Multiple copies of the same printer in the print dialog

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Level 1

25 points

Multiple copies of the same printer in the print dialog

I have multiple copies of an HP LaserJet 1300 in the Classic print dialog box & I actually only have one connected to the system. I cannot find where they are stored to remove the unwanted copies. Whenever I want to print the first time in a Classic session I get an error... "This printer cannot print because this application is not AppleEvent aware and you have not installed Desktop Print 2.0 software". I then select a different copy of the same printer in the print dialog box & it prints fine. Classic will continue to print without intervention until I quit the application, then the cycle starts all over again. I figure if I can remove the "bad" copies it should remedy the problem. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Posted on Sep 12, 2005 9:38 PM

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Answer 1

LStacy Author

Level 1

25 points

Sep 14, 2005 8:45 PM in response to Charles Clark

Thanks for the info Charles. I checked Printer Setup Utility but the printer is only listed once. In the OS X print dialog box the printer is only listed once in the print pull-down menu, but in the same dialog box while in Classic the printer pull-down menu has the same printer listed 4 times. But there is only 1 physical printer.

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Answer 2

Sep 19, 2005 3:07 PM in response to LStacy

I don't know Desktop Print and if you're printer has changed its AppleEvent awareness, that suggests its driver can't cope with the latest Classic.

Which driver were you trying to use, please?

Multiple copies of the same printer indicates either that there actually are multiple copies of a driver, or the driver is not correctly installed, or something else is interfering with it.

If there are multiple copies, you should find them in System Folder>Extensions from whence it should be safe to delete duplicates.

Those should not affect X printing, and X Printer Setup Utility should affect Classic 9 printing only in that Apple's own LaserWriter driver will offer the X printers from its drop-down menu

What exactly do you mean by 'in the same dialog box while in Classic', please? If that means the corresponding dialog box fine, but they should not be the same.

Either way, dialog boxes generally list drivers, not physical printers.

Meanwhile you should be able to use most - though not necessarily that - printers from Classic through Apple's Desktop Printer Utility.

Use that to create a virtual Desktop Printer, such a Translator PostScript. This will not actually show up n the Desktop, but will automatically be selected next time you go to Print from a Classic application.

The Print dialog should then give you an option to Save to file instead of printing.

You should then be able to drag and drop the resulting .ps file onto any X print queue.

That does take a couple of extra steps, and it does work for most people

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Answer 3

LStacy Author

Level 1

25 points

Sep 19, 2005 11:26 PM in response to Robbie Goodwin

"Which driver were you trying to use, please?"
The Driver is HP1300. It's the same driver that's been installed since 10.2. This all happened when I installed Tiger. Immediately the message I described in my original message started to be displayed during printing from Classic.

The print pull down looks as follows:
DeskJet 5600
HP LaserJet 1300
HP LaserJet 1300
HP LaserJet 1300
HP LaserJet 1300-1

"If there are multiple copies, you should find them in System Folder>Extensions from whence it should be safe to delete duplicates."
I did not see any duplicates.

"What exactly do you mean by 'in the same dialog box while in Classic', please? If that means the corresponding dialog box fine, but they should not be the same"
I mean the corresponding dialog box.

I have used the Desktop Printer method you describe, but it's a little inconvenient. But I did discover that if I select the first "HP 1300" (top one) in the pull down menu Classic prints fine. It will continue to print until I quit all Classic applications, then I need to select it again the first time I print again in a Classic application.

Thank you for such a detailed message & trying to help me get to the bottom of the problem.

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Answer 4

Sep 26, 2005 3:53 PM in response to LStacy

I think you're actually using a generic PostScript driver, probably Apple LaserWriter or Adobe PS, with an HP 1300 Desktop Printer and PPD, which combination would have been created manually, probably with Apple Desktop Printer Utility.

Whichever auxilliaries such as PPD files are selected through it, the driver is the icon selected in the left-hand Chooser window and if yours is really named HP1300, that's because someone manually re-named it.

The Preferences for that are stored in System Folder>Preferences>Printing Prefs>LaserWriter 8 Prefs and if you Trash that file then relaunch Classic, your pull-down menu should be left with nothing but the printers which are set up in X

It isn't properly explained in HP's Installation Notes - to get a new copy, re-run HP LaserJet Installer, which should create an hp LaserJet Folder folder on the root level of your boot drive - but you then need to either select in Chooser whichever driver you were using before, and again set up the 1300, or use Desktop Printer Utility, as above.

If neither of those routes works then either the driver is out of date or there is interference or corruption

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Answer 5

Sep 12, 2005 9:43 PM in response to LStacy

Hello LStacy,

In OS X, perhaps you can visit Printer Setup Utility and delete the duplicate printers. Visit HP web site and find a printer driver for OS X.

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Answer 6

LStacy Author

Level 1

25 points

Sep 26, 2005 8:43 PM in response to Robbie Goodwin

With your help & a little experimentation I got the problem resolved. Thanks.

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Answer 7

Sep 28, 2005 4:05 PM in response to LStacy

You're welcome.

Enjoy your Mac!

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