Love/Hate relationship with HP!

[RedCroissant]

Allow me to explain...

I bought an early 2009 iMac (20" /2.66Ghz/8GB/320GB HDD) and received a "rebate" for a free printer. Awesome, so I get the HP Photosmart C4480 All-in-one and it works perfectly from Leopard on through Mountain Lion. Great. Once my wife and I use Mavericks, there is no driver available for the printer that I can find (the printing works but the scanning and copying functions are broken).

Now, I received an HP scan jet 3500c (an old standalone scanner) along with an iMac G5 (which was given away to someone recently) not too long ago and thought to my self...."Why not try to use that scanner since the newish one is not working now."

So....there are no drivers for that scanner since it is PPC Mac only from what I can tell and instead of being simple, I had to install OS X onto my iBook G4, update the system, download the software and then use the iBook basically as the scanner display. I enabled file sharing and now I have a scanner that works just fine (even if it is more than a decade old).

Now why is it that I can do all of that to make a much older and obsolete piece of equipment work properly, but HP can't sufficiently release an update to their HP Scan Pro application with OS X 10.9 support?????

Crazy. So now I have my iBook up and running (even if I have to have it plugged in for it to remember where the startup disc is) so that my scanner can work so that I can keep things rolling along at this point.

 

[Altemose]

Allow me to explain...

I bought an early 2009 iMac (20" /2.66Ghz/8GB/320GB HDD) and received a "rebate" for a free printer. Awesome, so I get the HP Photosmart C4480 All-in-one and it works perfectly from Leopard on through Mountain Lion. Great. Once my wife and I use Mavericks, there is no driver available for the printer that I can find (the printing works but the scanning and copying functions are broken).

Now, I received an HP scan jet 3500c (an old standalone scanner) along with an iMac G5 (which was given away to someone recently) not too long ago and thought to my self...."Why not try to use that scanner since the newish one is not working now."

So....there are no drivers for that scanner since it is PPC Mac only from what I can tell and instead of being simple, I had to install OS X onto my iBook G4, update the system, download the software and then use the iBook basically as the scanner display. I enabled file sharing and now I have a scanner that works just fine (even if it is more than a decade old).

Now why is it that I can do all of that to make a much older and obsolete piece of equipment work properly, but HP can't sufficiently release an update to their HP Scan Pro application with OS X 10.9 support?????

Crazy. So now I have my iBook up and running (even if I have to have it plugged in for it to remember where the startup disc is) so that my scanner can work so that I can keep things rolling along at this point.

I uncovered this for your printer: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...dlc=en&lc=en&os=4159&product=3418705&sw_lang=

I am not sure if you saw it already, but essentially the Mac has to get the driver from Apple. You did say the scanner does not work. This indicates to me that you are using Apple's driverless AirPrint feature.

Try removing the printer in System Preferences and when you attempt to readd it, see if it says AirPrint. If it does, in the drop down choose HP C4480 if it is an option. I have to do the same thing for my Canon MG5320.

 

[4JNA]

use the network luke, let go...

the C4480 is wireless network no?

so set it at a static IP on your network, then using any browser on 10.9.x, open the IP you set the printer at. i always use .99 for printers out of habit, so in the browser address line, i type 192.168.1.99 and it will open the onboard command window for the printer, scan is one of the options on the left side usually. when you scan something, it will 'pop-up' another tab or window and deliver the scan to your web browser, then you can save it where and how you want. if you have 'block pop-ups' configured in your browser settings, you may need to 'allow hp' or hold the left 'Shift' key to allow the pop-up to happen. no pop-up, no scanned thingy.

just my two cents based on using an even older model than your 'older' model. best of luck.

 

[RedCroissant]

I uncovered this for your printer: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...dlc=en&lc=en&os=4159&product=3418705&sw_lang=

I am not sure if you saw it already, but essentially the Mac has to get the driver from Apple. You did say the scanner does not work. This indicates to me that you are using Apple's driverless AirPrint feature.

Try removing the printer in System Preferences and when you attempt to readd it, see if it says AirPrint. If it does, in the drop down choose HP C4480 if it is an option. I have to do the same thing for my Canon MG5320.

That article is the one that I had been looking at and it didn't help at all. I did remove it from SP and from the selected printers and now it is not listed at all as far as the series goes. It is also only recognized as a basic printer now so there are no longer scanning/copying functions available. Not awesome. SO What I am going to do is insert my wife's SL reinstallation disc and reload the printer drivers from there and see if that does anything. Then I'll have to find the disc that came with the printer and just reinstall it to see if that works.

the C4480 is wireless network no?

so set it at a static IP on your network, then using any browser on 10.9.x, open the IP you set the printer at. i always use .99 for printers out of habit, so in the browser address line, i type 192.168.1.99 and it will open the onboard command window for the printer, scan is one of the options on the left side usually. when you scan something, it will 'pop-up' another tab or window and deliver the scan to your web browser, then you can save it where and how you want. if you have 'block pop-ups' configured in your browser settings, you may need to 'allow hp' or hold the left 'Shift' key to allow the pop-up to happen. no pop-up, no scanned thingy.

just my two cents based on using an even older model than your 'older' model. best of luck.

