Printer not connected message

[scottinvt]

HI,   my printer works intermittently.  It'll print for awhile, but then I get the message:  'printer is not connected.'  My solution ahs been to unplug and re-plug the printer.  If that doesn't work, then I have to shut the printer off, shut the computer off and re-boot.  I even unplugged everything from the printer once and unplugged it from the power strip.  This worked for awhile, but then once again, I got the message 'printer not connected.'  Can someone advise?

Thanks,

Scott

[Personal Information Removed]

[Kumar0307]

Hi @scottinvt

Welcome to the HP Support Community. I'd be happy to assist you.

• Make sure the printer and the MAC are connected to the same wireless network. Either 2.4GHz or 5GHz network.
• If you have a Dual-band router and both 2.4GHz and 5GHz networks share the same name/SSID, the printer will not be able to connect to the network. In this case, contact your Internet service provider to assign different names to both the networks.
• Also, check with your Internet service provider if your router is able to forward 'Bonjour packets'.
• The wireless status menu on your Mac should also give us quite a lot of information that would help us identify the issue. You can press and hold the option key on your keyboard and click the WiFi icon to get detailed information.

Perform a PING test to check the connectivity between the printer and the MAC

1. Obtain the IP address of the printer by clicking on the Wireless icon on the printer
2. On the MAC Go to Spotlight > search for Network utility > select Ping tab > enter the IP address of the printer in the box
3. Check the second box that says Send only > 10 pings
4. Click on ping > Check the results at the end if any packets are lost
5. Note: There should be 0% packet loss, share the results in your next post.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

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[scottinvt]

thanks for your response, Kumar, but my printer is not wireless; I'm connected to my desktop (Mac) by USB.  I don't think your instructions about the network and router apply in this case.  Let me know if I'm wrong.

thanks,

Scott

[Kumar0307]

@scottinvt, in that case, let us try these steps:

If you are using a USB cable, make sure the cable is directly connected between the MAC and the printer.

The use of a USB hub is not recommended. Also, make sure the cable is connected to a USB 2.0 port on your MAC.

Do you have an Anti-virus/firewall installed on the MAC?

• Check if the printer is getting recognized by your MAC:

1. From the Apple menu, choose About This Mac.
2. Click System Report.
3. Under the Hardware heading on the left side of the System Information window, click USB.

USB 3 devices appear under USB 3.0 Bus, and USB 2 devices appear under USB 2.0 Bus. The printer should be under the USB 2.0 Bus    

Let me know how this goes.