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TICKET ARCHIVE -> Printer driver does not work properly

wja - Dec 3, 2007 - 3:17 pm

I have a MacosX machine and have connected up an HP Deskjet 810c. I've downloaded the printer driver from HP but when I go to print , it keeps stopping during printing. When it does print, it prints in an oversized font and chops off the bottom of the words. What should I do to remedy this? So far I've attempted printing in word.

gsahli - Dec 6, 2007 - 8:44 am

Start by doing "Reset Printing System," a menu choice in Printer Setup Utility. Then re-Add the printer in Printer Setup.
You should experiment with both print drivers - the HP-provided one and the Gimp-Print one included in Tiger.

wja - Dec 7, 2007 - 3:06 am

I went to 'printer reset utility but could not locate "Reset Printing system" as a menu choice. Where do I find it?

gsahli - Dec 7, 2007 - 8:25 am

In Printer Setup Utility, just above Quit Printer Setup.

wja - Dec 8, 2007 - 5:22 am

I've reinstalled the printer driver and it still only prins the top two thirds of lines and sometimes only half lines. What do I try next?

gsahli - Dec 8, 2007 - 8:51 am

Reinstall means installing some software - like from a CD or from a downloaded installer.
Re-Add means using Print & Fax prefs or Printer Setup Utility to Add the printer to the printer list. I was hoping you would Add the printer using the Gimp-Print driver as a troubleshooting step to help us identify the problem.

wja - Dec 11, 2007 - 5:01 am

I've gone to print and added the printer 'DESKJET 810C'. when I ask the computer to print the blue bar streams as if it is going to print then stops. I've now made the dock disappear and despite going to Mac Help I still haven't figured out how to make it reappear. I know it must be simple but this whole slow process is making me doubt the ease of using Mac computers.

gsahli - Dec 11, 2007 - 9:55 am

Were you able to Add the printer using the other driver Deskjet 810C - Gimp-Print v5xxx?

wja - Dec 11, 2007 - 3:10 pm

Where do I find the alternative driver Deskjet810C - Gimp-Print v5xxx? What I have installed (several times niw) is OSXHPinkjetinstaller which I downloaded from hewlettpackard.com . I can't find any reference to Gimp-Print on the HP website.

gsahli - Dec 11, 2007 - 9:48 pm

The Gimp-Print drivers are part of the standard OS X installation from Apple. They are open-source drivers, not provided by HP. When you are selecting a driver, look through the whole list of model choices in the HP section. If you don't find the Gimp-Print choice, then there is definitely something wrong with your OS X install.

wja - Dec 14, 2007 - 4:45 am

I've installed the printer now using the gimp-print option. When I try to print the printer goes crazy. First of al it printed out several lines of gobbledygook and random symbols then it kept on printing one or two lines of rubbish on page after page. I restarted the machine and tried to print something else and again it printed just a few lines on many pages rather than just a single page.

What do I try now?

gsahli - Dec 14, 2007 - 7:48 am

Thanks for trying that. I'm fairly convinced that you have an OS X system software problem, so here are some generic system software fixes to try. If these don't work, you will need to reinstall OS X.

Download the Combination Updater from Apple, use it to re-Update OS X.
Try Printer Setup Repair from www.fixamac.net (7 day free trial).
Repair the HD -- put in your install DVD and restart while holding the c key. DO NOT continue the installer - instead, find Disk Utility in the top (Finder) menus and use it to repair the hard drive.