HP Deskjet F300 Series listed as supported, Software Update doesn't find it

OK, I can understand why it is confusing. There is indeed built-in support for scanning from a Deskjet F300 series, but alas the print driver is not available yet. The print driver should be made available through an Apple Software Update at some point in the future. And we're also working on getting a package posted to HP.com with updated drivers as well. Once available through either channel I post and update.

Just trying to help.

Andrew

There is a document on your website stating that the F300 series works natively under Mac OS X 10.6.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&docname=c01846935

Apple is going to provide the update? Is there a timeframe on that? I can't really wait indefinitely for that to happen, will the patch go up to the HP website sometime soon? Thank you for addressing our concerns on this forum.

I just installed 10.6 and the only thing that doesn't work is my printer. No printer driver in 10.6 for the Deskjet F335 (part of the F300 series). I did get it to work by going to the HP web site and downloading the driver for OS X 10.5. But not all works well... the scanner no longer works. Where is the 10.6 driver.... or must I buy a new printer?

I really wish I could wave a magic wand and get that page updated. It is providing more confusion then its worth. The problem is the lead times associated with updating pages on HP.com means I can't get the page updated until next week sometime. As for when to expect an update through Software Update, sorry even I don't know the answer to that one. Once I see it there I'll post its availability here though.

Just trying to help.

Andrew

I know guys, same problem here. And when you go to HP website, they claim its bundled with Snow Leopard. Apple on the other hand says its available but upon download, its not. Now i cannot print from home. I hope the driver becomes available soon.

To be clear (as I said above in this thread) the software for the F300 series is not available yet. While waiting for the Apple Software Update, you may be able to restore some printing functionality by downloading the 10.5 driver from HP.com and installing it on top of Snow Leopard. Remember of course that this is an officially unsupported usage.

Just trying to help.

Andrew

Hey HP Mac Architect, is the print function part of the "some printing functionality" you are talking about? I ask because my urgent need now is to be able to print. I went to the HP Site and they advised thus:

"Important: Please do not reinstall software from original HP Photosmart, Officejet, Deskjet CDs, or HP web downloads from previous Mac OS X 10.3, 10.4, or 10.5. Older software is not compatible with Snow Leopard. The latest Snow Leopard compatible software is included in Mac OS X 10.6, and you will experience the best performance and functionality if you use the latest HP software."

Has anyone implemented HP Mac Architect's advise? If so were you able to print?

Thanks again HP Mac Architect for the response.

Message was edited by: ikechukwu

Yes, being able to print is what I am talking about. Although some features may be missing, you probably won't notice any of them except while trying to print from a 64-bit application. And while this is officially unsupported there are many threads here of people being able to get it working.

Just trying to help.

Andrew

Same problem with the folks here. It's frustrating. And the contradicting messages from Apple and HP added more frustration!

Thanks Andrew's help here. But it would help better if either Apple/HP could announce a date when the driver would be available. It's silly checking software update everyday and hope it would available one day...

Cheers,
vaion

Hey all, as a temporal solution, if you have boot camp or parallel or vMware installed you can print via windows until we get the driver we need from either Apple or HP. I just remembered that.

Like Andrew states, just trying to help.

Ikechukwu

I guess I was too much in hurry to upgrade to snow leopard. Is apple following the same path as Microsoft. I have the same exact issue as the others. Deskjet F300 are not supported and we should not have to wait to expect a printer driver. This HP model is one of the most common printer sold on the planet. As far as advertising Snow Leopard being better for printing; what a joke. Next time, don't try to do an advertising stunt in coming out one month before windows 7, just get the thing to work. I have to reinstall now leopard until Apple and HP figure out to get their printer to print; what are we suppose to do. Not print ??? I am for less paper on this planet, but I still needs to print. On top of that I have no idea what printer is co;patible with snow leopard as the list is unreliable and wrong. It stated that deskjet are compatible and they are not.

I see a lot of posts in this section, but not everyone is reading the previous posts.

If you have an HP F300 series printer, the Snow Leopard OS X 10.6 drivers are not yet available for download.

What you should do, while your waiting for the new print drivers, is go to the HP web site and download the printer driver that is specific to the HP F300 series of printers. The lastest Mac OS X HP F300 printer driver version is for Leopard 10.5. Download this print driver and install it. You will then be able to print to your F300 series printer with no problem. However, the HP F300 scanner software will not work with Snow Leopard. This is not a problem because if you wish to scan, you can use the Snow Leopard scan driver which is automatically installed when you installed Snow Leopard.

To use the scanner, go to your Preferences, and select Printers. Click on the Scan option and you'll enter the scanning interface (note, I'm doing this part from memory at the moment as I'm on my PC laptop so hopefully I didn't leave out a step).

The bottom line is that the HP F300 printer driver for Leopard 10.5 works fine with Snow Leopard 10.6. When the Snow Leopard HP F300 print driver becomes available, it will automatically update the previous driver.

Hope this has been of help.

Message was edited by: bikerdude798

I had the exact same reaction as I rushed to install Snow Leopard and I swore at Apple over the week-end! It's incredible to ignore such a basic driver. Reminds me of my PC times.
However, as I cannot go without printing, I took the risk to download and install the OS 10.5 driver again, without removing Snow Leopard and despite the HP warning not to do so. IT WORKS FINE. And I can print again, while waiting for an official driver update.
The only thing is that I'll probably have to figure out how to remove the 10.5 driver as the new driver will be released. In the meantime, it just work!

To Jepih.

Note, since the HP F300 printer driver is a full blown install for Leopard 10.5, it can be uninstalled in both Leopard and Snow Leopard. If you look at your applications, you'll see that an uninstall was included for the HP 10.5 printer driver.

I'm guessing that when the Snow Leopard HP F300 printer driver is available and installed, one can then uninstall the Leopard version of the print driver.