How can I still print using a 'hp designjet 120nr (C7791B)' with OS X 10.8.3?

Hmmm, have you seen this?

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&task Id=115&prodSeriesId=295935&prodTypeId=18972&objectID=c01664444

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/Document.jsp?prodSeriesId=25301 &objectID=bpm35004

I see it there, but that list is for Tiger/10.4...

Here's the 10.8 list, maybe the 130nr driver?

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3669#HP

I think it's unforgivable how apple breaks Printer Drivers at every turn. 😟

I'm downloading the 10.8 driver to have a look to see if there's a way to fool it if it insists looking for a 130 nr.

Try reading this thread.

Thanks Matt, great tip/post! 🙂

Have you looked at the PPD for the older working one?

I set up a virtual printer to test things. The virtual printer "prints" to a file rather than a real printer. Nevertheless, it is useful for looking at debugging logs and print job headers in the output.

I discovered a quirk in the foomatic-rip filter that seems to be causing the problem. It appears that there is a limit to the length of the job parameters that foomatic-rip can handle. This unknown limit is being exceded and job parameters are being ignored. One of these is the InputSlot that controls roll paper and the cutter.

The ppd does contain all the proper code to handle these options. We can see that under the Paper Handling section of the print window.

At first I thought that we could simply make multiple ppds with different defaults for the InputSlot and then create multiple printers with appropriate names. That may work for many situations, but it still leaves the limitation in place and may break other job options you may choose.

I think the solution here is to use an older version of foomatic-rip. Foomatic-rip 3.43.2.15 seems to work as best as I can determine with the virtual printer. Download foomatic-rip-3.43.2.15.ppc.dmg. Don't worry about "ppc" in the file name. They are just perl scripts and will run on either ppc or Intel machines.

Before you install this version, you must take some pains to uninstall the version you currently have installed. There is an uninstaller on the disk image you downloaded with your current version of foomatic-rip.

1. Run the uninstaller on the disk image of foomatic-rip that you already have installed.

2. Open the Terminal (Applications/Utilities). Copy and paste the following into the Terminal window:

sudo pkgutil --forget org.linuxprinting.foomatic-rip

Press the ENTER or RETURN key. You will be prompted for you administrator's password. Enter it at the prompt. Nothing will appear on the screen as you type this.

3. Run the installer for foomatic-rip 3.43.2.15.

4. Reboot your computer. Anytime you downgrade software you should reboot the computer.

You should now be able to print from roll paper and use the cutter if so desired.

Let us know how it goes.

Impressive work, thanks! 🙂

BTW.. how do you make a virtual Printer?

bdmorgan wrote:

Thank you once again Matthew. I understand the importance of being thourough and followed your instruction exactly. I really thought that this would solve it and was ready to click 'This solved my question'. However I still have the same print options as before, no 'A1 on the roll'.

Although, when I copied:

'sudo pkgutil --forget org.linuxprinting.foomatic-rip'

into Terminal it did say somehting along the lines of 'nothing found' (sorry I didnt copy the text). Could this be part of the issue?

In this case the instructions were incorrect. I forgot that the uninstaller would run that command. The reason for that command was to let the system know that foomatic-rip 4.0.6 had been removed. I am sure that you were able to then install foomatic-rip version 3.43.2.15. There are two ways to confirm that the older version is now installed. First, if you can print at all, it is present. You could also copy and paste the following command in the Terminal. It should respond with the version that is installed:

pkgutil --pkg-info org.linuxprinting.foomatic-rip | grep version

Do I need to change the PPD at all?

There is no need to change the PPD. PPDs are reflective of the software (drivers) that are called from the PPD. You can put anything you want in the PPD. If that capability is not in the driver, having it in the PPD won't make it work.

Setting a job to print from A1 Roll Paper is a two step process. First you select the Paper Size which is A1.

Then look under the pop up menu below Paper Size for an item called Paper Feed.

Select Paper Feed. Then you will be able to select where/how the paper is being fed to the printer. This is where you can choose Roll Paper (Cut) or Roll Paper (No Cut) among other choices.

Other drivers may have A1 Roll Paper listed under Paper Size. Perhaps that is how the HP driver was. There would still have had to be a place, then to check whether or not you wanted the paper to be cut and/or whether you were feeding sheets of paper from one of the other paths.

Let us know if you can find all the options now and that you are able to keep your normal workflow.

Interesting. My guess is that you are trying to use either the PPD from the HP drivers that are not supported or that the PPD has become corrupted. I would recommend you do the following:

1. Go to System Preferences -> Print & Scan and delete the DesignJet 120nr printer that is installed.

2. Go to /Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources (that is the Library at the root of the hard drive). Delete any PPD for the DesignJet 120 you find.

3. Download a fresh copy of the OpenPrinting.org PPD with this link.

4. Open the PPD with a text editor and remove the line

*cupsFilter: "application/vnd.cups-pdf 0 foomatic-rip"

5. Save the file and place it in the folder /Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources

6. Go back to System Preferences -> Print & Scan and add the DesignJet 120nr printer. When you add the printer, choose the model that says "HP DesignJet 120 Foomatic/cdnj500 (recommended)".

Try finding the options for Paper Feed and then Roll Paper.

Let us know how things go.