HP OfficeJet J3680 Not Printing, Scanner Not Working, Carriage Jam, Cartridge Error, and Installation Failed

HP OfficeJet J3680 Not Printing, Scanner Not Working, Carriage Jam, Cartridge Error, and Installation Failed

The HP OfficeJet J3680 usually fails in narrow, uneven ways instead of one big total failure. It may still power on and copy, but stop printing from Windows. It may still print, but the old scan path stops working and the machine looks like a dead scanner. It may also fall into a carriage jam or cartridge error state that survives ordinary restarts. 

On this model, the fixes that actually changed the outcome were usually very specific: correcting the failed USB install path, switching away from the older scan software path on newer Windows versions, cleaning and resetting the carriage path properly, or accepting that a persistent cartridge fault had moved beyond a normal cartridge reseat.

Problem: The full software would not install on a newer Windows PC

What users observed: A working J3680 that had been fine on older Windows systems could refuse to install on a newer machine, even when the user selected the correct package and followed the normal setup flow. In the reported case, setup kept failing during the install path and felt like a broad driver unavailable problem rather than one specific USB setup fault.

What was tried: Users ran the full software package again and again, followed the same install process for hours, and retried the setup while the printer was still connected in the usual way. The older system had worked, so the first instinct was to assume the package itself should still install the same way on the new PC.

How this played out: The install only completed when the failed USB setup path was cleared and the setup was repeated with the printer left unplugged from wall power during the installation sequence. In the solved case, that one change was what made the full software install finish normally on the second attempt. This is one of the most useful J3680 outcomes because it was not fixed by another generic reinstall — it was fixed by changing the way the USB install path was being started.

Problem: Scanning stopped working on newer Windows systems even though the printer itself still worked

What users observed: Another common J3680 pattern on newer Windows versions is that the device still looks usable for printing, but the old scan workflow stops behaving normally. Users described this as the scanner not working, even though the hardware itself had not obviously died.

What was tried: Users kept working through the older scan path first, expecting the same software they had used before to continue handling scans in the same way on the newer OS. They also checked ordinary cable and connection issues before shifting attention to the Windows software layer.

How this played out: On newer Windows systems, the scan path only became usable again after users moved away from the older Solution Center route and switched to a newer scanning app path instead. The working branch here was not “fix the old scan suite.” The working branch was to use the newer scan app path that still worked with the J3680 on modern Windows. That is why these cases belong more with scan not working and scanner not detected on Windows than with paper feed or cartridge issues.

Problem: The printer fell into a carriage jam state and would not clear it

What users observed: In the carriage-jam cases, the J3680 did not just hesitate for one page. It stayed in a carriage jam state and refused to return to normal use, which made it look like the carriage assembly itself had become permanently stuck. Users often arrived at this point after already trying the usual restart and reseat habits.

What was tried: People restarted the printer, checked for obvious obstructions, and retried the machine in the same state. In the accepted fix path, the next attempts moved away from the computer entirely and focused on the carriage and paper path inside the J3680.

How this played out: The jam state cleared only after the carriage path and paper path were cleaned manually and the printer was then put through a full power-drain reset with the cartridges removed. On this model, that mattered because small debris in the carriage path was enough to keep the printer trapped in the same carriage jam loop until the internal path was cleaned and the stored error state was discharged.

Problem: The printer showed “Cartridge Error” even after cleaning and fitting new cartridges

What users observed: Some J3680 owners reached the point where the display still showed Cartridge Error even after the contacts were cleaned and new genuine cartridges were fitted. That is the branch of the problem that makes the printer feel like it is simply not recognizing cartridges anymore.

What was tried: Users cleaned the contacts, reseated the cartridges, and replaced them with new genuine units. In other words, the normal cartridge-side fixes had already been used up before the error was raised again.

How this played out: In the persistent cases that continued even after genuine cartridge replacement and contact cleaning, the problem stopped behaving like a recoverable cartridge error and instead pointed to failed printhead-side hardware. That is an important J3680 outcome because it narrows the limit of cartridge troubleshooting: once new cartridges and clean contacts do not change the error, the printer is no longer dealing with an ordinary cartridge reseat problem.

Problem: HP Printer stuck in fax mode instead of normal printing

What users observed: In one J3680 case, Windows applications showed Fax Ready instead of sending the job to the normal print device, and the printer appeared offline or unavailable for ordinary printing. This is the kind of failure that makes the machine look like a broad not printing problem even though the real issue is more specific.

What was tried: Users checked the device list, looked at what Windows was actually selecting as the output target, and verified whether the J3680 had more than one queue installed, including the fax queue.

How this played out: The print path returned only when the actual printer queue was selected as the Windows default instead of the fax queue. On this model, that is a real branch of not printing: the hardware is still there, but Windows is aiming the job at the wrong device instance.

Problem: The automatic document feeder stopped picking up originals

What users observed: In the J3680 feeder cases, the feeder still sounded alive enough to suggest that it wanted to work, but the originals were not actually being picked up and fed through. That made the issue look ambiguous: not fully dead, but not functioning either.

What was tried: Users checked whether the feeder motor was turning and whether the ADF acted ready to accept documents. They also compared the behavior against obvious software causes, because the feeder still gave some sign of life.

How this played out: In the repair discussion that matched this pattern, the failure was traced to the ADF gear / roller path rather than to software. That is the useful takeaway for the J3680: when the feeder motor is active but the originals still do not feed, the issue has already moved away from scanner software and into the feeder mechanism itself.