HP DesignJet Z2100 GP 24 User Manual

							The front-panel display recommends reseating or
replacing a printhead
1.From the front panel, turn the power off then on.
2.Check the front-panel display message, if it shows the ready message, the printer is ready to print.
If the problem remains continue with the next step.
3.Remove the printhead, see 
Remove a printhead on page 86.
4.Clean the electrical connections on the backside of the printhead with a lint free cloth. You can
carefully use de-ionized or distilled water if moisture is needed to remove residue.
WARNING!This is a delicate process and may damage the printhead. Do not touch the
nozzles on the bottom side of the printhead.
5.Reinsert the printhead, see Insert a printhead on page 88.
6.Check the front-panel display message. If the problem remains, try a new printhead.
Clean the printheads
As long as the printer is kept turned on, an automatic cleaning is performed periodically. This ensures
there is fresh ink in the nozzles and prevents nozzle clogs, which ensures color accuracy. If you have
not already done so, please see 
The Image Diagnostics Print on page 135 before proceeding.
To clean the printheads, press the Menu key to return to the main menu and select the Image Quality
Maintenance menu icon 
, then Clean printheads. If you have gone through the Image Quality
Diagnostic print process, you know which colors are failing. Select to the pair of printheads which contain
the failing colors. If you are not sure which colors to clean, you can also select to clean all printheads.
Cleaning all printheads takes about nine minutes. Cleaning a single pair of printheads takes about six
minutes.
NOTECleaning all printheads uses more ink than cleaning a single pair.
If you have cleaned the printheads using the Clean printheads procedure from the front panel and are
still experiencing image quality problems, you can try cleaning the printhead nozzles manually using the
following procedure.
WARNING!This is a delicate process and may damage the printhead. Do not touch the
electrical connections on the backside of the printhead.
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							Must remove the printhead (see Remove a printhead on page 86) and using a cotton swab and a little
de-ionized or distilled water, clean the bottom of the printhead until the residue is removed.
Clean the printhead drop detector
The printhead drop detector is a sensor that detects which nozzles on the printheads are not printing in
order to substitute them for good printing nozzles. If particles, such as fibers, hair, or paper pieces, block
the sensor print quality is affected.
When the front panel displays a warning message that the clean process is needed, you are
recommended to clean the printhead drop detector. If you do not clean the printhead drop detector
immediately, the printer continues working normally, however, the front panel display continues to show
the warning.
CAUTIONWear gloves to avoid getting ink on your hands.
1.Turn off the printer at the front panel.
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							2.To avoid an electric shock, switch the printer off and unplugged it.
3.Open the transparent window.
4.Find the printhead drop detector beside the stored printhead carriage.
5.Remove any debris blocking the printhead drop detector.
6.With a dry lint free cloth, wipe the surface of the drop detector to remove any non-visible debris.
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							7.Close the window.
8.Plug in and switch on the printer.
9.Power the printer on at the front panel.
Align the printheads
Precise alignment between printheads is essential for accurate colors, smooth color transitions, and
sharp edges in graphical elements. Your printer has an automatic printhead alignment process which
runs whenever a printhead has been accessed or replaced.
In cases where the paper has jammed, you have used a custom paper, or are experiencing problems
with color accuracy (see 
Color management on page 51); you may need to align the printheads.
NOTEIf the paper has jammed, it is recommended that you reinsert the printheads and initiate
the realignment procedure with the Image Quality Maintenance menu 
.
TipPhoto paper is recommended for the best quality; plain, bond and thin coated papers
provide acceptable but marginal results.
WARNING!Do not use transparent or semi-transparent paper to align the printheads.
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							Reinsert printheads procedure
1.If the realignment process is running and the wrong paper is loaded, press the Cancel key on the
front panel.
CAUTIONDo not print if the realignment process has been canceled. You can restart the
alignment with the Image Quality Maintenance menu procedure.
2.Load the paper you wish to use, see Paper handling on page 23. You can use a roll or cut sheet,
however, it must be A3 landscape or larger (420 by 297 mm). Photo paper is recommended for
the best results.
NOTEIf you are using an A3 cut sheet, ensure it is loaded so the larger side feeds into
the printer.
WARNING!Do not use transparent or semi-transparent paper to align the printheads.
3.Remove and re-insert all the printheads, see Remove a printhead on page 86 and Insert a
printhead on page 88. This starts the printhead alignment procedure.
4.Ensure the transparent window is closed, as a strong light source near the printer during printhead
realignment can affect alignment.
