Printer Setup, Software & Drivers

Hi,

We purchased a few of the new Microsoft Surface Pro 11's. They run on a Snapdragon X 10-core X1P64100 processor (ARM-based processors), so they are running Windows 11-ARM64. We also have an HP Color LaserJet MFP E786 printer. I looked for a compatible driver to use for this printer for a TCP/IP connection over the network, and the only choice seems to be the Smart Universal Print Driver- as it is the only driver software that HP has distributed thus far that is ARM64 compatible (they provide a driver setup package for ARM64 specifically on the SUPD webpage). So I install the SUPD successfully, and every time I print anything it will send it to the queue on the computer, there it will say it is spooling, then printing, then disappear from the queue as any other print job would.

However, nothing actually prints. In fact, looking at the printer's job log, the printer outright does not receive any job from the ARM64 machine. I've tried from multiple of the new ARM64 surface pros AND to multiple E786 printers (we have multiple) and the same results yield. It's like the printer is refusing to acknowledge the computer's existence. I've rooted out the obvious- made sure it had the right IP, made sure it wasn't the printer being stupid, etc. Our regular intel laptops print fine to it (albeit they use the regular UPD- the PCL6 version was much more reliable than the SUPD). When we used the SUPD with the Intel laptops they also worked with the printer.

Another thing to note- I tried using a job storage approach where the computer would- instead of outright printing- send to job storage on the printer. This worked with the Intel machines using the SUPD, and the job showed up in the job storage area on the control panel and printed fine. However, with the ARM64 based devices, the printer never received the job. It's as if there isn't any successful communication between the ARM64 based device and the printer in terms of print functionality. Pings and access to the EWS between the two worked of course. 

I tried to use the HP Print and Scan doctor utility. It resulted in a "Port Match" error that it "fixed" although the problem persisted even after the "fix" occurred. Test pages failed. It then wanted me to initiate an "internal" test page from the print and scan doctor application, and that also failed. It had me restart the printer and try both again and failures once more. So with that being said, it couldn't communicate with the printer to tell it to print an "internal" test page, let alone have Windows print a test page- so maybe it really is a porting error. I checked the port information in the printer properties and it is using Raw port 9100. This is also the case for the Intel machines. 

There is no UPD available for ARM64 as of current speaking, only the Smart UPD or SUPD. Is there a basic UPD in the works for ARM64? I doubt it but it'd sure be a welcome surprise. Any guidance appreciated greatly. Thank you!