49.4C02 error in HP printers is a well-known error among users that halts all the operations being performed on the printer and asks for restart. The error when occurs is displayed on the printer screen. For some lucky users, this was only a one-time thing but for some it became a permanent headache rendering the printer unusable as whenever one would turn this printer on, the error would appear again within seconds.
The 49.4C02 error and other similar errors have been largely attributed to the miscommunication between the target printer and the system that sent the print. That could be easily caused by certain PDF files one is trying to print or an outdated firmware version of that printer. In case of a PDF file print job, the printer will give display this each time it’s restarted unless that specific print job is cancelled from the computer it’s sent. In case of a network printer, it could become problematic tracing down the system that sent the print. Before proceeding with more complicated steps below, try turning the printer off and unplugging the power and the network cable (if connected). If networked, find which computer has a print job stucked in the printer que, and delete it, put the printer power back in and the network cable back in. Turn the printer back on and test.
Solution 1: Upgrade Printer’s Firmware
Firmware in a printer is similar to what Windows is to your computer. It is an operating system for a printer. Outdated firmware is the first suspect when this error occurs on an HP printer. Firmware updates are occasionally released for this exact reason i.e. to fix various bugs and errors in a printer similar to the one you are facing now.
Before we continue, you will have to return the printer into Ready state. As this error generally appears due to a PDF file being sent to print, you will have to cancel that print job.
If you are the only one sending the print, Press the Windows key and type Devices and printers . Click on Devices and Printers in the search results. Right Click on your printer installed and click See what’s printing .
Right Click anywhere on the window that just opened and click Cancel All Documents .
If it’s a network printer and you do not know who is sending the printer, simply Unplug the network cable from the printer to disconnect it from the network. Now Restart your printer and leave the network cable unplugged .
Through Firmware Update Utility
To update the printer’s firmware, firstly you will have to check the current Firmware Version running on your printer. To do, you will have to Print a Configuration page from the troublesome printer. Use the interface on the printer itself and navigate to Administration or Information or the Configuration section in the menu. Its location may differ by the model of the printer you have.
Once you have the current firmware version, Go To the HP’s drivers support website .
Enter your printer model name under “Enter my HP model number”. The support page will open for that printer. Select your Windows version under Operating system.
In the results below, click on the Firmware section.
Latest Firmware will be on top. Next to Firmware update utility, if the Current Version is later than the version you have installed, Click the Download button to download it.
Run the Firmware update Utility you downloaded earlier. Select your Printer to update from the drop down list. If it is a network printer, connect it directly through a USB Printer cable and install it on your system. Now click on Send Firmware.
It may take a few minutes, so be patient.
Through FTP on Network
The HP’s Firmware update utility is known to fail on some printers. On network printers, it can also be done over the network using the FTP protocol . If the printer gives the error every time you connect it to network, then either turn off every other computer attached to it, or change the IP address of the printer.
Now for this method, you will have to Download an . rfu (remote firmware update) file for your printer’s model.
To do so, Go To the HP’s drivers support website . En ter your printer model name under “ Enter my HP model number ”. The support page will open for that printer. Select OS independent or Cross Platform from the drop down menu under Operating Systems .
Expand the Firmware section below. Next to the firmware for Windows Operating system , Check the version number . If the version number is later than the version you have installed, Click the Download button to download it.
Open the Downloaded file. If it was an exe file, it will ask for a location to extract the .rfu file. Extract it and place it on your Desktop .
Now, make sure that you know the IP address of the printer. You can know it through the Configuration page that you can print following the method mentioned above.
Now Press and Hold the Windows key and Press E . Windows explorer will open. In the address bar above, type ftp://[Printers IP Address] . For example, if the IP address is 192.168.5.123 then you would type ftp://192.168.5.123 . Now Press Enter .
There will be a folder named PORT . Copy the .rfu file from the Desktop and Paste it in the PORT folder. The process will take some time. Restart printer once it done. If you cannot see a folder named PORT, you can Paste it in the window itself.
Your firmware will be updated now. Now print the file you were trying to print before and check if the issue occurs. If yes, then move on to the next solution.
Solution 2: Update Drivers to PCL6 Driver
PCL6, PCL5 or PCL5e are scripting languages used in drivers for printers. Using the PCL6 drivers for HP printers is a known remedy for the 49.4C02 error.
To install the PCL6 drivers, first you will have to download it. To do so, go to the HP’s drivers support website .
Enter your printer model name under “Enter my HP model number”. The support page will open for that printer. Select your Windows version under Operating system.
In the results below, click on the Driver – Universal Print Driver to expand it. Search for HP Universal Print Driver for Windows PCL6 and Click the Download button next to it to download it.
