printing with HP 1200

Ever since I upgraded to 10.4.3, my HP Laserjet 1200 no longer appears in my printer list and I cannot use it. It is a workhorse of a printer and I see no reason to get rid of it for something newer. I have downloaded the hpijs driver and Ghostmatic from linuxprinting, but have no idea how to install it. The instructions are written in so much lingo that they are incomprehensible. They instruct to enter command lines but don't say where. They also suggest using the option key when adding a printer in Print Center, but in 10.4.3, Print Center is gone and the option key does nothing in the Printer Setup Utility. There has to be a simpler way or at least someone who speaks English. Any suggestions?

G4 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

G4, Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Posted on Dec 9, 2005 6:59 AM

Reply
14 replies

Dec 9, 2005 11:10 AM in response to tiredoflingo

Thanks for the response. I had downloaded the
correct .dmg files and installed them. It worked to
use the option key and more printers, and I can find
the printer listed, but the "add" button isn't
active. What now?


1 reset the print system (on the Printer Setup Utility menu)

2 reinstall the HPIJS and the GhostScript drivers. (You gotta have both)

3 hold down the option key on clicking 'Add'.

Dec 9, 2005 2:58 PM in response to tiredoflingo

I have done all of this and the printer browser still
will not let me add the printer, even though it is in
the list.
What am I doing wrong or what steps am I missing?


Okay, let's take it from the top.

To add a printer, you must:

1 launch Printer Setup Utility

2 click on the 'Add' button in the main dialog, or select 'Add Printer' from the Printer menu. Is this the Add button that's grey? 'Cause if it is, you may need to reinstall Printer Setup Utility, or possibly to reinstall OS X.

3 if that's not the 'Add' button that's grey, then clicking it should open a new dialog. If the new dialog is empty, that means that Printer Setup Utility is not detecting a printer. Close the dialog, and make sure that the printer is connected and is turned on. Click on the 'Add' button again.

4 if the dialog comes up with a printer listed, click on the printer. Give it a name. Select a printer driver from the 'Print Using' list.

5 you may have to click on the 'More Printer's button to find the HPIJS drivers. If so, hold down the option key when you do so and look for the 'Advanced' item on the topmost pull-down menu.

6 select the driver for your printer by scrolling down the list of possible drivers.

You might want to check the CD which came with the printer to see if there are viable drivers on it.

Dec 16, 2005 12:39 PM in response to Charles Dyer

Thanks for sticking with me. I have done this

whole
list repeatedly. It is at step 6 that the "Add"
button is still gray. I will try to reinstall the
printer setup utility.


If you're stuck there, it's because Printer Setup
Utility thinks that you haven't selected a printer,
or that you haven't given it a name. Check and make
sure that you've done both.


OK. I have done everything on this list. I went to the advanced screen on the printer browser. I selected USB Printer from the Device menu. I named the device HP Laserjet 1200. I selected HP in the printer model menu. I selected the HP Laserjet 1200 foomatic/hpijs from the drop down list, and the Add button will not activate. There is a field for Device URI that starts usb://. Do I need to enter something there?

G4 Mac OS X (10.4.3)

Dec 16, 2005 4:18 PM in response to tiredoflingo

Thanks for sticking with me. I have done this

whole
list repeatedly. It is at step 6 that the "Add"
button is still gray. I will try to reinstall

the
printer setup utility.


If you're stuck there, it's because Printer Setup
Utility thinks that you haven't selected a

printer,
or that you haven't given it a name. Check and

make
sure that you've done both.


OK. I have done everything on this list. I went to
the advanced screen on the printer browser. I
selected USB Printer from the Device menu. I named
the device HP Laserjet 1200. I selected HP in the
printer model menu. I selected the HP Laserjet 1200
foomatic/hpijs from the drop down list, and the Add
button will not activate. There is a field for
Device URI that starts usb://. Do I need to enter
something there?


You don't, but the system does.

