"Unable to open driver directory"

Question

I have an HP OfficeJet G85xi AIO. I have been using the HP G731IN.dmg driver package, but found that if I had not used the printer for a while (using a laser for day-to-day cost control) that the printer would not function. I had to do a full re-install of the HP driver and its attendant load of undesirable ancillary software. I wanted to drop the HP driver and restore full functionality (scan to and through the computer, fax, print) and understood that the hpijs driver would accomplish this. I installed the 3.9.2 package, along with GPL Ghostscript, Foomatic-RIP, and, for good measure, the Gutenprint 5.2.4 package. I can choose the exact driver for my machine, but when I attempt to print, I get this message in the CUPS error log:[cups-driverd] Unable to open driver directory "/usr/libexec/cups/driver": No such file or directory. I have attempted numerous uninstall-re-installs, resetting the print system, installing from a test account, all to no avail. Any suggestion will be appreciated.

Answer 1

Very strange. That is the first time I have seen that message. Even if the 'driver' directory was missing, the installation of the Gutenprint driver should have created it as Gutenprint installs a driver there. You must have used the hpijs driver when setting up your printer. The Gutenprint driver for your G85 would not be available as the Gutenprint driver file in the /usr/libexec/cups/driver directory would be needed to create that printer.
I suppose the first thing to try is to manually create the directory that cups-driverd wants. Open the Terminal (/Applications/Utilities) and copy and paste the following command into the window:
<pre style="overflow: auto;font-size:small; font-family: Monaco, 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; color: #222; background: #ddd; padding: .3em .8em .3em .8em; font-size: 9px;">sudo mkdir /usr/libexec/cups/driver</pre>
Hit the Return or Enter key. You will be prompted to enter your password. You will notice that nothing appears on the screen as you type in your password. This is normal. After you enter your password, hit Return or Enter again. That should create the directory. If you do not get any error messages, then copy and paste the next command into the Terminal window:
<pre style="overflow: auto;font-size:small; font-family: Monaco, 'Courier New', Courier, monospace; color: #222; background: #ddd; padding: .3em .8em .3em .8em; font-size: 9px;">sudo chown root:wheel /usr/libexec/cups/driver
sudo chmod 755 /usr/libexec/cups/driver</pre>
Hit the Return or Enter key after each command.
Does that get rid of the error message?
Despite what you were told, neither the hpijs or the Gutenprint drivers support scanners. They are printer drivers only. If you want software other than that provided by HP for your scanner, you may want to try VueScan shareware at http://www.hamrick.com/.
Matt