I just hooked up my LaserJet 3100 using the USB to DB25 cable. However when I plugged in the USB, it did not detect the cable as a USB Printing Support device. I went ahead and installed the HP software for the printer anyway, but it fails to print.

Any ideas?

The USB cable needs to be detected first. Plug the USB cable in to the computer without any other cable attached to it. It should recognize immediately.

You also need to make sure the printer port for your printer is pointing to USB001 (or whatever the highest USBxxx is).

OK, I got it to recognize the printer this time round, however the documents get stuck in the queue with the message "error - printing" and nothing prints

We include a customized installation guide with the cable. "Error - printing" most likely means the printer port needs to be reselected to the one associated with the USB cable.

Yeah I did that, still no luck. I think I'll have to give up and buy a USB printer

The HP site states the LaserJet 3100 works up to Windows XP. The JetSuite software is very old and has not been revised in five years, but if you are able to install the printer software without issues, you should be able to set up the printing portion of the all-in-one.

It is also possible the USB to Paralle cable is defective. Too many possibilities exist where it would be difficult to isolate the point of failure without being in front of the printer and computer.

I'm having the same exact problem as dmacdonald07 and have gone through all the same steps. Will this cable ever work with this printer?

rlfriedenberg

In your situation RL, we remotely logged into your machine via GoToAssist. The printer software was not installed successfully on your laptop. There was some sort of error, but in your haste you clicked OK for us. Later, when the original cable was connected to the USB cable, Windows XP asked for .DLL files that were not present on the hard drive. If the printer software install fails, you will not be able to print since Windows XP is not detecting the printer.

Given enough time, I think we could have made the printer work on your new laptop, but it sounded like you valued your time and just wanted to get a new HP USB all-in-one.