HP printer support in Snow Leopard

[alfredo_tomato]

I got my 5610 to work by uninstalling all HP software, restarting then installing the newest drivers from the HP site.  It doesn't fix the scanner.  I've tried using Image Capture and TWAIN accessed through GiMP. Neither one worked.  

[BobBarnett]

Hello

Thank you for contacting HP Customer Care.

I apologize for the inconvenience. Our engineering team is working on this project, I cannot be specific but very soon we will be releasing Mac 10.6 compatible drivers for all the printers. We sincerely appreciate your patience and please accept my apologies.

We are not authorized to to post any notice on Apple sale site.

If you need further assistance, please reply to this message and we will be happy to assist you further.

For information on keeping your HP and Compaq products up and running, please visit our website at: http://www.hp.co.uk/diagnostics 

Sincerely,

Ronnie
HP Customer Care              

But no time frame given 

[feefer]

Wow, what a goat rope.  HP got caught completely flat-footed on this one, and has egg all over their faces....    Did HP, just like every other software and hardware developer, NOT have months, no YEARS, to check compatibility and write software drivers for 10.6?  FWIW, the last update for my printer (6200 series) was early 2008!  And it barely worked under 10.5, after spending hours messing with all kinds of awkward work-arounds and kludges.

HP, please get off your duffs and FIX IT.  FIX.  IT.  I like my AIO printer, but if I wanted these kinds of technical nightmares, I'd be running Vista.  Awfully tempting just to dump the HP, and get something from a company that values their relationship with Apple customers.....

Chris

[feefer]

The answer for me was to:

1) uninstall ALL HP printer/scanner software (HP Install 2.0.5 is the latest) using HP's Uninstall program, which is found in the Hewlett Packard folder inside apps.  Empty trash, and reboot.

2) Once all vestiges of HP drivers and software are removed, go to System Prefs "Print and FAX' page and manually add your printer manually, using Bonjour and/or USB.

3) Once your printer's name populates the list, you'll get an error message saying you need to use Apple's Software Update, (and if that fails, contact the printer manufacturer).   Go to Apple's 'software update' (2nd option down in the Apple menu on the far left of your screen).  After a delay. It SHOULD report there is software available for download, namely the HP drivers that need to be downloaded and installed from Apple (HP Printer Driver Update, about 80MB) before you can print.  Download and install.

4) Reboot, and you should be able to print again.

[bijoy]

Unfortunaately the scanner function still does not work and there appears to be no solution in sight

[feefer]

Dunno what printer you have, but I have a HP 6210, and under 10.5.X I needed to do all scanning jobs via USB, and not Airport/Bonjour; the instructions made it clear that you cannot scan a document via a wireless connection, but needed to be connected to your computer via a USB cable.  Yes, it's kInd of a hassle to unplug the printer from my base station to do it, but I'm used to it by now. 

So I manually added two printer connections: one for printing via Bonjour (i.e. Airport), and another for scanning via USB.  In fact, Image Capture will NOT work unless you already have the printer driver set up via a USB connection.  I just tried Image Capture, and it works great, AS LONG as you have the proper printer driver(s) and connections installed, i.e. USB for scanning.  Otherwise, it's not going to work.

(There was an option for FAX mode, too, in the older versions, but I rarely use it nowadays, since I can attach documents via e-mail, etc.  I didn't install for FAX).

 BTW,  I altered the names of these multiple printer drivers on the pulldown list by adding USB or Bonjour AT THE FRONT of the name, just so it's visible when you go to print.  Sloppy and/or lazy thinking on the part of whoever decided the important part should go at THE END of the name, where it's not even visible when users should be able to see it to select it from the pull down list...

And just to test, I scanned a document by clicking on the 'scan' tab on the "Printer and Fax' page in preferences, and  it automatically scanned and saved it as a jpeg (I had to set it to 'flatbed', since it gave an error message since I didn't put a document in the feeder).  I can open the document, and it'll print via Preview.  Still have to figure out how to change resolution, grey scale, etc, but I'm sure it can be done (and just figured out the settings are easily found in the 'show details' page).

But you're right, in that HP needs to clean up this mess: this is too much technical hassle for 99% of users who want, no DEMAND, simple 'plug and play' operations.  It should NOT be this difficult to get up and running, and frankly, this mess with the printers was the ugliest issue I've encountered with Snow Leopard so far (where I'm actually pretty impressed with what SL brings: Mail opens much faster, etc).  Apple has been moving towards incorporating hardware drivers at the OS level, but apparently HP didn't get the message that they were serious about scuttling the old way of doing things....

These kinds of configuration issues are best handled automatically, where even more complicated systems settings were automatically 'translated' by Snow Leopard; hard to imagine how HP Printer support got left behind (on the other hand, their support under even 10.5 wa a joke; the same drivers didn't work as easily as they should).  That's where HP was asleep at the wheel...   Not user-friendly at all, and an accident waiting to happen.

Message Edited by feefer on 09-05-2009 05:09 PM

[feefer]

Oh, and HP apparently is working on new drivers (gasp!) which will no doubt make it even trickier for users; dunno about you, but I'd rather not have to spend hours looking for answers to driver conflicts that haven't been addressed via the OS itself (esp. with hardware devices).  In fact, most of the programs I use announced versions that were already beta-tested with SL, on the day it launched.

If HP is working on 'drivers' (said with a wink, as it's not the drivers per se that are the problem, but the installation and configuration of these drivers) which automates the process I've described above, I guess that would be the BEST approach: better to have Apple store the current drivers, just so it's consolidated at one location...  Just let HP write the installation guide.

Message Edited by feefer on 09-05-2009 05:22 PM

[Projecto]

When's the last time you dealt with a company that seemed to care about getting egg on its face?

[marvam]

Unfortunately there seem to be NO drivers or updates for my two printers (and I JUST bought multiple HP cartridge packages for both!!!) : Deskjet D4160 and Officejet 4315. NOT happy and not able to work like this..!!

[feefer]

Nope, niether of those models seem to be on the list of printers supported under SL:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3669#HP