Gah, banging my head trying to connect an HP LaserJet

[pullman]

Greetings and salutations

We've got an HP LaserJet M130nw which until recently has worked well and let us print from iPhones, older MacBooks running Monterey and current MacBooks running Sequoia as well as my cMP3,1 with Monterey OCLP. We always printed without using HP's utility because the built-in driver has worked great.

All was dandy until a few days ago when the printer decided not to print. Now I need to reconnect and I just can't seem to it.

The printer doesn't have a display but it's got a blue wireless button which blinks which means it's trying to connect to the network. We have two – a 2,4GHz and a 5GHz – and the printer supports both.

Previously the printer simply showed up in Sys Prefs—Printers & Scanners as a "nearby printer". This no longer happens. The only option then is apparently to connect it to the network directly. Our networks are provided by an AEBS 5th Gen which, like the printer, has two options for connecting: "First time"/"Push button" and "PIN".

Neither of them works but result in a time-out every time.

I have tried with the computers/iPhone connected to either networks and also setting the printer to only connect to the one or the other frequency. I have also reset the printing system and have manually emptied Library/Printers just to be sure nothing lingers before again trying to reconnect the printer.

The only way I manage to get the printer to show up is by connecting via USB to my old MBA 11" but it then disappears when the cable is pulled out.

So I'm at my wits end here. Any ideas what I can do if I want to print without using HP's utilities?

Thank you very much in advance
Philip

 

[bob_zz123]

I had a similar recent battle with an HP Smart Tank printer which did a similar thing, all manner of button combinations to try and reset it didn't work. In the end I had to connect it via USB, use the HP Smart utility to get to the printer's web based control panel / advanced settings and in there I found a "reset to factory defaults" and then finally it cleared all its settings and let me set it up again as new (again I had to use the utility to give it my Wi-Fi network name and password) and then it appeared as a printer again in System Preferences.

The final option if all else fails is plug the USB into the AirPort Extreme / Express and that should make it wireless, if I remember those things correctly they have a USB port for this purpose?

 

[IJustWannaTalk]

I've been also having intermittent issues with my Brother laser, too.
And it's NEVER not worked in the two years I've previously had it.
No problem plugged in, but it doesn't seem to connect wirelessly consistently anymore.
It happened before I updated the firmware, so I have a feeling it's related to a Mac OS update.

 

[pullman]

Thank you very much for replies. I believe there's an incompatibility with Sequoia judging by threads over at HP. But that still does not explain why it won't work from Monterey for instance. I've made a post over there so hopefully some HP tech can help.

Cheers
Philip

 

[Bazza1]

I've traditionally had issues with my HP1102w (same flashing light) connecting with Wi-Fi at all. This goes back several OSs. I did manage to get it to work when I (briefly) had a Win11 laptop from work, and that actually seemed to work on the Macs as well. Now no such luck on my M2 Sequoia - I can't even access it's online Control Panel.
I still have access via USB - inclined to blame HP rather than Mac.

 

[Ruggy]

I did a bit of research and according to what I've read it isn't capable of connecting to 5ghz.
You may have remembered the wrong model number but if not, check something hasn't changed to the router or something new isn't being used in the vicinity.
I'm thinking of a USB keyboard or mouse. Even if it's been moved it could be enough
USB 3 interferes with 2.4ghz and if you've got a new mouse or keyboard or you've moved the position sometimes even by a few inches- then it can make the SSD from the router invisible so your printer won't be able to find it.
Just something to check.

 

[glenncashuric]

Not to be overly simplistic in my response but does the printer show up on that new HP app?

 

[Global_traveler]

How old is your printer? Possible your printers certificate expired? No error message on the Mac? Also guess you’ve unplugged the printer for a good ten minutes then restarted? Fixed my HP225dw on 2 occasions. I thought this last step was bogus but it fixed my Samsung flat screen tv as well— It fixed two problems and updated the software. Hope these work.

 

[pullman]

Apologies everyone for the delay in replying. I've been continuously fighting with this, trying various options. I'm very grateful for your help. I managed to solve it this morning.

What I did was the following.

1 — I reset the printer to factory defaults by holding right arrow and Cancel (red X) while pushing the power button. I released the two buttons when the message that it was initialising permanent storage appeared (not the first, similar message about accessing that storage).

