I have two Macs connected via Ethernet to an HP officejet d135 fitted with a jetdirect 200m print server, itself wired to a WiFi-equiped ADSL router/ switching hub. I have a WiFi-equiped Dell laptop running Windows XP Professional that I wanted to be able to print from - without a wired (Ethernet or USB) connection. Sounds simple. I downloaded the latest XP drivers from HP but found myself initially unable to complete the installation (despite the Mac install working without a hitch). Here is a list of the "required" steps that were ultimately successful, should you need to do the same.
Maybe a picture helps? This is what we are trying to achieve:
This is the installer screen I couldn't get past. Clicking next resulted in a temporary greying-out of the options, and then the same dialog:
d135 driver installer from web: Next doesn't work
How to overcome this? Follow these steps (or skip straight to no. 12):
- Go to www.hp.com, Software and Driver Downloads, and download the latest d135 drivers for Windows XP (3.20 or A.14.01.20);
Run the installer and fail to get past the above screen; - Go to www.hp.com, Support and Troubleshooting. Enter d135 and enter search terms to find out about this problem. Nothing is relevant in the returned results, so give up;
- Chose Contact HP from the Customer Care menu, and select the option to E-mail technical support after you buy. Fill in the form and send your request for help;
- Read the e-mail reply for HP "Total Care" (cough), advising you that as "Your email has reached the support group of the HP product
division in the United States. There may be hardware and software differences in our products sold in various regions.", you should go to www.hp.com/support and select your country; - Do this, repeat (3), then read another e-mail as per (4);
- Reply to the second e-mail with something like "I DID use www.hp.co.uk to send this message. If you can't be bothered answering it, why don't you re-direct it and try helping?";
- Receive e-mail no. 3 (not counting fully automated responses) from HP, stating "I recommend you contact our Phone or Chat support to resolve the issue. The phone number is 0870 010 4320.", or to visit the web site for a list of alternative numbers;
- Ring the number at (7). It isn't answered, so give up and go to the website URL given;
- Phone the out-of-warranty support number for this model (0901 235 2328, 60 p/min) and speak to Person 1, who will say "OK" several times intermixed with strained periods of silence, and then tell you that the officejet drivers are only for Windows XP Home Edition and not Windows XP Professional. Persist, and get a case reference to escalate to Person 2 at the next level;
- Enjoy being on hold for a while, then struggle to understand Person 2 who is not fluent in English. Describe the problem. Several times, spelling out the difficult words like "WiFi";
- After £12 or so of "support", give up, thank Person 2 for trying to help, and hang up;
- Go into the cupboard under the eves in the attic and dust off the original install CD that shipped with the printer (version 3.00). It should auto-run;
- Proceed through the installer, passing through the above screen to the one shown below, and complete the steps;
- Print a test page, and vow never to buy another product for which you might need technical support.
d135 driver installer from CD-ROM: Next does work
Beware! HP thus continue in their time-honoured tradition of producing the worst printer/scanner device drivers that money can buy. Although their software installs on a Mac, it's the slowest, most bug-ridden and frustrating software I've ever used. Well done HP; glad to see you're maintaining consistent standards.
Update 10.04.06: Use an Intel Mac? Advice on how to printer to a d135 over a network here.
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