1700n & all LEDs/lights blinking

Question

Printer setup: Dell 1700n w/ 550 sht tray. No USB or parallel connection. This printer is accessed by a mix of Win2k/XP computers over the network.

About once/week all the printer lights will start blinking. During this condition the printer will not print and the web page is not accessible. The condition is cleared by turning the printer power off then on. I am not having the Win2k SP4 rollup update problem described by others.

During the "all blinking" condition, quickly pressing the Continue button twice results in a blinking Continue light.

Dell Support concludes that I am having a printer driver conflict with other installed printers (HP4000tn, 4600dn, Adobe PDF Converter & MS Office Doc Image Writer), says to update the drivers and pretty much leaves it at that. I'll check on that, but I normally keep my drivers/software very much up to date.

Hmmmm...if this were true then shouldn't this board should be full of posts from people with the same problem?

Anybody else have any ideas?

Lance
*****

Lance0420 · Answer

@lhill wrote:
Dell Support concludes that I am having a printer driver conflict with other installed printers (HP4000tn, 4600dn, Adobe PDF Converter & MS Office Doc Image Writer), says to update the drivers and pretty much leaves it at that. I'll check on that, but I normally keep my drivers/software very much up to date.

Update: Checked the printer drivers, they're the latest.

Frumblefoot of · Answer

Hello,   try to print with other drivers : PS or PCL perhaps some documents use instruction who are not understand by the printer ... :smileysurprised:   If the problem occurs only one time a week that seems to be more a software problem than hardware ...   Frumblefoot :smileyvery-happy:

SkariMari · Answer

The secondary error code definately indicates a software error. If you unplug the network cable and press continue (or was it cancel?), will the error clear? This tool might be useful -> http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/entry?c=us&cs=04&l=en&s=bsd

Lance0420 · Answer

Thanks Fumblefoot and SkariMari. The error has not re-occurred yet, but I reinstalled everyone's driver just in case there was an install gone bad.

SkariMari, your link may be incomplete as it just leads to a search page. Can you repost or provide search terms?

Lance
*****

SkariMari · Answer

Try specifying your hardware (1700/n) and search 'error'. The simplest search terms seem to get the best results.

Lance0420 · Answer

@SkariMari wrote:
Try specifying your hardware (1700/n) and search "error". The simplest search terms seem to get the best results.

Good suggestion. I wound up at a trouble shooting tree on the Dell Solution Network - I've never seen this before. Comes complete with a "journal number" that can be used when talking on the telephone with Dell Support.

As great as this is, my all LED's blinking problem hasn't occured for a couple weeks so I haven't had a chance to use it. What I've done is restrict TCP connections to just my company's IP addresses (Printer Settings > TCP/IP > Advanced button). Being in a university environment where we're exposed to everything the internet can throw at us, my thought is that, right or wrong, this cuts down on the amount of weird connection attempts that occur.

We'll see what happens.

Lance
*****

WebJunkie · Answer

I am having the same problem, but I know mine is not software related. It happens every time I let my printer cool down (e.g. Turn it off or leave it in idle.). It will go through the "warming up" phase and then all lights start to blink. I have to turn it off and back on in order for it to print anything.

The way I know that this isn't a software issue is because it still does it even if the printer is unplugged from the USB connection to the Dell 3300 wireless printer adapter.

Anyone who knows anything about this please help!

SkariMari · Answer

Does the light on the 3300 print adapter still show the printer connection is good?

Try resetting the NVRAM.
- power off
- open front cover
- power on while cover is open and cancel and continue buttons are held down
- when error light is on steady, release buttons and close cover

If that doesn't work, it sounds very likely to be a hardware issue that you'll want to take up with Dell printer support.

Lance0420 · Answer

@lhill wrote:

What I've done is restrict TCP connections to just my company's IP addresses (Printer Settings > TCP/IP > Advanced button). Being in a university environment where we're exposed to everything the internet can throw at us, my thought is that, right or wrong, this cuts down on the amount of weird connection attempts that occur.

It's been a couple months and the 'all lights blinking' problem has not re-occured. I have not done anything other than restricting IP connections as explained above.

Lance
*****

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1700n & all LEDs/lights blinking

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