Mac OS X Stuff

HP Laserjet 1100 and OS X

Getting this to work is easy, but it took me a while to find the right steps (read: lots of googlewhiffing). To make this work, you will need both the right hardware and the right software.

Hardware

The problem is this: most printers have a standard-sized Centronics port. Most USB peripheral manufacturers have developed USB adapters for this standard size. Unfortunately, the HP LJ1100 uses a mini-Centronics port. I am not aware of anyone manufacturing a direct USB to mini-Centronics cable (as of July 2005). Thus, there are three ways of connecting your LJ 1100 to the USB port:

  1. Use a USB-to-(standard-sized) Centronics cable (like this one from Keyspan), then connect a Centronics-to-MiniCentronics adapter (here).
  2. Use a USB-to-parallel-port (female) cable (like this or this), then plug the HP-supplied printer cable into this cable.
  3. Use a USB port replicator (like this), then plug the HP-supplied printer cable into the parallel port.

ApproachProsCons
1
  • only one cable to deal with
  • no need for HP-supplied cable (if you've lost it)
  • reputable manufacturers sell Mac-compatible USB-Centronics cables
  • basically guaranteed to work
  • Legacy printers are the only things that use Centronics ports anymore, so the cable can't be used for anything else
  • Same goes for the Centronics-MiniCentronics adapter
  • slightly more expensive ($50 total for cable and adapter)
2
  • basically adds a parallel port to your Mac, so you might be able to get other legacy parallel port devices to work with it
  • only one item to buy
  • I haven't found one that guarantees Mac compatibility (although that doesn't mean they won't work)
3
  • same Pros as approach #2
  • most USB port replicators also include a DB9 and DB25 serial port, so if you have legacy serial devices you need to use, this solves all of those problems
  • probably the most expensive solution
  • the cheaper port replicators may or may not be Mac-compatible; most of them don't indicate on the label

If you already have a cable and you're not sure what you have, check out this page, scroll about half-way down the page, and look at the pictures. The "parallel port cables" that I talk about have a D-SUB-25 connector.

Software

Step 1: Download HPIJS for Mac OS X and install it. (Install the espgs package first, then the hpijs-foomatic package.)

Step 2: Launch the Printer Setup Utility (Applications -> Utilities). Hold down the Option/Alt key and click on the "Add" button. This will give you an "Advanced" entry at the bottom of the drop down list of printer types. Select Advanced, and when you click the Device dropdown, you should see "HP Laserjet 1100" at the bottom. Select this.

Step 3: Change the Printer Model from "Generic" to "HP". Scroll down through the list of models and select "HP Laserjet 1100 Foomatic/hpijs (recommended)".

Step 4: Click the Add button.

Done! Now print a test page to verify it all worked.

Additional tips from other folks

Ran across your HP LaserJet 1100 for the Mac setup page. Thanks to your tips, I was finally able to get my printer to work after letting it sit idle for a whole year! It was the software drivers that I needed to find...

But I wanted to let you know of yet another way of getting the hardware to work. Its unique, but if someone has the same situation I had, it might work too:

You need a windows laptop that has a parallel port, and some method of networking the mac and the windows laptop (in my case a wireless hub). Get the networking to work between the laptop and the mac, share the laserjet that is connected to the laptop, make sure to install the drivers on the mac, and then setup the laserjet on the mac using windows printer sharing. The cons are that whenever your laptop is absent, you can't print, but the plus is that you don't need to buy any new hardware.

Juan