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Setup HP Networked Printer

R

rugbyspartan

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 1, 2005
23
0
So here's my situation:

Powerbook G4 with Leopard
Windows XP Desktop with Shared Printer (HP PSC 2400 All-In-One)
Windows XP Laptop

The XP Laptop is connected and prints to the desktop's shared printer.

I can connect the printer directly to the Powerbook and it successfully finds the correct AIO driver and prints.

When trying to add by networking, after replugging back into desktop, I select add printer, windows tab, go through my domain and computer and find the correct printer. The problem comes when trying to select the right driver. The driver used when plugging the printer in directly is no where listed, and I can't seem to find anything when browsing other.

Any help would be appreciated.
 
The general problem - HP provides Carbon drivers, where they get to choose exactly which comm protocol the driver works with. The HP driver is USB Only. To use the built-in network printing choices like Windows Printing you need a CUPS driver (BTW, all postscript drivers are automatically CUPS drivers because OS X is postscript-based). Apple included Gimp-Print/Gutenprint CUPS drivers in OS X because of this problem, but your specific model isn't in there.

Try the HP Deskjet 900 Series, or ESP HP Deskjet or new Deskjet drivers. If no go, install the three part hpijs drivers, which has your specific model:
http://www.linux-foundation.org/en/OpenPrinting/MacOSX/hpijs
 
...and thats why I switched to Canon from HP for my printers. Issue upon issue with the HP models, the last 3 Canon units have been flawless.
 
I would switch to Canons, too -- but I want to be fair here -
Brother is the ONLY manufacturer of non-postscript printers so far to provide CUPS drivers with its printers. Canon also provides Carbon drivers that are limited to whatever they want it limited to. And I forgot to mention this caveat - when the manufacturers sell a printer with ethernet or wireless built in, they provide a Carbon driver that works for that printer.

Another exception - printers with a USB-only Carbon driver are usually able to print via Airport Extreme/Express print servers because Apple uses USB port redirection in software to make that work.
 
Thanks for the advice. Unfortunately I'm stuck with the HP for now as it's a family printer. I played around with a number of the drivers that are listed when trying to add the printer, and found one that did a pretty good job. The only issue was that it started the printing on the page about a 1/2 to a full line above where it should - everything still prints on the page, just shifted up.

Update
--------------------------------
@gsahli - I tried your other method of the hpijs drivers, because I did find my model there, but, unfortunately, that didn't work either. It seems even those drivers for the hp psc 2400 are usb only, unless I'm missing something, because when going to print, it tries to connect, then pauses, which repeats when I try to resume.
 
I'm asking only because it's a frequent error - did you install all three parts of the hpijs driver - ghostscript, Foomatic and hpijs?

We can also troubleshoot the Windows Printing connection. One way to use Windows printing is the advanced Windows Printing via Samba. I recommend you use the simplest URI - smb://[IP address of Windows]/printer_share_name:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?messageID=5670952
 
Yes, I did install all 3 components.

At first, I only installed the hpijs component, and when trying to select the driver, I got an error that there were missing components. After installing the other two, it added successfully. Everything seemed fine at that point. I then tried printing a document. It opened the printer, started, then went to the paused state. On trying to resume, it started, then immediately paused.

As for the URL, mine currently, using a different driver that I earlier explained worked almost completely well, is smb://[computer_share_name]:139/[printer_share_name]. You think this, rather than the basic IP might be an issue, since that 3 part driver might need the actual IP?
 
CUPS drivers (like hpijs) can use All the printing protocols available in OS X. Using the IP address is just a way of getting around WINS name-to-IP address mapping problems. You shouldn't need the :139 - it's implied in "smb://"
 
So according to your first sentence, it shouldn't have any problem wirelessly, and not be limited to only usb? I see, yeah, that was just what it automatically set when I went through the Windows tab of adding the printer.
 
So right now, I have the computer connected wirelessly to the printer, and can successfully print using one of the included hp drivers, but not my specific model. It prints fairly well, but is slightly off vertically.

I tried the 3 part open source driver for the exact psc 2400 model I have. It added wirelessly, but when trying to print, it would attempt to connect and send, then go to paused. When trying to resume, it would try to start again, then would go back to paused.
 
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