Upgrading Printer Firmware

Upgrading Printer Firmware

The purpose of the Remote Firmware Upgrade (RFU) feature is to allow customers to upgrade the firmware of their HP Color LaserJet 4600, 4650, 5500, or 5550 series printer without having to physically replace a part (flash DIMM, ROM DIMM). Click here to download the latest firmware.

After clicking the link, type in CLJ4600, CLJ4650, CLJ5500, or CLJ5550select the appropriate model of HP Color LaserJet 4600 or 5500 series printer. Select the Drivers and Download page. From there, select the Firmware link. The file may be a .exe file and, thus, may have to be extracted.

NOTE: Remove any non-HP DIMMs before upgrading firmware remotely.

There are five ways to upgrade firmware to the printer.

1. Performing a manual download via a parallel or USB cable.

2. Using a network share.

3. Using HP Web Jetadmin.

4. Using an FTP by using Put command or Internet Explorer.

5. Using a DIMM installation.

Upgrading firmware via manual download (parallel connected)

NOTE: If necessary, rename the firmware file so that it is easily recognizable in DOS. Some filenames may be too long.

1. Print a Configuration page and note the firmware version.

2. Download the firmware from the Web and copy it to a directory on the PC.

NOTE: The folder is not accessible via a DOS command from the command window when the file is unzipped to the C drive. The folder must be renamed to a shorter folder name or the RFU must be dropped directly onto the C drive and the command run from there. After renaming the folder or dropping the RFU file to the C drive, it may be necessary to reboot the computer.

3. Open up a Command Prompt (DOS prompt) window by clicking Start, Programs, then Command Prompt or Start, Programs, Accessories, then Command Prompt.

4. Change the drive and the directory to where the firmware file is located.

5. Enter: copy /b filename port name (for example, LPT1). The control panel will display PERFORMING UPGRADE.

Upgrading firmware through LPT1 from a Windows NT system (HP Color LaserJet 4600 series printer only)

1. If the following string is used: C: copy clj4600fwlj4600_3_12_4.rfu LPT1, change it to the following: C: copy /b C:clj4600fw_03_013_1lj4600_3_12_4.rfu LPT1

NOTE: The switch (/b) is a request to have the file sent in binary mode/format

Upgrading firmware via a USB connection

NOTE: If necessary, rename the firmware file so that it is easily recognizable in DOS. Some filenames may be too long.

1. Print a Configuration page and note the firmware version.

2. Download the firmware form the Web and copy it to a directory on the PC.

3. Open up a Command Prompt (DOS prompt) window by clicking Start, Programs, then Command Prompt or Start, Programs, Accessories, then Command Prompt.

4. Change the drive and the directory to where the firmware file is located.

NOTE: The directory must be on C drive in Microsoft Windows XP systems and the filename must be within standard DOS filename size limits.

5. Enter copy C:>copy /b filename.rfu computernamesharename. The control panel will display PERFORMING UPGRADE.

Upgrading firmware via a network share

NOTE: If necessary, rename the firmware file so that it is easily recognizable in DOS. Some filenames may be too long.

1. Print a Configuration page and note the firmware version.

2. Download the firmware from the Web to a unique directory on the PC.

3. Open up a Command Prompt (DOS prompt) window by clicking Start, Programs, then Command Prompt or Start, Programs, Accessories, then Command Prompt.

4. Change the drive and the directory to where the firmware file is located.

5. Enter copy / b filename computernamesharename. The control panel will display PERFORMING UPGRADE.

Upgrading firmware using HP Web Jetadmin

NOTE: For older versions of contain short file name conventions therefor the firmware file name is to long for these versions. Rename the firmware file so that it is easily recognizable in DOS. Click here to download HP Web Jetadmin .

1. To update printer firmware, manually download a firmware image file from the HP Web site and, if necessary, extract it. Once the firmware image file is available on the computer, use HP Web Jetadmin to update the firmware. Download a printer's firmware file as described in the Introduction of this document.

2. If necessary, print a Configuration Page to determine the printer's IP address.

3. Open HP Web Jetadmin.

4. For a single printer, highlight the printer or printers in the Device List (by default, the main page) of HP Web Jetadmin. Locate the printer by its IP address if necessary.

5. Select Update Printer Firmare from the Device Tools pull down menu.

Figure 1: Device Tools

6. Highlight the printer or printers again and click Upload a firmware image file.

7. Click Browseto locate the firmware image file.

8. Click Upload to make the firmware image file available in HP Web Jetadmin.

9. Click Return to the Device Firmware Update

10. Click Update firmware now in the Choose a Time to Update section. Or schedule a time to update the printer when it is not in use.

File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

NOTE: For older versions of contain short file name conventions therefor the firmware file name is to long for these versions. Rename the firmware file so that it is easily recognizable in DOS.

1. Connect the printer to the network.

2. Verify that it is configured with an IP address (may need to configure the I/O device-TCP/IP-DHCP).

3. Print a Configuration page. (The EIO HP Jetdirect page will have the IP Address and the Host Name).

4. Open a Command Prompt (DOS prompt) window (typically, either in Start, Programs, Command Prompt or Start, Programs, Accessories, Command Prompt).

5. In the command prompt window, change to the drive by typing in c:

6. Type in the directory where the .RFU file is located by typing in cd c: (name of the folder where the .RFU is located).

7. At the C:> prompt, type the ftp IP address (for example, c:>ftp 12.34.56.78).

8. Press Enter, if prompted for a username.

9. Press Enter, if prompted for a password.

10. Type put file name .RFU.

NOTE: If the connection says that it timed out, type bye and go back to Step #7. Various messages will be displayed while the update is in progress.

11. Type bye when the FTP prompt returns. This could take a few minutes.

Exit at the regular Command Prompt to return to Windows.

Shared network connection using the "put" command and drag and drop onto the command prompt window

WARNING: The printer control panel must be unlocked before performing the firmware update. If the printer is locked through Web Jetadmin, unlock the control panel before following the update steps below.

If the HP LaserJet 2300, 4200 or 4300 series printer uses a direct network connection, you can use file transfer protocol (FTP) to update the HP LaserJet firmware. Complete the following steps.

1. First, have the downloaded and extracted RFU file available.

2. Click Start then Run.

3. Type ftp followed by a space then the IP address of the printer and then click OK. For example, ftp 15.39.115.36 and click OK or press the Enter key on the keyboard.

4. Now press the Enter key on the keyboard twice to log into the ftp session..

5. Type the word "put" (without quotes) and then a space, see the Figure below.

Figure 2: Command prompt ready to drag and drop RFU

6. Now just drag and drop the RFU file onto the command prompt window. The put command will autocomplete the path and filename.

7. The printer will now perform the firmware upgrade.

The download process begins and the firmware is updated on the printer. This can take about five minutes. Let the process finish without further interaction with the printer or computer.

The printer automatically power cycles off and on again to activate the update.

© 2005 Hewlett-Packard