2 — I took an older Mac running Monterey and reset its printing system in Sys Prefs. Then I installed the current HP app and connected the printer via USB.

3 — I don't know if it makes a difference but I logged in to the HP account I have. Then I chose to set up a new printer, not add an existing printer.

4 — The app then showed a list of four steps, including to find the printer's IP address and after a little while there was a box to select a wifi network and input the password. This never happened in the HP app on my MBA M1 running Sequoia when the printer was connected via USB.

At this point the printer showed up on my M1, my cMP3,1 running Monterey OCLP and my iPhone 16 Pro as an AirPrint printer.

@Ruggy I think you're on the right track in a way. Our printer does support both 2,4 and 5GHz. Its factory defaults are to activate both frequencies (when wifi is turned on; it's turned off in the factory defaults). But the first time I performed the above steps the HP app defaulted to the 5GHz network. It didn't even show me a list of nearby networks. After running through the steps I could then print but the connection was flakey, sometimes working and sometimes only printing half a page.

What I therefore did in step 1 after having reset the printer was to turn on its wifi and set it to only connect to 2,4GHz (our printer has three options, each frequency individually or both). This meant that when the HP app loaded in step 4 I was shown a list of networks. I had to refresh it a few times to get the 2,4GHz network to appear but after that the printer connected and could print without issue.

Again thank you very much everyone for helping me. We'll see how long this will last...

cheers
philip

 

[TumbleDryer]

I had a HP OfficeJet and it was brilliant for years then one day it just steadfastly refused to connect wirelessly anymore. It worked wired but that didn't suit my layout so unfortunately it had to go despite trying everything. I bought a Canon Pixma instead, so far so good (although ink is ridiculously expensive).

 

[jdw13]

This does not solve your problem, but may be able to get you working with the printer as a work-around until the WiFi issue is solved. Have you considered:
a) connecting via USB to my old MBA 11" and then sharing the printer from the old laptop
b) use over Ethernet if the printer has an ethernet port.

 

[pullman]

This does not solve your problem, but may be able to get you working with the printer as a work-around until the WiFi issue is solved. Have you considered:
a) connecting via USB to my old MBA 11" and then sharing the printer from the old laptop
b) use over Ethernet if the printer has an ethernet port.

Thank you for the suggestion. I actually tried that, but from my cMP2,1 and that worked well enough. Except that for some reason my iPhone didn't see the printer for some reason.

 

[philstubbington]

Have you got the newest HP app? Our HP Neverstop (oh, the irony 😉) Laser MFP 1202nw stopped working but bizarrely the app picked up another HP printer (a colour inkjet I think) which we don't have and have never (to the best of my knowledge) ever owned. It maybe belongs to a neighbour?

Eventually I was able to get our printer back by deleting and repairing it via the app.

Good luck!

 

[pullman]

Have you got the newest HP app? Our HP Neverstop (oh, the irony 😉) Laser MFP 1202nw stopped working but bizarrely the app picked up another HP printer (a colour inkjet I think) which we don't have and have never (to the best of my knowledge) ever owned. It maybe a neighbours?

Eventually I was able to get our printer back by deleting and repairing it via the app.

Good luck!

I'm happy that worked out, perhaps it was a glitch of sorts? Yes I used the current version of the HP app on both Sequoia and Monterey. But the app never worked fully with Sequoia, which is why I had to use an older OS to get this to work.

cheers
Philip

 

[penelope_bk]

Most likely your printer has lost its network connection. A reliable solution, in my opinion, without using HP utilities is to completely reset the printer's network settings, and then reconnect it using the WPS/push-button connection method on the 2.4 GHz network only. Since HP LaserJets often have problems with dual-band routers or 5 GHz.

 

[pullman]

Most likely your printer has lost its network connection. A reliable solution, in my opinion, without using HP utilities is to completely reset the printer's network settings, and then reconnect it using the WPS/push-button connection method on the 2.4 GHz network only. Since HP LaserJets often have problems with dual-band routers or 5 GHz.

Thank you for the suggestions. I also think HP printers, or at least mine, has an issue with dual-band routers.

I did a further test now. I removed the printer from my Macs and reset it to factory settings. Then I set the printer to only use the 2,4GHz band. Thereafter I tried the WPS function, both PIN and First attempt/Push button.

I tried connecting with Sequoia on my MBA M1 and with Monterey on my MBA 11". Neither worked unfortunately.