airport extreme + hp photosmart 7350 = frustrating

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Level 1

69 points

airport extreme + hp photosmart 7350 = frustrating

i have been trying to get my hp photosmart 7350 connected wirelessly via my airport extreme. i have had nothing but problems. as any of you reading this post may already know, hp doesn't care for mac. their idea of a driver for this is pitiful. so i took an alternative and installed gutenprint 5 (aka gimp-print, http://gimp-print.sourceforge.net/MacOSX.php3). when that wasn't working, i tried to install a new version of CUPS (v1.2.2 http://www.cups.org/software.php). at first, my printer was connecting, and adding to the list, but just printing very poorly. the images were all mushed together. it wouldn't print text. now after resetting my printing system and trying to re-add the printer i get the "server-error-service-unavailable" message.

1. http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=107054 is not helpful
2. there must be some other fix besides "archive & install" (this is a mac, not a w!nd0w$ machine)

please help,
keith

powerbook g4 15, Mac OS X (10.4.7)

Posted on Aug 6, 2006 3:55 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Aug 6, 2006 4:49 PM in response to keith murphy

Well, I wouldn't be blaming this on OS X. You need to take this up with HP regarding the ability of the printer driver and/or printer to operate over a wireless connection. What you have failed to note is whether the printer and driver work properly when connected directly (USB or Ethernet, e.g.)

There is a shareware product, PrintFab (www.versiontracker.com or www.macupdate.com), that does support your particular model. However, I do not know if the driver works wirelessly. You can download a trial version to test.

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Answer 2

keith murphy Author

Level 1

69 points

Aug 7, 2006 1:12 PM in response to Kappy

well, actually this has to be a mac os x problem... it is producing an error when i try to add any driver.

any other hints?

thanks,
keith

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Answer 3

Kappy

Level 10

362,007 points

Aug 7, 2006 1:26 PM in response to keith murphy

Well, that may be an OS X problem, but it could also be caused by a faulty printer driver. Try resetting the printing system (in Printer Setup Utility.) If that doesn't succeed then download the shareware utility Printer Setup Repair and see if it can help restore things to normal.

I don't know how you maintain your computer, so in case you don't I suggest you do the following before reinstalling the printer driver. First, remove everything associated with the HP printing software you installed. Second, re-visit HP's support site and be sure you have the latest version of the driver software for your printer. If not then download the current version. Third, do this before installing anything:

Boot from your Tiger DVD. After the installer loads select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your OS X volume from the list on the left, click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer. Now shutdown the computer for a couple of minutes and then restart normally.

If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (3.0.3 for Tiger) and/or TechTool Pro (4.1.2 for Tiger) to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.

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Answer 4

keith murphy Author

Level 1

69 points

Aug 9, 2006 10:36 AM in response to keith murphy

turns out, this was a CUPS problem. here's what i did that worked.

1. downloaded printer setup repair ( http://www.fixamacsoftware.com/software/psr5/index.php)
2. created a new cupsd.conf file (lower right of CUPS tools)
3. started up the cupsd via psr
4. installed foomatic ( http://www.linuxprinting.org/macosx/hpijs/)

i have printed a word doc test page, and also an html document that i formatted as two pages per side, double sided. both worked beautifully.

thanks for the advice. i hope this thread will help someone else fix their problem in a shorter time than i did.

-keith

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Answer 5

keith murphy Author

Level 1

69 points

Aug 9, 2006 10:37 AM in response to keith murphy

turns out i figured this one out myself... serves me right, i screwed it up myself 😉

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