Duplex printing with HP Officejet 6500 Wireless [ Edited ]

[jamesgantsoudes]

this is a complete joke. I spent hours on the phone with HP trying to get duplex printing on my mac. Duplex printing only works in Microsoft word for me and nothing else. It is an absolute joke. Does anyone have any ideas about how to fix this?

Message Edited by jamesgantsoudes on 09-20-2009 12:15 PM

Message Edited by WendyM on 09-20-2009 07:08 PM

[epcjay]

I agree.  I have two macbooks at home and neither of them can print duplex.  It's like the driver doesn't know how to send duplex prints to the printer.  I've have absolutely no problems with my Windows XP and Windows Vista machines.

[epcjay]

I found a work around. I installed the 6500 with the downloaded software. As soon as it tells me to add the printer in printer and fax, I changed the driver into a OfficeJet Pro L7700 from the Print and Fax window in system preferences.

Tested the scanner, changing the driver doesn't appear to affect the scanner.  I am able to scan via one touch button from the scanner to the macbook, and I am able to initiate the scan via the software to scan

Clearly, the Mac version of the 6500 wireless driver has issues.

[lagnaf]

...and exactly how did you change this driver to think it's a 7700? I don't see any way to do that from System preferences....though I'm not on Snow Leopard.

My own duplex problem is slightly different. On a  three page document it prints the first page non duplex, then properly duplexes pages 2-3....can't begin to imagine why....it's almost as if it thinks page 1 is a cover page...

[ggarnold]

Thanks for sharing this workaround!  After many failed attempts on my MacBook (Mac OSX 10.6 Snow Leopard) using HP's current OfficeJet 6500 driver, I was able to get printing with duplex and scanning working with the OfficeJet Pro L7700 driver.

Here are the steps that worked for me:

1) Applications > Hewlett-Packard > HP Uninstaller

2) Uninstalled existing printer

3) Trash entire Hewlett-Packard application folder

4) System Preferences > Print & Fax

5) Add new printer, choose my 6500 from the Bonjour connections

6) In "Print Using..." drop down, choose Select Printer Software...

7) Locate HP OfficeJet Pro L7700 in the popup list

You can also change the driver of an existing printer:

1) System Preferences > Print & Fax

2) Click on your printer

3) Click the Options & Supplies button

4) Click on the Driver tab at the top

5) In "Print Using..." drop down, choose Select Printer Software...

6) Locate HP OfficeJet Pro L7700 in the popup list

[lagnaf]

I was able to follow these  clear steps and will try them.  Thanks much

[vtecman]

Did anyone get this to work with the driver for the 7700?  I have it checked off for duplex, but in Word it still doesnt give me the option.  Does it auto print on both sides?

[nikkels]

Hey! I was having this problem...but then I found this post from another user.  I did it, and now I can print from any application!

You have probably resolved your problem by now, but in case you haven't I was experiencing the same problem you describe, I was able to print double-sided on Word but not on Preview or Adobe.  I am also using Mac OS X.  My version is 10.4.  The way I got around the problem, let's say in Preview, is by going to File then selecting Page Setup, then on the Format for option (it is usually defaulted to Any Printer) I selected the Officejet 6500.  After that it worked fine when I printed from that application.  Be aware though that you have to select that whenever you quit the application and then open it again, as it will default back to Any Printer.  Hope this helps.

[gtwacker]

Thank you!

[ProfWendyW]

It wasn't clear to me even from those who had succesful workarounds that the answer lies in picking a different driver from the actual printer you have using System Preferences.  Once I did this, two-sided printing appeared as an option and the duplexer started working. 

Here are the steps that work using Mac OS 10.6.4 after the printer is installed:

Open System Preferences, select Print & Fax, and highlight your printer in the list of installed printers.

Then click Options and Supplies > Driver > Print Using > Select Printer Software

That gives you a long drop-down menu of all the installed drivers that come with the operating system.  Scroll down to HP drivers, and skip over Officejet 6500 to one with a higher number.  I picked Officejet Pro K8600 series.  Also, make sure the 'HP two-sided printing accessory' box is checked on the Print Using page, and then click OK. 

Once I did this (i.e., told it to use a driver that was not the one for my printer!), then the double-sided printing option started showed up when I went to print pages, and the duplexer suddenly started working (but only in Mail and Firefox, not in Word, unfortunately).  Good luck!