1. Check with www.fixyourownprinter.com. If this often
happens to the LJ5 a cure may be described.
2. Recovery may require special tools. Method (a) is to
loosen the roller or whatever pinches the paper. Method (b)
(usually simpler) is to use tweezers to pull the paper out
gently, a millimetre at a time. It occasionally helps to cut the
sheet into two (if you can do so without scratching the roller)
to remove each part separately.
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
Also, it is sometimes possible to rotate one of the rollers manually,
freeing up the paper.
With LaserJet 4, 5, and the newer 4000 series of LaserJets, I have found
that persistently tugging on the jammed paper frees it up... Ben Myers
I cleared the paper jam using tweezers, which I tried last night but
it was too dark so I was hitting the metal (not the paper) above
the rollers at the exit. The paper was barely showing but,
luckily, I was able to "pull the paper out gently, a millimeter at a time".
That was the worst paper jam that I have ever encountered.
Thanks to all for responding.
Now I get the following message ...
"51 Printer Error, Cycle Power"
How do I fix this?
Here is info from the internet:
51.X PRINTER ERROR
A loss of beam-detect occurred.
X description:
1 = Beam-detect error
2 = Laser error
1. Press GO. The page containing the error will automatically be reprinted.
2. Turn the printer off and then on.
3. Reseat cables to the laser/ scanner and engine controller.
4. Replace the laser/scanner.
5. Replace the DC controller.
Since you just took care of a paper jam, and if steps 1 & 2 above do not
work, step 3 is a likely fix. Could be that one of the cables got loose
in the process of removing paper... Ben Myers
From the LJ5 service manual:
51 ERROR Message
The 51 ERROR, and the 41.2 ERROR are caused by Beam Detect
failures. If the beam detect signal is lost for more than 2 seconds
the error is posted as a 51 ERROR. The 41.2 ERROR can be cleared
by pressing [Continue] (or Go). The 51 ERROR may be cleared by
power cycling the printer.
Checks Action
1. Are all connectors on the DC
Controller properly seated?
Inspect connectors and wiring. Reseat or
replace cables if necessary.
2. Is the Laser/Scanner Assembly
Defective?
A defective Laser/Scanner Assembly can
cause a 51 ERROR by spinning the
scanning mirror at the wrong speed.
Replace the Laser/Scanner Assembly.
3. Is the DC Controller Defective? Replace the DC Controller.
4. Has the printer been moved from a
cold to a warm room?
Allow the printer to stand 6 hours until
any condensation has dissipated.
"Power cycle" means turn it off, wait a few minutes, and turn it back
on. If the problem was a temporary one, that should fix it. If the 51
error comes back, you may not have gotten all the paper out, or you may
have a more serious problem.
Fred
Thanks everyone for the responses.
I think something might have been damaged when
the paper jam was cleared. All print jobs now come out black.
And, I have to power the printer off/on after each print job.
Is this type of problem easy to fix?
What's a good laser printer to get these days without
spending a fortune (both printer and toner cartridges)?
Should I get another HP Laserjet 5?
I still have quite a few toner cartridges left.
With an investment in toner cartridges, it would make good sense to get
another LaserJet 5. These are very cheap nowadays, sometimes free, and
they usually keep on running without a problem. Had a client a few
years ago who had printed over 350,000 pages on one without a service call.
If you want to move to something a little more modern, any one of the LJ
4000, 4050, or 4100 printers are excellent workhorses, the successors to
the LJ4/LJ5 family.
I took my LJ5 out of service when I moved up to an LJ4050... Ben Myers
Thanks, I'll look into the differences between the 4000, 4050 and 4100.
If they're not too expensive and do not require costly toner cartridges,
I might just buy one.
Toner cartridges cost about the same for the LJ 4/5 and for 4000-series.
I buy refilled ones for B&W lasers, as the color cannot go off kilter
as with refilled color cartridges. There are a number of good suppliers
of refilled cartridges... Ben
Thanks! What's a good price for LJ 4100?
I've seen them as low as $50. Same with the 4000 and 4050. There's not
a huge difference between them. HP got in the habit of changing printer
models very rapidly, while the innards remained very much the same... Ben
I am looking for LJ 4100 drivers for Windows 98SE.
Not sure whether to use the driver for Win98 or WinME.
Please provide download link if you know.
Win98 drivers are the correct ones.
Tony
Thanks!
At www.driverguide.com, I found ...
lj4100infbundlewin9xme-en.exe (Driver)
submitted by Alagappan
" Language: English(American) HP LaserJet 4100 Printer series PCL/PostScript
(more)"
File Size: 3.3MB
Driver Version: 1.0
Driver Date: Apr 5, 2002
FCCID: unknown
Company: Hewlett Packard (HP)
Device Type: Printer / Plotter / Multi-Office
Operating Systems: Win 95, Win 98, Win ME
Upload Date: Aug 8, 2006
Is this the best LaserJet 4100N driver for Win98SE?
