How to change the IP address on a Ricoh Aficio MP 6001 / 7001 / 8001 copier

If your Ricoh Aficio MP 6001, 7001, 8001, or 9001 copier is used as a network printer, making sure it has the correct IP address is very important. If you ever need to change the copier's IP address, either because of a conflict or for any other reason, you can do so easily by following the steps below.

With the copier turned on, press the User Tools/Counter button. (If there is currently a job being processed, you'll have to wait until it finishes before going into the User Tools menu.) On the touch screen, select the System Settings button.

A row of tabs will appear on the screen; select the Interface Settings tab. Then select the option for Machine IPv4 Address. The current IP address and subnet mask will be displayed.

To change the IP address, select Change. Selecting Clear will clear out the current IP address and allow you to input the new one. You can use the number pad to enter the digits, and the right and left arrows will allow you to navigate through the four different parts of the IP address. When you have finished inputting the new address, press # (either on the screen or on the number pad).

The subnet mask can be changed if necessary in the same way; select Change and then follow the same steps above to enter a new subnet mask. Once you are finished, select OK to save the new information. You'll be returned to the Interface Settings menu.

If you need to change the gateway address as well, select IPv4 Gateway Address on the screen. This address is changed just like the other two; Clear will erase the current address, and you can use the number pad to enter the new one. Select # when you have finished, and then OK to save the new address.

In order to apply the changes you've made, exit out of System Settings by selecting Exit in the upper right corner of the screen. The options on the screen should gray out for a few seconds as the machine processes the changes, then everything will return to normal. Select Exit again to get out of User Tools. (If the IP address does not appear to have been changed, you may need to reboot the copier.)

After changing the copier's IP address, you'll probably also want to change the IP address that the print driver is configured to use so that they match. The instructions for changing the IP address in your print driver will vary by operating system and print driver version, but in general on a Windows computer, right click on printer's icon in the Control Panel and select Printer Properties (Properties, if you're using Windows XP or Vista) then go to the Ports tab, highlight the correct port if it's not highlighted already and select Configure Port. Here you can change the IP address, then select OK and OK again in the Properties window, to set the new IP address for the print driver.

(Originally published on Helium.com, December 2013)