Printer acting very strange

[scopio]

Wonder if someone can help with this for a friend.
Epson EcoTank ET-2600 Inkjet printer 4 months old
The printer has been working fine on and off but recently it just prints a few lines of characters that don't make any sense, instead of the document it is supposed to print such as a Word document! It will print a never ending number of pages, the more I put in the more it will print, even though there are none in the queue and the printer has been powered off and on again and when I try to scan a document it displays a message to wait till the scanner has finished although there are no scans in progress!

This is what it prints;

I have uninstalled the printer and all printer software that comes on the installation disk and reinstalled the printer and software with a USB cable again, but it has not solved the issues.

Could you please, help in advising me on solving whatever has caused the printer to malfunction or should the printer be returned to the supplier?

 

[Haze]

Does it have WiFi? Can you try sending a document to it like that and see if it still happens

 

[scopio]

Does it have WiFi? Can you try sending a document to it like that and see if it still happens

It was connected with WiFi when it all went wrong sending a document did not solve it so, I uninstalled the printer and installed it again using the USB cable but the issue remains and I have also tried to scan a document but I just get a message that the scanner is busy! As soon as the printer is powered on and if there are papers in the in tray it starts printing as the picture above and won't stop until it is powered off even though the print queue is empty! Very strange.

 

[bremen1874]

If it's disconnected from USB and Wi-Fi does it function as a copier?

What does it do if it's switched on with paper inserted and the PC is off?

Can you print from another device such as a phone?

 

[scopio]

If it's disconnected from USB and Wi-Fi does it function as a copier?

What does it do if it's switched on with paper inserted and the PC is off?

Can you print from another device such as a phone?

Have not tried as a copier with the WiFi and USB disconnected nor with paper inserted and pc off and don't have any other device to connect to the printer.
This is not my printer but an elderly couple's three streets away, I will try our suggestions when I visit again next week.
Epson support have not been very helpful yet as the 1st level support person only asked about which lights were on and what colour and whether they were flashing or stable and what OS was installed in the laptop.
I have tried to uninstall the printer again but the uninstaller just sits there for a long time!

 

[bremen1874]

You could try disabling the printer spooler service before uninstalling.

Also, check for any files in the printer spooler folder and delete them. Google 'delete files from printer spooler directory' if you don't know where to find them.

 

[scopio]

You could try disabling the printer spooler service before uninstalling.

Also, check for any files in the printer spooler folder and delete them. Google 'delete files from printer spooler directory' if you don't know where to find them.

Yes that can be very helpful, thank you never thought about that. I will try that next week when I go to my neighbours.

 

[ThundyCat]

Is the printer new? Maybe there is a firmware update.....could be a known issue.

 

[scopio]

Is the printer new? Maybe there is a firmware update.....could be a known issue.

The printer was bought and installed on the 9th Nov. 2018 and checking the Epson support the only drivers listed to download are the driver and Scan 2 software both dated 20th Feb. 2017 so I would imagine that the driver and software on the supplied CD would have those versions on it. Although I did install the updater software and that updated all software available.

 

[ThundyCat]

The printer was bought and installed on the 9th Nov. 2018 and checking the Epson support the only drivers listed to download are the driver and Scan 2 software both dated 20th Feb. 2017 so I would imagine that the driver and software on the supplied CD would have those versions on it.

Not driver, is there a firmware update?

 

[scopio]

Not driver, is there a firmware update?

There is no mention of the firmware on Epson support page. https://www.epson.co.uk/support?productID=20642#product_search the model is EcoTank ET-2600 model C462S

 

[scopio]

Update to the ET-2600 printer issue, as I don't like leaving the thread open when the issue has been resolved!
After three weeks following instructions to the letter from Epson UK Support with no way near solving the issue, I decided to connect the printer to another pc and hey presto the printer worked without any issues! So, having eliminated the USB cable and firmware, drivers and software from being the culprits I decide to diagnose the original laptop to which the printer was first connected. Firstly I tried to crate an image of the HDD with Macrium, but it failed because it flagged Error 23, indicating that there were bad sectors on the HDD. So, I run chkdsk /r and then tried to create an image again and hey presto this time it was successful! Then I run sfc /scannow which found some corrupted files which it could not repair, nevertheless I connected the printer and installed all the associated software and the printer work without any issue!
As the printer and the laptop belonged to a friend I advised him that the HDD would need to be replaced, to which he agreed and bought a Samsung EVO 860 SSD which I installed and then clean installed Windows 10 and connected the printer and all his other software and data. Happy to inform you that all is now working fine, at last!
The lesson learned is, not just to test the device connected to the pc but also the pc itself!!!
Hope this can be helpful to others with a similar issue.