My Acer Aspire F15 has stopped printing to networked HP Officejet 8014

Tony_Cannon

Hi. My wife's Ace stopped printing over wireless to our Officejet 8014 a few months ago, showing the error 'Driver unavailable'. It works fine from my PC over the same wireless. HP have worked very hard for several weeks trying everything they can think of, but without success. Finally, they have suggested it is something to do with the Laptop.
Any ideas would be gratefully received! Tony

JackE

Congrats. Thanks for reporting back on your success. What I meant by the scan function, was the printer's scan function not the virus scan. At any rate, I vaguely recall a similar issue on an HP G72 laptop with Win7.   Tried to install a new wired all-in-one that came with a DVD installation disc. Never got it to work with any of the inf files on the disc. Finally got it to work with an inf file that belonged to an XP-era wired all-in-one that earlier had wound up in one of the county's electronic recycling bins.  Jack E/NJ

JackE

Open DeviceManager. Do you see any red or yellow warnings? Jack E/NJ

Tony_Cannon

Thanks Jack. All fine in Device manager. Tony

JackE

Open ControlPanel. Search 'printer'. Click 'view devices and printers' in left pane. Do you see the HP listed? Jack E/NJ

Tony_Cannon

Thanks Jack. Yes, the HP Officejet 8010 series is listed with the words 'Driver unavailable'. HP's support WhatsApp team have done sterling work trying all the normal things and have had to give up, saying it must be a problem with the Acer laptop. That is now quiet old, hence asking the community! Ihave just used IOBit Drive Booster to update any out-of-date drivers, but that also hasn't solved the problem. Back in June the Windows update stopped loads of printers working- 4 that I dealt with - so I'm wondering if the issue might be another Windows update, but can't find anything.

JackE

>>> Back in June the Windows update stopped loads of printers working- 4 that I dealt with - so I'm wondering if the issue might be another Windows update, but can't find anything. >>>

Yes, a major Win10 update was the likely cause. Quite common and quite aggravating with machines that with vintages around the time the first few Win10 versions appeared --- roughly 2015-2017. Unfortunately, the ControlPanel automatic restore point created by that errant update is probably long gone since restore points are usually deleted within about a month. And it would only have been available if SystemProtection was enabled in the ControlPanel restore point app.  You can still check it by opening ControlPanel. Search 'restore point'. Click 'create a restore point'. If SystemProtection is turned on in the box that pops up, click on the SystemRestore button. Click next. Check for a restore point with a date stamp that approximately coincides with when the printer driver didn't work any more. I doubt it's still there but there's a slight chance.

What is your full F15 model number? For example, F5-573. Jack E/NJ

Tony_Cannon

Thanks again so much for your time Jack. As usually happens with me, by the time I found it wasn't working (we rarely print from the laptop) there were no Restore points! I tried uninstalling the two known Update culprits, but this time it didn't restore the printer. So I reinstalled Windows 10. It automatically updated it self of course, and again I had the 'Driver unavailable' in Settings.

JackE

Google "HP OfficeJet 8014 All-in-One Printer" "windows 10" "drivers". Click on the first hit since it appears to autodetect your hardware and system. Follow directions to try to install. Jack E/NJ

Tony_Cannon

Thanks Jack. I've done that (quite a few times!) and HP support have also done it several times, including after various different and increasingly thorough uninstalls of the HP software and driver. Tony

JackE

>>>Yes, the HP Officejet 8010 series is listed with the words 'Driver unavailable'.>>>

>>>All fine in Device manager.>>>

What do DeviceManager's Printer and Printer Queue folders reveal? Jack E/NJ

Tony_Cannon

Thanks Jack. That's part of the problem, as the normal Officejet entries under Printers and Print Queues aren't there. When I run the installer (OJ8010_Full_WebPack_49.3.4475.exe) it fails to connect to the printer, even being given the 192.168.1.6 address manually. 

