OK. Another Dell laser printer problem
April 18, 2017 7:09 AM Subscribe
Hello smart people. I have searched and searched the internet for a solution to no avail, but have not yet posted this to Dell tech support. I have had good luck here before, so I'd rather try you first.
I have had some intermittent trouble with my Dell E525W laser printer since I installed it that has now turned into not being able to print at all. I think the best way to describe the issue(s) is with a list of what the printer did and what I tried:
1. Early on, I got a "toner density low" error. I found out that I needed to change the altitude adjustment, which I did, to 3000m (I live at 8500 ft, so this setting seemed best). This worked and I could print again.
2. Then, about two weeks later, I got the same error. I was hoping that the altitude got reset back to 0 somehow, but no, it was still at 3000m. I couldn't get the error to disappear and the printing was disabled, so I tried to refresh the toner within Dell Printer Hub on my computer (maintenance->toner refresh mode). Unfortunately, I kept getting a "Failed to acquire the information" error.
3. Frustrated, I changed the toner settings to non-Dell toners to see if it would do anything. Now it worked again, although without any toner level info. I wasn't completely satisfied by this solution, but I was happy that it worked.
4. Last night, a mere day later (and not many printouts), I started getting "toner low or out" errors for a couple of colors. I tried changing the toner settings back to Dell cartridges, but now it thinks they are all out of toner! I suspect that the printer may have inadvertently messed up the toner cartridge chips that indicate level. I read online to uncheck a "complete-a-print" box in the printer dialog to reset or subvert the chips, but this printer doesn't use that dialog, it uses Dell Printer Hub, which does not have this option. I should add that we have printed fewer than 50 pages and the last level indication that I saw before all of this happened was showing about 80% full for all colors.
5. Since then, I have tried everything that I could think of. I attempted a factory reset according to the manual's instructions, but I don't believe it was successful. I tried once again to "refresh the toner", but this time via the printer menu itself. I got "busy with job, try again", but there are no print jobs in the queue, so I don't know what it means by "job".
So, a summary of what I need help with:
- What to do about a low toner density error if I have already changed the altitude?
- What to do about my printer currently indicating empty toner cartridges?
- How do I do a complete factory reset on this printer? Would that even help?
Thanks!
1. Early on, I got a "toner density low" error. I found out that I needed to change the altitude adjustment, which I did, to 3000m (I live at 8500 ft, so this setting seemed best). This worked and I could print again.
2. Then, about two weeks later, I got the same error. I was hoping that the altitude got reset back to 0 somehow, but no, it was still at 3000m. I couldn't get the error to disappear and the printing was disabled, so I tried to refresh the toner within Dell Printer Hub on my computer (maintenance->toner refresh mode). Unfortunately, I kept getting a "Failed to acquire the information" error.
3. Frustrated, I changed the toner settings to non-Dell toners to see if it would do anything. Now it worked again, although without any toner level info. I wasn't completely satisfied by this solution, but I was happy that it worked.
4. Last night, a mere day later (and not many printouts), I started getting "toner low or out" errors for a couple of colors. I tried changing the toner settings back to Dell cartridges, but now it thinks they are all out of toner! I suspect that the printer may have inadvertently messed up the toner cartridge chips that indicate level. I read online to uncheck a "complete-a-print" box in the printer dialog to reset or subvert the chips, but this printer doesn't use that dialog, it uses Dell Printer Hub, which does not have this option. I should add that we have printed fewer than 50 pages and the last level indication that I saw before all of this happened was showing about 80% full for all colors.
5. Since then, I have tried everything that I could think of. I attempted a factory reset according to the manual's instructions, but I don't believe it was successful. I tried once again to "refresh the toner", but this time via the printer menu itself. I got "busy with job, try again", but there are no print jobs in the queue, so I don't know what it means by "job".
So, a summary of what I need help with:
- What to do about a low toner density error if I have already changed the altitude?
- What to do about my printer currently indicating empty toner cartridges?
- How do I do a complete factory reset on this printer? Would that even help?
Thanks!
