HP Color Laser Jet 3600dn unresponsive in Snow Leopard

[HP_3600n]

Same problem here. Snow Leopard 10.6.1 and LJ3600n not working. First document prints but status Completed never shows and document job remain in list. Following pages gets stuck, does not load. Worked flawless in 10.5.x

Removed and reinstalled printer over network in different ways but no improvement.

So if HP drivers don't work where can I get that open source driver?

[Zogma]

Is there nobody at HP following this discussion?  Any word on the drivers?  I would be happy with "We're working on it" at the very least.

[biraalo]

Same problem as everyone else. Incredibly frustrating that the 3600n won't print with 10.6.1. Nor will our other HP printer. I am ready to chuck them all off a bridge. Buying a Canon.

[deving280]

For open source drivers go here:

http://www.linuxfoundation.org/collaborate/workgroups/openprinting/macosx/hpijs

I'm running Snow Leopard and the following worked for me.

*If you HAVE NOT installed open source drivers before, you will need to follow all steps below in this order.  The driver will not install if you do not install these other elements beforehand.

** If you HAVE installed Linux open source drivers before, you may be able to go directly to step # 4 below.

1. Install Ghostscript (available at the above link)

2. Install Foomatic-RIP (also available at the above link)

3. Install HPIJS for Mac OSX

4. Remove the HP printer that is causing the problem from your printer menu (10.5+ users can just use the"-" button from System Preferences > Print & Fax)

5. Restart the computer (not really sure this is necessary, but I feel it never hurts after installing new software)

6. Go back to System Preferences > Print & Fax and click "+" to add your HP printer.  

* If the printer is connected via USB, finding the printer should be straightforward.

** If you're using a network printer, use the IP menu to find the printer.  

Set the Protocol drop-down menu to "HP Jetdirect - Socket".

Then, enter the printer's IP address to locate it.

7. On the Print Using drop-down menu, look through the list of drivers and look for the driver that matches the model number of your printer.  There could be several drivers from which to choose, be sure to select the driver that has "hpijs" at the end.  (This is the open-source driver that I used and it ultimately resolved my printing issues.)

8. Hit the "Add" button.

Then you should be set.

I apologize if the language here isn't technical or precise, but these steps worked for me.  Good luck!

[ecluff]

Thank you to deving280. I printed out your directions and solved my client's printing problems on her Macbook Pro which has OS 10.6.2. Your help along with the other very instructive comments on this thread lead us to the answer. Kudos to you!

[olePigeon]

At my work, I've narrowed down the printing problem to any of the newer Apple laptops with the Broadcom BCM43xx chipset.  This is pretty much all of the unibody Apple laptops.  Laptops with the Atheros 5416 chipset work fine, like the older MacBook Pro or plastic MacBooks.

Also, if you have a mixed printing environment, the printer will become unresponsive for all computers after the laptop prints.  The only way to free up the printer is to open up the Printer on your Mac (it'll probably be bouncing there anyway because the job isn't printing), Pause the printer, delete the print job, then put the computer to sleep.  Upon waking, for whatever reason, the print queue clears up and the job is deleted.  Other computers are then able to print to the printer.

Maybe HP can "invent" some working drivers that aren't host based.  One of the dumbest idea they've ever come up with.

[olePigeon]

I forgot to mention that the HPIJS drivers will only work some of the time.  Half the time they just spit out PostScript errors, especially when trying to print Excel spreadsheets.

[olePigeon]

Anyone from HP care to comment?  We have 7 laptop carts of 30 laptops each and several offices of desktop machines, and a full 1/3 of them can not print to any of the 11 LaserJet 3600dns on our campus.  It's clearly an issue with the host based HP printer drivers.  We're having to bypass our print server for the remainder machines.

Some feedback would be appreciated.  I'd be more than willing to beta test any development drivers you may have just so I can get people printing again.

I'm pretty desperate.  We may just surplus all our HP printers and go with Canon, but that means a lot of hours and lost money that I don't want to deal with, especially in this economy.

[rbmuse]

I have the same issue both with MacBook Pros and iMacs

[olePigeon]

I'm done with HP.  Your phone support is useless.  Your chat support is useless.  Your forums are useless.  Now your printers are completely useless to me.

School year is beginning and I have over 200 computers that can't print.  We're done with your crap.  We're going to explore other vendors, most likely Xerox or Canon.