Printing to networked HP printer hangs from Macs, all Windows PCs print fine

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Level 1

9 points

Printing to networked HP printer hangs from Macs, all Windows PCs print fine

Since this appears to be a new problem that started around the time of the most recent OS update a week or so ago, I am starting a new discussion. I have already read and tried all solutions documented here: Printing to a networked HP printer hangs. I have also read and tried all generic solutions about resetting the printing system, and deleting the folder that contains the printer drivers. All to no avail.

Here is the situation:

This is a home network with an OfficeJet 8600 Plus that has worked perfectly with three PCs, a MacBook and an iMac for a long time. It continues to work perfectly with both PCs. Both Macs hang, saying the job is 1% complete for large print jobs, and the small print jobs simply disappear from the queue as though they were complete, but do not print. I have used AirPrint only, until I started to try to debug all of this two days ago. Then I installed the latest HP print drivers on the iMac only. Note that there has been no update to the printing part of the drivers since 2015. Only the scanning part of the drivers has been updated a couple of months ago.

At the end of the installation of the HP drivers, it suggests printing a test page and scanning a test document. Both work perfectly. However, nothing prints from any application on the Mac. All applications can see the printer, which is reported as Idle before printing starts. Scanning works normally.

I have made no change to the Netgear router I use in the last 12 months. I have not installed anything new on either Mac, other than the OS updates and whatever application updates may be happening in the background without my intervention.

Setting up the printer queue to print to the IP address of the printer changes nothing. The printer has a fixed IP address. Resetting the printer completely and installing it from scratch changes nothing. Multiple reboots of everything change nothing.

Since the problem affects both Macs, I suspect something happened in the most recent OS update. I have a dangerous level of knowledge after 28 years in the IT industry, including 14 with HP.

All ideas welcome.

iMac with Retina 5K display, iOS 10.1.1

Posted on May 16, 2017 10:31 AM

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Answer 1

Best reply

kingchilifrito

Level 1

9 points

Sep 21, 2017 1:00 PM in response to mtfitzgerald

Greetings. I too could not print to an Officejet 8600 from a brand-new iMac and MacBook Pro. This is what I did to solve the problem.

I went to system preferences. I went to printers and scanners. I clicked '+' to 'add printer or scanner'.

I clicked on the IP tab. I typed the IP address of the printer in the address field. Most importantly, I changed the Protocol to Line Printer Daemon - LPD. (This is what solved the problem for me).

I left the queue blank, renamed the printer, and added a location. For 'Use:' I left it at HP Officejet Pro 8600.

This worked for me. Let me know if it works for you.

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Answer 2

blsky

Level 1

4 points

Aug 15, 2017 10:48 AM in response to mtfitzgerald

I am having same problem (also posted on thread Printing to a networked HP printer hangs).

Interesting that people are reporting this on same HP model, 8600.

Here is my summary:

I am having the exact same issues with an HP 8600. It used to work fine, then suddenly it gets stuck after saying printing is 100% complete. The job stays in the queue and nothing gets printed. The problem happens on multiple Macs, and started at the same time, suggesting that the problem is not associated with software on a particular Mac. I tried restarting the router, re-installing the printer on the network, and various other troubleshooting. Nothing has worked. I installed the printer on a PC. In the installation on the PC it said it couldn't find the printer in the normal way and asked for the printer's IP address. Once I added that, I can print from the PC just fine. (BTW in case it's not clear, the printer is connected via wifi, there is no wired connection.) As suggested above I also installed the Bonjour software on the PC as a test. The Bonjour SW does not see the printer.

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Answer 3

mtfitzgerald Author

Level 1

9 points

May 18, 2017 6:25 AM in response to mtfitzgerald

Update: Since I saw that a new version of the Netgear router firmware was available, I installed it to see whether that would change anything. It did. It got worse.

Most symptoms are still the same. Printing still works perfectly from all three Windows PCs and from neither Mac. The change in symptoms is that neither Mac can now see the 8600 at all, whether I install the printers using AirPrint, or using the IP address. If I use the manual setup to select the 8600 software from the configuration list, it makes no difference. (I have no choice in this as the configuration utility does not find the printer from the IP address.) Both Macs can see everything else on the LAN, just not the printer. The error message I get is "Unable to connect to 192.168.1.12 due to an error...."

