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HP UPD - Collect this information before contacting support

Before contacting technical support to report a potential issue with the Universal Print Driver (UPD) for Windows, first collect the following information to ensure an efficient resolution.

Step one: Determine the UPD driver version

Determine the HP UPD driver version currently in use.

  1. Open the Printers folder.

  2. Right-click the HP UPD, select Properties, and then click the About tab.

    • For a traditional mode installation, the version displays at the top.

    • For a dynamic mode installation, the version displays on the lower left.

Step two: Download and install the latest UPD

Download and install the latest version of the HP UPD and test whether or not the error occurs with the latest version. If the error does not occur when using the latest version of the HP UPD, then the issue is resolved and there is no need to continue.

The latest version is available at www.hp.com/go/upd.

Step three: Determine and collect information for support

Collect the following information about the potential issue, the printer, and the system configuration.

Symptoms verification

Answer the following questions about the symptoms:

  • What are the symptoms?

  • Where is the issue (client, server, printer)?

  • Are there any error messages? Where?

  • How often does the issue occur?

  • What are the exact steps that produced the issue? Can they be reproduced?

Application information

Collect the following application information:

  • Application(s) affected and application version number. Open the Help menu in the application and select About to find the application version number.

  • Test documents specific to reproducing the issue

Printer information

Collect the following information about the printer:

  • What is the exact printer model name?

  • What is the printer firmware version?

    Use one of the following methods to obtain the firmware version:

    • Control panel or configuration page

    • Embedded Web Server (EWS)

    • Web Jetadmin

  • Print a configuration or test page

  • Which print processor is in use?

    1. Open the Printers folder, right-click the printer name, and select Properties.

    2. Select the Advanced tab, click Print Processor, and then note which Print processor is selected.

  • Which port is in use (TCP, LPT1 etc)?

    1. Open the Printers folder, right-click the printer name, select Properties, and then click the Ports tab.

      • Which Port is selected?

      • What settings are defined for the port (select Configure Port)?

Printer configuration

Collect the following information about the printer configuration:

  • Was the driver pre-configured before the HP UPD installation?

    • Device Configuration Utility - What settings were altered compared to the HP default *.cf_?

    • Driver Deployment Utility - What settings were altered compared to the HP default?

  • Is Printer Automatic Configuration enabled (default)?

    Open Printer Properties > Device Settings tab > Installable Options-Automatic Configuration > Update Now.

  • What is the "Configuration Status" listed on the About tab?

    Open Printer Properties > About, and see "Configuration Status."

  • What are the Management Tools settings?

    • Driver Configuration Utility version?

      Select file hpbcfgre.dll, Properties > Details tab > Product Version.

    • MPA version?

    • AD Template? Version is part of the template's file name

    • DDU version? Select the About button.

Connection information

Is the printer USB direct connected or network connected?

For network-connected devices, collect the following information:

  • Is the printer network properly configured?

  • What are the IP addresses for the following devices?

    • Printer

    • Print client

    • Printer server

  • What is the print path network availability (client/server/printer) for each?

    • ping ip_address

    • telnet ip_address

    • Tracert ip_address

    • http://device_ip_address

    • https://device_ip_address

  • Is it SNMP enabled?

    • Is it routable in your network?

    • What is the SNMP Community Name (prnport -l)?

Error information

If an error is displayed on the control panel or in the printed output, collect the following information:

  • Exact error message content

    • Displayed on the control panel

    • Displayed in the Embedded Web Server

    • Printed on the configuration page

  • Event log

    • Printed from the printer

    • Displayed on the control panel

Installation information

Collect the following information about the HP UPD installation:

  • What is the printer description language, PS, PCL5, PCL6, or XPS?

  • Is this a new installation of the HP UPD, or an upgrade of an existing HP UPD installation?

  • Is the installation HP UPD onto the server, the print client, or vended from print server to client (PnP)?

  • What is the method of installation (Add Printer Wizard or Install.exe)? Does each method produce the same result?

