How to completely delete printer on Mac

[me2you]

An abrupt termination of a print job resulted in my Macbook being unable to print via the USB connection. Strangely this is the only thing taht doesn't work - I can print via WIFI, I can scan via both USB and WIFI, the HP Utility program can print a test page via USB and WIFI. Also, other laptop can print via the USB using the same cable where mine cannot. My laptop says the printer is not available. It appears that my laptop does not ping the printer to wake it up. 

I tried uninstalling the printer (both individual and the entire printer list) and then install again. This does not solve the problem. So, my thinking is that there may be other files that should be removed as part of the uninstall but which are left over when uninstalling by doing the delete from the printer list.

Any suggestions on how to do a complete uninstall of the printer so I can really install from fresh or any other ways of solving this problem would be greatly appreciated.

[Kumar0307]

@me2you, Welcome to the HP Support Community!

Let us try these steps to resolve this issue:

Check for any software updates on MAC

Click the Apple icon > About This Mac > Software Update and install any available update.

Update the printer firmware

Go to Setup > Web services > Update the printer

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

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

Click the “Kudos, Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

Have a great day! 

[me2you]

Thank you for you assistance!

1. I checked that the MacOS is updated to the latest (10.15.6)

2. I was not able to find the menu on the printer for updating the firmware, so I left it as is

3. I connected the printer directly to the laptop. It is shown in the USB Device Tree under a "USB 3.1 Bus" (under a subheading "Hub"). My laptop only has USB 3 ports (USB C)

Still the same problem. HP Utility can print a test page but I cannot print from the MacOS.

[me2you]

Cont'ed from last posting...

I installed the HP Easy Start 2. At some point I am asked to print a test page, whihc I guess is done via the MacOS since it shows up in the printer queue. However, the job sits there with the message "Printing - Waiting for printer to become available". In the meantime the printer appears not to have been pinged at all, since it is not waking up.

[Jay_G24]

 Clear the print queue

Close an scanning apps that might prevent jobs from printing, and then clear the queue.

1. Close Apple Image Capture, HP Easy Scan, and HP Scan, if they are open.

2. Click Finder, select Applications, click Utilities, and then double-click Terminal.

3. Type Cancel -a, and then press Enter.

4. Close the Terminal window, and then restart the computer.

5. Try to print. If the issue persists, continue to the next step.

Are there any other printers in the printers and scanner list?

If no, then perform Reset the print system

If previous troubleshooting did not resolve the issue, reset the print system.

   CAUTION: 

Resetting the print system deletes all devices in the Printers & Scanners queue. This includes both HP and non-HP devices.

1. Click the Apple icon , click System Preferences, and then click Printers & Scanners, Print and Scan, or Print and Fax.

2. Right-click or control-click anywhere in the Printers list, and then click Reset printing system.

3. In the confirmation window, click Reset.

4. Type the administrator username and password, and then click OK.

5. Wait until the printing system is reset and no devices show in the Printers list.

6. Click the Plus sign, select your printer in the list, and then click Add.

7. Try to print. If the issue persists, continue to the next step.

Let me know how this goes!

[me2you]

Thanks. I followed all your recommended steps accurate but am still not able to print. However, I think I gained some clue. In the process I ended up erasing all my printer installations, also the wireless connection to the same printer which had been working even if I had problems with the USB printer installation. After reinstalling the wireless option, that now did not work either. This made me think that it is a driver issue. To test further we set up a raspberry pi with a linux-based printer driver so that I can connect to that with the laptop via the LAN and it drives the 8600 via the USB port. That works, which to me points towards the hp 8600 driver being the problem. For you information I am running MacOS Catalina 10.15.6 on a Macbook Pro.

Let me know what you conclusions may be.

Do you know if there is a different driver that is known to work with Catalina that I can try?

[Kumar0307]

@me2you

Did you try connecting the printer wirelessly to the MAC?

On the printer screen, go to Setup > Network Setup > Restore network settings

Go back to Network > Wireless > Wireless setup wizard and select your network.

• Make sure the printer and the MAC are connected to the same wireless network.
• This printer supports only 2.4GHz network. So, the MAC should be on the 2.4GHz 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'.

Perform a ping test

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.

Keep me posted.

[me2you]

I have removed and added the printer back to the network after a reset of the printer network connection. The printer is shown as Bonjour in the column named "Kind", if I look for printers to add, so the router should be ok.

Also, I can ping it successfully with 0% packet loss.

Thanks.

[Kumar0307]

@me2you

That's good. So it means you are able to print and scan wirelessly again. Similarly, when you connect the USB cable, you should get this option of 'Bonjour multifunction' under Kind.

You did not mention if you have an anti-virus program installed on the MAC. 

And, to update the printer firmware, do you not get the option of 'web services' on the printer screen?

Keep me posted.

[me2you]

Well, the printer is found with Bonjour allowing me to add it and I can ping - but I can still not print. When I print to it from an application like word, the print job goes to the print queue. After a few seconds the job message in the print queue says  “Printing – Printing page 1, 100% complete…” and then nothing happens - the page is not printed and the queue also doesn't clear.

Adding to the mystery, I can indeed use the scanner from Apple's Preview application with the same wifi connection. Scanning work fine, it's just printing that doesn't happen.

Regarding your question, I do not see a menu option call "web services" when I scroll around in the setup menu, which is where I assume it would be.

Thanks.