Mac says my printer is busy

[DanMonty]

My printer has always worked fine until a few weeks ago.  I now get an error that says my printer is busy.  Mac, OS X 10.9.2

Printer HP Officejet 6600.  Also quit working on my Macbook Air.  Printer still works with a PC based laptop.

[Sunshyn2005]

Hi DanMonty,

I'd like to help, it sounds like a communication issue. I would like to start by resetting the printing system and re-adding the printer, if you are unsure how to do this, please use the instructions below.

Reset Printing System

1. Click the Apple icon (   ), and then clickSystem Preferences.
2. In the Hardware section, click  Print & Fax/Scan. The Print & Fax/Scan  dialog box opens.
3. Right-click (or  Ctrl  +click) in the left panel, and then clickReset printing system…
4. Click OKto confirm the reset.
5. Type the correct Name and Password.
6. ClickOK to reset the printing system. The Print & Fax dialog box shows no printer selected

Note: This will remove all printers in the print and Fax/Scan, any printer removed can be re-added later by clicking the plus (+) symbol

Restart the computer and the printer, since you are having this issue on both Macs, I suggest resetting the printing system on the other Mac too and restarting it as well.

Add the printer to the System Preferences, Print and Scan (On both computers)

1. Click the Apple icon > System Preferences > Print and Scan.
2. Click the little plus symbol.
3. Select Add other Printer or Scanner              
   
4. Select the printer you are adding and next to USE you can choose the printer driver rather than AirPrint.
   

Please let me know if this resolves the issue, thanks.

[DanMonty]

I'm not sure what worked, I shut down the printer and allowed it to reboot-no change.  I checked HP updates again and came back to this thread so I reset the printing system, I think I've done this about 4 times now, the printer worked.  The weird thing is my HP ink widget still does not find a printer on my mac.  It says the device may be offline or unreachable.  Going into Systems and Preferences and clicking on printers and scanners then going to options and supplies shows me ink level.  Strange.

[gran712]

I am having the same/similar problem. My Mac says "waiting for the printer to be available", when it is fully available (as far as I know at least). I have deleted and re-added the printer several times. I also did  Mac ASU update as per the HP website directions for El Capitan to make sure I had the appropriate drivers and updates. I hadn't recently changed anything, so not sure why that would help the problem, and it didn't seem to. 

Last week I was getting the lights that indicate "terminal error" and I unplugged and left and replugged. It did this a few times, but now only the one green light. When I press the main button, it does print the SelfTest/Configuration page.

The printer is quite old, the Firmware date code is 20001023, but it has been working fine until about 10 days ago.