HP J4540, J4680, J4660, J4580 Common poor quality printout problems, Meaningless characters print

Chapter 8

Common poor quality printout problems

Check the ink cartridges

Make sure the correct ink cartridges are installed and the ink cartridges are not low on ink. For more information, see Manage the device and Work with ink cartridges.

HP cannot guarantee the quality of non-HP ink cartridges.

Check the paper quality

The paper might be too moist or too rough. Make sure the media meets HP specifications, and try to print again. For more information, see Understand specifications for supported media.

Check the type of media loaded in the device

Make sure the tray supports the type of media you have loaded. For more information, see Understand specifications for supported media.

Check the device location and length of USB cable

High electromagnetic fields (such as those generated by USB cables) can sometimes cause slight distortions to printouts. Move the device away from the source of the electromagnetic fields. Also, it is recommended that you use a USB cable that is less than 3 meters (9.8 feet) long to minimize the effects of these electromagnetic fields.

Align the ink cartridges

Align the ink cartridges. For more information, see Align the ink cartridges.

Clean the ink cartridge

The ink cartridges may need to be cleaned. For more information, see, Clean the ink cartridges.

Meaningless characters print

If an interruption occurs to a job that is printing, the device might not recognize the rest of the job.

Cancel the print job and wait for the device to return to the ready state. If the device does not return to the ready state, cancel all jobs and wait again. When the device is ready, resend the job. If prompted by the computer to retry the job, click Cancel.

Check the cable connections

If the device and computer are connected with a USB cable, the problem may be due to a poor cable connection.

Make sure the cable connections at both ends are secure. If the problem persists, turn off the device, disconnect the cable from the device, turn on the device without connecting the cable, and delete any remaining jobs from the print spooler. When the Power light is on and not flashing, reconnect the cable.

124 Maintain and troubleshoot