Apple recommended HP printer won't print.

My intention is to use my router's wi-fi only for two smart phones with only their MAC addresses entered into the router settings while blocking all other wifi devices. The setup procedure for this printer required that it be connected by wifi to my iMac, and the iMac could nit have any other devices connected by cable or wifi. When that connection was successful, I plugged an RJ45 cat6 from the Gigabit switch to the printer, then deactivated the wifi network in my iMac, then activated its Ethernet. After connecting an identical RJ45 cat6 from another port on the Gigabit switch to my iMac, the printer worked. The next day, or some time later, the new printer was not working, while the older laser printer was still OK. Then I noticed that the blinking green lights at the switch ports, which should have been blinking in sequence with each other when idle, were missing a few blinkety blinks at the switch port leading to the new printer. This was the same port and cable that had been connected to the "obsolete" HP OfficeJet Pro 8610 which is now dead to the world on my kitchen table. My response to the lack of blinks was to replace the RJ45 cat6 with an RJ45 cat7, which is supposedly technically superior but actually is an inferior, less flexible construction with the jacks themselves being more cumbersome, more difficult to handle when connecting and disconnecting. Anyhow, the printer was not working, so I replaced the cat7 with the original cat6, but plugged it into a different port on the ethernet switch, all to no avail. The word ten years ago was that Apple does not make printers and scanners, so it was best not to buy an iMac due to conflicting technology and software. After buying a new iPhone 5s, the sales people at that Apple Store assured me that virtually any printer that would work with Windows would also work with an iMac. Now I have given away an HP scanner, two HP printers, and other branded printers that would not work with my Apples, but the people that I gave those devices to said that they worked fine on their setups.

This time, I went to apple.com and searched for printers which were recommended by Apple. The result was about eight devices, all HP. After culling out the laser printers, and the printers which could print larger than 8.5 x 11 paper, I was left with three or four. I focused on the 7864, and noticed in the specs what appeared to be a typographical error, where the height and depth had been swapped. It was obvious that it was a simple typo, but I called Apple on the phone and the tech tracked it down and agreed. Otherwise, the width and depth would not have been large enough for the paper to lie flat.

So I ordered the device online and arranged to pick it up last Monday (21may2018). When numerous, hopefully minor problems cropped up, I visited support.apple.com/en-us/HT201311 which lists "Printer and Scanner software for macOS High Sierra, El Capitan, Yosemite, and Mavericks. Your Mac automatically installs third-party software (drivers) for the following [approx. 5400] printers and scanners." My new "HP ENVY Photo 7864 All-in-One Printer" was listed there on Wednesday (23may2018). Another list viewed Sunday (27may2018) found at support.apple.com/en-us/HT201465#HP does not show the "HP ENVY Photo 7864..." or any other printer labeled "HP ENVY Photo..." I visited <https://www.apple.com/shop/mac/mac-accessories/printers-scanners?... >. This website shows all eight printers that I had asked for as being supported, recommended, or available through the good offices of Apple. The second time I visited that site, the list in the pane on the left under "Mac Compatibility" began with smaller Macs and ended with a 15 inch Mac. All these devices are smaller than my three iMacs. The next time I visited the site, there was an additional pulldown capability which revealed Mac Compatibility with additional Macs sized like mine from 21.5 inch to 27 inch. These larger Macs listed all referenced "Thunderbolt 2" and "Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C)", which is a reference that I had never noticed before in relation to my iMacs 13,1(2012); 17,1(2015); and 18,2(2017). Revisiting the page for a third time, the iMacs which had been tagged with "Thunderbolt 3 USB-C" were grayed out. I immediately refreshed the page, and they were no longer grayed out, but stood out as bold and black as every other Mac on the list.

