printer not connecting to network despite finding it

[Mvdarbs]

Hi Folks, 

I am at my wits end with this and you guys are my only hope (Que Star Wars quote).

I have a HP Photosmart 5510 which I have had since about 2011.  I have always used this in company with my iMac (OS X now on El Capitan). Over the last year or two there has been the odd issue whereby when I open up HP Utility on my iMac it states it is not able to connect to the printer and I should check that it is switched on (It is before you ask). This issue seemed to resolve itself after a short while and there were no issues.

However, I came to scan some items the other day and this same old issue raised its head again. I placed my document on the scanner and pressed the scan option only for the printer to tell me that there was no connected computer. Odd I thought as I had only printed some items the previous day. I went to my iMac and opened up HP Utility only to see my favourite old message saying that the printer was not connected blah blah. 

I went to the HP website to see if there were any new drivers required, which there wasnt (The latest one was for OSX Yosemitie!).

I decided to try and start from fresh and remove the printer and re-add it again. I deleted the printer, downloaded the latest deriver from HP (Just in case) and this is where it all went wrong. 

The software downloads, fine, it starts going through the installation process, fine, then it gets to selecting the device, issue. It brings up three devices... all of which are my one and only printer (Strange I thought). Two with the "Connection tyoe" listed as Bonjour and one with the connection type listed as IP. I have tried selecting each of these only for each one to come back with the following error message:

"AN error occurred while communicating the device. Please make sure the device is ready and try again". Well if by ready they mean, its turned on, its connected to my network then YES ITS BLOODY READY!!! As a result I cannot get any further on the HP Utility setup process and by printer is nothing more than a large black plastic paper weight. I have tried reconnecting my printer to my wifi network numerous times and everything comes back fine, its connected and there are no issues according to the "Wireless network test results" page I print out.

What the hell is going on??? Any ideas??? Please save me before I launch this thing through the highest window I can find.

I am not a Computer expert, and I am certainly not a networking specialist. Any advice is greatly and thankfully appreciated.

[E-roq · Accepted solution]

Hey @Mvdarbs, 

Welcome to the HP Support Forum. We are here to help one another get the most out of our products. 

Thank you for your post. I do see that you're having printer-to-Mac communication issues when using the HP Photosmart 5510 e-All-in-One Printer. All of this is happening in spite of your apparent WiFi connection. While this is no doubt frustrating to experience when all you want to do is print, there are some solutions you can try and I'm hoping they will restore regular functionality. 

I recommend you try the following steps: 

1) Let's start from scratch with your printer's network setup. From the front panel touch the Wireless icon and then select 'Restore Network Defaults.' 

2) From the front panel, run the 'Wireless Setup Wizard.' Reconnect to your home network and then make a note of the IP address. 

3) Visit the printer's embedded web server (EWS): this is achieved by entering the printer's IP address in a web browser's address bar and navigating to that address. If you encounter a security alert (as this page is not encrypted), click to 'Proceed Anyway.' If the page loads successfully, we can be certain the network connection is true. While you're there, do make a note of any error messages or status alerts (if you don't see any, it's all good), and be sure to advise me on what you see. 
 

4) Remove the printer from your Mac. If you're not sure how, refer to this

guide for advice. 

a) (Optional) - set a static IP address for your printer. Refer to this @PrintDoc thread here: http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Printers-Archive-Read-Only/changing-IP-address-for-wireless-printer/td-... for steps on how to do so. 

5) Reinstall your printer: Click here and install the driver as prompted. 

Please let me know the result of your troubleshooting by responding to this post. Remember to return to this thread and mark 'Accept as Solution', if I have successfully helped you resolve the issue. If you wish to say 'thanks' for my effort to help, click the 'thumbs up' to give me a Kudos.

Cheers, 

[Mvdarbs]

I think you just saved my marriage, everything seems to be working again now. Thank you.

Mark