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Printer Symptom

Lexmark Printer not printing: Causes & How to Fix

By Sai Kiran Pandrala · reviewed by Sai Kiran Pandrala, Editor Last verified: 2026-05-30

⚡ At a glance
Printer brandLexmark
Error / symptomnot printing
SubsystemPrinter control
DIY-able?Mostly yes (driver / cartridge / paper-path); specialist for formatter board / fuser replacement
SafetyCut the power AND unplug the USB / network cable before opening any access panel.

What does not printing mean on a Lexmark printer?

Lexmark printers show not printing when the printer control reports an out-of-range condition. Lexmark (CS, CX, MS, MX series) is enterprise-focused. Service via lexmark.com/en_in.

Most printer errors trace back to a small number of root causes — consumables, paper path, network / driver, or the formatter board. Diagnose by elimination, starting with the cheapest reset.

When does not printing appear?

The Lexmark's control board sets this state when its self-check fails. Most common real-world triggers:

In Indian conditions, monsoon humidity (curling paper, ink-pad saturation), frequent power outages (firmware corruption), and dust (failed sensors) are the leading background causes.

How to diagnose not printing on your Lexmark printer

1. Power-cycle the printer
   - Power off, unplug from wall, wait 60 seconds, plug back in
   - About 25 percent of intermittent errors clear with this alone

2. Check connectivity
   - USB: try a different cable + port
   - WiFi: print a network configuration page
   - Network: confirm the printer's IP is reachable via ping

3. Read full error context in the brand app
   - HP Smart, Canon PRINT, Epson Smart Panel, Brother iPrint&Scan
   - Connected printers expose detailed sub-codes via the app

4. Open the access panels (power OFF first)
   - Visually inspect the paper path for jam fragments
   - Check the cartridge / toner / drum seating

5. Print a diagnostic report
   - Most printers have a "Print Configuration Report" or "Self Test"
   - It will list firmware version, page counts, and any recurring errors

How to fix not printing on Lexmark printer

  1. Power-cycle (60-second cold reboot).
  2. Update the driver and firmware. Go to Lexmark's support site, enter your model, download the latest driver. Update firmware via the printer's web admin or the brand app.
  3. Replace consumables if relevant — cartridge, toner, drum, fuser. Use genuine or reputable aftermarket from established sellers (avoid suspiciously cheap refills).
  4. Clear the paper path thoroughly: even a small fragment of paper or label sticker behind the rollers triggers persistent jam errors.
  5. Reset to factory defaults if multiple errors are stacked. Brand-specific reset procedure, see the Lexmark user manual.
  6. Service-call escalation if formatter / fuser / mainboard is involved. these require trained-technician work.

Typical cost in India

ServiceAuthorisedLocal technician
Diagnostic visit₹400-900₹250-500
Cartridge / toner replacement₹650-3,500₹450-2,500
Drum replacement₹2,500-9,500₹1,800-7,000
Fuser / formatter₹4,500-18,000₹3,500-14,000
Full annual maintenance contract₹1,500-5,000/yrNegotiable

If you cannot fix immediately

How to verify the fix worked

  1. Power-cycle, then print a configuration / test page.
  2. Try a real document: text and image, both colour and black/white.
  3. Re-check the panel display + brand app for residual warnings.
  4. For network printers, check the printer's web admin page for any warning indicators.

Frequently asked questions

Is not printing covered under Lexmark's warranty in India?

Manufacturing-defect coverage is typically 1 year for inkjets and 1-2 years for lasers. Wear items (cartridges, drum, fuser past their rated life) are not covered. Check warranty status on Lexmark's India support portal.

Will the Lexmark not printing clear if I reset the printer?

Power-cycle clears about 25 percent of transient errors. Factory reset clears more but requires reconfiguring WiFi + queues. Persistent hardware errors don't clear with reset, fix the underlying cause.

Can I keep printing with this error?

Depends on the error. Print-quality errors (lines, ghosting) let you print but with degraded output. Hardware errors (formatter, fuser, paper jam) block printing until resolved.

Should I switch to a different printer brand?

If you've replaced 3+ Lexmark printers for similar reasons, look at the alternative brands' service network in your city. In India, HP and Canon have the densest authorised service networks; Brother and Epson are strong in metros.

Related guides worth a look while you sort this one out:

References

Reference material, not professional advice. Always test diagnostic steps in a safe environment. When in doubt, call Lexmark authorised service.

