Cannot "Add" a printer

When adding a printer under "Printer Setup Utility" get the error message:
"An error occurred while trying to add the selected printer"
'server-error-service-unavailable'
Have downloaded the latest HP LaserJet 1200 drivers, etc.
BTW, printer was workin ok until last two security updates were installed this week. Update wiped out the printer, now cannot install.
Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Hi there,
First of all, if you haven't done so already, run the Repair Disk Permissions. This can help fix printing issues after an update.
The other thing to look at is how you are trying to connect to the printer. The error is suggesting that whatever service you are trying to use is not turned on or supported, so maybe look at connecting to the printer a different way. Watch out for the new driver also. It may be expecting you to connect to the printer in a manner that it different to how you have done so previously.
Paul

Similar Messages

I cannot add a printer. It is not listed under default, and does not allow me to add printer.

I cannot add a printer. It is not listed under default, and does not allow me to a add printer.

philw
Try some maintenance actions:
1) Reset Printing System:
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14141
2) If that doesn't help, repair the hard drive and permissions after booting from the recovery partition:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1417
(go down to "Try Disk Utility")

Cannot add new printer, selection grayed out

I have been using a brother MFC-9420CN. I have been sharing this printer with a windows computer over a wireless network. It has worked flawlessly since I hooked it up. After the last 10.4.6 update for the OS the printer no longer works. I first noticed it when I selected print from a menu. The top selection said the printer name but there was a grayed question mark next to it. I opened the printer utility. The printer was there but would not work. So I removed it from the list and went to add it once again. When I clicked on add a new menu popped up. The menu searched for new drivers and then stopped. On the bottom of the menu is three selections. One for name, one for location and one for print using. They are all grayed out. Because there is no selection in the above menu for me to choose. I tried deleting all the brother print drivers in /library/printer/brother folder. Then I reinstalled. Same problem. I cannot selet a printer now. I also tried hooking it up diretly and nothing happened. I then tried the IP printer selection. At the bottom there is a print using selection. It shows the brother cups driver but when selected and then I choose to add it a message comes up that says "An error occured while trying to add the selected printer error code 50" The printer still works over the wirless connection on the windows computer. Thanks for any help...
mac mini Mac OS X (10.4.6) 1 gig Ram

I found a work around for this matter. Most of the time, I use spotlight to remove anything on the hard drive that has anything to do with "Brother Printers" Then I reload the CD that came with the printer and it works ok. Every now and again if I cancel the print job on the printer the computer will do this hiccup and say there is no printer. This is my work around.

Cannot add USB printer in Printer Setup Utility

I have an Olympus P400 photo printer that I previously was able to hook up directly as USB printer to my PB G4. Upgraded to OS 10.4.10 and now no longer have an option for adding a USB printer. This is a problem since I no longer see my P400 printer and I wanted to reinstall it. How do I add a USB printer if there are no options other than Default and IP Printer to choose from.

Elliott,
Click to add a printer, and then in the Printer Browser, click on the More Printers button at the bottom. Do you see any references to your printer in this list? If you do, that printer should allow the discovery of the driver.
Ernie

Cannot add wireless printer - can't get past "Add Printer"

Months ago I set up my Photosmart C4700 printer with my home wifi and MacBook Pro according to the HP instructions. All saw each other fine, the computer recognized the printer. But printing was terrible. Long hangs, half sheets, jobs queued for hours then later spat out in the middle of the night. All this has been reported elsewhere.
This morning I uninstalled all the HP software, upgraded to OSX 10.6.7 using Software Update and attempted to re-add the printer without using any of the HP code. Given the printer itself was previously set up to be on my wireless LAN, I attempted to add the printer from the MacBook over wifi without relying on the USB cable.
The add printer dialogue lists the Photosmart C4700 as a "Bonjour" printer (good). But when I select it and click "Add", I *very* briefly see a dropdown dialog entitled "Determining Discoverable Options" which disappears in less than half a second. I'm left back at the Add Printer screen. I can repeat this over and over with exactly the same result.
Any input on how to proceed would be most appreciated!

To print from an iPAD using the Lexmark S300 series,you need to download the LexPrint app from this link: LexPrint
Hope this helps.

