Deskjet 450 not recognized as printer in Vista

[LDPE]

Hi all,

have a problem with my old Deskjet 450 printer and Vista:

When connecting via USB the correct driver dot4.sys is installed and the printer is listed in the "Geraetemanager" [Don't know the english word, maybe Device Manager]. But - and this seems to be the problem- it is listed as an IEEE 1284.4-Device and not an IEEE 1284.4-Printingdevice, so it does not

appear in the Printer list. Looks like a printer firmware problem to me.

Scanning the HP Support sites I didn't find neither any Vista-Drivers for the Deskjet 450 nor a Firmware-Update for the Deskjet 450.

Does anybody have a solution for me?

Best regards, Rainer

[Bob_Headrick]

The Deskjet 450 driver is built into Vista.  Use the "Add Printer" dialog, tell Vista it is a local printer and then chose the appropriate port.

Regards,

Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging

[LDPE]

Hi Bob,

the pure act of installation is not rhe problem, the printer is recognized when connecting it via usb, also the correct driver ist loaded (dot4.sys).

The problem is, that, when opening the device manager, the printer is shown under IEEE 1284.4-Devices and not under IEEE 1284.4-Printingdevices, so it does not appear in the Printer list.

Thanks for your comments,

Rainer

[LDPE · Accepted solution]

Hi all,

finally i solved the problem: 

- The problem is, that vista automatically picks the wrong driver, i.e. dot4.sys

- to solve this problem, i had to specify the correct driver manually in the device manager

- the correct driver is the microsoft "USB  printer support" driver (locally available on disk)

- after that the IEEE1284.4-Device disappears and in the USB-Subtree an new item "USB printer support" appears in the device manager.

- this also will create a local port named USB001 (in my case)

- and now vista automatically installs the printer driver for the DJ450 and connects it to USB001

Regards, Rainer

[chip_1234]

I have a similar problem, however I am unable to solve it.

I was able to print and use my Deskjet 450 just fine in Vista 64-bit via USB.

However, I purchased a CB004A bluetooth card online and I can not get it to work. My computer doesn't see any bluetooth devices the printer is on. According to the diagnostic page (hold down power, press cancel four times) there isn't a bluetooth card attached, though the card does display a steady green LED indicating it is connected.

Please help!

Message Edited by chip_1234 on 01-22-2009 12:00 AM

[jsoap]

Hi,

stumbled across the answer to this today. There is a firmware upgrade required to see the CB004a card, available at ftp://ftp.hp.com/pub/softlib/software7/COL4502/dj-28911-2/df00820v.exe

Note that you need the parallel cable to flash the printer and there is a typo in the readme file (the flash file has a .fhx extension and not a .fmw extension)
Good luck!

[chip_1234]

Wow! How did you find it? I searched high and low for a solution, and had begun the process of returning my card for a refund.  Lucky for me, I'm very busy and had yet to return my card when you posted. I downloaded the file, followed the instructions, and I've successfully paired my laptop and printed via bluetooth. THANK YOU!!!

[Jonte58]

Hi Rainer,

How did you install the "USB  printer support" driver? I am only able to update existing (automatically installed) USB drivers, not adding a new one. Grateful for hints.

Jonte

[wbye]

Do you know if there is a way to update the firmware using the USB cable?

My laptop does not have a parallel connection, so I am hoping it can be pushed

using the USB.  Thanks.

[chip_1234]

you may be able to purchase a USB to parallel adapter, i had to use my desktop PC for the process as it has a parallel port.