HP DesignJet 500ps Driver?

Good idea — but I already tried. When I checked the HP site, I eventually found this page: http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&obje ctID=c01863553

The bottom of the page has a list which includes the HP Designjet 500ps 42" printer; this note is associated with the list: "The new drivers for these models are not included on the Apple Mac OS X Snow Leopard DVD. The latest drivers for these models should be available from Apple Software Updates."

Basically, as far as I've been able to figure it out, HP says Apple should provide the driver, and Apple says HP should provide the driver.

Software Update per se didn't help, but I went to Apple / Support / Downloads,

searched for HP drivers, got to this page: http://support.apple.com/kb/DL907,

checked to make sure that the HP Designjet 500ps 42" was included in this set of drivers,

and hit the download button. After all 515 MB of the HP printer drivers arrived, I installed it.

Then just for the heck of it, I restarted my iMac.

Then I looked on the Print menu, under "Nearby Printers", and the HP Directjet did not show up.

So I tried to "Add Printer".

In "Add Printer", the HP didn't show up under Default, so I tried adding it under "IP".

I have a note in a file that purports to give the plotter's IP address, though I can't get the HP printer to tell me its own IP address, or print a configuration sheet (no card) — so maybe the IP address is wrong, and that's why it won't print. I used the HP Jetdirect Socket protocols, and selected the appropriate driver. The printer now shows up in the printer list, but whenever I try to print to it, another HP printer responds.

I spent most of the afternoon trying to figure out how to find out the correct IP address of the HP Designjet,

and have not yet managed. If I can ever figure that out, maybe it will solve the problem. If not, I'll be back with more questions.

I ended up rearranging some furniture, and got a longer printer cable.

When I connected the HP Designjet DIRECTLY to an iMac, instead of through an adapter, it showed up on the printer list. Seems to be working fine now.

Thank you, everybody!