HP Photosmart 1215 Support

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Level 1

5 points

HP Photosmart 1215 Support

I have a brand new IMac (Intel). I have a HP Photosmart 1215 printer, which I have connected with USB. I downloaded and installed the latest driver from Intel. Everything works fine, but when I try to add the printer in the Printer Setup Utility, it suggests choosing the HP Photosmart printer from the More Printers box. However, nothing shows up there except a bunch of networking options (HP IP, Apple Talk, etc.). Anybody have any suggestions about how to get this setup?

I have only used Windows until this point. In Windows, you could point to the driver using the "Have Disk" option. Is there an OS X counterpart?

IMac (Intel), Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Posted on Mar 18, 2006 12:02 PM

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Answer 1

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Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Mar 18, 2006 12:45 PM in response to BillDamm

Have you installed the HP driver for the printer? The current version is 2.5.6 from the HP website. The printer does not have a built-in driver as part of the Tiger version installed on Intel-Macs. However, you can try the GIMP driver for the DeskJet 900.

The HP driver will provide a PhotoSmart selection but the printer is not a Network printer. It should show up in the main listing for USB printers or HP Printing (or Communication.)

It's possible, however, that the HP driver will not work on the Intel-Mac because it isn't a universal binary. In that case try the GIMP Deskjet 900 driver and see it it works.

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Answer 2

BillDamm Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 18, 2006 3:03 PM in response to Kappy

I did install the driver downloaded from the HP website. I see the printer in the list of USB printers, but when I go to select a driver in "More Printers", it's not there. I don't see any listing at all for HP Communications, or anything like that. Thus, I can't set it up.

Your workaround does work, however. In the list of HP Printers, there is one for Photosmart 1100 (gimp beta 2). I used that, and it seems to work. I was just hoping to use the HP version.

As you suggest, I wonder if the problem is related to the driver not being "universal".

Thanks

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

Mar 18, 2006 9:23 PM in response to BillDamm

Yes, I believe the problem is the HP driver is not universal binary. This is a real problem with Intel-Macs, although Apple has included a lot of new drivers. In time HP may provide compatible drivers. However, your model is no longer in production so don't count on it. I have a 1218xi in Canada which will put me in the same boat.

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Answer 4

Mar 19, 2006 7:13 PM in response to BillDamm

BillDamm, i am in the same situation as you with the Photosmart 1215, trying to connect to my new Mac mini (Intel based).

You say you got it to work with the Photosmart 1100 gimp-print driver. I tried that but i still could not get it to work. When i print, I can look into the dialog box which displays the current status of the print job, and it just continually says "GenericClass: waiting for device". Did you do anthing extra to get it to work?

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Answer 5

BillDamm Author

Level 1

5 points

Mar 19, 2006 9:26 PM in response to James Doublesin

Well, I must confess that I'm linking to the Photosmart via a D-Link Ethernet print server, and it is using the parallel port. I haven't actually tried using it directly with the USB connection. I gave up with this approach when I couldn't find the printer in the drop down box after installing the HP driver.

To set up over my network, I entered the IP address of the printer manually into the Printer Browser, using IP Printing, and the LPR selection. Then I picked the GIMP driver, and all was fine.

I will try using the direct USB connection tomorrow, with the GIMP driver, and report back my results.

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Answer 6

GaryKing

Level 1

35 points

Mar 20, 2006 12:47 AM in response to James Doublesin

I get that error message as well, over a USB connection.

Any solutions?

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Answer 7

Mar 21, 2006 6:49 AM in response to BillDamm

Folks, i finally got this to work over USB. The problem was that i had to uninstall latest driver that i got from the HP website. This must be a PowerPC driver and was conflicting with the USB communications.

Just add the printer as normal, and choose the "HP PhotoSmart P1100 - Gimp-Print v5.0.0-beta2" driver.

Happy Printing!

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Answer 8

May 29, 2006 8:17 PM in response to James Doublesin

I am trying to dig up some support for my HP 7550 which is really a great printer. If I want to use it I need to boot into WINDOWS XP. ugh.. Look here for universal support for Intel Macs..

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/genericDocument?cc=us&docname=c00597114&lc=en &jumpid=regR1002USEN

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Answer 9

Jun 14, 2006 12:41 AM in response to James Doublesin

The problem is that the Gimp print drivers are aweful, the print quality on images is way too grainy. Is there a known way to use the HP drivers?

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Answer 10

Jul 27, 2006 8:11 PM in response to BillDamm

Hi, I had the same problem and got this from another post. Just substitute the HP 1215 software wherever it says 7350. It worked for me!

Here is the method I pulled from a few different sources:
1) Unplug printer
2) Download the latest HP Photosmart 7350 package (ver 2.5.6 as of 05/04/06) from:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?lc=en&cc=us&lang=en&product=7288 6&dlc=en&os=219
3) Set Print Setup Utility to "Open Using Rosetta"
3.1) Go to MacHD\Applications\Utilities\Printer Setup Utility and "Get Info"
3.2) Check the "Open Using Rosetta" box
3.3) Close the window
4) Run the HP Uninstaller (in MacHD\Applications\HP)
5) Delete the Library\Printers\HP directory
6) Restart
7) Run HP Installer from above
7.1) Select Photosmart 7350
7.2) Perform Easy Install
7.3) Launch HP Setup Assistant when prompted
8) Plug in printer when prompted by HP Setup Assistant and hit "Next"
10) Launch Printer Setup Utility
11) Select your HP Photosmart 7350 and *ignore the other drop-downs*
12) At the bottom of the Printer Setup Utility, click on "More Printers"
13) Select hp photosmart in the top drop-down
14) Select your printer and click "Add"

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