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How to get that old printer to install in Snow Leopard

By Gerard Lagana Thu, Sep 17, 2009 @ 12:00 PM

HP LaserJet 1020 150x150 How to get that old printer to install in Snow LeopardMy upgrade from Leopard to Snow Leopard was seamless.  After the upgrade all of my applications worked.  If they didn’t, the software developer either had a beta for the software, or they had a Snow Leopard compatible version.  The hiccup I encountered was with one of my two printers that are on my AirPort network.

I have an Epson Stylus Photo RX595 All-in-One connected to my Time Capsule; which is both Mac and Windows compatible.  This printer worked fine after the upgrade.  I also have an HP LaserJet 1020 connected to my AirPort Express; which is only compatible with Windows, and not the Mac.  Here in lies my issue.  If you’re familiar with this printer it was made to only work in Windows and not on a Mac.  However, if you use the HP LaserJet 1022 drivers it will install on the Mac as an HP LaserJet 1020.  This has worked for me since I had my PowerPC Mac Mini all the way to my Intel iMac running Leopard.  As you can see I didn’t want to part with the printer since it’s lasted this long.  I tried several attempts to get it to work.  All attempts were futile.  I even went as far as to try other LaserJet 1000 series printer drivers from Apple’s printer list, none of those worked either.

Two weeks after Snow Leopard 10.6 came out, Apple released Snow Leopard 10.6.1.  In this release Apple made compatibility improvements to some of the printers.  Unfortunately, my printer was not one of them.  Then shortly after 10.6.1 was released Apple released individual manufacturer printer driver compatibility updates, and my printer was one of the printers that received an update.  If you are having this issue with one of your printers click here to search and download your printer updates for Snow Leopard.  So I download the update and I was able to install my printer.  I was able to print once, each subsequent print job I sent would not print.  I rebooted my AirPort Express, and I received the same results.  So I decided to connect my printer directly to my iMac.  Now the printer was printing fine.  I was able to print multiple times without any issues.  I concluded that the issue lied not with my new printer driver, but with printing to my printer through the AirPort Express.

I decided to Google my issue, and I found several Apple Discussion threads on how to resolve this issue with any printer connected to an AirPort.  I have detailed below the steps from beginning to end on how to get your printer to work in Snow Leopard through an AirPort device.  This is only needed if you’re experiencing the same printing issues to an AirPort device.

  1. Install the downloaded software.
  2. Click on System Preferences from your Dock Bar.
  3. Click on Print & Fax.
  4. Click on the + symbol in the Printers column.
  5. Your AirPort connected printer(s) will appear in the list.
  6. Click on your printer.
  7. Click on IP.
  8. Select HP Jetdirect – Socket from the Protocol drop down menu.  This protocol has only been tested with HP printers.  Theoretically it should work with other manufacturer’s printers.
  9. Type in the IP address of your AirPort Device.
  10. In the Name field enter the Name of your printer, i.e. HP LaserJet 1020.
  11. In the Location field enter the name of the AirPort device.
  12. In the Print Using drop down menu choose Select Printer Software.
  13. Next locate your printer driver from the list of available printers.
  14. Click OK.
  15. Finally click Add.
  16. Now you have a functional printer on your AirPort network.
  • Jake

    Hey thanks for this – I have been struggling with this EXACT problem for two weeks now, even went so far as to buy another printer (and returned it after similar problem!). The key for me was setting the IP to the Airport default of 10.0.1.1 instead of the “1022 Gutenprint 10.0.1.182″ address that the driver that everyone says to use with the 1020 has in its name. Anyway, you really helped me and my family out!

  • ian

    We have imagesetter (hercules RIP) and CTP how do we add the rip?

  • Gerard Lagana

    Ian,
    I’m not that familiar with this printer or it’s protocols. From your post I gather that you have the Snow Leopard printer driver already. I would venture to guess that you would use the “Line Printer Daemon – LPD” Protocol, if this printer uses Unix drivers. I don’t believe the “HP Jetdirect – Socket” Protocol, since this is for HP printers. I Googled your printer, however, I didn’t find that much information on it. If you can give me a little more information on your printer, I’ll see what I can find.

    Gerard

  • Ron

    You are a hero! This worked great for my HP Laserprint 5000! I did struggle a bit to get the IP of the device (printer) and found another Google suggestion that referred me to printing the configuration page of the printer. After entering the correct IP for the printer and following the rest of your instructions it printed! I have spent 4 or 5 hours and read and tried many other suggestions from Google but you were the only one that was straight forward and correct.

    Thanks again and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

  • PC

    Unfortunately, this didn’t work for me. Everything went fine and I was actually able to access the printer utility, which never happened before. However, I’m still not able to print with my Epson PX-402A.

  • http://printersinktoners.com/ Buena Longhi

    Really love your opinion. Maybe laser printer website may guide someone out there.

  • xlqc

    thanks for share , it works for me …..

  • geitemuil

    dear gerard, i’m experiencing the same problem: hp 1020 works using usb but doesn’t using the airport express. i did what you described but everytime i want to start an print job the print que pops up saying: “connecting to printer… network host ’192.168.1.34′ is busy, will retry in 30 seconds…” what am i don’t wrong?

    • http://www.macgasm.net/author/gerard Gerard Lagana

      First I would recommend deleting any printer drivers and IP addresses/ports that have been created for your HP 1020 printer. If you have other printers installed, you can leave those intact. Now with that out of the way, I would go through the steps again. Also make sure you have downloaded the latest HP printer drivers from Apple’s support site. I have placed a link in my article, click on the “click here” link from my article. Also make sure you running the latest firmware for you AirPort Express.

  • geitemuil

    thanks gerard, I did delete all hp related in the ~/Library/Printers folder and did a new install following the list above. the printer is succesfully installed and can print the first time, but when I turn the printer off and on it give the same message as above: “connecting to printer… network host ‘192.168.1.34? is busy, will retry in 30 seconds…” maybe my system still has some traces of previous installed drivers or ports but where can i find this? thanks in advance. btw my airport express has the latest firmware installed.

  • http://njherald.com Jaime

    We have a PantherPro46 RIP printing via appletalk. Now I am using Indesign on 10.6.3 I installed the PPD and tried going through IP address. Received Network host is busy message. Is there anyway to print direct to this anymore>