It is not! It's connected to my wife's iMac via usb and the only reason that I can print to it is because she has has printer sharing selected on there. Lame.

 

[Altemose]

That article is the one that I had been looking at and it didn't help at all. I did remove it from SP and from the selected printers and now it is not listed at all as far as the series goes. It is also only recognized as a basic printer now so there are no longer scanning/copying functions available. Not awesome. SO What I am going to do is insert my wife's SL reinstallation disc and reload the printer drivers from there and see if that does anything. Then I'll have to find the disc that came with the printer and just reinstall it to see if that works.







It is not! It's connected to my wife's iMac via usb and the only reason that I can print to it is because she has has printer sharing selected on there. Lame.

This printer can connect wirelessly provided you have wireless in your home correct? So your wife's iMac is running 10.9? Have you tried running the 10.8 driver you previously got from HP?

Ideally, the printer would go to the router either through USB or wireless and then to you via AirPrint or the proprietary driver.

 

[RedCroissant]

This printer can connect wirelessly provided you have wireless in your home correct? So your wife's iMac is running 10.9? Have you tried running the 10.8 driver you previously got from HP?

Ideally, the printer would go to the router either through USB or wireless and then to you via AirPrint or the proprietary driver.

It could only go "wireless" if I actually connected it to the router. The problem with that is the fact that the modem and router are in the living room and her computer is in the master bedroom. I have tried that and it is not working. It is also saying that there is no support for HP Scan Pro in Mavericks. SO, I think I'm going to go with one of the suggestions from the HP support site (an application called VueScan). Either that, or find a cheap or free app that shrinks the size od PDF files.

 

[Altemose]

It could only go "wireless" if I actually connected it to the router. The problem with that is the fact that the modem and router are in the living room and her computer is in the master bedroom. I have tried that and it is not working. It is also saying that there is no support for HP Scan Pro in Mavericks. SO, I think I'm going to go with one of the suggestions from the HP support site (an application called VueScan). Either that, or find a cheap or free app that shrinks the size od PDF files.

Sorry if I was unclear. According to the spec sheet for the printer, it can wirelessly connect to the router. If you do that and then add it, what appears as the driver? You do not want to use AirPrint but rather the Apple software.

 

[RedCroissant]

Sorry if I was unclear. According to the spec sheet for the printer, it can wirelessly connect to the router. If you do that and then add it, what appears as the driver? You do not want to use AirPrint but rather the Apple software.

Could you please attach a link to the spec sheet for the printer? I've had it now for 5 years and it has never had that capability. I'm sure AirPrint could be enabled as long as it was connected to the router, but as long as it is connected via usb to the iMac, AirPrint won't work. USB is also its only I/O.

 

[4JNA]

hey batter batter, swing!

...Either that, or find a cheap or free app that shrinks the size od PDF files.

ok, i had a strike the first swing. how about this then, open the .pdf in preview, under 'File' click 'Export', it will bring up a dialog box, leave the 'Format' box as PDF and under 'Quartz Filter' select 'Reduce File Size'.

save it where you want and compare to the original, usually WAY smaller. and free. best of luck.

 

[RedCroissant]

ok, i had a strike the first swing. how about this then, open the .pdf in preview, under 'File' click 'Export', it will bring up a dialog box, leave the 'Format' box as PDF and under 'Quartz Filter' select 'Reduce File Size'.

save it where you want and compare to the original, usually WAY smaller. and free. best of luck.

Nice one, 4JNA!

Yes, that worked perfectly. I even tried it on a .pdf that was already small and it still worked. It looked terrible, but it did work so now I will remember that FOREVER.

 

[Altemose]

Could you please attach a link to the spec sheet for the printer? I've had it now for 5 years and it has never had that capability. I'm sure AirPrint could be enabled as long as it was connected to the router, but as long as it is connected via usb to the iMac, AirPrint won't work. USB is also its only I/O.

I apologize, I misread the information. It turns out that HP uploaded the Mavericks Guide for this printer and pointed out AirPrint, but in the fine print states it does not have it. My mistake.

I did come across a solution for you potentially! Try installing this package:
http://support.apple.com/kb/DL907

Disregard the fact that it says Snow Leopard through Mountain Lion. It should enable Scan as well on your HP.

 

[Altemose]

I was able to get the package to install on 10.9, but if you just want the driver, I can extract it out.