Airplay and HP Printer Issues

We need more info.

And I personally dislike the setup with adhoc running on the HP. That is going to be really messy.

Anyway we need to start with the following.

What make and model is the main modem? Is it a router and working as your main router?

What model is your airport? If more than one please detail all of them. And how they are connected.

Also age and firmware revision. A simple screenshot of the summary page from airport utility makes this simple.

Please explain the fault a little bit further.

I am unable to print page(s) from a website as I was able to do before.

Does this mean the printer still prints your files from any other App.. just the web browser print is failing?

A full failure of the printer makes sense.. but a failure to print from one App only, you should NOT be changing the network around. The issue is the app itself.

What web browser are you using?

What error messages if any?

Have you tried a simple print to pdf and then print the pdf from preview as a way around the problem?

Did you change recently anything on the computer or printer or (unlikely) network at the time this happened???

For example did you upgrade to Catalina. because big changes happen with the new OS.

Why would Apple release a monster on us?

Apple have warned people over and over that with the release of Catalina 32 bit software would cease working. So it was done with as much warning as is possible. The problem is people do not realise the extent of old applications they are running or how difficult it is to removed old drivers and load new ones. HP has not helped.

Sorry I assumed this was a recent problem. How old is the printer? When you said new I assumed a week or two.. do you mean you owned this printer before you installed catalina??

I agree it is hard to get help at this point.

Here is the best suggestion I can make.

Download and install Carbon Copy Cloner (CCC for short). It is free to use for a month.

You need a USB disk.. It does not need to be any bigger than the current boot disk in the Macbook. You need to create a bootable clone of your existing Mac disk using CCC. And then boot from it.. so you have a proven way to recover right back to the point where you are now.

Then clean install Catalina.. which means booting to recovery and downloading and installing directly.. unless you still have the catalina install on your computer and can create a boot USB memory stick.

Clean install Catalina and then use the very latest drivers from HP and see if it works to print from browser. If not you can clean install mojave and use that with the correct HP drivers which should then allow you to print as you did before the install of Catalina. To recover your files it should be possible to copy them back from the disk you currently use for backup.. as I understand you are not using Time Machine. Or will need to boot the CCC backup and copy all those files to a public share directory so you can access them from your Mojave install on the internal disk of the Macbook Air.

Sorry i know this is complicated.. but it is the only way I know to get the printer running properly under the new OS.

I've not changed anything on the computer except for upgrading to Catalina 10.15.3.

That is a massive change.. huge.. all 32bit applications just stopped working. Old drivers can stop working.

Can I suggest the easiest way to fix your problem is to use your Time Machine backups and restore your computer to a date just before you upgraded. Mojave or whatever OS you were on will still work exactly as it did.. all your problems will go away.. and then think very very carefully about the cost in time and effort to start on a new OS that must have all the drivers updated. Of course that requires you have a Time Machine backup.. please tell me you backup properly.. !!

If you want to beat a path to Catalina Nirvana through virgin jungle (snow perhaps where you live), you will likely need to do a clean install and start with all new apps and drivers. I discovered this myself recently helping a friend update a mac mini.. I quickly discovered Catalina was a whole new ballgame. It was too costly in time and effort to get his printer and apps all working again so reloaded his previous OS and upgraded to Mojave .. the last OS that supports 32bit apps.

Sidenote.. I also gave up on HP printers for the same reason.. the drivers are exceedingly obscure now. This should be automatic with AirPrint.

I am happy to help you return to previous OS with Time Machine.. if you have backups and wish to do that just ask.

I cannot help with getting HP printer to work on Catalina. It is too arcane.. unless I am sitting at your computer and can address each problem as they come up. There will be stacks of them.

Do you have a computer support person who is Mac savvy in your area? Honestly you need on site help. Think of it as the washing machine .. if it breaks you call a technician who is trained to fix it.

Let me explain the confusion with airports. Apple refer to their routers as airport. They also call their wireless setup in Mac airports. Airport routers are now finished and done with.. You posted in the airport router support area. Since you don't have an airport router the place to post is Mac OS you are fighting to make work. i.e. catalina.

https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os/catalina

There are other posts there with print problems.. to HP printers unsurprisingly.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/250786069