Does Apple recommend any ink jet all-in one that can be networked through an Ethernet 16 port gigabit switch along with three iMacs and an HP Laser printer and other devices? My laser printer works well on this household LAN, but the laser printer does not copy or scan. The new HP ENVY was originally set up thru my wifi router, and it was working. The ENVY has an Ethernet RJ45 port, so I connected the ENVY to the Ethernet switch using a Cat6 cable, after reading in the HP user guide that "connecting an Ethernet cable turns off the wireless capability". I thought that was OK, as it would actually nullify any concerns about leaving unmonitored wifi device exposed to the neighborhood. As I said, the ENVY was printing through this Ethernet switch at first, but now it does nothing while my printer preference pane shows that the ENVY is not connected all the while it is looking for it. The User Guide still has several avenues that I can take, but the ones that I have already taken lead dead ends or apparent one way streets that show no way back other than to restore factory defaults; or to contact my network administrator or the user who originally installed the printer. I am simultaneously that administrator and user. There may be firewall issues, but I have not changed those settings. It worked, and now it doesn't. I was hoping someone here could offer a straight forward solution other than to to go back to the store and take another bite out of the Apple. Thank you, Tesserax.

Thank you, samtenor. There is no HP or printer/scanning software or application evident on my primary iMac. I believe that a USB connection would work between one iMac and one all-in-one, but I have three iMacs and need two printers. I have several USB hubs including two USB-3 hubs which do not work at all. If a USB hub functions under the same definition as an Ethernet hub, then USB hubs can be problematic. My Ethernet unmanaged gigabit switch works for devices that need to communicate on my Network. Pehaps I need a USB 16 port unmanaged switch. I will look for one, and continue scrolling thru the 200 page HP user guide with countless blue hi-lited links.

Thank you, babowa. I had seen the Product Specifications for that printer, which is the one I ordered from Apple. An Apple advisor or tech rep was on the phone with me for more than half an hour. Then I placed the order online and waited through the weekend before I picked it up at the local Apple Store on Monday (21may2018). I guess the fundamental situation that needs to be resolved is that Apple lists more than 5000 printers which are updated automatically from Apple reasonably soon after each manufacturer updates its own driver software. A Spotlight search of my iMac does not show any Print Utility or HP software anywhere, and I find nowhere to download any.

An advisor (at the HP support phone number printed on my paper Apple receipt) told me yesterday (29may2018) that the HP ENVY Photo 7864 all-in-one is "definitely" compatible with my iMacs and that it would be fully functional whether wired into the Ethernet, or connected by wi-fi, but not both at the same time. An Apple Care advisor on the phone the night before (28may2018) said that the Apple Support website showed that the new printer was compatible only with iPhones, iPads, and iPods. Going back to last week, I had keypunched the wifi MAC address of the new printer into my gateway modem. The new printer was set up with wi-fi per the instructions which required that nothing be wired to either the printer or my iMac. With only 120 volt AC wired to my iMac and to the new printer, the printer was working thru wifi. Then I powered down my iMac and the new printer and connected them with one RJ45 Cat6 ethernet cable. The printer again worked with Ethernet configuration. Then I reconnected my iMac through my Ethernet switch to my new printer using two RJ45 Cat6 cables. That also worked. I now have two new distinct IP addresses reserved in my modem settings, one for the new printer's Ethernet MAC address, and the other for the new printer's Wi-Fi MAC address. Satisfied that I had accomplished what I had set out to do, I shut down my iMac for several hours, perhaps overnight. The next time I powered up, the new printer failed, and I also lost Internet access. In an attempt to regain access to the Internet and to regain functionality of the new printer, I spent three hours on the phone with four technicians, one at a time. A "tier 4 technician" got the modem router working. I ended the phone and keypunched all the desired names, reserved IP addresses, and MAC addresses for my 16 devices into my modem settings. Then my Safari browser failed through my coaxial cable ISP, so I connected an older DSL modem, where the Safari browser also failed through a different ISP. I attempted to access the Internet with Safari on my iPhone cell phone service with a third ISP, and that also failed. All three of my ISP's reported that the Safari serve or service could nit be located. Today, all my notes have disappeared from my iMac. and my email service was lost. I "force quit" the mail service, and restarted my iMac. Now, everything appears to be normal. The new printer is still in the box where I put it more than 24 hours ago, ready to return to the new Apple MarketStreet Store where I had picked it up nine days ago. I would have returned it yesterday, but the radio that an 18-wheeler had jackknifed on a major highway. I turned on my TV, and it showed the tractor hung up on the median guard rail with the trailer blocking all the southbound lanes. I have to cross that highway to get to the new Apple MarketStreet store, and all the southbound highway traffic (three of six lanes) was being detoured to the two lane route upon which I travel to get to the Apple MarketStreet store. My caller ID displayed the Apple Support telephone number. Apparently, they had called while I was in the shower yesterday morning (29may2018) at 10:50am. Unlike every other telephone number, that number disappeared from caller ID after I returned the call. An agent asked why I had called, and I said that I was returning their call from minutes earlier. The representative then said that he could find no open case under my name or phone number. I suggested that their call may have been to remind me of a noontime reservation that I had made for a "Today at Apple" iPhone seminar, or it may have been regarding the failure of my new printer. I have until Monday, 04jun2018, to get full credit for the HP ENVY Photo 7864 All-in-One printer. Where does the time go?