I have downloaded and extracted the driver files into a directory but
can't get the system to ask for the drivers again after the first time when
I did not have the driver files yet. Now, the system no longer prompts.
Trying to "Add Printer" does not list the LaserJet 4100 series so
I just press "Have Disk". But, not sure which driver file ...
hp4100p5.inf
hp4100p6.inf
hp4100ps.inf
Three things here:
The Windows ME drivers work just fine with Windows 98. But HP did not
provide drivers for the 4000-series for any of Windows 95/98/ME.
However, you can install the LaserJet 5M Postscript driver and print to
any of the LJ4000 series with it.
Just as importantly, ALL of the LJ 4000-series printers support
PostScript. I forget whether or not it is a true Adobe PostScript or a
clone. If it is PostScript licensed from Adobe, then the drivers for
any OS can be found on the Adobe web site... Ben Myers
hp4100p5.inf is for HP PCL5.
hp4100p6.inf is for the newer HP PCL6.
hp4100ps.inf is for Postscript.
I strongly suggest PostScript for fewer printer glitches, especially
with Acrobat PDFs... Ben Myers
Those TURKEYS from HP have apparently taken away from their own web site
the drivers they originally provided for Win 95/98/ME... Ben Myers
Yes I agree, unless there is a specific need for PCL I always recommend PS
drivers.
Tony
How do I get my system to detect the HP LaserJet 4100 again?
It did it once but I didn't have the drivers extracted yet. But now,
I can't get that new hardware detected message again.
Thanks, I was able to print to the LaserJet 4100 using
the LaserJet 5/5M Postscript driver.
Why does LaserJet 4100 not show up on the list for "Add Printer"?
Is it possible to get it to show up in the list?
If you have the LJ4100 drivers somewhere in the hard drive, you need to
click the "Have Disk" button, then navigate to the folder with the
drivers. I do not think you will find the drivers on the Windows 98
CD... Ben Myers
Thanks guys, I successfully added "HP LaserJet 4100 PS" using
the "Have Disk" button as suggested by Ben after
removing all the old printer drivers for HP LaserJet 5.
FYI, I found the following LJ 4100 User Guide ...
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Psychology/documentation/lj4100.pdf
which recommends PCL 6. Hmmm ...
All I can say about HP's PCL 5 and 6 is that there are occasional
problems printing Acrobat PDFs. The Adobe web site has a whole help
section for printing PDFs.
Since Adobe invented and owns both PostScript and PDF, the right hand
knows what the left hand is doing, and PostScript printers handle any
and all PDFs perfectly provided they have enough memory... Ben Myers
Okay, thanks!
Other printer manufacturers developed their own distinct code for their
drivers which did not use the Microsoft Unidrive code in it, and
therefore can continue to supply their own drivers without violating the
MS rights.
IMHO, both Microsoft and HP were negligent. I attempted to get them to
talk to one another about this issue by a slight rewrite of the
agreement, but neither side showed a lot of willingness to move this along.
As a result, people should look elsewhere for the drivers, either from
independent sources or old disks.
Art
Interesting clarification. I'll change my statement. Both HP and
Microsoft are turkeys! At this point, it would actually make sense for
Microsoft to make Windows 98 free and maybe even open source. Hey, let
people play with it.
Win 98 served the world well, but Windows 2000 in particular makes
Windows 98 look absolutely awful for stability. XP, despite its bloat
compared to Windows 2000, is rock-solid.
Although I think it plain stupid and poor public relations for
HP/Microsoft to withdraw the printer drivers, I also encourage people to
move from Windows 98 to something newer in the world of Windows. But
NOT Windows ME or Vista. The less said about Windows ME and Vista the
better... Ben Myers
Tough to part with a Win98SE system that
has so many useful software installed and
spend all that $$$ for new software,
which Microsoft aims to do. ;-)
I'm currently setting up a Linux box.
The other option, if one can find a Pentium 4 system with XP sticker on
it, is to use XP together with a large collection of open source and/or
free software that does more or less the same things that Microsoft
Office, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Photoshop do. Surplus P4 systems are cheap
and easy now. Install XP, install the drivers, then install Open
Office, PDF Creator, GIMP, Firefox, and Thunderbird and you have a
Windows-based system that can do most of what people need to do with no
investment in software.
Anyone in eastern MA or southern NH who would like to go in this
direction, please contact me offline. I have solid and reliable
equipment available at fair and reasonable prices... Ben Myers