After downloading the hp 3054A software I cannot add the printer to my macbook pro

I recently tried to add my hp 3054A printer to my macbook pro. After downloading the software from hp's website I tried to add the printer to my macbook pro and keep getting the error message The software for this printer is currently unavailable. Please contact the printer’s manufacturer for the latest software. This is after I initially get the message Software for this printer is available from Apple. Would you like to download and install it?
I have tried adding HP printer software from Apple's site but that did not help. Any help with this is much appreciated!
Many Thanks,
Izumi

For OS X 10.8 or later:
OS X Mountain Lion: Reset the printing system
For earlier versions of OS X:
Mac OS X: How to reset the printing system

Printer communication error and cannot add a new printer

I was happily using my Epson Artisan 810 printer this morning, connected wirelessly to my iMac. All of a sudden I cannot print, get "Communication Error". Checked Epson's website, no luck there. Re-checked my wireless settings on the printer itself and re-confirmed them, it will print test pages from the printer, but still not communicating with the iMac. I thought that removing the printer and then adding it back in might help, but now I cannot add any printer at all.
I resorted to my MacBook Pro, and now have the same problem with this as well.
Any ideas please? What else can I check. My internet and so on are fine. The printer itself shows the wireless icon and says the reception is excellent on the printout it produced.
Thanks so much!
L.

It would be unusual for only Bonjour to stop working in the printer. The more likely is that the printer is set to a different network subnet to that for your Mac or, as you mentioned, something like a firewall is blocking it.
The IP addressing is the most common cause. If there is a process to view or print the network settings for the Epson, then this will show what IP address range it has, which should be the same as your Mac. With the IP address, there will be four sets of numbers. For a typical home network, the first three sets are known as the IP subnet, while the last set is the network address. For example, a device with an IP address of 10.0.1.5, has an IP subnet of 10.0.1 and a network address of 5. For your Mac to 'see' the printer, both devices would need the same IP subnet, while having a different network address. So if you can check what IP address the Epson has, you may find it is using a different IP subnet to your Mac.

Cannot add HP deskjet F4180 on OS X Mavericks

My Mavericks is updated, but I cannot print any longer on my HP deskjet F4180. I cannot add the printer in the system & preference menu (the menu is empty, except for Adobe PDF 8.0). Please help, I need to print - that is why I have a HP printer after all.

Hello Jeroenishetbeu,
Welcome to the HP Support Forums! I see you are trying to install your HP Deskjet F4180 to your Mac running the new Mavericks 10.9 Operating system. The reason you are running into some issues, is because there was no full feature software and drivers made available for the older model Deskjet. With that being said it does not mean you cannot use the printer, it just means there may now be a different way to do things.
To get a better understanding take a look here: OS X v10.9 Mavericks: Installing and Using the Printer on a Mac, here you will be walked through adding the printer using the Apple Updates.
Scanning will be a little different as well: How to Scan: OS X v10.9
I hope this helps, be sure to check out the FAQ's in the first recommendation.
Thanks,
HevnLgh
I work on behalf of HP
Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.
Click the “Kudos Thumbs Up" to the left of the reply button to say “Thanks” for helping!

My Macbook pro OS 10.10.2 suddenly will not communicate with my Cannon MX890 printer. I reset all printers and now I cannot seem to add a printer by using the Add a printer function. Ideas?

My Macbook pro OS 10.10.2 suddenly will not communicate with my Cannon MX890 printer. I reset all printers and now I cannot seem to add a printer by using the Add a printer function. Ideas?

The appearance of the printer in the Default view of the Add printer window relies on a protocol called Bonjour. There have been quite a few users who upgraded to Yosemite only to find that their wifi printer is no longer visible. Until Apple resolves this issue you can add your printer using the LPD protocol. To do so you will need to determine the IP address being used by the MX890. This can be done via the touch panel under Device Settings > Network Settings.
Once you learn the IP address then on the Mac you can click to add the printer and select the IP icon. Here you can enter the IP address, set the Protocol to Line Printer Deamon and leave the Queue field blank. Then change the name to Canon MX890 and in the Use menu, browse for the Canon MX890 series driver. Then click Add to complete the printer creation.

HT1800 why does macbook pro cannot add lexmark x4875 printer?

