Canon MP 980 5B00 and service mode

[teegee777]

Hi, I'm trying to fix a Canon MP980 for a friend. It's giving a 5B00 which I understand to be the ink absorber being full (although it's giving 7 flashes of the orange light instead of 6 according to some instructions I've seen) However other tests point to the ink absorber full. I originally was able to get into Service Mode and it displayed "idle" but now I only get service mode without the idle prompt. Is there something I can do to get idle? Also what is the latest service tool for the MP 980 I've tried 1.030 and 3.200 but I can't even get the EEPROM print...although this could be because of the lack of "idle" message I guess? Any help, much appreciated. Thanks Tony

 

[PeterBJ]

You find a service manual for the printer here. Canon service tool v3200 or v3400 will be perfect for the reset. These tools can be found for free on the web, for instance here. Neither AVG Internet Security nor Malwarebytes Antimalware found anything wrong with in the download.

Notice that the service tool only works with Windows, You cannot use a Mac or Linux computer. It is also necessary to use a USB connection, Wireless cannot be used even if the printer might have this capability.

Here is the procedure to enter service mode for your printer, slightly edited to make it more clear:

i. With the printer power turned off, while pressing the Resume/Cancel button, press and hold the Power button. (DO NOT release the buttons).
ii. When the Power LED lights in green, while holding the Power and Resume/Cancel button, release the Resume/Cancel button. (DO NOT release the Power button.)
iii. While holding the Power button, press and release the Resume/Cancel button 2 times, and then release the Power button. (Each time the Resume/Cancel button is pressed, the Alarm and Power LEDs light alternately, Alarm in orange and Power in green,
starting with Alarm LED.)
iv. When the Power LED lights steadily in green, the printer is ready for the service mode operation.

When the printer has entered service mode Windows will probably install a new printer or a "device", just allow this.

Make sure there is paper in both the cassette and the rear paper feed as you cannot predict which paper source the printer will use.

Now open the service tool. Check that "Main" is selected in the ink absorber counter, and "0" is selected in the "Counter value(%)" setting and then click "Set".

A small window "A function was finished" opens. Close this window by clicking OK. Now click the EEPROM button to get a print that verifies that the absorber counter has been resat. D should now be 000.0 or very close to 0.
Here is a screen shot with explanations:

I hope this helps.

 

[teegee777]

You find a service manual for the printer here. Canon service tool v3200 or v3200 will be perfect for the reset. These tools can be found for free on the web, for instance here. Neither AVG Internet Security nor Malwarebytes Antimalware found anything wrong with in the download.

Notice that the service tool only works with Windows, You cannot use a Mac or Linux computer. It is also necessary to use a USB connection, Wireless cannot be used even if the printer might have this capability.

Here is the procedure to enter service mode for your printer, slightly edited to make it more clear:



When the printer has entered service mode Windows will probably install a new printer or a "device", just allow this.

Make sure there is paper in both the cassette and the rear paper feed as you cannot predict which paper source the printer will use.

Now open the service tool. Check that "Main" is selected in the ink absorber counter, and "0" is selected in the "Counter value(%)" setting and then click "Set".

A small window "A function was finished" opens. Close this window by clicking OK. Now click the EEPROM button to get a print that verifies that the absorber counter has been resat. D should now be 000.0 or very close to 0.
Here is a screen shot with explanations:

I hope this helps.

Hi Peter, Thanks for comprehensive reply. I still have some issues though, When I turn on in normal mode I get 5B00 Service required with blue & yellow light flashing a sequence of 7. I can enter service mode as described above (originally a few days ago) I also got "idle" , I no longer get that. (The orange light flashes 6 in service mode). When I plug in the printer with the service tool open I get the windows "ding dong" and test print highlighted, I "set" the ink absorber to main and 0 and receive back "a function was finished" and then click EEPROM which gives me the option of paper source, when I choose cassette or rear tray I get " a function was finished" but receive no print out. In fact I never get any printouts and currently the print heads do not move when the cover is lifted.
Note: I have tried v5103 and get device /SN:#xxxxxx# where x is my serial number (I guess) but it fails with error code 006)
Thanks in anticipation. Tony

 

[PeterBJ]

...... I originally was able to get into Service Mode and it displayed "idle" but now I only get service mode without the idle prompt......

Sadly this indicates that one more error apart from the absorbers full error has occurred. This new error prevents the printer from entering service mode,

You can read more about service tools and errors in this and specially this post.

I have an MP980 with a worn printhead but fully functional, so I did a test with that printer and service tool v3200.

I first entered service mode using the method described. Everything was normal, After pressing and releasing the buttons the blue power light started flashing and a line with the text "Service mode" appeared on the display. After maybe half a minute the blue power light stopped flashing and changed to a steady light and a line with "Idle" was added to the display. The printer had now entered service mode and I made a couple of test prints and turned the printer off.

I then simulated a printer error by opening the CD tray door and tried to enter service mode again. This time the text "Service mode" appeared on the display, but when the blue power light changed to a steady light the line with "Idle" did not appear. Instead the yellow error light started flashing with 6 pulses and a pause, and then flashed 6 times again and so on.

When trying to use the service tool it behaved normally and showed "A function was finished" after having clicked a button, but nothing happened at the printer and no error messages were shown on the computer screen. This seems to be the same behaviour as your friend's printer. I think this confirms my suspicion that an additional error has occurred in the printer.

In old Canon printers the printhead can fail suddenly and for no apparent reason. Some printhead errors can prevent the printer from turning on or the printhead doesn't center when the lid is opened. I think this is what happened here. So to get the printer going again you will need to replace the printhead and clean or replace the absorbers. I think new printheads are nowhere to be found. Beware of printheads from China offered on the net. They are used printheads cleaned to look like new but are often defective out of the box. So sadly I think the printer cannot be saved.

I have made two videos, one showing normal entering of service mode on the MP980 and one with an error preventing entering service mode. I used Mediafire's free service so download is a bit slow and a new window with ads might open.

 

[teegee777]

Hi Peter, Thank you so much for your help. The second video was exactly the same as I was getting on this machine. However something must have been jammed or not "set" correctly as after I pushed some of the cogs and turned the ASF shaft something clicked and then on start up the printer heads moved again. After this movement then the printer was able to go into "service mode" and become "idle" from which I was able to follow your instructions and reset the ink absorption (it was displaying D=100.3) It seems to be working fine ! I am reluctant to dismantle the mechanism to fully clean the tank and pads, so I used "make up remover" pads and soaked up quite a lot of the the ink. The only additional problem I could see with the printer was that the small white carriage which goes forward and backwards and seems to wipe the heads and or the absorption pads had come out of its track and not in mesh with the plastic cogs, I did manage to get it back into the track and had to attach the return spring to the carriage again. I'm not sure whether this carriage being out of mesh had anything to do with the failure to go "idle" or was a result of the cogs being in the wrong position. It seems to print ok, but takes an age to print, however I need to see my friend as most of the inks are very low and possibly is having trouble purging the heads?
Thanks again for your assistance and also to Martin at Octo...... for providing some interesting information.

 

[PeterBJ]

Thank you for the feed-back-

I think the mechanical error prevented the printer from entering service mode and write "Idle" on the display. After your successful repair the printer could enter service mode and be reset. Congratulations.

Some say you can reset the absorber counter and continue to use the printer without cleaning or replacing the ink absorbers just once, others say that you risk a nasty ink spill if or when the absorbers overflow. Some say placing the printer on a shallow tray to catch a possible ink spill is a good idea.