I have just rebooted and this did not change anything. As a reminder, I had not updated the Netgear firmware for a long time, and everything was working perfectly until about ten days ago.

The printer shows Bonjour services as enabled, if that is relevant. Ideas welcome.

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Answer 4

mtfitzgerald Author

Level 1

9 points

May 18, 2017 6:43 AM in response to mtfitzgerald

After a further reinstallation, this time using the HP installation utility, I have new symptoms. In both system preferences and when setting up a print job, the printer is visible to the OS and shows as "Idle". When I launch the print job, in this case this very web page in Chrome, it continues to show as Idle in the status bar, and is hanging at "Printing - Page 1, 20% complete."

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Answer 5

mtfitzgerald Author

Level 1

9 points

May 18, 2017 6:54 AM in response to mtfitzgerald

And yet another clarification, having repeated an earlier step. I reset the printing system and deleted the folders containing drivers, etc. I then used the add printer dialog to add the 8600, which the dialog sees. I left it on AirPrint, and after a long wait, it comes back saying "An error occurred while trying to add the selected device. Unable to communicate with the printer at this time." Odd, since it sees the printer, apparently. Bonjour still enabled at the printer end.

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Answer 6

mtfitzgerald Author

Level 1

9 points

May 18, 2017 7:23 AM in response to mtfitzgerald

And I rebooted again, deleted everything again, and used the HP print drivers to install the printer. It all installs correctly and prints the test page. However, printing normally still does not work. My attempt to print this web page has hung at the point where the four pages have gone to the print queue.. It does see the printer, and scanning works.

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Answer 7

mtfitzgerald Author

Level 1

9 points

May 25, 2017 1:22 AM in response to mtfitzgerald

I am still stuck. Some additional notes:

My family member with a MacBook can print on a DeskJet Pro 8640 at another location, with no problem. This suggests the issue is the interaction between the Macs and the 8600 only.

Using the 'direct' printing feature of the printer produces exactly the same non-result, which proves that the Netgear router cannot be the source of the problem. (When you use direct print, you connect only to the printer.)

Perhaps more significantly, connecting the printer directly to the iMac using a USB cable also produces the same result. With a one-word document, the printing status shows as "Printing - Printing page 1, 100% complete..." and nothing comes out of the printer. The status bar is at 100%.

I need ideas here...

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Answer 8

Jul 23, 2017 6:52 AM in response to mtfitzgerald

I am having a similar problem. I am a new iMac user and therefore not as versed on this situation as you are. However, I have had the assistance of Apple Care and the Geek Squad both on-line and in house and they have not been able to resolve my issue.

Printing and scanning work fine from our Windows laptop but each time a job is sent to the HP Officejet 7500A Printer from the Imac the Printer shows in "sleep mode". I have to turn the printer off and on and then it will pick up the job and perform the function. If I have multiple jobs in line to be done it will continue through the list and then go back in "sleep mode".

The printers drivers have been updated, router and printer turned off in sequence. The only solution I have been given is to actually cable the computer to the printer which is not idle in our office set up.

HP Help line have told me that for $200 they can fix anything and that of course they are much more skilled than the other resources I have been trying. At this cost I think I might as well just buy a new printer.

Frustrating ... as there is nothing wrong with the printer/scanner/copier I have.

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Answer 9

blsky

Level 1

4 points

Aug 16, 2017 8:02 AM in response to mtfitzgerald

I am having the exact same issues with an HP 8600. It used to work fine, then suddenly it gets stuck after saying printing is 100% complete. The job stays in the queue and nothing gets printed. The problem happens on multiple Macs, and started at the same time, suggesting that the problem is not associated with software on a particular Mac. I tried restarting the router, re-installing the printer on the network, and various other troubleshooting. Nothing has worked. I installed the printer on a PC. In the installation on the PC it said it couldn't find the printer in the normal way and asked for the printer's IP address. Once I added that, I can print from the PC just fine. (BTW in case it's not clear, the printer is connected via wifi, there is no wired connection.) I also installed the Bonjour software on the PC as a test. The Bonjour SW does not see the printer, so maybe that gets to the source of the problem.

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Answer 10

mtfitzgerald Author

Level 1

9 points

Jun 1, 2017 9:13 AM in response to mtfitzgerald

Disappointing that nobody has any ideas here...

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