do not connect a USB and a parallel cable to the printer at the same time. If two
cables are connected, turn off the printer and disconnect the cable you are not using.

Make sure the cable is not damaged or frayed. If it is, contact the manufacturer of the
cable and have it replaced.

Make sure the media is loaded correctly

Make sure media is loaded correctly in the input tray and that the media is not jammed in
the printer. See

“Loading media in the input tray”

and

“Clearing jams”

.

Make sure the correct-sized media is loaded and press the Resume button to continue.

Make sure the printer is selected

When you print your file, make sure the printer is selected in the printer menu.

To set the printer as the default printer, right-click the printer name or icon in the Printers
folder and select the option to set as default printer. For more information about setting the
default printer, see the online Help for your computer’s operating system.

Check the Chooser (Mac OS 9.1.x and 9.2.x only)

Make sure you have installed the printer software and the printer is selected. The printer
version should be visible on the left panel of the Chooser. When you click the printer icon,
the printer name should be available on the right panel of the Chooser. Select the printer’s
name.

Make sure the printer is not paused

Windows:

Make sure

Pause Printing

is not selected in the Printer menu.

i

Click

Start

, point to

Settings

, and then click

Printers

(Windows NT 4.0, 98, Me,

and 2000) or

Printers and Faxes

(Windows XP).

(If Printers and Faxes is not found on the Start menu in Windows XP, click

Start

,

click

Control Panel

, and then click

Printers and Faxes

.)

ii

Right-click the printer icon.

iii

If

Pause Printing

is selected in the drop-down menu, click it to clear it.

Macintosh:

Make sure

Stop Print Queue

is not selected in the Mac desktop’s

Printing

menu.

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Make sure the print to file option is not selected in the printer driver

If the print to file option is selected in the printer driver, the print job is saved to a file on
your computer and not printed on paper.

Windows:

From the software application, click

File

, and then click

Print

. Make sure

the

Print to file

option is not selected.

Macintosh:

On the main pop-up menu in the

Print

dialog box, make sure the

Print to

file

option is not selected.

Check the rear access panel and top cover

Make sure the rear access panel or auto-duplex unit is correctly installed and locked into
place, and that the top cover is closed.

Check the print cartridges

If the print cartridge lights are on or blinking, see

“Printer lights reference”

.

If you are printing with a single print cartridge, see

“Printing with a single print

cartridge”

.

Try printing a demo page

Try printing a demo page to see if the printer is set up correctly. Make sure the printer is
turned on, press and hold the Power button, press the Resume button once, and then
release the Power button. The printer prints a demo page.

Try printing a test page (Windows)

To print a generic Windows test page:

1

Click

Start

, point to

Settings

, and then click

Printers

(Windows NT 4.0, 98, Me, and

2000) or

Printers and Faxes

(Windows XP).

(If Printers and Faxes is not found on the Start menu in Windows XP, click

Start

, click

Control Panel

, and then click

Printers and Faxes

.)

2

Right-click the printer icon and select

Properties

.

3

Click the

General

tab, and then click

Print Test Page

.

If the test page prints, then the problem is not with the connection between the printer and
the computer. Make sure the application you are trying to print from has the correct printer
selected.

If the test page prints and the printer previously worked with the same software application
you are using, try printing another file using the software. If this file prints, the file you were
previously trying to print may be damaged. If you have a backup copy of the file, try
printing it. If none of the above solutions work, this problem is likely caused by your
software application's inability to properly interpret print settings. Check the release notes
on the Starter CD for known software conflicts. Otherwise, check your software application
manual, or call the software manufacturer to get more specific help for this problem.

If the test page does not print, make sure the correct port (USB, LPTx) is selected and that
the printer is connected directly to your computer. If your printer is connected to a switch
box, make sure you have selected the correct switch. When printing the test page, the
printer Power light should blink. If the Power light does not blink, print a diagnostic page
(see

“Printing a diagnostic page”

).

Try printing from another application

Try printing from other applications to see if this problem recurs.

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Check the USB port

Unplug the printer from the USB port, wait a few seconds, and then plug it back in. If that
does not help, try plugging the cable into another USB port.

Check for conflicts with port-sharing devices

If you are using a parallel cable, make sure your printer is connected directly to the parallel
port. Avoid sharing the port with other devices such as a Zip drive or other printers.

Check the network setup

If you are sharing the printer, make sure it is properly set up in your network environment.
See

“Connecting to a network”

and the documentation provided by your network vendors.

Also see

“Resolving network printing problems”

for additional troubleshooting information.

Try restarting the system

Turn off the computer and the printer, wait a few seconds, and then turn them on again.
Try printing again.