Problems connecting HP Officejet 6500A to iMac

[donceno]

Hi all

I'm new to the forums so hoping you can help!

I recently purchased an iMac running Lion 10.7.3
When I have come to install the Officejet Printer through the USB cable I've been having some problems.
I can actually install the printer but when I come to print anything it says it is offline and won't connect? To clarify this printer is connected by USB and cannot be done wirelessly.

I read that the drivers could potentially conflict so I have tried downloading the drivers from the HP website, using Apple Software Update to download them and running both together all with the same problem.

I've tried moving the USB cable into a different socket on the back of the iMac and still no luck. I've tried my external hard drive (also with USB cable) and this works in all 4 sockets. The fact that the iMac recognises the printer makes me think it's not to do with the cable?

If anybody can provide any help I'd be eternally grateful!!

Thanks
Dave

 

[MisterMe]

...

I recently purchased an iMac running Lion 10.7.3
When I have come to install the Officejet Printer through the USB cable I've been having some problems.
I can actually install the printer but when I come to print anything it says it is offline and won't connect? To clarify this printer is connected by USB and cannot be done wirelessly.

...

It sounds like you are doing something fundamentally wrong. It may be something as simple as disabling the printer at its front panel. If the printer is ready to print, then I have to question how you setup the printer and whether or not you are trying to print to the OfficeJet or to some other printer.

As a first test, toggle the printer's on/off switch. Try to print again.

 

[donceno]

I wish it were that simple!!

I have tried turning the printer off, disconnecting it, reconnecting it, uninstalling all drivers all to no avail.

The printer now says "Cannot establish two-way connection" and keeps alternating between ready and offline, but every time I try to print or query the print cartridge levels the iMac loses the connection.

I appreciate your help with this.

 

[donceno]

Just a little bump for this to see if anybody has any ideas?

 

[gsahli]

As troubleshooting steps, you should try a different cable, and, try printing from a different computer (even a PC).

 

[donceno]

Hi Gshali

The Printer works fine when it's connected to my wifes Netbook and our other Laptop with the same wire. That's what's making it so strange!

Somebody mentioned something about Appletalk not being installed yesterday and so the Printer might not be 'talking' to the iMac?

Does anybody have any idea what this is and what I'd need to do to check this?

Thanks

 

[MisterMe]

The person who "mentioned something about AppleTalk" has no clue. You can hire a crew of NSA agents to parse every syllable of documentation for the OfficeJet 6500 and not find a single letter pertaining to AppleTalk. Suffice it to say, that AppleTalk is not a part of MacOS X 10.7. Therefore, even if your printer supported AppleTalk, your computer does not.

I own an OfficeJet 7000. I find its networking connectivity is a bit flaky. However, its flakiness can be addressed by toggling the printer off and on. You have already done that.

When you said that you installed the driver that you downloaded from HP's website, I assume that you downloaded the driver for MacOS X 10.7.

My guess is that the solution to your problem requires someone who more knowledgeable than you to have physical access to your printer. I don't see an obvious problem [or its solution] in anything that you have said.