As of today, all my printouts on my HP PageWide Pro 452dn look like the attached image where every character is a question mark inside a box. This happens with PDF's and Word documents, and the fonts are the same ones I always use (Calibri, Cambria, etc.). It could be a Big Sur 11.4 issue since I just updated. Any ideas?
MacBook Pro (2020 and later)
Hello People , Update
I have called HP and there is a solution without updating firmware. What you can do is go on Mac to printers and scanners and delete the printer. Then add new printer and select in the box usage: PCL Printer or Post Script Printer. Both worked for me.
One means for me only black and white and the other one was with colour printer. Any way with this I was able to print again. Of course you can call HP and they will assist you with this problem. This was a easy fix and they are aware of the issue and finding solution. Some were was asked Duplex , say yes to this option. Good luck
Yes, RTF is rich text format, available as a “save as” option in Word. As noted above, be advised that this is by no means a cure-all. But if you have an urgent or emergency print job for something reasonably simple, like a letter or report, it will work.
I tried all other suggestions, but this one did it for me too. It's something with AirPrint vs. choosing the PostScript. Now my Office and PDF docs print out again.
I have a Pagewide pro 477dw that does the exact same thing with AirPrint. I thought it might have been the latest update to the MS suite as it recently had an update so I rolled back to a prior version that I knew worked and ended up with the same square box question marks. I then looked to see what version I had of BigSur (ver. 11.4) and confirmed that I had not updated to the latest ver 11.5 so I ruled that out as being a possibility but updated to the current version just in case, same issue. The printer on the other hand also had accepted an update on 7/1/2021 firmware ver. MAVEDWPP1N001.2127A.00
I also attempted exporting a word document to pdf and printing with the same result. I'm really thinking this issue is more with HP's latest firmware update. Hp hasn't been very helpful yet so if anyone has input I'm ready to receive! Thank you
Just spent 2 hours on the phone with HP. They finally gave me an interim solution--to delete the printer from printers and scanners and re-add it using Generic PostScript Printer. I was able to print without question marks in boxes but, it is not a complete fix. No scanning or faxing. Supposed to get another call back from HP tomorrow morning. will keep you all posted.
I have the same issue when using AirPrint on my iPhone and iPad, also since early August. I have a HP Pagewide Pro 577dw printer. Printing the same PDF or word files from my Dell PC does NOT result in the same question marks being printed. Wonder if HP are aware of the problem and are working to resolve???
I have the same issue now as well as of this week on my HP Pagewide Pro MFP 577dw printers at home and work both. None of my Mac devices will print out properly. They all print properly to my Epson 16600 printer and HP ColorQube 8570. Here is an article that just came out today.
I've used that fix, but it doesn't help me use all three trays of different media for printing on my HP 577dw. I still haven't figured out what I'm going to do for scanning, another feature I use 3 or 4 times a week.
From what I've read the issue is between Apple and HP. HP told Apple to dump certain "old" drivers and somehow it included Pagewide series printers. In-fact I uninstalled all HP software and drivers using their uninstall zip and went straight to apple to download all the the HP drivers... Pagewide was no longer included in the "select your software" options for installing the printer!!! Both seem to be pointing fingers at each other...
I've downloaded the latest software from the HP website. It gives you a choice between Airprint and the HP driver. The newer machines seem OK and the only machines giving me any trouble are the older laptops. By the way the EPSON ET-16600 has been flawless and prints on even larger media if you want. I have had no issues with it. I really think this is an Airprint issue more than anything else. I still have to print using the Postscript file on occassion. It's a nuisance.
I have the very same issue on all my macbooks (pros and air) but dont have any issues printing using my windows based notebooks, on the very same printer! The macs just started printing ? inside a box for anything on the paper, docx or pdf all the same. So its an apple issue, am on BigSur 11.5 , seems it was a big mistake to upgrade, my printer is a HP pagewide pro 477
hope anyone of apple can get a solution on this rather then telling us to reboot in safe mode etc
thanks
rolf
i am having this issue also. i have spoken to Microsoft, Apple and HP support. who are unable to help me with this issue. i have deleted and reinstalled all software inc printer software.
i am using HP PageWide Pro 477. MacOS Catalina 10.15.7 and MacOS Big Sur 11.5.2, all software are up 2 date.
i have tried using AirPrint and Secure AirPrint but still having the same issue. however i can print from any Apple software ie note, email etc just not Microsoft.
Help!!!!
If someone at Apple could communicate with someone at HP in the context of open dialogue, perhaps a complete solution (HP firmware) could be developed. This situation has now lasted for too long - now a month.
One obvious temporary solution for HP would be to issue a firmware upgrade that matches the firmware that was in existence before the last firmware upgrade was offered, which I think occurred on 2 August (which is when the problems commenced). This would allow HP time to investigate the problem and only issue a new firmware upgrade when they were certain the problems had been addressed.
RTF stands for Rich Text Format. In a Word document, you can save it in this format. This format does not support many of Word’s advanced features, but standard styles (e.g., bold, italics, tabs, indent, and more) are supported.
In Word, go to the File menu on the Mac menu bar. Click Save As. Find the format selection, and choose Rich Text Format. The document will save with an RTF extension (e.g., Doc_Name.rtf).
Word’s default format is DOCX.
PS The same issue is being discussed on the HP Community Support network.
Sorry, but I'm unable to send you a personal message.
Contact HP, the firmware version is MAVEDWPP1N001.2105D.00 , build 2021-01-29.
Hello, I am having the same issue since 2 days started on 3 August 2021. The only thing I did was updating my MacBook M1 Pro 2021 to the newest version Big Sur 11.5.1.
I always printed without any problem. The Printer I use is HP Pagewide Pro 477dw MPF. I am looking already for 2 days on the internet for a solution. It is very annoying that I can't print anything in Pdf or Word file anymore.
I did not change anything with printer just after updating the Macbook this problem started.
Apple - please find a solution for this problem and inform asap what to do.
Regards, XW
Printing question marks in boxes
