Hp Photosmart printer A310 series

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Hp Photosmart printer A310 series

I used to happily print from iPhoto to an HP Photosmart printer A310 series. All the drivers seems to have been automatically loaded into the OS and it was fine. After a break of not printing I have set it up again and am having problems. Get the error "Communication Failure: The computer is no longer able to communicate with your printer. Turn the printer off, check your printer connections and check for printer errors, and turn the printer back on."

I try all that but still not luck. Using an IMac OSX 10.5.7

Any ideas? Have these HP printer become redundant with more recent Mac OS?

Thanks
Pete

iMac, Mac OS X (10.5.7)

Posted on May 23, 2009 10:37 PM

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Answer 1

May 24, 2009 7:59 PM in response to lipeloro

HI Pete,

Try reinstalling the software (drivers) that came with the HP printer.

Run Disk Utility and repair disk permissions. Launch Disk Utility. (Applications/Utilities) Select MacintoshHD in the panel on the left, select FirstAid, then click: Repair Disk Permissions. Quit DU when it's finished and reboot.

Carolyn 🙂

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Answer 2

lipeloro Author

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May 27, 2009 11:03 PM in response to Carolyn Samit

Thanks Carloyn

Unfortunately I can't seem to find the orginal CD with the drivers on it, but at the HP website they say "The latest HP print driver and software are included as part of the Mac OS X v10.5 default installation." so I'm guessing that they should be in there.

I ran the disk utility as suggested, but still no luck. I'm pretty sure all my connections are fine and the System Profiler seems to recognise the printer, so just not sure what's going on

Cheers
Pete

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Answer 3

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,488 points

May 27, 2009 11:14 PM in response to lipeloro

The most up-to-date drivers from HP are available here:

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/drivers/hpproductdrivers.html

I recommend you download and install them then try to re-add your printer using System Preferences, Printers and Fax and then add you printer. Please let us know if that solves the problem.

Regards,

Roger

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Answer 4

lipeloro Author

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May 27, 2009 11:41 PM in response to rkaufmann87

Thanks Roger. That page leads me to
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01234224&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us &lang=en&os=219&product=2511193

Which gets me back to the the same problem where it tells me the drivers should be installed with version 10.5.

Should I maybe go here and download an old driver for 10.4?
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=ps-43275-1 &lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=2511193&os=219&lang=en

Thanks for your help
Pete

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Answer 5

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,488 points

May 27, 2009 11:59 PM in response to lipeloro

Lipeloro,

Sorry I sent you the wrong link, go here:

http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/apple/application_updates/hpprinterdriver1 11.html

In that you will find the most up-to-date drivers, the A310 is included.

Regards,

Roger

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Answer 6

lipeloro Author

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May 28, 2009 12:57 AM in response to rkaufmann87

Roger

That looked good. To try and start from scratch I deleted the old printer and tried to add it back again. Now when I try to add a printer in Printer and Fax it doesn't seem to be able to see any printers! There's nothing under default or More Printers. I have done something wrong?

Sorry, i feel I might be making things worse!!

Cheers
Pete

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Answer 7

lipeloro Author

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May 28, 2009 1:18 AM in response to lipeloro

SORRY. Scrap that last post. Have found printer again, but having same problem as before when printing. I seem to back to square one. o

is there anything in my set-up (cables etc.) that could be the problem?
Pete

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Answer 8

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,488 points

May 28, 2009 6:19 AM in response to lipeloro

Yes check your cable, I would recommend examining it closely for corrosion, breaks etc. If you have another cable to try that would be recommended too. Also look at the printer, see if there are any paper jams and if it has cartridges with ink in them. On the subject of ink cartridges don't use anything but genuine HP, remanufactured and/or refills cause more trouble then they are worth.

Regards,
Roger

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Answer 9

May 28, 2009 6:57 AM in response to lipeloro

HI Pete,

I've been searching for a Gimp driver which would hopefully resolve this but can't find one.

After you installed the driver from the Apple Downloads page, did you run Disk Utility and repair disk permissions???

😟

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Answer 10

May 28, 2009 6:56 AM in response to rkaufmann87

HI Roger,

I didn't know that file of drivers was available from the Apple downloads site. I'm glad you posted that link!

🙂

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Answer 11

rkaufmann87

Level 10

148,488 points

May 28, 2009 7:02 AM in response to Carolyn Samit

Hi Carolyn,

Being an HP printer guy I used it to update my printers. There are similar links for Canon and Epson printers too.

I just hope we can help out the OP.

Roger

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Answer 12

May 28, 2009 7:06 AM in response to rkaufmann87

*"I just hope we can help out the OP"*

Absolutely. One system update and wham, you can't use a printer. That's not cool. Better luck hopefully!

Carolyn 🙂

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Answer 13

lipeloro Author

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May 29, 2009 5:20 PM in response to Carolyn Samit

Yes, I did the disk utility thing but still no help. And Roger I checked my cable. It's the same one I use to download photos from my digital camera, which works fine. So I assume it's OK for the printer?

The error message is 536870163 which flashes up quickly before the 'Communication Failure' message.

I have a feeling it might be time to ditch the printer and move on. But thank you for all your help Carolyn and Roger!

Cheers
Pete

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Answer 14

May 29, 2009 5:23 PM in response to lipeloro

HI Pete,

Sorry it's not working. Check out this link. http://lists.apple.com/archives/printing/2008/Jun/msg00018.html

Carolyn 🙂

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Answer 15

lipeloro Author

Level 1

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May 29, 2009 5:28 PM in response to Carolyn Samit

Thanks Carolyn. So it looks like it's a bug that we can't do much about? (Sorry, my understanding of the language in that thread is a bit limited!)
Pete

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