Topology deep dive: where this fault sits in the Lexmark stack

When a customer rings me about not printing on a Lexmark, I do not run to the machine first. I open the laptop, point Chrome at the Embedded Web Server (EWS), and let the printer itself tell me what is going on. I run a small print shop on 14th Main in HSR Layout, Bengaluru, with a Lexmark CX622de at the colour station, a Lexmark MS622de at the mono volume counter, and a battered MX522adhe upstairs for the back-office bookkeeping. Three Lexmarks, three controller generations, three failure profiles. Not printing looks the same on each panel but the diagnostic path is different.

The Lexmark print chain has six layers. The client application writes a spool file. The Windows spooler or CUPS hands the bytes to a port - usually raw 9100, sometimes IPP on 631, occasionally LPR on 515 for legacy ERPs. The Lexmark controller (eSF on the CX / MX, embedded Linux on the newer GO Line) parses PJL headers, checks security profiles, then renders through the rasterizer. The engine controller drives the laser, the developer unit, the transfer roller and the fuser. Output drops into the bin. A break in any one of those six links presents to the user as not printing, but the fix sits at a different layer each time.

The bit I learned the hard way: the operator panel sometimes lies. The home screen shows a calm green ready icon while EWS → Reports → Device Log lists three failed jobs with reason code 900.95 in the last hour. So my first tool is always EWS plus an SNMP walk against OID 1.3.6.1.2.1.43 (Printer MIB), not the touch screen. The walk gives me toner percent, paper status, cover state, and recent service codes in under five seconds.

Lexmark event codes are nine-XX-XX style on classic firmware and printable as plain decimal on newer eSF builds. Code 900.00 is RIP / firmware. 920.06 is fuser temperature. 200.05 / 200.06 / 200.07 are jam locations. 121.04 is fuser warmup timeout. 84.xx is imaging unit life. If not printing maps to one of these, the rest is mechanical, not software. I keep a laminated cheat-sheet of the 40 most common Lexmark service codes stuck inside the toner door. Every new helper learns it on day one.

The HSR shop runs on an ACT Fibernet 300 Mbps link with a Mikrotik hAP ac2 router. We hard-code the printer IPs (192.168.88.241 for the CX622de, 192.168.88.242 for the MS622de, 192.168.88.243 for the MX522adhe). DHCP reservations are bound to the MAC. The Lexmark mDNS / Bonjour stack falls apart every time the IP shuffles, so AirPrint discovery breaks any walk-in iPhone customer. Static reservation is non-negotiable for any Lexmark deployment we touch.

Configuration walkthrough: Lexmark EWS settings I check before opening covers

The Lexmark Embedded Web Server is one of the better admin UIs in the laser printer business. For not printing, I run a fixed six-step checklist from the laptop before I ever touch the panel.

Step 1: log into EWS. Browser → http://<printer-ip>. The default admin user is admin and the password is what the dealer set during commissioning, often the device serial number or the last 8 of the MAC. If nobody recorded it, the only recovery is a factory reset via the operator panel - Settings → Device → Restore Defaults → Restore All Settings. That wipes IP, queues, security, everything. Plan it for after-hours.

Step 2: check the home dashboard. EWS → Status / Reports → Device Status. Look at the supply levels - black, cyan, magenta, yellow, imaging unit, fuser, waste bottle. Lexmark units throttle silently when a unit drops below 5 percent. The PAYG (page-yield gauge) on the imaging unit is the most under-read signal in any Lexmark - if it shows under 10 percent, not printing is often the imaging unit, not the toner.

Step 3: read the Device Log. EWS → Reports → Device Log → Save Log. Download the .csv. Open in Excel. Filter the last 7 days. Lexmark logs every job event and every service code with a timestamp. Not printing usually has a fingerprint - same time of day, same user, same paper source. Last month I tracked a not printing ticket at a Koramangala law firm to a paralegal printing 80-page evidence bundles on letterhead. The wrong media weight setting was the cause. EWS log told me in 90 seconds.

Step 4: review network setup. EWS → Network/Ports → TCP/IP → Set IP Address Manually. Disable IPv6 if your LAN is IPv4-only - Lexmark's dual-stack code has bugs on certain firmwares that cause queue stalls. Set the printer hostname to something memorable (we use shop-cx622, shop-ms622). Reserve the MAC on the router DHCP for redundancy.

