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This is seriously screwed up. Any idea what part of a printer causes this problem. I work for a software company that makes the software that produces an amazing abstract work of art on one computer for one printer for one client.

The obvious culprits are:

  1. Drivers
  2. Software bug
  3. Hardware malfunction

That's truly all the information I have regarding this problem. Here's a screen shot of the fax we got back from the guys with the problem:

Printer Problem

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  • Other users do not have this when printing to this printer? Do they use the same driver. Same Print Processor?
    – Dave M
    Dec 2, 2009 at 15:41
  • That looks seriously cool, if it weren't for a malfunction of some sort :-)
    – Joey
    Dec 2, 2009 at 15:45
  • It happened to one person occasionally printing through our software, not all the time. I'm not sure if other users use the same driver. I'd imagine they do, isn't it like 1 of 2 options for Windows (PCL or postscript)?
    – Peter Turner
    Dec 2, 2009 at 15:58

1 Answer 1

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That looks more like hardware fail, but could just be toner. The spots remind me more of hardware problems though. The 4100 is an older laserjet so I am sure it has gotten used a lot. The middle looks like it getting non fused toner on the paper, then it just smears as it goes through the rollers. For printers, if you don't want to pay for professional service, I start with the cheapest things.

  1. Re-install drivers on clients (Does it print like that from one machine or multiple?)
  2. Pull the toner and clean the printer up. (Be careful, they can get very dirty and you don't want to inhale the toner)
  3. Replace toner pack or try a different known working one(I recommend you do not use remanufactured ones)
  4. Beyond that, it could be the fuser module (toner not getting fused to paper and smearing) or need a drum kit. The printer test page should give a readout of the total pages printed and some of those hp's give percentages of drum and toner life. Those are not cheap parts (>$100) however and this is where you might want to consider a new printer.

In the end, that printer is an older model and a new printer purchase might be a better use of funds.

I kind of doubt it is your software if it is just one client. Bad print drivers or a dying printer is more likely the case. And it is only your software when this kind of printing is experienced?

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