Software update says my os is up to date.
I have downloaded and installed the print package HewlettPackardPrint2.12.
I get this error:
"You need to install software to use this printer. To install the software, choose Software Update from the Apple menu. If the software for your printer isn’t available in Software Update, contact the manufacturer of your printer."
help!
Mac Pro (Early 2008), Mac OS X (10.6.8), HP2430N
I would be happy to find that driver for you. Which exact printer do you have? What does it say on the front of the printer?
For OS X 10.8 or later:
For earlier versions of OS X:
OK. Here is the scoop. After updating to OS 10.6.4 via DVD. i used software update to get to 10.6.8. That included updated HP printer drivers, but still could not print.
I update the firmware in the printer itself to the latest and greatest from HP. Still no go. Note - HP does NOT have software drivers on it's site for the HP2430N - only the firmware update.
Because my OS is new, I figured Apple should help. I called Apple. The assistant directed me to the HP site update. I told him that the update he pointed me to was a fitmware update, not a driver and that I had already done that.
The assistant had me delete the printer so we could add it back. the only problem saw that once deleted, it did not reappear in the add printer list.
The HP2430N is a network printer - connected to the mac and the other macs around via ethernet through a router - hardwired, not wifi. After a little research, the assistant finds out and tells me t6hat apple NO LONGER SUPPORTS NETWORK PRINTERS!
The assistand had me cycle the router. no luck - the printer did not appear in the add list.
The assistant said that if I could connect the printer directly via USB we may be able to configure it and then get it back on the network configured and working with the new OS.
I connected the prointer directly with a USB cable and the OS saw it right away. I configured and printed. I disconnected the cable and the printer disappeared. The ethernet connection was active the whole time.
BUT, after cycling the router, the printer did now appear in the add list. I selected and configured and now it prints. I deleted the USB version of the printer from the list.
The solution for NETWORK printers boiled down:
connect printer DIRECTLY (via USB), select and configure.
cycle router and disconnect direct connection
make network connections
re-select printer in add window, configure.
delete USB version of printer from list.
My thanks to those who offered to help
apple NO LONGER SUPPORTS NETWORK PRINTERS!
Apple has not reduced its support for Network Printers, except to eliminate direct support for its own AppleTalk-only printers some time ago.
Your problems were not caused by reductions in Apple's support for printers, but by the manufacturers insistence on making dumber and dumber printers. Some of their printers are now so dumb they cannot answer simple questions like, "what are you" when Ethernet-connected, and must be "pre-discovered" with HP software before they can talk to you.
I was told by the Apple representative himself that apple no longer supports network printers.
Apple has no trouble with network printers that I know of. I know this, because I am currently using one with Mountain Lion.
The printer functioned on the network for the rest of that day. Now the OS 10.6.8 Mac cannot see it on the network, though other macs with older OSs can.
I congradulate those of you who have managed to get network printers to work over wired networks, but at this time mine does not. I would appreciate any other suggestions any of you might have.
OS software up to date
printer firmware up to date
printers 'reset' as outlined above.
still invisible to the OS 10.6.8 mac
One last note, please don't confuse being able to use something with its being supported by Apple. The technician was quite clear that Apple no longer supports network printers. That does not mean that they cannot be made to work with Apple products - it means they will not be responsible if their troubleshooting winds up in a dead end and the printer not working over a wired network.
I would never expect the OS to support a printer other than providing the hooks and IOKit or API to allow drivers to talk to devices. Nothing more. Ever.
That and the fact that even Lexmark does not provide drivers and it is gotten cheaper for them to sell a new printer instead (and yes, faster, better, etc - I no longer use 300 dpi printers). The ink for my inkjet Canon runs $50 full set vs. $75 for printer (with tanks)... Or that I can now print 25 ppm @ 1200 dpi $199 laser (vs the $8500 for the better Apple lasers back in 1990)
Many printers do not support Apple's resource discovery protocol, Bonjour, so they cannot be "discovered" simply by asking, "any Printers out there?" and having all the printers answer and get their names in the Add-a-Printer dialog automatically.