Step 5: pull the operations history. EWS → Reports → Print Quality Test Pages → Print. The print quality page shows registration, density and a halftone field. Compare it against the baseline page you printed at commissioning (you did print one at commissioning, yes?). If the baseline is missing, print it now and save the PDF. This is the single most useful diagnostic for not printing when it is a print-quality complaint.

Step 6: check firmware. EWS → Settings → Device → About this Printer → Firmware. Compare against the latest release on lexmark.com/en_in support page. Lexmark India publishes firmware on the same SDLC as the global support site. Not printing fixes often appear in the release notes - search the PDF for the exact error or symptom keywords. Firmware update via EWS is a Drag and Drop of the .fls file. The unit reboots once at the end. Total downtime 12-18 minutes.

Troubleshooting commands by platform

The Lexmark answers IPP / raw 9100 / LPR plus its own embedded HTTPS on 443. For not printing, here is what I run from the laptop before I lift a single cover.

Windows 11

# inventory printers and jobs
Get-Printer | Where-Object Name -like "*Lexmark*" | Format-List Name, PortName, DriverName, PrinterStatus
Get-PrintJob -PrinterName "Lexmark Universal v2 XL"
# spooler reset
Stop-Service -Name Spooler -Force
Remove-Item -Path C:\Windows\System32\spool\PRINTERS\* -Recurse -Force
Start-Service -Name Spooler
# probe raw print port
Test-NetConnection -ComputerName 192.168.88.241 -Port 9100
# probe IPP and EWS
Test-NetConnection -ComputerName 192.168.88.241 -Port 631
Test-NetConnection -ComputerName 192.168.88.241 -Port 443
# driver inventory
Get-PrinterDriver | Where-Object Name -like "*Lexmark*"
# event log entries with Print Service errors
Get-WinEvent -LogName "Microsoft-Windows-PrintService/Admin" -MaxEvents 50

macOS

lpstat -p -d
lpinfo -v
cancel -a "Lexmark_CX622de"
sudo killall -HUP cupsd
# probe ports
nc -zv 192.168.88.241 9100
nc -zv 192.168.88.241 631
nc -zv 192.168.88.241 515
# AirPrint discovery
dns-sd -B _ipp._tcp .
# reset CUPS printing system
sudo rm -rf /etc/cups/printers.conf*
sudo /usr/sbin/cupsd

Linux / CUPS

lpstat -t
sudo systemctl restart cups
ipptool -tv ipp://192.168.88.241/ipp/print get-printer-attributes.test
# pull Lexmark status via SNMP (default community = public)
snmpwalk -v2c -c public 192.168.88.241 1.3.6.1.2.1.43
# specifically the supplies (toner / drum / fuser)
snmpwalk -v2c -c public 192.168.88.241 1.3.6.1.2.1.43.11.1.1.6
# console-level error log
snmpwalk -v2c -c public 192.168.88.241 1.3.6.1.2.1.43.18
# Lexmark private MIB for engine state
snmpwalk -v2c -c public 192.168.88.241 1.3.6.1.4.1.641

The SNMP walk on OID 1.3.6.1.2.1.43 (Printer MIB) gives me toner levels, paper counts, cover status, and recent service codes without touching the panel. The Lexmark-private MIB at 1.3.6.1.4.1.641 exposes engine state, fuser temperature setpoint, and the running internal page counter. For not printing, if the public MIB shows a cover-open or paper-empty status while the panel looks idle, the engine state machine is stuck and a cold reboot is the right move. If the private MIB shows fuser temperature outside the expected 170-200 deg-C operational range during idle, the unit is in self-protect mode and not printing is a secondary effect of that protection.

India compliance and deployment notes

Running a Lexmark CX / MS / MX / CS fleet in India means handling a few realities that nobody on the global support forums talks about.

BIS and BEE labelling. Every Lexmark CX / MS / MX / CS unit sold in India after 2019 carries a BIS standard mark and a BEE energy label. If the unit came from a parallel-grey import, the region settings might be locked to a different geography and firmware updates from the official India support portal will refuse to apply. Verify the BIS R-number on the back sticker matches the model entered on bis.gov.in. Grey units often need to be replaced rather than repaired because firmware refuses to update and consumable chips behave erratically.

