Z3200 Mac OS

[deanwork]

Does anyone know if any of these Mac HPZ3200 drivers and firmware will function on Big Sur?

John

[gfsymon]

z3100 works fine for me with MacOS 11.  I use the HP DesignJet Utility vs 1.0.0 (2) and the Raster driver 52.

The drivers have been simplified over the years, but the end result seems to be the same.

I print from Pages, which has an issue... don't know who's to blame, Apple or HP, but it has trouble getting the orientation correct, between preview and print.  So I *always* use HP Print Preview (via the PDF menu in Print Dialog) and it can be corrected/verified there.  You can actually verify or change other printer settings in there too, so it's not a bad methodology to use as standard.

I haven't upgraded to the 53 driver (even though the HP website tells me it is the correct one) because it's a Postscript driver and mine has always been the Raster driver.  It would be fairly standard for HP to get it wrong on their website, so I'm waiting to see if a 53 Raster appears. Perhaps someone here has tried it?

(I also have an old Mac, running 10.6 or 10.11, so it's easy for me to go back in time should I have to)

[deanwork]

Interesting that the Z3100 works. Cool.

Thank you for that. I just set up my new M1 chip Mac Mini running Big Sur 11.3 with the Z3200 and it actually prints normally with the raster driver. I downloaded the latest universal utility and it works, sort of.  The ps driver on their site doesn’t even download at all when you click on it, so I guess they haven’t finished that one or something.

There is no new firmware ( except Click ) to access, and I’m kind of afraid to install old firmware at this point on a new Mac.

You can open the utility and see your ink levels,etc. but custom media settings app will not communicate with the printer to create custom media settings, but you can always calibrate the media from the printer menu itself, which is fine. I can always make custom media profiles  on my pc or older Mac. I’m just very happy I can print to the Z3200 from Big Sur on this new Mac.

John

z3100 works fine for me with MacOS 11.  I use the HP DesignJet Utility vs 1.0.0 (2) and the Raster driver 52.

The drivers have been simplified over the years, but the end result seems to be the same.

I print from Pages, which has an issue... don't know who's to blame, Apple or HP, but it has trouble getting the orientation correct, between preview and print.  So I *always* use HP Print Preview (via the PDF menu in Print Dialog) and it can be corrected/verified there.  You can actually verify or change other printer settings in there too, so it's not a bad methodology to use as standard.

I haven't upgraded to the 53 driver (even though the HP website tells me it is the correct one) because it's a Postscript driver and mine has always been the Raster driver.  It would be fairly standard for HP to get it wrong on their website, so I'm waiting to see if a 53 Raster appears. Perhaps someone here has tried it?

(I also have an old Mac, running 10.6 or 10.11, so it's easy for me to go back in time should I have to)

[gfsymon]

Interesting that the Z3100 works. Cool.

Thank you for that. I just set up my new M1 chip Mac Mini running Big Sur 11.3 with the Z3200 and it actually prints normally with the raster driver. I downloaded the latest universal utility and it works, sort of.  The ps driver on their site doesn’t even download at all when you click on it, so I guess they haven’t finished that one or something.

There is no new firmware ( except Click ) to access, and I’m kind of afraid to install old firmware at this point on a new Mac.

You can open the utility and see your ink levels,etc. but custom media settings app will not communicate with the printer to create custom media settings, but you can always calibrate the media from the printer menu itself, which is fine. I can always make custom media profiles  on my pc or older Mac. I’m just very happy I can print to the Z3200 from Big Sur on this new Mac.

John

Hmmm.  HP website is the mess that it's always been, but this is quite confusing even by their standards.

This is the page I'm looking at, which offers the postscript driver for the z3100 photo, which is non-postscript.
https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-designjet-z3100-photo-printer-series/3204970

When I look at the equivalent z3200 page, it offers the 53 Raster + Postscript drivers, but also the utility you mention, called 'HP Click'  I've never even heard of it.  It sounds like a consumer grade software.  One-click printing from a Designjet?  (I'm assuming you meant utility and not 'firmware'??)
https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-designjet-z3200-photo-printer-series/3737540

I'm using the "HP DesignJet Utility" 1.0.0(2) which you can download from the z3100 page above. I'm pretty certain it will work fine with the z3200.  I can make custom media and access all options, including web-server as I've always been able to do.  It's fully active on MacOS 11.

I'm tempted to try the 53 Raster driver from the z3200 page.  I'm fairly certain it'll work... but as ever, twitchy to try it without knowing for sure.  Trying to get an answer from HP will probably be nigh-on impossible.

