Marta had never meant to wake a town.
On a late Tuesday, the printer in the municipal office—a hulking Sharp AR-6020—stalled in the middle of a stack of permit applications. Its little red lamp blinked like a stubborn heartbeat. Outside, rain stitched the town’s rooftops together; inside, Marta swore at the jam and the blinking light and the way bureaucracy seemed to coil into machines.
She pressed buttons she did not understand. The panel hummed a language she had never learned. The manual lived in a drawer filled with tax forms and a faded town map; it might as well have been a spellbook. When she finally found it, the paper smelled of copier toner and old coffee. The line that promised “reset procedure” felt like a promise from a different life.
The reset was simple enough on paper: power off, hold the reset switch, count to ten. But Marta’s ten seconds stretched. She thought of the first time she’d printed a permit for a house on Elm Street—the family that’d moved in with boxes still tied shut, laughing with a radio playing something from a decade ago. She thought of the clerk who taught her how to fold forms neatly. She thought of the mayor’s laughter when the town hall hosted its last autumn festival.
When she pressed the switch and the printer whirred back to life, the paper tray spat out the half-finished stack, each sheet curling like a recovered memory. But one sheet sat different from the rest. It was not a permit. It bore, in a meticulous hand, a list of names—names she recognized and names she did not. Alongside each name was a short sentence: “Needs forgiveness,” “Waits for spring,” “Owes a song.”
Marta blinked. The town clock on the wall chimed three. She read the top name aloud, more to anchor herself than because she believed anything supernatural would answer: “Mrs. Calloway—fix the porch light.”
Outside, the streetlight at the corner that had flickered for months clicked on, steady and bright.
Word spread like toner dust. People came in small waves, clutching their own misprinted pages. One asked for lost keys returned, another found a note advising them to phone an estranged brother. The list did not solve problems so much as nudge people toward them—toward apologies, toward patching roofs, toward calling long-put-off relatives. Some shrugged it off as a coincidence; others reorganized their lives around the gentle urgings of a machine that had briefly become a kind of conscience. how to reset sharp ar-6020
The mayor wanted the printer burned. The clerk wanted a technician. Marta wanted to know whether a reset could rearrange more than circuits. She began to treat the device like a weather vane for the town’s hidden weather—reading its paper like a forecast for human temperaments.
A month later, when the mayor’s campaign flyers printed without smudge or message, the AR-6020 hummed contentedly in the corner. The town organized a volunteer day and fixed the porch lights, mended fences, and shared casseroles. Mrs. Calloway baked cookies. The estranged brother came home for supper. The town did not change overnight into a place of miracles; mechanics remained mechanical, debts remained due. But something had shifted: a small permission to act.
Marta kept the little manual tucked beside the copier, though she no longer needed it to press the reset. Sometimes, late after everyone had gone, she would lift the plastic cover and listen to the warm, indifferent rhythm of gears that would not apologize but could prompt apology.
Once, when the machine jammed again, she held the reset switch and counted to ten, and for a heartbeat that felt like mercy, hoped the town would print a note for her, too—short and clear: “Forgive yourself.”
This resets the machine to factory default: language, tray settings, auto clear time, toner save mode, etc.
Steps:
Best for: Clearing persistent error codes (like "H4", "F2"), resetting the developer counter, or resetting the drum counter. Short story — "Reset" Marta had never meant
This is a more advanced reset used by technicians. Proceed with caution; changing settings in Simulation Mode can cause hardware issues if done incorrectly.
How to Enter Simulation Mode:
Common Reset Codes: Once in Simulation Mode, type the code and press Start:
Print this table and keep it near your machine:
| Symptom | Button Sequence |
| :-- | :-- |
| Service mode entry | # * C * |
| Clear fuser error (H3/H4) | Service mode → 14 → Start |
| Clear drum light | C C 20 → hold Copy Ratio |
| Factory reset | Service mode → 67 → Start → 1 → Start |
| Exit service mode | Turn OFF power |
| Reset Goal | Simulation Code | Effect |
|------------|----------------|--------|
| Clear general error (F/CH) | 16 | Auto adjusts developer & toner |
| Factory reset (all settings) | 56 (option 1) | Wipes user settings |
| Fuser error (H2-H4) | 14 (01) | Resets heater trouble |
| EEPROM error (U2) | 16 | Checksum recovery |
| Developer counter | 25 (01) | Resets "Dev Required" |
| Paper jam memory | 08 (01) | Clears phantom jam |
The most common reason users search for a reset is the maintenance indicator light. On the Sharp AR-6020, this is usually a yellow light or an "H" code (H2, H3, H4, H5, H6, Hx). This appears every 20,000 to 40,000 copies to remind you to change the drum, blade, or developer. Enter Simulation mode: # → * → C
Do not reset this without changing the parts. Resetting the counter without replacing the drum/developer will lead to poor print quality (gray background, black spots, or faint text).
The Sharp AR-6020 is a workhorse of a multifunction printer (MFP), known for its durability in small to medium-sized offices. However, like any complex machine, it occasionally runs into issues that require a reset. Whether you are dealing with a flashing "H" error code, a persistent drum light, a toner message that won't go away, or simply a frozen interface, knowing how to reset the Sharp AR-6020 is essential.
This guide will walk you through every type of reset: from a simple soft reset to clearing maintenance counters, fixing error codes, and performing a factory reset. Warning: Some resets require entering service modes. Use these carefully, as altering the wrong setting can affect print quality.
The AR-6020 has a user-replaceable drum unit. After installing a new drum, the machine doesn't automatically know it’s new. You must manually reset the drum counter.
How to reset the Sharp AR-6020 drum counter:
20Alternative sequence (depending on firmware revision):
# key → * key → C key → 0 key → 2 key → 0 key → Hold Copy Ratio key.Once successful, the red "Drum" indicator light should turn off.