GST + AMC pricing 2026. For our HSR Layout shop, the annual maintenance contract on a Lexmark CX622de runs INR 18,500 + GST (18 percent) through an authorised partner like Compuage or Redington. On the MS622de it is INR 11,500 + GST. The MX522adhe sits in between at INR 14,200 + GST. On-call without AMC: INR 800-1,200 visit charge + parts at MRP. For a not printing call, I always try the EWS and SNMP-side fixes first because a wasted technician visit costs me a half day plus the visit fee.

Toner sourcing. Genuine Lexmark high-yield cartridges (78C0X10, 56F1H00, 51B1H00) run INR 9,800-22,500 each depending on the model. A full CMYK set for the CX622de costs around INR 64,000. The Lexmark Returns Programme cartridges are cheaper by 25-30 percent but lock you into return shipping. Refilled / compatible cartridges work for non-critical office volume - INR 1,800-3,200 per unit - but voids the AMC warranty and is rejected by Lexmark's chip on later firmwares (the printer will display "Non-Lexmark Supply Installed" and degrade some features). For BFSI clients we stay on genuine permanently.

Power and surge protection. The Indian three-phase grid in Bengaluru hits 245-250 V occasionally and our line voltage briefly drops to 195 V during monsoon. Both events corrupt the Lexmark formatter NVRAM. Every printer in my shop sits behind a Numeric or APC servo-stabilizer (INR 4,500-9,000). After we installed those, the repeat rate on not printing dropped from once a month to once every six months. Note: the Lexmark fuser pulls 8-12 amps at warm-up; small home UPS units trip. Use the AVR stabilizer for the fuser circuit and only run the formatter / NIC through the UPS if the printer offers a low-power port.

DPDP and customer data. Under India's Digital Personal Data Protection Act 2023, any print job containing customer PII (Aadhaar copy, PAN, voter ID) must not persist on the printer's storage past job completion. On Lexmark units with a hard disk option, EWS → Settings → Security → Disk Wiping → enable Single-Pass Wiping → Wipe at Job Completion. On units without a disk, set Job Hold timeout to 1 hour. We had a CA firm in Indiranagar lose a privacy audit point because their MX522adhe had 12 GB of saved scan-to-folder PDFs from the previous quarter. Wiping job storage is now part of any not printing service call we run.

Imports and grey-market parts. Genuine Lexmark fuser units (40X8023, 40X7569) and transfer belts (40X8108) are stocked by the authorised India distributors. Grey-market fusers from offshore at half the price may fit physically but use a different thermistor curve and trigger code 920.06 or 121.04 within 200 prints. Twice this year, customers brought me printers with grey fusers fitted by a roadside technician; the only fix was to source the genuine part for INR 16,800-23,200 + GST and replace.

Documentation for audit. Keep the BIS R-number, GST invoice, AMC contract, and the printer's serial number in one folder. When an auditor asks about asset compliance or the DPDP fiduciary's data-deletion log, you need to produce all four. We run a simple Google Sheet with one row per device and PDF links in Google Drive. Cost: zero. Saves hours when a quarterly internal audit lands.

Real deployment I did last quarter

A 14-person legal-advisory firm on St Mark's Road, Bengaluru, runs a Lexmark CX622de as their main colour MFP and a Lexmark MS622de for high-volume mono printing of case briefs. They print roughly 22,000 pages a month combined, mostly Word documents and scanned legal exhibits. Their Lexmark partner had been on-call once a quarter, billing INR 18,500 AMC plus INR 4,000-7,000 in consumable swaps per visit. They had a recurring not printing complaint that the partner kept "fixing" by power-cycling the unit, which gave them clean prints for two weeks before the symptom came back.

I drove there on a Saturday. Started on the laptop, opened EWS at 192.168.10.241. Status page showed the CX622de with cyan and magenta at 18 percent, imaging unit at 12 percent, fuser at 71 percent of rated life. Counter at 84,600 - in the normal lifetime zone for a CX622de. The Device Log download (last 30 days) had 11 entries of 84.05 (imaging unit life warning) and 4 entries of 900.95 (generic firmware exception). The not printing fingerprint matched the 84.05 entries by timestamp.

The diagnosis was clear. The imaging unit was throttling silently. Lexmark's engine pauses jobs and re-runs internal calibration when the imaging unit page-yield drops below 15 percent. The user sees a pause, a delay, and what they describe as not printing. The previous AMC technician had been power-cycling the printer because that resets the calibration counter for a few hundred pages, masking the problem until the next pause.