Some Printers must use the Manufacturer's Utility that discovers them and makes them visible.
Others are smart enough to get an IP Address, but not smart enough to tell tell you what Address the are responding to. This class of Printers can be discovered using Internet tricks:
Use Network Utility > Ping. Set 2 Pings minimum. For the Address, choose the very last valid address in your Subnet. If your Router is at 192.168.0.1, the last address in the subnet is often 192.168.0.255. This last Address in the subnet is reserved for a Broadcast address, and every device on the subnet is supposed to answer, but some devices take two pings to cooperate.
Examine the list of responders with and without the Printer connected and the "stray" IP Address is likely to be the Printer. Now create an IP Printer and manually enter that Address, and you should be in business.
Grant -
Thank you so much. I got the printer's IP address from the printer itself by printing its configuration page from its own menu and controls. I had previously updated the firmware using the Terminal program, so I kew where to look in the printer's menu to print the configuration page.
The IP turned out to be 192.168.21.201
I set up an IP printer using that address and now both the Mac and the printer are happy.
Thanks again.
The key to getting this all going was:
(a) ignoring the WRONG advice that Apple don't support network printing any more,
and
(b) finding the printer's IP address.
As you found: there are several ways to find the IP address:
1. the printer can tell you itself, on a configuration page or front panel display
2. your router might list connected devices
3. other computers that CAN print to it might be able to show you that info.
"The key to getting this all going was:
(a) ignoring the WRONG advice that Apple don't support network printing any more, "
My problem is solved, but the fact remains that Apple does NOT support network printers - that is they will NOT go the extra mile and help you find a way to make them work. The solution for making my printer work did NOT come from Apple. It cam from a knowledgable user who understood how to work around Apples lack of direct support.
Several people have commented in this thread that Apple supports netowrk printers. Do they plug and play? NO! Does Apple support have a solution to make them work? NO! Can they be made to work? Yes, but ONLY if you do several things you don't have to do with supported hardward.
Those of you who keep saying Apple SUPPORTS network printers are doing anyone else reading this thread a disservice. I am very, very grateful for the solution provided by Grant above, but that solution came from Grant, not Apple. Apple's official solution was to have me connect my printer directly via USB and not use it as a network printer.
Apple is a great company and I love their products. But they are not perfect. The simple fact is that they no longer support network printers.
I continue to be amazed at how several here confuse "support" with "can be made to function."
When one says, "does not support Network Printers", some folks read, "network printers cannot be made to work".
A clearer description might be "Apple devices including Base Stations use Standard Protocols, and devices that use Standad Protocols should be able to interconnect easily. Apple does not provide telephone or online support for for connecting non-Apple devices to your Network, such as third-party network printers -- but most Network devices can be made to work. You should consult the maker of your third-party device for help making their device work."
...which is why I was careful to say Apple no longer supports network printers, not Macs do not support network printers.
When you and others write that Apple does support network printers and has no problem with them - most will read that to say that their network printers are still plug and play and they are not. How is that clear and not misleading?
Telling people that Apple supports network printers is false and misleading. Telling people that network printers are no longer plug and play and are no longer in the list of things that Apple technical support will solve for you is accurate, as I stated above. It does not confuse the issue and it does not demean Apple - it merely states a fact.
I continue to be at a loss as to why it took 14 posts to acknowledge what I told everyone Apple Support said directly to me as I related it in my very first post. "Apple does not provide telephone or online support for for connecting non-Apple devices to your Network..."
I am not an Apple hater. I would switch everything I do to Apple if the proprietary software were available. But Apple is not perfect and as demonstrated clearly here, does not have all the answers - even concering their own hardware and software.
I cannot get my HP2430N printer to print with OS 10.6.8
