I am seeing errors after printing a Word document with my new HP LaserJet P3015. These errors are consistent in the same characters/pages/and position each and every time I print. At first I thought my printer was defective, but after further investigation, it looks like a driver issue.
When I first powered on my printer, I downloaded and updated its firmware to the latest available with: ljP3015_fw_utility_07_181_0.exe. This executed and updated the firmware successfully.
I then installed the latest available drivers:
upd-ps-x64-5.8.0.17508.exe
AND
upd-pcl6-x64-5.8.0.17508.exe
This is under 64-bit Windows 7.
Things seemed to work okay at 1200 ProRes. However, there is a consistent problem when printing from Microsoft Word 2010. Certain characters on certain pages have a consistent corrupt look when printed out. I followed some basic trouble shooting steps I found attempting to identify the issue. Note that this is the supplied brand new HP toner. Nothing that I tried even from HP's own trouble shooting steps identified an issue.
Here is what I did that resulted in perfect output:
I printed the same document from MS Word 2010 to Acrobat Professional PDF. I printed the PDF set with the highest possible print quality. After doing this, I printed the PDF using Acrobat Reader, and the print out looked perfect. The printer can natively handle PDF without driver involvement, so this was hinting to a driver issue.
I tried the following drivers to encounter this same issue on the same page (in my case, it was certain characters on page #7 I focused on):
upd-ps-x64-5.8.0.17508.exe
upd-ps-x64-5.7.0.16448.exe
After seeing that both of these Universal Print drivers had this issue with my printer, I removed both and went back to the following driver that I have saved on my network storage:
upd-ps-x64-5.3.1.10527.exe
I had to manually configure this driver to its correct settings. After doing this, I configured the printer to use Printer Default for print quality. I then configured my P3015 to default to ProRes 1200. The issue did not appear after doing this!
This tells me that it is due to buggy universal print drivers. Note that I had a similar issue with my previous LaserJet 2420dn (but the driver issue with this printer was not as bad as it is for the P3015). This was my main reason for saving these older working drivers.
Finally, I ONLY use HP Premium Choice Laser 8.5 x 11" printer paper 32lb 500 sheet per pack paper with this printer and no other type. The issue was present when only using this paper.
Any ideas anyone? Right now, I am able to print perfecrtly with older drivers as noted above.