5.The process takes about six minutes. Wait until the front-panel display shows the process complete
before using the printer.
NOTEThe printer prints a calibration image. Do not worry about the image. The front-
panel display shows any errors in the process.
Image Quality Maintenance menu procedure
1.Load the paper you wish to use, see Paper handling on page 23. You can use a roll or cut sheet,
however, it must be A3 landscape or larger (420 by 297 mm). Photo paper is recommended for
the best results; plain, bond and thin coated papers provide acceptable but marginal results.
NOTEIf you are using an A3 cut sheet, ensure it is loaded so the larger side feeds into
the printer.
WARNING!Do not use transparent or semi-transparent paper to align the printheads.
2.Press the Menu key to return to the main menu and select the Image Quality Maintenance menu
icon 
, then Align printheads. The printer checks to see if it has enough paper to run the
realignment.
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							3.If the loaded paper is satisfactory, the printer runs the realignment and prints a realignment pattern.
Ensure the transparent window is closed, as a strong light source near the printer during printhead
realignment can affect alignment.
4.The process takes about five minutes. Wait until the front-panel display shows the process
complete before using the printer.
Scanning errors during alignment
If the alignment process fails, a Scanning problems message appears on the front panel. This means
that the alignment has not completed successfully. Therefore the printer is not aligned and the alignment
should be repeated before printing with good image quality. The problem may be due to:
●The paper used was not valid, repeat the alignment with valid paper
●Printhead health problems, clean printheads, see 
Clean the printheads on page 141
●The alignment was done with the transparent window open, repeat the alignment with the window
closed
If the problem persists after using valid paper, cleaning the printheads, and keeping the window closed,
there may be a failure in the scanning system needing reparation or the printheads, although clean, may
not work and need to be replaced.
Printhead status messages
These are the possible printhead status messages:
●OK: the printhead is working normally, with no known problems
●Missing: there is no printhead present, or it is not correctly installed in the printer.
●Test printhead separately: you are recommended to test the printheads individually to find the
failing printhead. Remove all the printheads and insert them alone one by one, closing the latch
and the carriage lid after every insertion. The front-panel display indicates the failing one showing
the reseat or replace message.
●Reseat: you are recommended to remove the printhead and then reinsert it. If that fails, clean the
electrical connections, see 
The front-panel display recommends reseating or replacing a
printhead on page 141. If that fails, replace the printhead with a new printhead, see Remove a
printhead on page 86 and Insert a printhead on page 88.
●Replace: the printhead is failing. Replace the printhead with a working printhead, see 
Remove a
printhead on page 86 and Insert a printhead on page 88.
●Replacement incomplete: a printhead replacement process has not completed successfully, re-
launch the replacement process and let it finish completely (it is not needed to change the
printheads).
●Remove: the printhead is not a suitable type for use in printing.
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							14 Troubleshooting general printer issues
●The printer does not print
●
The printer seems slow
●
Communication failures between computer and printer
●
Cannot access HP Easy Printer Care (Windows) or HP Printer Utility (Mac OS)
●
Cannot access the Embedded Web Server
●
Automatic file system check
●
An AutoCAD 2000 memory allocation error
●
No output when printing from Microsoft Visio 2003
●
Unavailable driver features when printing from QuarkXPress
●
Printer alerts
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							The printer does not print
If all is in order (paper loaded, all ink components installed, and no file errors), there are still reasons
why a file you have sent from your computer may not start printing when expected:
●You may have an electrical power problem. If there is no activity at all from the printer, and the front
panel does not respond, check that the power cable is connected correctly and that there is power
available at the socket.
●You may be experiencing unusual electromagnetic phenomena, such as strong electromagnetic
fields or severe electrical disturbances, which can cause the printer to behave strangely or even
stop working. In this case, turn off the printer using the Power key on the front panel and unplug
the power cord, wait until the electromagnetic environment has returned to normal, then turn it on
again. If you still experience problems, please contact your customer service representative.
●You may have the wrong graphic language setting, see 
Change the graphic language setting
on page 22.
●You may not have installed in your computer the correct driver for your printer, see the Setup
instructions.
●If you are printing on a sheet, you must specify sheet as the paper source in HP Easy Printer Care
(Windows) or HP Printer Utility (Mac OS).
●You may have requested a print preview from your printer driver. This is a function you can use to
check that the image is the one you want. In this case, the preview is displayed on your screen,
and you must click the Print button to start printing.
The printer seems slow
Here are some possible explanations.
