Top 10 HP Photosmart 3210 Printer Questions & Answers

Push OK, CANCEL, BLACK, & COLOR all at once while turning the printer off, turn it back on. I had to do this 2 times to get it to work and then it went through a long period of maintanence before I could print

If you are getting inksystem failure along with Error 0xc18a0106 then contact HP support, if you are not getting ink system failure along with Error 0xc18a0106 then power cycle the printer and then reset, this will resolve the issue.

The fix for this problem turned out to be nothing more than performing a master reset of the printer. To do this you need to push the "OK", "Cancel", "Black", and "Color" button while turning off the power. This reset sequence seems to be the same for all of the HP All-in-one Printers.

Once this was done I also updated the firmware/software. I am now able to print and copy.

I wish that there was a simple, single answer for this. There's only one thing more distressing - no device recognition at all. Here are the most likely culprits:

* The USB device or the USB adapter requires it's own power source. If your USB device or adapter came with an AC power "brick", try connecting it.
* Here's a likely one - the front USB ports on your PC case may be misconnected. I've seen them that way from the factory. It's a good idea to check the connections against specifications. The standard order of connection is Red, White, Green, Black. No more than 4 wires per USB bank are needed.
* Defective device. Do not assume that all PC components work correctly out of the box. I've seen many new USB devices that do not work. If you can, try the device on another PC.
* All drivers are not installed. Some devices will require installing the driver package before plugging in the device. Some devices will also require basic USB files from the Windows CD before the unit will function. The general rule is to always follow installation directions precisely and to have the Windows CD ready.

I will now discuss how to address an unknown device problem which is caused by a driver deficiency.

1. Try to update the unknown device driver from within Device Manager. First try letting Windows search for one. If that fails, go back and choose "Select from a list" and then "Have disk". Browse to the device CD and look for the appropriate Windows folder there. Try browsing to the Windows CD (Win9x folder or i386 folder). Lastly, try updated drivers from the manufacturer's web site.
2. Try uninstalling the unknown device, unplugging the device and rebooting. Replug when back in Windows.
3. Be certain that you have the correct drivers! You may have gotten the wrong CD or a CD with drivers for more than one device on it.
4. Cleaning up in Safe Mode may be necessary. Unplug all USB devices. Reboot the PC. To enter Safe Mode, press the F8 key repeatedly while restarting the PC. Timing is important. Try to press quickly before the Windows logo screen appears. Pressing and holding the CTRL key may work too. Choose Safe Mode and open Device Manager. In Windows 2000 and XP, click View > Show hidden devices. Now locate all USB devices, HID (Human Interface Devices), USB drives and controllers/hubs. Remove all and save the USB Host Controllers for last. When done, restart and replug USB devices one at a time.

Just remember that you are entitled to support from the device maker. If you can't get help, do not hesitate to return the device. Some manufacturers only seem to respond to lost business. It's a shame, but it's true. Send them a message - that you won't accept shoddy goods or lackluster support.

I just posted my problem and found the solution on a different web page. It is this and it WORKS
All you have to do is HOLD DOWN FOUR BUTTONS AT THE SAME TIME: ( OK, Cancel, Black , Color ) and turn the power off. Do this at least twice and the unit will power up and go to maintenance. Then it was back to normal.
HP gives you a procedure that doesn't work! They just want to sell you a new one. They must know the solution if and old woman like me can figure it out with help from other people with the same problem

Hello,

The "Ink System Failure" error is causes by air in the ink feed tubes. We have a step by step guide purging the air from the feed tubes posted on our web site. Go to our site at: www.ccl-la.com, click on the printer repair link and then the HP link. Follow the steps and you should be back printing in no time at all.

I hope this helps, If so please rate our solution.

Buddy
Corporate Computer
www.ccl-la.com

The OK-cancel-black-color procedure is to be done when turning the printer **OFF** not on.
Then when you turn it back on you'll see "NVRAM RESET" (or something like that) on the display.
It might take a couple of tries.
This is a fix if the problem is not a hardware failure. This same "ink system failure" error also displays if there is a hardware failure and this cannot be corrected with the button/power off technique.
Good luck.

First customize the paper size in the Page Setup. Secondly when you send command for print, change the paper size to custom size from the Printer Properties and click print. On the other hand, you can select the paper size from the printer's menu itself after sending the print command. Please make sure that the right driver of the printer is installed on your computer.

Hope it will help and fix your problem.

I cant scan it says refer to documentation to troubleshoot. How do I fix this. Ishala

When I saw that so many other people were also getting this error message, I thought sure there would be a solution posted by somebody before too long. Guess no one could figure it out!

The problem continued and was getting extremely irritating so I went and spent a couple of hours on HP's support site and finally figured out what to do, even though I never did find the exact error message we've all been getting.

Basically, the fix is to change the paper size default setting in the Copy Menu from Automatic to Letter. You do this by pressing Copy, then #6, select Letter (which is #2), and that will bring you back to the Copy Menu. Scroll down through all 10 selections until you get to the bottom which is Set New Defaults and select this.

I've tried making several copies and it has worked every time now...no error message in sight! However, if you're trying to make copies onto paper other than standard 8.5x11, you'll have to select that with each individual job since there will no longer be an "Automatic" detection.

Hope this helps everyone else who has had this annoying problem!