[gfsymon]

Aha!  HP website mess...

Search for z3200 drivers and it takes you to the page I posted above.  Follow through on a few links and you end up here:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-designjet-z3200-photo-printer-series/3737540

and it lists the HP DesignJet Utility 1.0.0 as compatible with the z3200 Photo.  So *that's* the software you want to use.

I also note, that on this page, it only lists the 52 drivers, for both raster and postscript, yet on that other page from my previous post, it lists the 53 for both. So it seems like it's just the website that is messed up, as per normal.  Having seen this, I think I'll try the 53 raster driver.

[deanwork]

I don’t know, the designjet utility says 2019 ( click 2021  :-) .

I said firmware because that is how hp usually cleans up their glitches, by adding firmware updates, especially for the custom profile creation apps.

I’m afraid me adding anything now by guessing is going to screw up what is functional on os 11.  At least I can print. I’m shocked I can even do that.

Would it be so hard for them to say, hey guys, you can do this with Mac OS 11 using THIS set of downloads. Just write the freaking instructions out, rather than us always guessing, try this, try that. That’s why I could never buy another one. I just can’t trust them in the software realm.

 It looks like they have several different people working on those Z links at different times who never talk to each other, or even know each other. That would be my guess. They probably fired everyone who know about these great printers.

Aha!  HP website mess...

Search for z3200 drivers and it takes you to the page I posted above.  Follow through on a few links and you end up here:

https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-designjet-z3200-photo-printer-series/3737540

and it lists the HP DesignJet Utility 1.0.0 as compatible with the z3200 Photo.  So *that's* the software you want to use.

I also note, that on this page, it only lists the 52 drivers, for both raster and postscript, yet on that other page from my previous post, it lists the 53 for both. So it seems like it's just the website that is messed up, as per normal.  Having seen this, I think I'll try the 53 raster driver.

[gfsymon]

I don’t know, the designjet utility says 2019 ( click 2021  :-) .

I said firmware because that is how hp usually cleans up their glitches, by adding firmware updates, especially for the custom profile creation apps.

I’m afraid me adding anything now by guessing is going to screw up what is functional on os 11.  At least I can print. I’m shocked I can even do that.

Would it be so hard for them to say, hey guys, you can do this with Mac OS 11 using THIS set of downloads. Just write the freaking instructions out, rather than us always guessing, try this, try that. That’s why I could never buy another one. I just can’t trust them in the software realm.

 It looks like they have several different people working on those Z links at different times who never talk to each other, or even know each other. That would be my guess. They probably fired everyone who know about these great printers.

If the 'Click' app does what you want then that's all you need.  The Designjet Utility was re-written for 2019 to be 64bit compatible for the MacOS, otherwise it was end-of-life.  I think it's had a couple of tiny updates since then.  Either way... it's an app, not a driver.  So you can install it and try it out and trash it if you don't like it.  Essentially though, it's identical to the app that we used for all those years, just updated code.  It works fine for me.

Firmware on my z3100 hasn't been updated since 2009!  Maybe you z3200 guys have had more luck. 😊

[gfsymon]

Just for info..

I tried updating but the raster driver remained at 52.  Curiously, the Designjet Utility updated to 1.2.7.  However, I had forgotten about HP's little hiccup with their driver software containing bits that the MacOS considered malware and that caused a problem, so I rolled back to what I had before (something that Time-Machine makes dangerously easy to do).

[deanwork]

No Click is is nothing, it's a joke, not a functional Utility to make custom settings, set ink limits or anything really. It's the epitome of sales people pretending to be engineers.

Anyway, I clicked on all your links and downloaded and installed all those Utilities for the Z3200 and the Z3100. They all seem to be the same thing, 1.0.0.

It's bizarre that you can make custom media settings on the 3100 while I can't on the 3200. The page opens up, but when you click on create new media setting it says, can't communicate with the printer. But you can print with existing media profiles normally. Go figure. I think they started something and just didn't finish it. Probably moved on to working with their latex  software.....

Oh well, at least I can print and do linearization from the printer menu. That's more than I thought I was going to be able to do.

Each time I deleted the previous Utility from my hard drive. It's odd when I reinstall this Utility I get two icons, that look differently, but both do the same thing.
See my attachment.



