Printer on I-Mac is only waiting or paused

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Level 1

16 points

Printer on I-Mac is only waiting or paused

HP Laserjet CP2025. Connected to iMac and to virtual windows through parallels. In Windows it prints fine. Until the last Mac update it printed fine. I have tried deleting and re adding the printer.

The pause issue started when it asked for paper to be added to the tray. So I fiddled with the tray settings - made it worse. Now it only shows tray 3 uninstalled. That is true there are only two trays but it won't let me reach them.

I did to find how to tell it to print duplex from tray 2. It hung up. I walked away came back, the questions said it had printed page 1 of 2, so I pushed the button on the printer and it said printing. No printed page ever appeared. The que says it's still sitting there waiting. Or I can click pause and it sits there paused.

Read through all the other messages (rants and counter rants) if it looked feasible I tried it to no avail. I-MAc is using Sonoma 14.

Not an IT specialist so simple instructions I haven't already tried 12 times would be helpful. i.e. there isn't a new software driver, there is nothing wrong with the wired connection. There is no printer quality option in the view screen. .... Help gratefully appreciated! even if that's redundant!

iMac 24″, macOS 14.0

Posted on Oct 6, 2023 2:43 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

BDAqua

Level 10

245,555 points

Oct 8, 2023 10:21 AM in response to helpless111

Sorry I steered you a bit wrong...

On your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click Printers & Scanners in the sidebar. (You may need to scroll down.)
Control-click the printer in the Printers list on the right, then choose Reset Printing System.
Note: If no printers appear in the Printers list, you can Control-click the empty list and choose Reset Printing System.
After you reset the printing system, the list of printers in Printers & Scanners settings is empty.
Add any printers again.

Reset the printing system on your Mac to solve a problem - Apple Support

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Answer 2

helpless111 Author

Level 1

16 points

Oct 8, 2023 8:42 AM in response to BDAqua

Yeah this is a copy of information I already found.

There is no such thing on my I-Mac as Ssystem Preferences or a Fax& Print. Out-of-date, perhaps? I did go to System Settings/Printers & Scanners.
Reset reinstalled the corrupted driver - the one that used to work before the update. Now its mangled and doesn't see the paper trays, even if the iMac would actually send print commands instead of holding them in question or 'waiting' on a ready printer.
Removed and added several times including trying different drivers from the drop-down. That as noted, resulted in its spinning forever and going back to the last setting.

Still stuck, but thank you for trying.

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

245,555 points

Oct 7, 2023 2:50 AM in response to helpless111

Mac OS X: About the Reset Printing System feature ...

Solve printing problems on Mac - Apple Support

In System Preferences>Fax & Print, Right click or Control+click on the Printers list Sidebar, choose Reset Printing System.

if you hold option and click the "-" tab it resets the printing system.

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20031215144430486

Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at bootup).

Any devices that previously appeared in your Printer List and Fax List will need to be added again after resetting the printing system.

Resetting the printing system in Mac OS X

To use the Reset Printing System feature in Mac OS X, follow these steps:
Choose System Preferences from the Apple menu.
Choose Print & Fax from the View menu.
Control-click on list of printers on the left side of the window, then choose "Reset printing system" from the contextual menu. If you don't see a list of printers, Control-click on the text "Click + to add a printer or fax" and select "Reset printing system..."
As an alternative, if you currently have one or more printers listed, you can Option-click the "-" (Remove printer) button.

Solve printing problems on Mac - Apple Support

Reboot.

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Answer 4

helpless111 Author

Level 1

16 points

Oct 7, 2023 1:08 PM in response to BDAqua

Thanks, though I don't have any such system preferences/fax & print

I have printers & scanners. (It won't let me paste the screen print.) I had tried adding it before but the trays were still screwed up -- missing 1 and 2, still totally missing. I will try a different option: auto select this time.

It is a USB connection. It is hanging 'waiting for printer to become available, it says ready. Power off and on. same issue with auto select on the driver. Though it now shows was idle on the main printers and scanners screen. Add printer is still spinning! not a good sign.

message board from HP: "Yes, the new OS does not support the HP printers. Hp does not support MAC's with OS's higher than 13."