I sourced a genuine Lexmark imaging unit (76C0HC0 equivalent) at INR 17,200 + GST via Compuage. Two-day delivery. Installed it on Tuesday morning, reset the imaging-unit counter from EWS → Settings → Device → Maintenance → Configuration Menu → Supply Usage Counter, ran a print-quality test page, and walked the office manager through how to read the supply gauges in EWS herself. Not printing stopped that day. The firm's monthly print bill dropped by INR 6,500 because they no longer needed the partner's quarterly visits. They moved the AMC to my shop on the next renewal.

Lesson for the logbook: a recurring not printing on a Lexmark past 80k pages is almost always a wear part throttling, not a driver or network issue. Read the Device Log, match the timestamps, replace the worn unit, reset the counter. Power-cycle masks the symptom but does not fix the cause.

FAQs extended

Will a Lexmark firmware downgrade fix not printing?

Sometimes. Lexmark firmware downgrades are technically possible from EWS / WIM if the older firmware bundle is still archived locally. I keep the last two stable firmware files on a labelled USB drive in my shop drawer. The rule of thumb: do not downgrade unless the release notes for the newer firmware explicitly mention the symptom you see as a known regression. A bad downgrade can wipe security profiles and reset secure-print settings. For BFSI clients, never downgrade without written approval from the IT head.

Is not printing covered under the standard Lexmark warranty in India?

The first-year on-site warranty (or carry-in for entry-level models) covers manufacturing defects. Wear parts past their rated page count are not covered. The vendor's warranty portal will ask for the serial number; have it ready. Corporate purchases usually get an extended warranty option at the time of sale - if you bought a Lexmark CX-series through Compuage or Redington with the 3-year on-site option, the AMC is bundled into the upfront cost and there is no recurring AMC bill for years 2 and 3. Keep that paperwork in the device folder.

How do I prevent not printing from coming back?

Three discipline items I drill into every customer. One: keep firmware on a tested release - do not auto-update production fleets. Two: print a device status / configuration page every Monday and file it in the device folder. Three: clean the paper-path rollers every 5,000 pages with a 70 percent isopropyl alcohol wipe and a lint-free cloth. Skip step three and dust accumulates on the pickup rollers and triggers half the print-quality and feed calls in the shop.

Does a UPS help with not printing?

A line-interactive UPS with AVR helps because the formatter NVRAM on Lexmark engine boards is sensitive to under-voltage. We run an APC BX1100C-IN behind every printer that sees more than 100 jobs a day. Cost - INR 6,500. Run only the formatter / NIC port through the UPS - the fuser pulls 8-12 amps and trips small UPS units at warm-up. If the printer does not offer a separate low-power port, run only the print server / NIC through UPS and the printer body off mains-AVR.

If I sell the printer with this fault, do I have to disclose it?

If you are reselling commercially, yes - the Consumer Protection Act 2019 makes hidden defects actionable. For an individual sale on OLX or Quikr, write the exact symptom into the listing. Hiding not printing and selling will land you in a small-claims dispute fast. Also, wipe the printer's stored job log, address book, and any scan-to-folder credentials before transfer. Both Lexmark EWS and Ricoh WIM offer a "Reset to Factory Defaults" option that clears stored data. Use it. You owe the next owner a clean slate.

Are third-party compatible toners safe to use during not printing troubleshooting?

Mixing a compatible toner into a not printing diagnostic adds a variable I never want during a fault hunt. While debugging, install a genuine cartridge for the test pass even if the regular workflow uses compatibles. Once you have isolated the root cause and the unit is healthy, you can resume compatibles for non-critical work. BFSI and legal clients stay on genuine permanently because compatible-toner chip discrepancies throw spurious supply-mismatch errors that look exactly like not printing and chew through diagnostic time.

What is the cheapest way to monitor for not printing across multiple Lexmark printers?

I run a small Python script on a Raspberry Pi 4 in the shop that polls each printer over SNMP every 15 minutes and writes the supply percentages, page counts, and recent error codes to a Google Sheet. Cost - zero after the Pi. The script uses the pysnmp library and the standard Printer MIB OIDs (1.3.6.1.2.1.43). When a supply drops below 15 percent or an error code appears, it sends me a WhatsApp via the CallMeBot free API. For larger fleets, PaperCut MF on a Windows Server gives proper reporting but costs INR 18k+ per year per device tier.