John

If the 'Click' app does what you want then that's all you need.  The Designjet Utility was re-written for 2019 to be 64bit compatible for the MacOS, otherwise it was end-of-life.  I think it's had a couple of tiny updates since then.  Either way... it's an app, not a driver.  So you can install it and try it out and trash it if you don't like it.  Essentially though, it's identical to the app that we used for all those years, just updated code.  It works fine for me.

Firmware on my z3100 hasn't been updated since 2009!  Maybe you z3200 guys have had more luck. 😊

[gfsymon]

No Click is is nothing, it's a joke, not a functional Utility to make custom settings, set ink limits or anything really. It's the epitome of sales people pretending to be engineers.

Anyway, I clicked on all your links and downloaded and installed all those Utilities for the Z3200 and the Z3100. They all seem to be the same thing, 1.0.0.

It's bizarre that you can make custom media settings on the 3100 while I can't on the 3200. The page opens up, but when you click on create new media setting it says, can't communicate with the printer. But you can print with existing media profiles normally. Go figure. I think they started something and just didn't finish it. Probably moved on to working with their latex  software.....

Oh well, at least I can print and do linearization from the printer menu. That's more than I thought I was going to be able to do.

Each time I deleted the previous Utility from my hard drive. It's odd when I reinstall this Utility I get two icons, that look differently, but both do the same thing.
See my attachment.



John

John,

when you go to the z3200 download page, click on the carefully disguised "Choose a different OS" and choose MacOS 11.  From there, in Basic Drivers, you should see the 53 raster driver.  I think that the Designjet Utility 1.2.7 that I found myself with, was from there.  Whether it works or not... that's the software you should be using with MacOS 11 for the z3200.

Regarding the custom profiles.  I've found in the past, that there can be problems communicating between the utility and the printer.  To fix it, you could try:

Shut Down both Mac and z3200
Unplug usb/or disconnect network
Startup Mac
Turn on z3200, wait till it's running then
re-attach/join network
Open the utility

As I say, I've had this problem in the past and this fixed it.

The only thing that's not working for me is Exporting Presets.  Not something I've done very often... except when I'm messing around with installs, because you want to keep a backup of the Custom Presets.  However, you don't loose the crucial bit, which is the icc profile and which is in the System, but you loose the name and settings.  So a screen-grab will do, but you'll have to make them all again.  Also... sometimes icc profile names get very long and the HP window is too narrow to show them in their entirety, so you might not be able to find the right one.  Reality for me though, is that most presets are old an unused, so it's not really a big deal.

Icons..

The HP Utility.app is the one that the MacOS tells you may be malware.  Just incredible that HP did this.  The latest MacOS 11.3 update shifted some bits to a folder on the Desktop, but the app itself seems to be left in the Library.  Strange that it is opening the other app.  What you have shown in your grab, is actually an Alias.  If you 2-finger tap on it and choose 'Show Original' you'll see if it's pointing to the Designjet Utility, or the HP Utility.  I suppose it's possible that when it gets removed by the MacOS, or maybe by an HP update, they made it into an alias, pointing to the new replacement app.  Either way,  if you try and open HP Utility, you'll get a MacOS malware warning. 

[deanwork]

I think that is what I originally had installed. I’ll try again tonight and report back if it works.




quote author=gfsymon link=topic=138191.msg1216387#msg1216387 date=1619637421]

John,

when you go to the z3200 download page, click on the carefully disguised "Choose a different OS" and choose MacOS 11.  From there, in Basic Drivers, you should see the 53 raster driver.  I think that the Designjet Utility 1.2.7 that I found myself with, was from there.  Whether it works or not... that's the software you should be using with MacOS 11 for the z3200.

Regarding the custom profiles.  I've found in the past, that there can be problems communicating between the utility and the printer.  To fix it, you could try:

Shut Down both Mac and z3200
Unplug usb/or disconnect network
Startup Mac
Turn on z3200, wait till it's running then
re-attach/join network
Open the utility

As I say, I've had this problem in the past and this fixed it.

The only thing that's not working for me is Exporting Presets.  Not something I've done very often... except when I'm messing around with installs, because you want to keep a backup of the Custom Presets.  However, you don't loose the crucial bit, which is the icc profile and which is in the System, but you loose the name and settings.  So a screen-grab will do, but you'll have to make them all again.  Also... sometimes icc profile names get very long and the HP window is too narrow to show them in their entirety, so you might not be able to find the right one.  Reality for me though, is that most presets are old an unused, so it's not really a big deal.

Icons..