●Did you set the print quality to Best or Max Detail? Best-quality and maximum detail prints take
longer as they require more passes.
●Did you specify the correct paper type when loading the paper? Photo and coated papers require
more drying time between passes. To find out the printers current paper type setting, see 
View
information about the paper on page 36. Some paper types require more time for printing.
●Do you have a network connection to your printer? Check that all components used in the network
(network interface cards, hubs, routers, switches, cables) are capable of high-speed operation. Is
there a lot of traffic from other devices on the network?
●Did you specify Extended drying time in the front panel? Try changing the drying time to Optimal.
Communication failures between computer and printer
Some symptoms are:
●The front-panel display does not show the Receiving message when you have sent an image to
the printer.
●Your computer displays an error message when you are trying to print.
●Your computer or printer hangs (stays idle), while communication is taking place.
●Your printed output shows random or inexplicable errors (misplaced lines, partial graphics etc.)
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							To solve a communication problem:
●Ensure that you have selected the correct printer in your application, see 
Printing on page 41.
●Ensure that the printer works correctly when printing from other applications.
●Remember that very large prints may take some time to receive, process, and print.
●If the printer is connected to a network, try using it when connected directly to your computer
through a USB cable.
●If your printer is connected to your computer through any other intermediate devices, such as switch
boxes, buffer boxes, cable adapters, cable converters, etc., try using it when connected directly to
your computer.
●Try another interface cable.
●Ensure that the graphic language setting is correct, see 
Change the graphic language setting
on page 22.
●If the printer is connected with a USB, try to disconnect and reconnect the USB cable with the
computer.
Cannot access HP Easy Printer Care (Windows) or HP
Printer Utility (Mac OS)
If you have not done so already, please read Access HP Easy Printer Care (Windows) or HP Printer
Utility (Mac OS) on page 19.
NOTEWindows XP Professional x64 Edition does not support HP Easy Printer Care, therefore
it cannot be installed by your printers installer.
1.
Press the Menu key to return to the main menu and select the Connectivity menu icon 
.
2.Select Advanced > Web Services > Printer Utility Software > Enable.
3.If you have a TCP/IP connection to your printer, press the Menu key to return to the main menu
and select the Connectivity menu icon 
 again.
4.Select the type of connection you are using.
5.Select View Information.
If you still cannot connect, switch the printer off and back on with the Power key on the front panel.
Cannot access the Embedded Web Server
If you have not done so already, please read Access the Embedded Web Server on page 19.
NOTEIf you connect directly to your printer with a USB cable, use HP Easy Printer Care
(Windows) or HP Printer Utility (Mac OS).
1.
Press the Menu key to return to the main menu and select the Connectivity menu icon 
.
2.Select Advanced > Allow EWS > On.
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							3.If you have a TCP/IP connection to your printer, press the Menu key to return to the main menu
and select the Connectivity menu icon 
 again.
4.Select the type of connection you are using.
5.Select View Information.
6.Ensure that you see IP enabled. If not, you may need to use a different connection.
If you are using a proxy server, try bypassing the server and accessing the Web server directly.
●In Internet Explorer 6 for Windows, go to Tools > Internet Options > Connections > LAN
Settings, and check the Bypass proxy server for local addresses box. Alternatively, for more
precise control, click the Advanced button and add the printers IP address to the list of exceptions,
for which the proxy server is not used.
●In Safari for Mac OS, go to Safari > Preferences > Advanced and click the Proxies: Change
Settings button. Add the printers IP address or its domain name to the list of exceptions, for which
the proxy server is not used.
If you still cannot connect, switch the printer off and back on with the Power key on the front panel.
Automatic file system check
When you turn on the printer, you will occasionally see a front panel display similar to the one shown
below.
A file system check is taking place; it can take up to 40 minutes. Please wait until it finishes.
CAUTIONIf you turn the printer off before the file system check has finished, the file system
could be seriously damaged, making the printers hard disk unusable. In any case, the file system
check will restart from the beginning whenever you turn the printer on again.
A file system check is scheduled every 90 days, in order to maintain the hard disks file system integrity.
An AutoCAD 2000 memory allocation error
After installing the printer driver, when you try to print for the first time from AutoCAD 2000, you may
see a message saying Memory allocation error, after which your image is not printed.
This is due to a problem in AutoCAD 2000, and it can be fixed by downloading the Plotting Update Patch
(plotupdate.exe) from the Autodesk Web site, 
http://www.autodesk.com/.
This patch is also worth trying if you have any other strange problems when printing from AutoCAD
2000.
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