I can't seem to print from my network printer (HP deskjet 6127) on my new iMac. It shows the printer as "ready", however, but I get error message (see below) that it cannot connect when I try to print anything using it. What is strange is that it has worked just fine from my MacBook, and has done so from day 1 (late January 2008). The macbook has run 10.5.1 and is currently 10.5.4 (was waiting to update it to 10.5.5 until after the iMac updated successfully). Printer works well with the MacBook both (when the laptop is using) wireless and ethernet ... the iMac runs ethernet only; have airport turned off.
I have already done the following on the iMac to resolve this problem:
1) Updated to 10.5.5 (combo updater) and then also installed updated HP printer drivers (from Apple Software update), then removed and reinstalled the printer (did this tonight). Didn't help. Still get the "unable to connect to printer" error message. Yes, I verified that the IP address (192.168.2.100:631) and driver are correct for that model ... model does show up in the list.
2) Before tonight: removed and reinstalled the printer several times, including using the CUPS interface once. It will not even print a test page from CUPS.

If I was getting the same result on both computers, I would chalk it up to the printer being obsolete. But since it works on the MacBook, this is not the cause of the problem.
Please advise, thanks in advance.

PS: the iMac does work just fine with my usb multifunction HP C4280, but I like to use the network printer for text and save the ink on the multifunction for copying and more graphics-related tasks.

Good evening,
Earlier this week, I posted in this (new users) forum asking for help ("Network printing problem"). Although posts entered after mine have been replied, I have not even gotten a courtesy reply or request for more information. I think that I did a fair amount of troubleshooting on my own before posting (remember, I am posting here because I am new to Mac's). So if there is anything else I need to try, I would appreciate hearing about it.

Please don't get offended. The topics are answered if people know or think they know the answer. It does not have any bearing on the timing of the post. In your case, just nobody knows the answer, so there are no replies. Simply asking for more details without having a clue on what to do would not help you, I guess.
Sorry for your trouble.
Alex

Please check out this utility. It has worked before for many posters, including me. Sorry, cannot give you a better advice because I am still on Tiger and do not use networked printers.

http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/8070

Alex

I saw your post, read it, don't have either of those printers or an iMac, and have no clue about how to solve your problem, so I did not respond so that you wouldn't have an unhelpful message to wade through to try to find the answer.

I am sorry to learn that you have chosen to interpret a lack of useless babble as being ignored. I suspect that if you give it a bit of thought, especially in light of the previous comment here, you'll agree that silence does not imply willful disdain for your problem/query, and that getting no answer means only nobody has any useful suggestions.

If you do not agree, I'd suggest you might want to add a paragraph to the top of your question via the edit function: "if you read this but cannot help, please at least say hi so that I know you were at least here." This will no doubt fill up the thread with "hi's." Or you could look at the next column over on the forum message list, where it says "views." That thread says that 49 people read your message. Since we are largely a helpful group, with a lot of folks who know a lot about Macs, this translates to 49 people who didn't know the answer, but certainly did not choose to merely blow you off.

By now I think you got the message that no answer doesn't equal being ignored. You may have missed another indication of this fact as well: the number of views this thread has received so far (as I now note Naturist mentioned too; the current count tops 125). You can see this number at the forum level, just behind the number of replies you've got. Btw, that number now combines the replies to both of the threads you started; I merged them to keep everything on this topic together.

That said, back to the problem at hand. I don't have a ready solution either, not being familiar with your setup. So here are (some of) the questions you were missing. You didn't specify other potentially important details of the network your printer is part of.

For example, how/where is the printer connected? Do you use a router/switch for your network? What are all the components of the network? Off the top of my head, the network settings of the recalcitrant iMac are the place to start; you may need to purge some caches there as well.

Very graciously put alternaut.

Thanks, and I was just concerned and frustrated because I didn't know why my original post was not being answered.

About my router, it's a Linksys WRT160N. It has four Ethernet ports. One is used for the iMac, one for the network printer, one is connected to a home-built computer that runs Linux (SuSe, 9.2, but which I haven't had time to use in a little while, so it's not even plugged into power right now; btw that one works with the network printer). One other Ethernet port has a cable connected to it, but it is not currently in use; I use it sometimes when I bring the MacBook into the livingroom and don't want to connect wirelessly.

Regarding the possiblity that a network setting in the iMac might be causing my inability to print to this printer, what should I check first? Regarding caches, which ones need to be purged? I do have the browser privacy settings set to clear the cache when exiting.
Thanks in advance.

Given the error message and the fact that you've been going through the motions with the various printer related installs, my bet is on a networking issue. In no particular order:
- Compare both Sharing and Network settings on the iMac with those on the MacBook.
- What happens if you try to print wirelessly from the iMac?
- If you haven't done so already, check out Mac Help for anything you may have missed (enter 'Printer Sharing', look for 'I can't print to a network printer' etc.).
- As to emptying caches: try to print to the printer from a fresh test account on the iMac. This shouldn't make any difference at all for network issues, but if it works there may be some clearing to do. The browser's cache is not involved.

Alternaut,
I just tried printing wirelessly from the iMac; got the same 'unable to connect to printer' message, and then got'Ready' after I deleted the job from the printer queue. (I did remember to go to network preferences and make Airport the top choice first). I will try the other things you suggested in the next evening or two (depending on how late I get home from work). Thanks.