Ongoing Dell V305 printer setup problems

Snow Leopard already has the Lexmark driver for the Lexmark Series 4650 so you should not have had to install any other drivers. Snow Leopard normally will detect a printer the first time that you connect it to the Mac and turn it on. If SL does not find the driver for the new printer already installed it offers to download and install the needed driver.

When I get a new Mac I never trust the factory image of Mac OS X and erase and write zeros to the HDD and then do a fresh installation from the Restore DVD that came with the new Mac. I usually do two things for the fresh installation; I only install Spanish and English and I do not install any printer resources. So after I had everything else pretty much perfect one of the last things that I did was set up my HP Photosmart 7960 printer. I attached the USB cable and powered on the printer, and since no printer drivers were installed, right on cue SL said it detected a new printer and asked if I wanted it to download and install the driver.

Can you please explain what happens when you try to print something? Do you get a print dialog?

Dah•veed

It is possible the printer identifies itself as a Dell printer, so although it may be the same as a Lexmark X4650, Mac OS X may not automatically use or download the appropriate driver.

There are two Mac drivers listed at Lexmark's web site for the X4650. One (very recent) was specifically for Snow Leopard, so if you downloaded the earlier version, be sure to check this one out

[LEXMARK X4650 Show Leopard driver|http://support.lexmark.com/index?page=content&productCode=LEXMARK X4650&actp=PRODUCT&id=DR18567&segment=DOWNLOAD&userlocale=ENUS&locale=en]

To make matters worse I now have FIVE downloads on desktop all saying "lexmark 3600-4600 series. How do I know which to use?

I would Trash all those images on your Desktop and then use the link in Kenichi's comment and download & install it. It is the correct one for Snow Leopard. It will insure that you have all of the correct pieces if you installed the one for previous versions of Mac OS X.

When I chose printer in setup do I chose Dell V305 or Lexmark X4650?

Are you being presented with both options?

I did see one page saying "printer ready". Ready for what?

That sounds to be the Printer Queue. It means that it is ready to print.

During setup do I chose setting up for 1st time or chose setting up for new computer?

At this point I would not use a set up assistant. Open the Print & Fax System Preference pane. Does your printer appear in the list to the left?

Dah•veed

I clicked on Kenchi link & downloaded it

Did you install it?

Shall we try to start over? Turn your printer off. In the SytemPrefs/Print & Fax pane highlight each listed printer one-at-a-time and delete it by clicking the - symbol below. Turn your printer on. Add a new printer to the list by clicking the + symbol below. Your USB attached printer should appear by whichever name in the +Add Printer+ window. Highlight it with one click. It may take a second for the info in the 3 panes below to appear. If the Lexmark driver does not appear in the +Print Using:+ pane then use the pulldown menu, choose +Select Printer Software...+ and choose the correct Lexmark driver from the list in the +Printer Software+ window. After you have chosen the driver click the add button to add this configuration to the Print & Fax pane.

Now open your app and try to print using this printer.

Dah•veed (with fingers crossed)

To get a fresh start on the printer situation, you may want to reset the printing system. To do this, in System Preferences +Print & Fax+ pane, right (control) click on the sidebar (with the list of printers). Select +Reset printing system+. Then, re-add the printer (click the plus sign).

I'm not 100% sure, but I would select the Dell printer if it is on the list. Then down below, where it says +Print Using+, see if you can select that driver for the Lexmark printer.

When you first added the Dell printer in the Add Printer window, what driver was offered automatically in the Print Using: pane below?

You might try deleting the printer in the Print & Fax pref pane and add it again and try it with whatever driver that SL offers up.

Otherwise I am running out of ideas apart from dragging the Mac and the printer to the nearest Apple Store and telling the geniuses to make it "Just Work."

Dah•veed

If you have not already, be sure to try the +reset printing system+ command to set it back to default, and describe in previous reply. It does more than just removing all the currently added printers.

You mentioned you had a choice of selecting Dell or Lexmark. If the Add Printer window is presenting both in the list, and you tried selecting Dell using the Lexmark driver, have you tried selecting Lexmark using the Lexmark driver?

I've been reading Davids and Kenichi's posts, both guys are very knowledgeable and give great advice however have you considered getting rid of the Dell and getting a printer that was designed for OS X?

Regards,

Roger

He has. If you check his posts he has another asking advice about all-in-one printer suggestions.

My two pesos on that is that I really like HP printers and recommend them highly. I hate Epson printers and would not use one if it was given to me! I have no experience with any of the other brands.

I'm guilty of not reading his other posts but I have to agree with you on HP printers, that's all I own. The only other brand I've tried is Canon and can't stand them due to their build quality and ink drink rate ...a term I just made up. 🙂

After having to throw two Epson printers in the trash because they could not be repaired I switched to HP. It seems I did not print often enough for Epson printers and their ink and the spray heads dried out. Once that happens it is cheaper to buy a new one then fix it. After it happened twice I could not afford Epson's folly any longer. My printing habits have not changed and my HP's never fail me in my hour of need!

Yeah, my very old Epson printer (Stylus Photo 750) had a problem with the print head getting clogged because I didn't use it enough. And I'd have to do the priming routine, and waste ink. Epson inkjet printers had their print head on the printer; I don't know if it's still the same. So the expensive ink cartridge is just a plastic box with a hole and ink inside. Plus that old printer did this annoying thing where it would keep track (an estimate really) of how much ink you had left and insist that you change the ink cartridge when it said you were out, even if it was still printing fine (meaning I still had ink). You had to trick it into thinking I had changed the cartridge to keep using the old one, and when it did really run out, you had to trick it into giving you access to the cartridge, so you could actually change it. It was a decent printer when it was working (and it still works once I get it unclogged), but what a pain. One interesting thing is that it has a parallel port, Apple serial port, and USB port.

HP puts the print head on the ink cartridge, so it gets replaced with each ink cartridge change. My HP multifunction printer from a few years ago does not seem to have issues with clogging or telling me when I needed to change the cartridge (because it doesn't tell me).