Hello! I have been having problems trying to connect my Lexmark x4875 to my macbook pro. Everytime I tried to add the printer, it kept giving me a message saying that it cannot find the software, so I went to the lexmark website and download the driver. Am I supposed to download something else aside from the printer driver? I'll appreciate any help.

Try to download the Lexmark driver update v2.9 from Apple: http://bit.ly/NBHon4
If it doesn't work, reset the printing system: http://bit.ly/TeaJzV
Then manually add a print queue: http://bit.ly/U9QKrA

Cannot add printer using HP Jetdirect - Socket

I just bought wireless router D-Link DIR-320 for connect my printer Canon Pixma iP4200.
I can print wirelessly without problem using my PC by installing the provided software for windows.
But when I want to print from my Mac, comes a problem which I cannot install the windows software provided.
Then I research for a solution from:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2329236?start=0&tstart=0
The problem is when I add the printer, it says
An error occurred while trying to add the selected printer.
Unable to communicate with the printer at this time.
Does anybody know what the problem is?
Thank you.

This is the screenshot

Cannot add printer connected to airport extreme

when i go to add a printer coonected to airport extreme, i can see the printer as a bonjour printer and begin the process of adding printer...when the printer setup utility goes to add driver, the printer setup utility goes into a loop and has to be forced close...i can connect to the same printer with no problem when it is shared from another mac in the house...any ideas???

having the same type of problem. the HP designjet 110plus that we have connected to an airport express disappeared from my printer list sometime after upgrading to snow leopard. cannot add it manually, error -9672. tried uninstalling the driver, rebooting, and reinstalling the driver. nothing.

Cannot Add Printer Attached to Time Capsule

I upgraded to Lion on my MacBook and have since not been able to print over the network using Time Capsule. I have a Canon MP520 attached to a 500GB dual band time capsule. I have cleared all the printers from system preferences to start fresh. Under Print and Scan in System Preferences, I click the '+' button to add a printer. Like you would expect, the Canon MP520 appears under nearby devices. When I select this option, a pop up explains that software for the printer is available from Apple. Each time I click 'download and install', I get a progress bar that searches for the software and an error that the software is unavailable and to check with the manufacturer. Cool.
I have downloaded and installed several versions of Canon Printer Utility and the firmware. Everything I can find. When I click '+' to add the printer, it does the same thing and I cannot figure out how to add my own firmware. Finally, I try to quickly set it up through Pages. I get to an "add printer" page that has default fax ip and windows options at the top. It displays my printer as a Bounjour device. It gives me the option to select which printer software to use. When I click on "select printer software..." it gives me a pop up window and no software is found.
This is really frustrating and like I said I have had no problems up until now. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hello Stuart and welcome to the discussions.
Let's assume that the HP5550 is compatible with Time Capsule (TC). I'm not familiar with that particular model, but bear in mind that TC will not support scanning and other advanced features if you have an all in one type of model.
Work your way through the troubleshooting guide from Apple.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1253
Post back on your progress.

[SOLVED] I cannot add a local USB printer through cups

Hi all.
I have a DCP-7065dn from Brother. It is a mono-laser/scanner combo. Using the instructions here http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/bs … index.html and the repackaged drivers from the AUR I was able to get scanning and the scan button to work (plugged into laptop via usb). But I can't seem to add the device as a printer. when I visit the cups url [http://localhost:631] I go to Administration --> Add Printer. But there is nothing listed under Local Printers. Brother offers lpr and cupswrapper drivers as well ad ppds. They are deb and rpm packages but are also availible in the AUR. I have downloaded and installed these packages from the AUR but still cannot detect the printer. Am I missing something simple?
Thanks for your help.
Last edited by darthpenguin (2012-06-25 17:16:05)

Have you tried hplip's and these solutions:
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=104778
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=137218
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=955851

After Installing Lion, Ical does not work. I cannot print, I cannot add an event, etc. How do I reinstall?

Since installing Lion OS, iCal does not work. I cannot add an event, print calendar, etc. How do i reinstall?

You can use Lion Recovery
Before you do that, go to ~/Library/Preferences
Move the com.apple.iCal.plist file from the Preferences folder to the Trash.
Restart your Mac.
See if you can print or add an event now.

Cannot "Add" a printer

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for