JackE

>>>even being given the 192.168.1.6 address manually.  >>>

That address may not be correct anymore or what the laptop is looking for. Turn off the router/modem, the printer and the laptop. First turn back on the router/modem and let it fully reconnect with the ISP. Then turn on the printer but don't try to access it yet with anything else. Then turn on the laptop. Try get the printer back in DeviceManager again. If you still find you have to manually enter the address, double check the 192.168.001, is the correct private network address, and then try other individual device address number router assignments 192.168.001.x  with x depending on how many other devices are connected to the router. For example, if you have 6 other devices connected try numbers 1 thru 6 as the last number in the quad address. Jack E/NJ   

Tony_Cannon

Thanks Jack. I did as you said, turning everything off and then restarting all in the order you said. On the printer's screen the IP address is 192.168.1.6. I then logged into the Router (192.168.1.1) via a browser and entered the admin user name and password from the back of the router. That confirmed the printer's IP address is definitely that one.
I reinstalled the printer software again and tried to connect. It didn't find the printer until I gave it the IP address manually. 1 tried 192.168.1.1 then 192.168.1.2 up to 6 (we have the TV, PC, laptop and 2 android phones connected.) Using 192.168.1.6 it started the 'HO Device Setup Process' with '1....2....3...' on the screen. It tried for a few minutes then said 'Unable to connect. Connection to internet failed or not found'. It was definitely connected as I checked web pages loaded. It then said 'Setup complete'. In Settings there is the printer, but 'Manage' only accesses scan options and in Word there is no printer installed. When I tried to add a printer from within Word, it came up with the error 'Find in the directory. The Active Directory Domain Services is currently unavailable'. I checked and it isn't listed in Service.
Iran HP Print and Scan Doctor 5.5 once again and it said it had fixed the printing, but still only the scan options available in Setting and no printer installed. I tried to remove the printer in Settings but it won't remove!
I tried stopping AVG internet Security and to connect. Still no good.

JackE

If possible, AVG should be uninstalled not just disabled. What does DeviceManager look like now? Does its scan function respond? Jack E/NJ

Tony_Cannon

Afternoon Jack. Thanks again for your help. Well, I ran a full scan with AVG which found nothing and also installed and ran Malwarebytes to double-check. It found 16 PUPs which I quarantined, though I don't think they were significant. There were no printers listed in Device Manager and nothing under Print queues except the root. I tried to add a printer again and failed. So I totally uninstalled AVY Internet Security and Malwarebytes. After rebooting, I again tried to add a printer and failed. I then tried to add a local or network printer with manual settings. I tried 192.168.1.6 and all ports options (same plus 192.168.1.6_1 as well as _2 and _3. Every time, it came up with the option to install the Officejet 8010 series and every time if gave the error that it couldn't find the file. I also tried creating new ports with the _4, _5. _6 & even _7. Same thing- it found the right printer but couldn't install the driver as it 'couldn't find the specified file'. I tried the option to install from a disk, but it wanted a .inf file for the OJ8100 and it didn't exist on the computer anywhere, so that also didn't work! However, I noticed that as well as the OJ8010 it also had my previous printer, an OJ 8620 listed. Years ago I solved an HP printer problem by telling Windows it had a different model of printer connected. So, kind of in desperation, I installed the Officejet 8620. Would you believe it, it actually installed and printed a test page! I then went into Word and printed to the ""Officejet 8620" a complex document in Bookfold and it printed it perfectly as a booklet.
So, Jack, the problem is, to all intense and purposes, solved!
My wife is thrilled. I've still got no idea what the problem is with the OJ8010 driver, but we are going to take that as a win!!
Very many thanks for all you help and advice. Tony

JackE

Congrats. Thanks for reporting back on your success. What I meant by the scan function, was the printer's scan function not the virus scan. At any rate, I vaguely recall a similar issue on an HP G72 laptop with Win7.   Tried to install a new wired all-in-one that came with a DVD installation disc. Never got it to work with any of the inf files on the disc. Finally got it to work with an inf file that belonged to an XP-era wired all-in-one that earlier had wound up in one of the county's electronic recycling bins.  Jack E/NJ