Best answer: Found this Amazon review:
While I really like the printer, it needed a firmware upgrade. After a few months I began to get a bogus toner density error message and the printer would not print. I replaced the toner cartridge and that didn't help. I contacted Dell and over the internet they upgraded the firmware and that seems to have solved the problem, at least for now. I think the firmware update was a special patch to address the problem I had, as the Dell software I had installed on my PC reported that the firmware was current before I called Dell.posted by EndsOfInvention at 8:08 AM on April 18, 2017 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: That is a great find, EndsOfInvention! I will try that if and when I can get the printer to see the full cartridges.
posted by Don_K at 8:14 AM on April 18, 2017
posted by Don_K at 8:14 AM on April 18, 2017
Response by poster: mecran01, Even with all of our computers shut down, the printer interface on the front panel itself still gives the same problems.
posted by Don_K at 8:15 AM on April 18, 2017
posted by Don_K at 8:15 AM on April 18, 2017
Response by poster: Did I mention today was my birthday? It is!
Still need help with:
- What to do about my printer currently indicating empty toner cartridges?
- How do I do a complete factory reset on this printer? Would that even help?
Thanks!
posted by Don_K at 10:34 AM on April 18, 2017
Still need help with:
- What to do about my printer currently indicating empty toner cartridges?
- How do I do a complete factory reset on this printer? Would that even help?
Thanks!
posted by Don_K at 10:34 AM on April 18, 2017
Sorry I can't provide specific instructions, but I can provide encouragement. I had a similar problem with another Dell printer - it was a color laser printer that decided it was out of toner. It also decided that it wouldn't even print black text because it was out of magenta toner.
After escalating rage and lots of trial and error, I finally got it printing again and it's been fine for months. I think it had something to do with resetting various settings (like the non-Dell toner setting, or the factory reset) with, or without, or before and then after, the toner was... present or removed, can't remember which or which order.
Sorry this is so vague, but I wanted to share that a similar printer issue was eventually resolved with persistence.
posted by reeddavid at 9:38 PM on April 18, 2017 [1 favorite]
After escalating rage and lots of trial and error, I finally got it printing again and it's been fine for months. I think it had something to do with resetting various settings (like the non-Dell toner setting, or the factory reset) with, or without, or before and then after, the toner was... present or removed, can't remember which or which order.
Sorry this is so vague, but I wanted to share that a similar printer issue was eventually resolved with persistence.
posted by reeddavid at 9:38 PM on April 18, 2017 [1 favorite]
> That is a great find, EndsOfInvention! I will try that if and when I can get the printer to see the full cartridges.
You seem to be misunderstanding this a bit. Don't WAIT until you get the printer to see the cartridges to do the firmware upgrade.
On the contrary, based on the info above, doing the firmware upgrade NOW is almost certainly your best chance of getting the printer to see the full cartridges properly. If your printer needs a firmware upgrade, nothing else you can possible do will get it to work properly. Do the firmware upgrade *now*.
- What to do about my printer currently indicating empty toner cartridges?
- How do I do a complete factory reset on this printer? Would that even help?
The answer to both of these questions is do a firmware upgrade now.
If your printer still is not working after the firmware upgrade, you can come back to us with an update. Until that point, step #1 on your to-do list is: Firmware upgrade now.
posted by flug at 10:25 AM on April 19, 2017
You seem to be misunderstanding this a bit. Don't WAIT until you get the printer to see the cartridges to do the firmware upgrade.
On the contrary, based on the info above, doing the firmware upgrade NOW is almost certainly your best chance of getting the printer to see the full cartridges properly. If your printer needs a firmware upgrade, nothing else you can possible do will get it to work properly. Do the firmware upgrade *now*.
- What to do about my printer currently indicating empty toner cartridges?
- How do I do a complete factory reset on this printer? Would that even help?
The answer to both of these questions is do a firmware upgrade now.
If your printer still is not working after the firmware upgrade, you can come back to us with an update. Until that point, step #1 on your to-do list is: Firmware upgrade now.
posted by flug at 10:25 AM on April 19, 2017
Here are some specific pages that will help with troubleshooting problems with Dell printers and specifically with your next task, updating the firmware:
posted by flug at 10:34 AM on April 19, 2017
- E 525w user guide. This will have instructions for factory reset etc.
- Instructions for obtaining & installing the most recent firmware update for your printer
- E525W support page at Dell.com
posted by flug at 10:34 AM on April 19, 2017
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by mecran01 at 7:47 AM on April 18, 2017