Reinstall Photosmart C8180 on a Mac OS X 10.3.9 - HELP, please!

[spwatterson]

Have tried reinstalling and always get this error message in log. Printer copies, only a year old, just won't install USB connection, have tried wireless, too, to no avail. Have original driver, same problem, downloaded new one from HP, no good result. Please someone help. Thank you.

console.log:

  Size:    14311 bytes
  Last Modified:    8/28/10 1:01 AM
  Location:    /Library/Logs/Console/sharon/console.log
  Contents:    Mac OS X Version 10.3.9 (Build 7W98)
2010-08-28 00:58:24 -0400
2010-08-28 00:58:24.796 loginwindow[182] FSResolveAliasWithMountFlags returned err = -43
2010-08-28 01:00:41.952 HP Installer[349] *** -[NSCFString stringByAppendingPathExtension:]: cannot append extension 'plist' to path ''
OSVERSION =     10.3.9

[spwatterson]

Have tried reinstalling and always get this error message in log. Printer copies, only a year old, just won't install USB connection, have tried wireless, too, to no avail. Have original driver, same problem, downloaded new one from HP, no good result. Please someone help. Thank you.

console.log:

  Size:    14311 bytes
  Last Modified:    8/28/10 1:01 AM
  Location:    /Library/Logs/Console/sharon/console.log
  Contents:    Mac OS X Version 10.3.9 (Build 7W98)
2010-08-28 00:58:24 -0400
2010-08-28 00:58:24.796 loginwindow[182] FSResolveAliasWithMountFlags returned err = -43
2010-08-28 01:00:41.952 HP Installer[349] *** -[NSCFString stringByAppendingPathExtension:]: cannot append extension 'plist' to path ''
OSVERSION =     10.3.9

[PrintDoc]

It looks to me that there is something wrong with the installer.  It may be caused by your OS X install.  Let's do a couple of things:

1. Uninstall the HP software like this:

Go to Applications/Hewlett Packard/ click on HP Uninstaller
Click on Continue
Highlight your device on the left pane
Hold the Ctrl, Opt and Cmd keys and click on Uninstall (this may not work on 10.3, I don't know).
There will be a pop up that asks if you are sure you want to uninstall ALL hp software. (At this point, if you continue, any HP printers you have installed will need to be reinstalled)
Click Continue and let it finish

Restart your Mac.

Next, remove the printer in System Preferences > Print & Fax.

Now, update your version of 10.3.9 with the Combo updater from here.  This will get you to a clean version of 10.3.9.

Finally, download the hp software from here and install it.

As far as an OS X upgrade, you could go to 10.5 (Leopard), but I am not sure how much it would cost.  Maybe check Craigslist for a used copy?

[spwatterson]

thank you your reply. when i went to update 10.3.9 combo link, you so nicely provided, i got this message "no mountable filesystems" I got that yesterday when downloading the HP driver, and have forgotten what I did to work around it????

[PrintDoc · Accepted solution]

OK, this confirms my suspicion that there is something whacky with your OS X.

Are you booting from your Mac's internal hard drive?  Are you logged on as an Administrator?  Are there any external drives that need to be plugged in for your Mac to run properly?

You could try a permissions repair - Open a Finder window, navigate to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.  Choose the Macintosh HD on the left side and then click "Repair Disk Permissions".   After it is done, with the Macintosh HD still selected, click "Verify Disk".

[spwatterson]

Thanks for reminding me about repairing permissions, should have done that long ago. Did so.

Remembered from yesterday about the no mountable file servers error message. I took the combo MacOS dmg and put it in the Applications folder, copied it and dragged one to the desktop. The it updated the HD. Wasn't as fortunate with the downloaded version of Photosmart, BUT used my original driver and it installed, YEA!!! BUT I have another question, the system never prompted me to connect to the USB, so I haven't yet. Also have not restarted. What is the procedure here. The message did say the install was successful. Thank you, thank you. It's been two long days.

[spwatterson]

All set, I plugged it in the computer, restarted the computer and it even PRINTS! Many thanks, feel like a new woman!!!

Your advice was stellar PrintDoc, Distinguished Professor! Thank you.