Thank you, again, babowa.

Monday, 04jun2018, is the end of the 14 day trial or grace period. I expect Thursday or Friday (tomorrow or the day after) I'll return the printer.

I have file sharing turned off with "no access" for "Everyone" with access for myself as both admin and standard user on this one iMac.

Knowing the MAC addresses of each of my devices, whether for Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc., I believe that no other device can access any portion of my network without its own valid MAC address, which would also have to be allowed by me after having been recognized by the DHCP in my gateway modem router, where it would remain permanently blocked until I either recognize and approve it myself, or delete it. If I need to reset my modem to factory defaults, I have the option to restore all my device settings from my ISP as they were before the reset, or to re-enter each device one character at a time.

I expect some minor disruption when I set up to share two printers with three iMacs on my household (LAN) network. The ENVY may be too readily recognized, so I would prefer to purchase a new, different printer with scan and copy capability. Then I would set up as one administrator for all three iMacs, and allow only standard users (meaning me) with a different standard user name and password for each iMac, with the one administrator (me again) the only one allowed to reset the passwords for all users.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/hp-envy-photo-7800-all-in-one-printer-serie s/9073159/document/c05666213

I revisited the website found at the above link earlier this afternoon. It looks identical to a web page that was influential in my decision to order the HP ENVY Photo 7864 All-in-One two weeks ago. I read the URL printed on the box and keyed it in as "www.hp.com/go/ENVY7864a" That also showed the website that appeared identical to the one found by the link at the beginning of this reply. The actual URL printed on the OEM box shipped to the Apple store and now on the floor beside me is "www.hp.com/go/ENVYP7864a". Note the additional and heretofore unnoticed and therefore omitted "P".

With that link in the address bar, I hit return. After a long time, it appeared that my Internet access had been lost again, but then Safari responded by saying that it could not open the page. When I tried to return to this discussion, the message "Unauthorized" popped up and it said that access was denied. It went on to say that if I felt that it was a mistake, I should discuss it with my system administrator or whoever or whatever brought me here. We are legion.

I have just now reread the entire thread. One reply suggested to me that "there is no way anyone would be able to access your printer if you do not have printer sharing enabled and the printer is off." I had thought that printer sharing that I was sharing my printers only with devices on my local area network (LAN). Access to a LAN can be firewalled and restricted from the Internet by various means. I believe that I must have printer sharing enabled so that either of my two printers could be accessed from any of my three iMacs. Again, in order for all my devices to communicate securely on my LAN, it is necessary for each of them to be readily accessible to and from each other. This is done by each device addressing any other with a unique MAC addresses. Correct? All the keys, upper and lower case, on a USA english type keyboard, allow about 100 characters to choose from to generate "an impossibly difficult general password for the router". Generally, however, the terms of use and privacy policies that that I have to agreed to with my ISP state that they are not at all responsible for anything that fails and that I am solely responsible for everything. They claim that any data that emanates from their rented modem onto the world wide web or Internet is no longer mine but that I am solely responsible for its content. They can duplicate it, delete it, edit it, censor it, send it anywhere in the world, or restrict it from anyone. A few years ago, I was composing a password for my router, and the first few characters I typed were underscored with a bright red bar graph that said that it wasn't secure. I continued typing, and the bar graph turned yellow, which was deemed "average". OK, just a couple more characters and it would turn green. It stayed yellow through more than twenty characters. Some time later I was online and on the phone with one of perhaps thousands of anonymous tech reps at my ISP. As I started to enter that same passcode, the tech rep said that no one would guess that password. I asked how he could know that. He said that he could see it on his screen as I typed, whereas all that I could see were stars [***********...].