HP Laserjet 5P driver issues

In order to use the HP LaserJet 5P with Mac OS X 10.12.6 (Sierra), you have to choose the software named "HP LaserJet Series PCL 4/5" from the "Add printer" menu, instead of the default "HP LaserJet 5MP" which results in printing many empty pages. That worked for me !

Apple shows the driver as being available from Software Update. In normal circumstances, when you connect a printer to the Mac it should determine the model of device and then check if the driver is already installed. If the driver is not local then it will check for the driver on Apple's servers and download it if one does exist.

So with the message you are getting the OS believes that there is no driver available, even though this Apple KB article shows that the driver is available.

A quick workaround would be to select the Generic Postscript driver that is included with the OS. This will let you print your starmaps and Klingon wanted posters.

Then if you wanted to try trashing the HP folder in HD > Library > Printers and then adding the printer again, it may kick the OS into getting the correct driver.

Once last thing. How is the printer connected to the Mac? Ethernet, USB or some old Apple proprietary connector? If the later then this could be a contributor to the issue.

I just bought a new iMac and followed the directions per the computer screen. When I tried to print to my HP 5P, gobbledy-gook was on the top of the first page and then a bunch of blank pages. After doing some searching, I found that the Apple software update was using the driver for the HP 5MP (not 5P). The HP 5P is not supported anymore. You have to download the Gutenprint driver 5.2.9.dmg (http://gimp-print.sourceforge.net/MacOSX.php). I have my HP 5P connected via usb and the site suggests you download usbtb program as well. It worked for me.