The HP Utility.app is the one that the MacOS tells you may be malware.  Just incredible that HP did this.  The latest MacOS 11.3 update shifted some bits to a folder on the Desktop, but the app itself seems to be left in the Library.  Strange that it is opening the other app.  What you have shown in your grab, is actually an Alias.  If you 2-finger tap on it and choose 'Show Original' you'll see if it's pointing to the Designjet Utility, or the HP Utility.  I suppose it's possible that when it gets removed by the MacOS, or maybe by an HP update, they made it into an alias, pointing to the new replacement app.  Either way,  if you try and open HP Utility, you'll get a MacOS malware warning.
[/quote]

[deanwork]

Yea, I don't see all this stuff you are referring to . Regardless of the links you posted or google searches on the HP website. Under Z3200 there is only one Raster Driver
52 and only Utility 1.0.0.

I do see where you can pull down a setting for OS 11 but it doesn't change anything in regard to what your download options are. That's really retarded.

[gfsymon]

One of the confusing things, is that the web address, doesn't seem to change as you navigate through different options.

Anyway.. on this page:
https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-designjet-z3200-photo-printer-series/3737540

You will find different software options according to chosen MacOS

(Not sure what's happening here re image resizing. 😊.  I tried resizing down, but it seemed to resize back up. 😐 )







and with a different OS selected:

[deanwork]

The driver relates to the basic interface with the printer, it allows you to print. The utility along with firmware updates allows you to access the custom media and calibration menus. That’s the way it has always worked in the past .

What I don’t see available for the z3200 is an appropriate utility or recent firmware that supports OS11.

The only utility I see is 1.0.0 and the useless click .



John

[kuau]

So I finally resurrected my Z3200 from the dead, I replaced the power supply and the Z3200 is back online.
I am now on a M1 Mac mini running MacOS 11.3
I downloaded HP DesignJet Mac Raster Driver Ver 5.3
Yet I can't get it to install
I get the following error messages..
Any ideas??

[deanwork]

Thank you sir for encouraging me to continue trying to make this work. Otherwise I would be using two computers for one printer.

Yes, I'm finally set up correctly with the Z3200 and OS 11.3.

I swear when I pulled down the OS 11 menu before these two new 2021 drivers were not there. This time they were!

You will not see any utility there ( which is what allows you to make and import custom presets. So you have to use an older utility, then it works. All they show in the new menu is Click.

Ok although I am on a Post Scrip printer I choose Raster Driver for 5.3.
My utility was the latest original one, from 2019 I believe. You can actually download it by clicking this - https://ftp.hp.com/pub/softlib/software13/printers/col97374/mac11raster/Universal-Raster.dmg
If you click get info on the package it will show you the utility serial number and that is what I pasted here.

I checked on the printer and my Firmware is what I had before - Tr 12-RB_16.0.1.1

Be sure to restart the printer after downloading the Utility or you will not see your custom paper presets or be able to do anything.

Everything is working now. I just calibrated the paper from my Mac and also was able to make a new custom paper from the Utility as normal.

It would have taken them 5 minutes to write this out on their site. I do not know why they didn't do that. But hell I'm very happy its all working with Big Sur.
That's a surprise. I am going to try not to do anymore OS updates as that would really be pushing my luck.

John

Just for info..

I tried updating but the raster driver remained at 52.  Curiously, the Designjet Utility updated to 1.2.7.  However, I had forgotten about HP's little hiccup with their driver software containing bits that the MacOS considered malware and that caused a problem, so I rolled back to what I had before (something that Time-Machine makes dangerously easy to do).

[kuau]

John
Are you running a intel based Mac or a M1?

[deanwork]

I just bought this and it’s the Mac M1 chip with 16 gigs ram, the max. But it runs like it’s 64 gigs of ram, really remarkable with Photoshop and it has a stellar integrated graphics card. It makes my display look a lot better than my old graphics card on the old macs. I’m going to buy another one.

Actually the Mini seems to run smoother and faster with the Z than my old Macs.

John
Are you running a intel based Mac or a M1?

[kuau]

John
So you didn’t get the error message like I did when trying to run the Universal Raster install program?

[deanwork]

I never got that particular error message you posted. I installed it and tried the custom settings and I got a message that custom profiles couldn’t be found. Then restarted the printer and everything was there and I made the calibration first time, totally normal.

If I were you and you restarted the printer and see nothing, I would keep trying the various utilities until one works. But mine was the most recent one.

John
So you didn’t get the error message like I did when trying to run the Universal Raster install program?