Mac OSX 10.5.8 Leopard & HP Photosmart 3180

Question

I have a HP photosmart 3180 and recently upgraded to 10.5.8 "still leopard". I recently looked to install this printer again on network, so I went to hp site and downloaded latest driver (marked 10.4, 10.5) downloaded and installed. Hooked printer up and everything seemed to work fine, until I tried to restart. Upon restart the MOUSE FREEZES and the Apple bluetooth app launched looking for my mouse?? The mouse freezes in upper screen. I tried a different usb connection, nothing? I tried to restart again, zapping pram, nothing? starting to get anxious (computer is less than year old & printer is only three years old) unplugged all usb devices and restarted again.....ok everything works again...plugged in printer ok....restart same problem. So now I have narrowed it down to the printer which for all intent and purpose is still brand new, maybe printed about 50 pages in all.
Since I narrowed it down to be an HP issue, I called HP support. First they wanted $35 because my printer is TOO old for phone support, out of warranty. Was given an option to use chat support by operator. I tried Chat support and was told they do not offer chat support for Apple? (I was sent there by their operator that knew I was running Mac OSX) I was then offered email support, still waiting. During my conversation with HP representative I was basically told that they no longer support that model (because it's 3 YEARS OLD!) I could pay and upgrade to another printer. When asked about the HP policy and driver/hardware support for printers more than 3 years old, I was told " since they release so many new printers, they do not offer full support for hardware more than 3 years out."
Have I lost my faith in Apple? NO it just reaffirmed that non-apple products and support are crap.
They will not help you unless you pay another $35....in which case I was told again this is only "best we can do" help and will not guarantee that they can get things to work. Way to stand by your product, HP !!
So, I will never by another HP product again as they refuse to stand by their own hardware past 3 years!, by their own admission. I can use the printer as long as I unplug it when not in use. lol

Answer 1

Beginning with Firefox 4, Macs must have an Intel x86 processor (which you do NOT have; yours is a PPC Mac) '''''<u>and</u>''''' OSX 10.5 or higher
*System Requirements: [https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/4.0/system-requirements/index.html Firefox 4]   [https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/5.0/system-requirements/index.html Firefox 5] [https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/6.0/system-requirements/index.html Firefox 6] [https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/7.0/system-requirements/index.html Firefox 7] [https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/8.0/system-requirements/index.html Firefox 8]
'''''The good news''''' is that Firefox 3.6.24 still supports OSX 10.4 and Macs with the PPC Mac architecture. '''''The bad news''''' is that support for the Firefox 3.6.x series is likely to end in the first quarter of 2012.
*System requirements: [https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/3.6/system-requirements/index.html Firefox 3.6.x]
*Download Firefox 3.6.24: https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/all-older.html
*Also see --> http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/kb/Installing+Firefox+on+Mac
You can try the third-party product '''''TenFourFox''''' that supports PPC Macs. Firefox 8 version of '''''TenFourFox''''' is available. The product is based on Firefox released versions. All support is provided by the developer, not by this site:
*Home page: http://www.floodgap.com/software/tenfourfox/
*Developer's blog: http://tenfourfox.blogspot.com/
*'''''VERY IMPORTANT'''''; '''read this carefully''': https://code.google.com/p/tenfourfox/wiki/PluginsNoLongerSupported
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