How do I get my HP Laser Jet 6p to work with OSX 10.8.2?

Thanks for the help. From the 1st link I understand I should download the "Gutenprint 5.2.9" (some sort of printer driver to overcome the postscript issue of the HPLJ 6P?) and from the 2nd link you provided, I should download the "gutenprint-5.2.9.tar.bz2" (some driver that will overcome my connecting the HP Printer to the MAC via a paralel USB?). Does it matter which one I do first? Should the printer be On / Off? Connected by the USB / Disconnected? It would help if you could confirm before I make a mess of things.

I have not read that, so I can't advise on it. It's up to you, backup first.

Doesn't matter which you do first.

Please DO NOT download the source code xxx5.2.9.tar.bz2!

Please get the standard Mac disk image (.dmg file download).

http://sourceforge.net/projects/gimp-print/files/gutenprint-5.2/5.2.9/gutenprint -5.2.9.dmg/download

and usbtb:

http://sourceforge.net/projects/gimp-print/files/usbtb%20-%20Mac%20OS%20X%20ONLY %20usb/1.0.17/usbtb-1.0.17.uni.dmg/download

Hello all, just as a heads up, I to have had this problem and solved it thanks to the above post. The only thing I would add is that when you have added the Gutenprint drivers...delete, in this case, the 6p printer from the queue and restart the computer. Now connect the printer and when adding the 6p make sure you select the gutenprint driver...it's a subtle step and easy to miss. It only appears on that first screen.

I now can use my trusty 6p again. One happy bunny!

Dave

You got ALL my KUDOS. Your solution made it work. Sorry for the delay - I was sick - but I just did it and it works.

Now, what what will I have to do to make it work in a shared environment. The HP LJ 6P is actually "at home" USB-wired to my PC (Windows Vista SP2) and we want to make it work, in a shared environment, on my husband's MAC OSX 10.8.4. Everything so far (to make it work on the MAC as a wired printer) was just a first step in this effort. Any tips?

I would assume that if the printer was on your network and the Mac can see it then printing will not be a problem, assuming the windows box is obviously turned on etc.

Dave

rhodafromut -

If I understand correctly, you want the Windows PC to be the print server? - that is, the printer is connected to the PC and not directly to the network, and the printer is shared from the PC.

There are two sharing protocols available - Samba (windows Server Message Block) and unix printing services (which provides the LPR/LPD printing service).

I'll just guess you want to use Samba (windows sharing).

First, on the PC, delete and re-add the printer using the postscript driver. (because the standard driver on the Mac is for postscript, this way the PC doesn't get confused by incoming postscript data)

Still on the PC, right-click on the printer and go to the sharing menu and share the printer.

On your Mac, go to Print & Scan, Add [ + ], in the Add window, choose Windows then navigate to your printer and select it and the driver.

Finish adding and try it.

I've simplified, so come back if there are questions.

Sorry I am doing this in spurts. I am still dealing with health issues.

You are very perceptive and your educated guess is quite right. A month ago I got my husband on his 80th birthday a MAC he so much had wanted. Pre-MAC, I had the PC Windows Vista with the HP LJ 6P wired (USB) in a room downstairs; upsatirs, he had a PC Windows XP with a wireless adapter to get on the home network and a close-by wireless Brother printer WI-FI "hooked" to the same network. We could share everything: he could see and print on the HP LJ 6P and I could print on the wireless Brother printer.

With the MAC replacing his PC Windows XP, I am still able to see and print on the wireless Brother upstairs but he can no longer print on the HP LJ 6P. This is when we had to break down the problem in smaller pieces and see if, bringing the HP LJ 6P upsatirs and physically wire it (USB) to the MAC, it could print. Your solution made that work. Before, it would print tons of garbage (as shown in my first posting). Thanks.

Now we are on to bigger and better things... to actually make it work in the setup we really want: the HP LJ 6P downstairs, wired to my PC and the MAC upstairs still being able to print to it.

With the picture you guessed now confirmed, do you have to add/change anything to your recommendations given above? Thanks.

OK, go ahead and try what I explained above.

Greg, one more behavior I would like to point out before I start... After I disconnected the HP LJ 6P USB from the MAC and brought it back to the PC and hooked it up there, I tried to print to it (in a shared environment) from the MAC). I set it up again on the MAC in System Preferences, Printers & Scan, clicked on the Windows icon, it found our workgroup, found my PC, found the Printer's Name, and I added it using the Gutenberg driver we worked on before.

When I tried to print a document from the MAC on the now shared HP LJ 6P, the printer image in the dock got a red number 1 banner, a yellow exclamation mark and jumped up and down. When I clicked on the printer, below two small icons (Pause and Settings) the document image and title were showing, with a progress bar (with an X and a redo arrow at the right) and below the progress bar, the text "Hold for Authentication". All this was greyed out. The HP LJ 6P made no attempt to print. All I could do is the click the X to remove it from the queue.

Two Questions:

1. Is this "Hold for Authentication" significant and do we need to deal with it before we do the driver replacement on the PC or will it take care of itself when I do the driver change on the PC?

2. Regarding the driver change on the PC, the place I got the Gutenberg driver for the MAC also has postscript enabled drivers for the PC? Same question for the USB adapter driver?

PS. Before I start working on the HP LJ 6P (delete it, re-add it, with new driver , etc.), do I have to change it from the shared environment it is is now, even though it does not function as I want it to?

When you use Samba (Windows share printing, you will need to use an account on the PC that matches the one on the Mac (I guess you need to add an account on the PC).

(sorry I didn't think of this before - my wife and I have the same two accounts on all computers here)

The driver change on the PC is about choosing from two or more driver choices that are already on the PC.

I have finally managed to set it all up. HP printer is now USB connected to the PC Windows server and shared. On the MAC, I added the HP printer (the MAC was able to discover it on the Windows and the correct workgroup) using the Gutenberg driver you helped me with before. When I printed something, the job did go to the printer but got stuck with the "Hold for Authentication" message. I searched the postings on the Apple Community for that issue and found a solution where you

- click to resume the print job

- provide a "guest" / "guest" combination for User Name and Password

... and it worked. It printed OK.

1. Thank you very much for "staying" with me and holding my hand

2. There is a "however" attached to my success above. The "Hold for Authentication" message comes up for every print job, even though I checked the "Remember in my KeyChain" box. Any ideas on how to overcome this?

In your debt.

Rhoda

P.S. How do I formally give you kudos in the system? Pls explain.

Read this:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3049

Then when you manually add the printer (on the Mac), make sure you type in the URI like:

smb://guest:guest@IP_address_of_windows_server/printer_share_name

By putting guest:guest there, you are using the guest account to print, since you say that works OK.

(don't worry about kudos - I've never used them because I haven't asked my own question.)

Thank you, Greg. I am good to go.

I read the article you recommended and I also did what you suggested, but I think I did it in another way:

- I deleted the printer on the MAC,

- deleted all the Keychain entries associated with the printer and the PC (its Windows server),

- I re-added the printer on the MAC and, this time,

- when it went through the discovery process (workgroup / PC / printer) I entered the "guest"/"guest" combination for User/Pwd at the PC level.

Then, it no longer gave me the "Hold for Authentication" message for each print job at the printer level.

Hope this might help others.