Member Avatar for macnutbkp

I have a Powerbook G4 and have installed the HP software and drivers. When I go to add the printer, it's not in the list and when I try to print, all I get is unreadable, multi-page print. Can't print from anything! I'm using AppleTalk to try to connect to the Print Server.

Any suggestions would be helpful. New to Apples.... :?:

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by sslatte

Dani AI

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Short summary and focused troubleshooting for the PowerBook G4 + HP Deskjet 5150 + Linksys print-server situation (as reported by and echoed by ). The symptoms — local USB printing OK but network prints come out garbled or the model/driver does not appear when adding the printer — point to a protocol/queue or driver-compatibility problem rather than a simple OS bug. 's suggestion about a driver conflict is plausible; below are concrete checks and fixes that have helped Macs on older Linksys servers.

Quick checklist (try in order)

  1. Confirm USB printing first: connect the 5150 directly by USB and print a macOS test page. If that fails, reinstall the HP driver and stop here.
  2. Find the print-server IP (router DHCP list or Linksys utility) and open its web UI to note which protocol it supplies (LPR/LPD, Raw/Port 9100, AppleTalk). Many Linksys units offer LPD or raw socket printing.
  3. Add the printer as an IP printer (don’t rely on AppleTalk unless the server explicitly advertises it to the Mac): System Preferences -> Print & Fax -> + -> IP -> Protocol: Line Printer Daemon - LPD (or try "HP JetDirect - Socket" / port 9100). For Queue try leaving blank first, then try common names like lp, raw, or print if needed.
  4. When prompted for driver/PPD use the exact HP Deskjet 5150 driver. If the specific PPD is missing, try the closest Deskjet model PPD rather than a Generic PostScript/PCL driver — generic drivers often produce garbage on consumer host-based printers.
  5. Test a raw/diagnostic print from Terminal to see whether the server accepts data: 
    echo "network test" | lpr -P <printer-queue-name>

Further notes and fallbacks

  • Check the print-server firmware for Mac compatibility updates.
  • If the print server only offers AppleTalk emulation or limited USB passthrough, some consumer HP "host-based" drivers won’t work through generic servers — the printer then must be USB-attached to a host that shares it, or moved to a network-attached printer with native TCP/IP printing.
  • If Windows PCs can print but Macs cannot, prefer adding an LPD/JetDirect queue on the Mac and ensure only one HP driver instance is installed to avoid conflicts.

Recommended Answers

All 3 Replies

Member Avatar for kc0arf

Hello,

It sounds like you are trying to use the printer and print via the network. The Deskjet 5150 looks like it supports USB only compatability.

Can you give us some more information on the Linksys Print Server?

I have a feeling you have a driver conflict.

Christian

Member Avatar for macnutbkp

Hello,

It sounds like you are trying to use the printer and print via the network. The Deskjet 5150 looks like it supports USB only compatability.

Can you give us some more information on the Linksys Print Server?

I have a feeling you have a driver conflict.

Christian

It's a brand new Lynksys Print Server - PSUS4. I read somewhere that printing with a Mac through a print server will work. I've installed the HP 5150 drivers twice and the Lynksys drivers once. Hope this helps.....

Member Avatar for sslatte

I have this same problem with a linksys wps55gu2 print server and an HP PSC 1610 all-in-one printer. The driver does not show up in the list of available drivers, although if I connect via USB, then it does. I don't expect the scan function to work wirelessly, but the print function should. I am able to print wirelessly via a windows machine, but just not on my mac.

Thanks!!!!

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