I've lost some functionality in print dialog boxes

[jrhody]

Using Leopard 10.5.8.

I'm not sure how it happened, but suddenly I have lost the ability to change some settings in print dialog boxes.

In any print dialog box, the top part of the window allows you to select which printer, any presets, the number of copies, whether or not you want them collated, and which pages.

Below that is a drop-down box that typically displays the application name. If you select the triangle in this drop-down box, some other options appear: Layout, Color Options, Paper Handling, Cover Page and Scheduler. All of these options work fine.

Below, these however, are another set of options that are all, I assume, provided by the print driver. On my HP Photosmart C7200, the available options are: Two-Sided Printing, Paper Type/Quality, Borderless Printing, HP Real Life Technologies, and Printer Driver Information.

If I choose any of these options that appear in the lower part of this drop-down menu, nothing appears. The application name remains in the drop-down box. In other words, I have lost the ability to choose two-sided printing, change the paper type or print quality, cor hoose borderless printing.

Any suggestions?

 

[ewilson6]

reinstall your driver
from the cd

 

[jrhody]

I have reinstalled driver. That didn't solve the problem.

I have reinstalled driver. That didn't solve the problem.

 

[Sun Baked]

did the driver version change or the selected print driver?

 

[jrhody]

I downloaded & installed the latest print driver from the HP website. The print driver version number did not change.

 

[Sun Baked]

I've had to delete printers using Print & Fax before and reinstall them when they became corrupted, don't know what happens but occasionally it does.

 

[jrhody]

I've had to delete printers using Print & Fax before and reinstall them when they became corrupted, don't know what happens but occasionally it does.

I've tried that too multiple times.

I also have an Epson printer connected to this Mac. It does not have the same problem. So that makes me think it has something to do with the HP driver or some kind of setting in the HP software.

Any other ideas?

 

[nicroma]

I've tried that too multiple times.

I also have an Epson printer connected to this Mac. It does not have the same problem. So that makes me think it has something to do with the HP driver or some kind of setting in the HP software.

Any other ideas?

Did you try using AppCleaner when removing the HP software? If not, maybe that will work. Sometimes it finds and erases application data that doesn't normally get removed just by dragging the application to the trash.

 

[jrhody]

Did you try using AppCleaner when removing the HP software? If not, maybe that will work. Sometimes it finds and erases application data that doesn't normally get removed just by dragging the application to the trash.

I used the Epson Uninstaller app which comes with the HP software package, which includes the scan and fax software along with the printer drive and printer utility software. The Epson Uninstaller seems to complete remove everything.

 

[calderone]

I've tried that too multiple times.

I also have an Epson printer connected to this Mac. It does not have the same problem. So that makes me think it has something to do with the HP driver or some kind of setting in the HP software.

Any other ideas?

Two things.

1. In the print dialog, have you expanded the options with the small arrow? See the screenshot.

2. I know you have deleted printers, but have you reset CUPS completely? Do this by right-clicking in left side of the Printers preference pane (where it lists the printers) and select "Reset Printing System..."

 

[jrhody]

Two things.

1. In the print dialog, have you expanded the options with the small arrow? See the screenshot.

2. I know you have deleted printers, but have you reset CUPS completely? Do this by right-clicking in left side of the Printers preference pane (where it lists the printers) and select "Reset Printing System..."

Calerone! You, Sir, are a genius! Resetting CUPS solved the problem! Quite frankly, I never heard of CUPS and certainly never knew to try resetting it. WTF is CUPS?

For those who might stumble upon this thread who have the same problem, try resetting the CUPS. It worked for me!

 

[calderone]

Calerone! You, Sir, are a genius! Resetting CUPS solved the problem! Quite frankly, I never heard of CUPS and certainly never knew to try resetting it. WTF is CUPS?

For those who might stumble upon this thread who have the same problem, try resetting the CUPS. It worked for me!

CUPS is what the OS X printing system is based on. You can find more details here:

http://www.cups.org/

You can actually do some extra configuration with CUPS by typing http://localhost:631/ into your browser.

In the future, you could use that interface to troubleshoot CUPS and see what is happening instead of resetting everything.