Puzzling Printer Issue

[ginhb]

I have a little HP Laserjet P1102w, decent little home printer, never any issues with it.

I've had it connected to my Windows computer with a usb cable for about 5 years or so. Works perfectly. But when I connect it to my 2017 iMac with the same cable and install the basic PCL driver, this occurs when trying to print:

The iMac sends the print job, I can see it in the queue, no errors. The print job finishes and leaves the queue, but the printer does nothing. No error lights or messages anywhere on the computer or printer.

Verified again that it works on the Windows machine with the same cable.

The USB ports on my iMac are fine, I use them regularly with thumb drives and camera memory card adapters.

No other printer driver is available on the HP support site for that model. And of course the usual suggestions on "printer issues" support pages don't apply. They all seem to refer to error messages or driver installation problems.

The cable is at least 5 years old but works on the Windows machine. Should that cable be a suspect? I don't have another cable at the moment but could certainly go get a newer one. It's such a simple setup plugged in directly, it should work as is.

 

[chabig]

You should not have to install any printer drivers. That should happen automatically if needed. What I would try next is to delete the printer from System Preferences > Printers & Scanners and then re-add it. Accept the default connection options and report back.

 

[NoBoMac]

Might try setting up AirPrint for that printer.

That said, seen this with other printers and Mac and or printer manufacturers and support for Mac: works in one OS, next release, you have a door jamb. Though you've had it for about 5 years, looks like HP rolled it out 7-8 years ago, so, a bit of a relic, especially in light of comment at start of paragraph.

 

[ginhb]

You should not have to install any printer drivers. That should happen automatically if needed. What I would try next is to delete the printer from System Preferences > Printers & Scanners and then re-add it. Accept the default connection options and report back.

Done. The printer was removed, no printers installed on the iMac at that point. I plugged the USB cable back into the iMac.

Nothing happens automatically after the printer is powered on, so I add the printer on the Printers & Scanners screen. It detects the exact printer model automatically in that process, just as it did the first time. And it looks fine after it's installed. You can open the print queue etc. Everything looks correct, it's online, idle status, with a green light next to the printer on the iMac's "Printers & Scanners" screen. Also a green light on the printer itself.

Same result though. As far as the iMac is concerned, it thinks the job is printed and finished. It goes through the process exactly as it should. The job goes into the print queue for a few moments, and leaves. It looks perfectly normal during that process.

All settings for paper size, page setup etc are all correct. No errors or warnings anywhere.

Very puzzling.
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Might try setting up AirPrint for that printer.

That said, seen this with other printers and Mac and or printer manufacturers and support for Mac: works in one OS, next release, you have a door jamb. Though you've had it for about 5 years, looks like HP rolled it out 7-8 years ago, so, a bit of a relic, especially in light of comment at start of paragraph.

I was thinking the age of it was a likely problem too. A relic. Perhaps AirPrint is the only way to go with that one.

 

[ginhb]

Interesting, it works wirelessly using the ISP's modem wireless access point. It took a bit of fidgeting and rebooting of the printer after finally making the connection, but it works now.

Thanks for the earlier suggestions though. To me, using the USB cable should have been the simplest and most reliable solution. Seems strange.

 

[NoBoMac]

Airprint does not use Mac specific drivers to work, so, bypassing any broken/old drivers.

 

[ginhb]

Airprint does not use Mac specific drivers to work, so, bypassing any broken/old drivers.

Thanks. It makes more sense thinking about it that way. I don't know that much about wireless devices and connectivity.