Run the downloaded file and it will ask for a location to extract its content. Define a location or leave the default in it and Click Unzip . Its Installation will startup automatically. Follow the onscreen instructions now.
You can also do so manually by first Uninstalling the target printer. Now Reinstall it, but when it asks for drivers, don’t use the drivers already installed. Use the drivers from the folder in which you just extracted the PCL6 drivers . If the extraction location was left as default, then it would be C:\HP Universal Print Driver\pcl6-xxx-x.x.x.xxxxx.
Restart your computer and the error should be gone now. If not, move on to the next solution.
Solution 3: Print PDF as Image
This error mostly occurs after a user prints a PDF file. Usually that PDF file has fonts a little too complex that can mess up the printer’s memory. You can counter this issue by printing the PDF as an image.
To do so, firstly Clear the print queue that has the troublesome PDF file in its list using the method given in Solution 1 . Unless that PDF is removed, the printer will continue giving that error.
Now Restart the printer.
Open the PDF you were trying to print. Press and Hold the Windows key and Press P to bring up the Print Window . Now Click on Advanced button .
Place a Check next to Print As Image . Click OK and Print the document. The location of the Print As Image option may vary from printer to printer.
Check if the issue is resolved. If not, then it’s the PDF file that is corrupt.
How to Fix “Printer is in an error state” Issue?
PDF (Portable Document Format) is one of the most popular document format designed to present documents which includes images and text formatting. It is independent of the hardware, software, platform, and the operating system. Given the right tools, any device can open PDF files with ease.
Lately, there has been a lot of problems with PDF files where they are unable to get printed. This scenario is mostly seen in Adobe PDF software in Windows 10. This occurs mainly because there are misconfigurations in your software and some settings might be set incorrectly.
How to Fix PDF Printing Issues
Users have reported that they cannot print PDF files opened in Adobe PDF software but can print all other document formats from everywhere else. Apart from the software, there are also other modules from where the PDF fails to print for example Edge, Email, File viewers etc. This guide aims to target all these situations and get you printing in no time.
Check your printer
Before we take a look at problems in the software, you should make absolutely sure that your printer is working as expected from other platforms or applications. You should connect your printer properly, tailor some other document in Word etc, and print a test page. Once your printer is in an operational state, move on to the solutions.
In case you are having problems with your printer, you can check out our guides on printer troubleshooting.
Solution 1: Changing PDF preference and printing as Image
According to users, they fixed the issue of the PDF not printing by changing the default application using Settings in Windows 10 for .pdf extension files. There seem to be some conflicts with printing and the default application for PDF files. Once we change this, we will use the advanced options try printing the PDF file as an image.
- Press Windows + S, type “ settings ” in the dialogue box and open the application. Once in settings, navigate to Apps and then Default apps .
- Once in Default apps, click on Choose default apps by file type .
- Now make sure that for the file type ‘ .pdf ’, Adobe is selected. Save changes and exit.
- After restarting your computer, open the PDF file again in Adobe, click on File and then Print .
- Click on Advanced and check the box Print as image .
- After making sure that the correct printer is selected, click OK to continue printing.
Solution 2: Changing document settings
Another thing to try if printing as an image doesn’t work is changing the document’s settings. We will change the PDF/A mode to never and disable the protected mode. There are several reports that these options caused problems when printing the document and disabling them fixed the issue.
- Open the document in Adobe Acrobat and click on View > Preferences.
- Click on Documents using the left navigation pane and set the PDF/A View Mode to Never .
- Click on Security (Enhanced) using the left navigation pane and uncheck the option Enable Protected Mode at startup . If prompted with a warning, press Yes .
- Restart your computer and try printing the document again using Adobe.
Solution 3: Using a browser to print
If Adobe is causing issues and still not printing the PDF file, you can try printing the document using your browser. Browsers have inbuilt modules to view PDF files and even print them using your printer. Of course, you need to be sure that your printer is working perfectly.
- Navigate to the PDF file. Right-click it and select Open with and select your browser (Chrome etc.) .
- Open the settings and click on Print from the drop-down.
- Select the correct print options from the preceding window and print your document.
Solution 4: Reinstalling Adobe Acrobat
If the solutions above don’t work for you, you try reinstalling Adobe Acrobat software on your computer. It is possible that the installation is either corrupt or there are conflicts with the software. We will make sure that we remove all the leftover files before commencing with the fresh installation. Do note that you might lose your saved licenses in the software so make sure that you have them written down somewhere so you can enter again.
- Download and use the Adobe Reader and Acrobat Cleaner tool . This will remove the software from your computer and completely remove temporary settings and files which get left over.
- Now navigate to the official website of Acrobat and download the software again and install it. After installation, try printing and see if the problem is fixed.
Note: This issue has also been officially noticed by Adobe and download the patch to fix the issue.
