Forum Discussion
Recent print driver updates for Windows 11
My two Intel based PC's and one Windows on Arm based laptop, received driver updates for a HP Laserjet M478f printer. It works OK but the driver does not detect that the printer can do duplex printing.
I had to switch the Intel based devices back to HP's original driver from 2022.
I can't do that for the Arm based laptop, because there isn't a driver from HP for that. I can only use the Microsoft one that now lacks duplex printing. I was fine before the driver change a few days ago.
MS, please update the driver.
Meanwhile, I cannot do duplex printing on the Arm based device. How do I roll back the older driver. I couldn't find a driver in device manager for the printer.
Any ideas?
Thanks.
7 Replies
Can you confirm the current driver version installed for your HP LaserJet M478f printer on the Windows on Arm laptop? When you try to print double‑sided, do you see any error messages or does the duplex option simply not appear in the print settings?
You can also use the IPP (Internet Printing Protocol) and eSCL (AirPrint/scan protocol) drivers.
The new Microsoft driver likely removed duplex support, and on Windows on Arm you can’t use HP’s older driver. Try switching to another built-in driver (like generic PCL6) or check for a previous version in Printer Properties, otherwise you may need to wait for a driver update.
Your situation with the HP LaserJet M478f printer and driver issues on your different devices is understandable. Since the driver update caused the duplex printing capability to be lost and you can't directly roll back via Device Manager.
I've managed to resolve this issue.
This printer is a network printer. I use an ethernet cable to connect it to my local network, using a fixed IP address (set it the router).
I looked at the printers web server properties, accessing that using printers IP address in a web browser. From there the Network Properties of the printer display Internet Printing Protocol Properties (IPP). I disabled this option, then power cycled the printer.
Once the printer was back on the network, I removed the printer from the ARM based Windows laptop, then added it. This time Windows installed the non-IPP print driver (which I recognised from before the automatic update that happened on this device), and found the duplex option was available again, and was automatically selected. Problem solved. Disable IPP in the print servers properties. I didn't know IPP was a thing.
On a general note I've read various reports that IPP based drivers do have a tendency to miss device functions like duplexing. I don't think of duplex printing as being an advanced option as I've been using this on my printers for at least 20 years now. Seems like this is something that needs addressing by Microsoft, as the idea of Microsoft IPP class drivers seems a good one, IE, security, reliability, simplification, standardisation of protocols etc.
Sadly you can’t roll back on Windows ARM if HP never made an ARM driver. Try reinstalling the printer using a Generic PCL6 or HP Universal driver and manually enable duplex. Otherwise it’s a wait for MS/HP to fix the driver.
I've done so. The HP support website doesn't have any ARM based drivers for this model of printer.
I'm puzzled why Microsoft would 'update' the drivers but not include duplex support. It's very irritating.
Is there a way I can back the older version of the driver that does include the duplex option? Device manager does not list the device with the usual option to rollback the driver as there is no driver tab for it.
Check HP's website periodically for an updated Universal Print Driver compatible with ARM.
Sometimes, HP releases newer versions that add support for duplex on ARM devices.
