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I can't print anything!

EricNau

EricNau

Moderator emeritus
Original poster
Apr 27, 2005
10,736
294
San Francisco, CA
Just like the title says, I cannot print anything. Every time I attempt the program just quits unexpectedly.

I've tried printing in Safari, Preview, and Adobe Acrobat; they all do the same thing.

I also tried restarting with no avail.

I don't know what to do. :confused: :(

Thanks

Edit: I just tried in Microsoft Word also, it did the same. For clarification, the program quits before the print options box even appears.

Problem Solved​
 
It's a HP Deskjet 6840. Worst drivers in the world. I'll be calling HP this weekend and demand a new, updated printer (it seems instead of updating the drivers for this printer, they just made a new printer). ...but I should rant about that in a different thread.

It's connected by USB and WiFi (built in). At the moment it is set to use USB.
The connection shouldn't be an issue because it worked fine yesterday and the connection is the same.

In fact I was assuming it wasn't the printer at all because the program would quit as soon as I hit 'Command+P' or 'File > Print.'

I'll try fiddling with the printer now that I know it might be the problem.
Any ideas?
 
I just turned off and disconnected the printer, and then tried printing. Once again the program just quit.

Then I tried restarting the computer (printer still powered down and disconnected) and then print, but again, the same thing happened.

Does this mean it's my Computer?
 
Well, this sort of problem popped up in about 10.3.6 or so but was fixed by reinstalling the Combo update. What OS are you on? I'm guessing it's 10.4.6 judging by your signature, which means you may wanna reinstall this. :)
 
mad jew said:
Well, this sort of problem popped up in about 10.3.6 or so but was fixed by reinstalling the Combo update. What OS are you on? I'm guessing it's 10.4.6 judging by your signature, which means you may wanna reinstall this. :)
Click to expand...
Thanks. I'll try this once I have a chance to backup.
 
Okay, well you don't have to really back up but it's always a good idea. Just to make sure we're on the same wavelength, I'm not telling you to reinstall OSX but just to reinstall the update. Good luck with it. :)
 
mad jew said:
Okay, well you don't have to really back up but it's always a good idea. Just to make sure we're on the same wavelength, I'm not telling you to reinstall OSX but just to reinstall the update. Good luck with it. :)
Click to expand...
Ya, we're on the same wavelength. :)

I decided not to backup (with the exception of a few files now on my flash drive). I'll just keep my fingers crossed.

I'll let you know how it worked.
 
Okay, maybe try reinstalling the print drivers then. Are you using the drivers that came with the printer or the inbuilt OSX drivers? :)

If they came with the printer then they shouldn't be too hard to remove and then reinstall. If they're the inbuilt ones then you may need to drag the Printers folder (which can be found in your System's Library) to the Desktop and reinstalling the drivers using the OSX discs and the Optional Install feature. :)
 
mad jew said:
Okay, maybe try reinstalling the print drivers then. Are you using the drivers that came with the printer or the inbuilt OSX drivers? :)

If they came with the printer then they shouldn't be too hard to remove and then reinstall. If they're the inbuilt ones then you may need to drag the Printers folder (which can be found in your System's Library) to the Desktop and reinstalling the drivers using the OSX discs and the Optional Install feature. :)
Click to expand...
They are the HP drivers that came with the printer.

I'll try that next. Thanks.
 
Okay, well good luck with it. Sorry for making you do all these crazy things but it's a pretty common symptom for a variety of different issues. Hopefully we'll pinpoint it soon. :)
 
OK, I never got a chance to re-install those drivers, but I might have bigger problems now.

Right after I posted my last message I put my computer to sleep. When I woke it up this morning it had this lovely kernal panic message.

Is this a sign of impending doom? Maybe I should go do that backup...
 

Attachments

  • 300px-MacOSX_kernel_panic.png
    300px-MacOSX_kernel_panic.png
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mad jew said:
Okay, well first off, try logging the kernel panic. Hopefully it's just a one-off though. :)
Click to expand...
After I restarted a message along the lines of "before you restarted OS X quit unexpectedly" - so I hit 'report,' is that the same thing?


Do you think this kernel panic was related to re-installing the update, or do you think it's related to the printer issue (which would obviously be more than just a printer issue), or could it be a total coincidence?

And for the record... everything is backed-up.
 
OK, I've tried deleting the printers. I wasn't exactly sure on how to do this. I went to Utilities > 'Printer Setup Utility' and deleted all the printers in that list (and then added it again via 'HP Deskjet 6800 Series Setup Assistant'). Was this what I was supposed to do?

Also, I tried Repairing Permissions and Zapping the PRAM, neither of which worked (big surprise).
 
Just another update...

I successfully printed a test page from my computer through the HP Printer Utility, so it would appear the printer itself (and its drivers) are fine.

The printer also prints perfectly from other computers.
 
Not usre what driver version you are using, but some folks have reported success with that printer by using driver version 2.7.1 downloadable from here.
 
VanNess said:
Not usre what driver version you are using, but some folks have reported success with that printer by using driver version 2.7.1 downloadable from here.
Click to expand...
Yes, unfortunately that is the driver I have. :(

(Worst Drivers in the world BTW :mad: )
 
OK, I got it working...

Turns out it was in fact the OS X Printer drivers. I assumed it would be the HP drivers because I had to install their drivers initially, but once that failed I thought I might as well try the others.

Thanks! :)
 
Nice work. I'm glad it's working. :)

For the record, logging a kernel panic and filing a report are different. More information on logging kernel panics should be in the link I provided earlier. :)
 
EricNau said:
OK, I got it working...

Turns out it was in fact the OS X Printer drivers. I assumed it would be the HP drivers because I had to install their drivers initially, but once that failed I thought I might as well try the others.

Thanks! :)
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity, how did you determine it was the OSX drivers (by deleting them)?

I ran into a similar problem printing to my HP 3840, but it turned out to be installing the HP software and drivers that made printing impossible. When I clean installed Tiger the printer worked great.
 
discoforce said:
Out of curiosity, how did you determine it was the OSX drivers (by deleting them)?

I ran into a similar problem printing to my HP 3840, but it turned out to be installing the HP software and drivers that made printing impossible. When I clean installed Tiger the printer worked great.
Click to expand...
I did just as mad jew said and deleted the system's printer drivers (located in Macintosh HD > Library > Printers), then re-installing them from install disk one (optional install).

Before that I had deleted the HP printer software, which did not help. Since re-installing the HP software everything works great (normally, I do not believe I would need to install the HP software, but I needed it to setup the wireless connection on the printer).
 
EricNau said:
I did just as mad jew said and deleted the system's printer drivers (located in Macintosh HD > Library > Printers), then re-installing them from install disk one (optional install).

Before that I had deleted the HP printer software, which did not help. Since re-installing the HP software everything works great (normally, I do not believe I would need to install the HP software, but I needed it to setup the wireless connection on the printer).
Click to expand...

Glad it worked, and that's really good to know. I'd like to setup wireless printing some day.

After I clean the office, rewire the outlets, put in a new floor, get a new desk... Okay, it'll be a while. :p
 
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