HP 4525, stuck booting.

[fixthecopier]

The customer has 3 of these that need looking at. Machine A, has a false paper jam, 13.02 that will not clear. I will worry with that one later. Machine B will not boot. It gets stuck showing 6/6 on the left side of the logo and A/F on the right side. If I pull the formatter out of "B" and put in another machine, that machine will also get stuck at same spot. Seems clear that it is a bad formatter, however if I put a different formatter in "B", it gets stuck in the same spot. My question is, what else would cause this besides the formatter. I swapped fuser and transfer belt already. Machine "A" also shows a 68.2 error, permanent storage error. There is no hdd on these machines. I went through the steps to formatt and clear the error, but will not clear and does not stop the machine from printing. This error stays with this formatter. Is there any other way to clear it up without changing the formatter? The third machine had a bad belt so I put it in the one that won't boot.

Once I decide if machine "B" will be fixed or not, I assume or hope the feed assembly will clear the false jam on machine "A".

[Lance15]

I found the CSN version of the BPI:

HP LaserJet, Color LaserJet and LaserJet MFP Products - Boot Progress Indicator (BPI) Explained


Diagram of the Boot Process

See the diagram below for a system-level overview of the booting process:
Figure 1: System-level overview of the booting process




Boot Progress Indicator – Stages and Phases

There are six total stages between power-on and Ready state, represented by 1/6, 2/6, 3/6, 4/6, 5/6, and 6/6 on the control-panel display.
There may be multiple phases per each stage which are shown on the control panel as A, B, C, D, E, and F.
Phases are processes or component checks that occur during a stage which is considered completed when seen on the control panels as follows:

• MFPs - when the letters are bold or have a black/gray box around them.
• Single Function - when the letters are displayed. A/F, B/F, C/F…..etc.

There are 6 stages and 9 phases in the Boot Process:

• The first, second, and third stages do not contain any phases.
• The fourth stage contains three phases, represented by A, B, and C.
• The fifth and sixth stages each contain six phases, represented by A, B, C, D, E, and F.

See the explanations and control-panel screens below for a more detailed illustration of each boot progress indicator stage and phase:
NOTE: Screen shot below may be different depending upon products.

Stages 1 through 3

Stage 1 through stage 3 is represented from power-on until the operating system interacts with the firmware to display messages on the control panel.
Stage 1: Power-on

This is the first stage in which RAM is located and tested. It is marked with a 1/6 on the control panel (see image below).
Figure 2: Stage 1


Stage 2: Operating system loads

In the second stage, different drivers are installed. At the end of the stage, the operating system is up and running (see image below).
Figure 3: Stage 2


Stage 3: Firmware and JetDirect Check

This stage checks for a firmware and checks the status of the JetDirect Interface (JDI) (see image below).
Figure 4: Stage 3






Stage 4 - Phases A, B, and C

Stage 4 through stage 6 is represented from the time the operating system interacts with the firmware to display messages on the control panel until the LaserJet comes to a Ready state.
Stage 4: File Systems Check

The OS file systems check utility (FSCK) verifies the different file systems as they load. The number of file systems loaded varies depending on system configuration. At the introduction of the boot progress indicator feature, three file systems – represented by the letters A, B, and C on the control panel – loaded as part of this stage (see image below). When each phase completes, its specific letter highlights or is displayed to indicate the corresponding actions are complete.
Stage 4 phases:

• A: Hard Disk
• B: Nand Flash and USB0, USB1, USB2, and USB3 Initialized
• C: RAM0, Firmware Disk Initialized

Figure 5: Stage 4





Stage 5 - Phases A, B, C, D, E, and F

During stage 5, different processes in the firmware load. Each firmware process is represented by a different letter on the control panel (see image below). When each phase completes, its specific letter highlights or is displayed to indicate the corresponding actions are complete.
Stage 5: Process and Component Initialization and Startup

The fifth and sixth stages, each contain six phases, represented by A, B, C, D, E, and F on the control panel.
Stage 5 phases:

• A: Copy Processor Board - CPB Initialization Completed
• B: JDI Completed
• C: Service Manager Started
• D: LJ.exe Started
• E: ChaiVm Started
• F: Copy Send Application - CSA Initialized

Figure 6: Stage 5





Stage 6 - Phases A, B, C, D, E, and F

The sixth stage, different components continue to initialize, each component represented by a different letter on the control panel (see image below). When each phase completes, its specific letter highlights or is displayed to indicate the corresponding actions are complete.
Stage 6: Process and Component Initialization and Startup

• A: Error Manager Initialization Completed
• B: State Machine Completed
• C: Device Attributes Manager - DAM Initialization Completed
• D: System Variables Manager - SVM Initialization Completed
• E: File System - FS Initialization Completed
• F: DSSP Initialization Completed

Figure 7: Stage 6







Machine 'B' could have a bad Interconnect Board (Inner connecting PCA assembly RM1-5636-020CN).

The ICB is a small board that sits between the formatter and DC Controller and is the go-between between the formatter and DC Controller. I can't remember EXACTLY what it does (been a while since I did one of the trainings that explained it). The block diagram from the service manual shows that it's got some NVRAM on it. This is one of those parts that cannot be tested with from another printer. Once you install the board, it's "married" to the machine and cannot be used in another printer. I believe it holds critical calibration values for the printer it in installed in.

Maybe someone can chime in with a better explanation of function. I just can't remember.

[fixthecopier]

Thank you. I haven't had to dissect this model yet. It makes sense that every formatter in this one got stuck. I assume that whatever happened must have taken out the formatter and the interconnect board as the formatter in another machine gets stuck and a good formatter in this one gets stuck.