Must restart printer to print (3052A)

Question

This is a very odd problem. I can usually google answers to my problems, and I've tried all the connection checklists and diagnostic tools I can find.
I have a HP Deskjet 3052A. I have it set up wirelessly on my home network, where I have a variety of computers connected. I have 2 Windows 7 machines, an old Windows XP notebook, and a Macbook. I never did get the XP notbook to print, but that's a different problem. The Windows 7 machines and Macbook DID print, and quite nicely. We used it daily for school, work, and kid coloring pages.
Recently we started having a problem.
We would get an error on the Windows 7 screens saying "Unable to communicate with printer" along with some suggestions to check and update the IP address. (The Macbook doesn't give this error, it just doesn't print.)
At first I started trying different checklists and troubleshooting guides on the internet, including HP Support, but none seemed to help. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the drivers, downloading new drivers, checking and unchecking options, etc. All the diagnostic tools say the printer is fine and ready to print. They locate it just fine, they talk to it just fine, they see no network issues or conflicts. The problem only occurrs when I actually tell it to print.
A few things seemed to occasionally get documents to print, such as restarting the computer, logging off and logging back on, turning off the printer's wireless connection and turning it on, and so on.
Right now I've hit a reliable workaround that is still annoying, but I CAN get my documents.
What I do is I tell a document to print. I wait for the error message to show up on the screen (it NEVER prints the first time). The options on the error message are "Cancel Print" or "Help." It is important not to click either option, nor to close the window in any way.
Then I power the printer off, and wait for it to shut down. Then I power it on again. It makes its usual startup noises, then the blue wireless light starts to blink as it connects to my network. The INSTANT the wireless light turns solid, there is a 50% chance my document will print out. All pages, perfectly. If it does not print out, I need to repeat the power off/on cycle. Just like flipping a coin, it sometimes takes a few times, but it always works eventually.
For normal printing, like occasoinal school papers, this isn't too bad.
The problem now is I'm doing a large project with lots of printing unique pages, reversing them, and printing the back. (it's a sort of "trading card" project for church). So it's a lot of single-page printing, and I need hundreds of pages, front and back, with each page being a unique entity created from scratch in photoshop. Needing to cycle the printer between EACH PAGE is more than quadrupling the time it takes to complete the project.
There's got to be a solution, but I can't find it.

Answer 1

Have you tried an actual hard rest on the printer?
Follow these steps to perform a hard reset on the printer.
1. Press the Power button to turn on the product.
2. With the product turned on, disconnect the power cord from the rear of the product.
3. Unplug the power cord from the wall outlet.
4. Wait at least 15 seconds.
5. Plug the power cord back into the wall outlet.
6. Reconnect the power cord to the rear of the product.
7. If the product does not turn on by itself, press the power button to turn it on.
Best of luck,
Kyle
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