  • What is the mode of installation (Dynamic or Traditional)? Optional switches?

  • Is Point and Print vended from Microsoft Print Server? Other?

    • Open the Printers folder, click Properties, click Advanced, and then select New Driver.

    • Open the Printers folder, click Server Properties, click the Drivers tab, and then select Add or Reinstall.

    • Custom printUI.dll.

Environmental information

Collect the following information about the operating environment:

  • What is the version of Microsoft operating system (print server and print client)?

    Use one of the following methods to find the version:

    • Brief-click Start, click Run, and then type WINVER.EXE.

    • Extended-click Start, click Run, and then type cmd.exe to open the command prompt window.

      Type /k systeminfo.exe at the command prompt.

    • Complete-click Start, click Run, and then type MSINFO32.

  • Is there a Microsoft Event log (spooler errors, etc)?

    • Click Start, click Run, and then type Eventvwr.msc.

  • Microsoft Terminal Services?

    • Version of the Terminal Server

    • RDP client version

    • Operating system version of client

    • What driver is mapped to be redirected to the printer?

    • Does the same issue exist outside of a Terminal Server session?

  • Is it Citrix?

    • What is the Server and the Citrix server version?

    • What is the Client operating system and the Citrix client version?

    • Auto created printers configuration?

      • Client printers or session printers?

      • If client printers, what driver is mapped to the client for autocreation (Citrix UPD; HP UPD; HP model-specific driver)?

  • Is it Novell?

    • Version of Novell print server

    • Installation method of print queue on server (i.e.- iManager)

    • Version of iPrint client

    • Does same issue exist printing to a non-Novell print queue?

File information

The following list contains information that might be requested to continue troubleshooting for the purpose of debugging, analyzing, and creating reproducible test cases.

  • MSINFO32 - Click Start, click Run, and then type MSINFO32.exe. Save the*. NFO file to disk.

  • System Information - From a command prompt, pipe the output to file: C:\>systeminfo.exe >systeminfo.txt.

  • Microsoft Product Support Reports - For details and information, refer to Microsoft Product Support Reports.

  • Microsoft Event Viewer Logs - Click Start, click Run, and then type "Eventvwr.msc." Select the tree node, and from the Action menu select Save Log File As... to save the log file.

  • PRN file - Application dependent.

    Example: START-RUN-WRITE.EXE, select FILE-PRINT and select Print To File to save FILENAME.PRN

  • Application file - Provide a sample file from the application which created the reported issue.

  • Print a test page - Open the Printers folder, right-click the printer name, select Properties, and then click the Print Test Page button.

    Scan the output page to a distributable computer file format. Options to create the page include the following.

    • Device Configuration Page - Print from the printer control panel

    • Printers folder > Properties > Print Test Page

  • Scan of printed document - After printing a page, use a colored pen to mark-up and identify the issue with the printed output. Scan the marked-up page back to a distributable computer file format.

  • Driver Configuration Utility (DCU) - Provide the pre-configuration files *.cf_ or *.cfm

  • Device Network Settings - Methods available to capture information

    • Telnet to the product, output all information to console, select upper left icon and right mouse, EDIT-SELECT-ALL. Repeat right mouse, EDIT-COPY. Paste into file and save.

    • Use Web Jetadmin views to create an export file

    • Embedded web server to printer - http://ip_of_printdevice

  • Screen shots - Error dialogs, user interface, etc.

  • Microsoft crash dump file

  • Directory file listing - C:\>DIR %SYSTEMROOT\system32\spool\drivers /s >C:\w32x86.tx

  • SetupAPI.log - Located in %SYSTEMROOT%

  • Screen shots - Error dialogs, user interface, etc.

  • Registry exports (three targets) - Ex: regedit.exe /e c:\updreg1.txt

    • "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Hewlett-Packard\HP Print Settings"

    • "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Hewlett-Packard\HP SSNP"

    • "HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Hewlett-Packard\HP Print Settings"

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