For example, when I select 'advanced' with the option key down, Printer Setup Utility pops up a dialog which is a sub-level to the 'Printer Browser' dialog and which has at the top a pull-down menu which has the 'Advanced' item selected. Below that is another pull-down menu, named 'Device'. The last item on that menu is whichever USB-linked printer is currently connected and turned on. This should be your HP1200, if you have it connected by USB. Select that printer. (In my case it was my HP PSC1350 MFD.) If you can't select it, try the entry on that menu for 'USB Printer'. (Make sure that you held down the option key when clicking on 'More Printers'.) Below the Device pull-down menu should be a text entry box named 'Device Name'. If you successfully select a printer, the system will enter a name there for you. In my case, it entered ''psc 1300 series". Below that is the text entry box named 'Device URI', to which you referred. The system filled that in, too, with "usb://hp/psc%201300%20series?serial=<serialremoved>". Below that is a pull-down menu named 'Printer Model' which defaults to 'Generic'. When I pull down that menu and select HP from it, I get an additional selection box, from which I can select the driver "HP PSC 1300 Foomatic/hpijs" or the driver "HP PSC 1310 Foomatic/hpijs". I selected the 1300 driver, clicked on 'Add', and the system added the printer.

I'd paste in a picture, except that Apple doesn't seem to allow attachments.

email me at charlesdyer@mac.com and I'll send you a screen shot or two of what you should be getting.

Apple, if you're listening... a pic is worth 1000 words...

Dec 20, 2005 6:33 AM in response to Charles Dyer

What you describe is exactly what I have been doing. I have two printers attached to the computer via USB cables and am networked to a third. This process recognizes my 990C and the shared network 5100 but not the 1200. Even if I disconnect the 990C and connect only the 1200, I can find the driver for the 1200 but cannot add it. I have tried connecting the 1200 cable to a different USB port but that does not change anything. I suppose that it is possible that the cable has gone bad, but the printer end of it is permanently attached and is probably not easily replaced. It also seems too coincidental that the printer cable would go bad on the day I upgraded to 10.4.3.

Any other thoughts? If not, thanks for all of your efforts.

Feb 15, 2006 8:58 PM in response to Charles Dyer

Is here any chance you can help me. I posted this and got no reply

HP psc 1200 all in one printer problem after Tiger upgrade
Posted: Feb 14, 2006 9:04 PM
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I have five TigerOS macs in my home working on airport express connected to an HP 1200 printer. Ever since I loaded Tiger onto my 3-year-old G4 laptop it will not print through the wireless connection. It Prints through a USB connection. When I go into print settings it sees through something called Bonjour my wireless printer but when I try and select it, it says check fax and print settings. I can't add the printer there either. I remember when I had my old OS before upgrade there was something called Rendezvous. I can't find that now. My Airport works with the Express just fine for Internet but no print. Every other Mac in the house prints wirelessly. Can someone help me Please? Thank you.

Powerbook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.4)

Feb 16, 2006 4:06 AM in response to OLDG4

Is here any chance you can help me. I posted this and
got no reply

HP psc 1200 all in one printer problem after
ter Tiger upgrade
Posted: Feb 14, 2006 9:04 PM
Click to reply to this topic Reply email Email
I have five TigerOS macs in my home working on
airport express connected to an HP 1200 printer. Ever
since I loaded Tiger onto my 3-year-old G4 laptop it
will not print through the wireless connection. It
Prints through a USB connection.


This is normal for an HP. They don't like wireless connections. You have to trick them.

When I go into print
settings it sees through something called Bonjour my
wireless printer but when I try and select it, it
says check fax and print settings. I can't add the
printer there either. I remember when I had my old OS
before upgrade there was something called Rendezvous.
I can't find that now.



Bonjour is Rendezvous. Someone else had something called Rendezvous so Apple changed the name. That's all they changed.

My Airport works with the
Express just fine for Internet but no print. Every
other Mac in the house prints wirelessly.


Reset the print system on the laptop. The command for doing that is 'Reset Print System' on the Printer Setup Utility menu. This will clear out all printer setups on the laptop. You should then add the printer back to your system, by clicking 'Add' in the Printer List dialog box. If necessary you should make sure the printer is on and all cables are plugged in and that the printer is live and not sleeping.

Can someone
help me Please? Thank you.

Powerbook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.4)


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printing with HP 1200

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