Jim, Does it print your PDF files when directly connected to either your or the wifes IMac?
Yes, I did that.Click the Sharing Preferences button and ensure the Printer Sharing service is enabled.
That is a very good idea worth trying.Thanks for looking all this up, Morty. But what is puzzling is that the printer worked fine through the internet connection for at least two years until this problem popped up a few months ago. I could print to it from any computer in the house, including those connected to the network wirelessly.
I wonder if a new ethernet cable might fix it.
Darn.I had never heard of "ePrint" but apparently my printer isn't compatible.
Look into ePrint as well, the HP site seems to indicate yours is (provided it is networked connected).I may be able to borrow another internet cable so that's what I'll try next.
No worries, there has to be a way to get the printer to be shared over the network.I may be able to borrow another internet cable so that's what I'll try next.
Thanks again for all the attempts to solve the problem.
It does seem to print from the computer it's connected to via USB. But even though the printer is set up to be shared on the network I get the error reported above when I try to print from another computer. (It's not just pdf files now.)Jim, Does it print your PDF files when directly connected to either your or the wifes IMac?
I'm going to try a new ethernet cable first.Go back to first principles as Morty has suggested.
Stop using USB and remove that cable.
Connect the printer ethernet cable to the network not to a computer.
Give the printer a fixed IP address. Set that IP address as the one to use in each computer.
This is the normal way to set up a networked HP printer. I have three different HP printers set up like this.
This is exactly what I was thinking, that the system is confused by having the printer both connected to a couple of computers with a wired setup and then also having it supposedly wirelessly connected to another. I don't think that's how it is supposed to work, it should probably be "all or nothing." That, and also it probably would be helpful if all the computers and the printer were on the same wavelength as far as versions of the OS and iOS as well......One thought,
It looks to me that you are NOT connecting to the printer directly BUT to your wife's printer that is being shared on the network by her laptop..
That will only work when your wife laptop is on.
If her laptop is off, you will not be able to print.
Also, reading the manuals I am not sure the printer can be both networked AND connected with USB.
Try connecting DIRECTLY to the printer through the printer's IP address.
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c04642979
You can always use Airprint or ePrint to print to the printer without having to setup a permanent connection from the laptops.
That is not really the case. For the first two years or more, the printer was connected only to the router and was accessed by all computers as a network printer. That worked perfectly until a few months ago.This is exactly what I was thinking, that the system is confused by having the printer both connected to a couple of computers with a wired setup and then also having it supposedly wirelessly connected to another. I don't think that's how it is supposed to work, it should probably be "all or nothing." That, and also it probably would be helpful if all the computers and the printer were on the same wavelength as far as versions of the OS and iOS as well......