I just replaced my old router with a new Airport Extreme, which works great, except that now my ethernet-connected HP LaserJet 4000n doesn't work. It seems to appear in the printer list (192.168.2.142) but when I try to print to it, I get an "unable to connect" message. It seems to be trying to connect on port 9100, if that means anything.

Could it be that I need a new IP address for the printer? I am a complete novice when it comes to IP settings and such, so I'm looking for a walkthrough-type answer if possible.

The Mac is a G4 running OS 10.4.11.

Thanks!

Were you previously connecting to it through your router and IP address or by USB?

Assuming that you were using the JetDirect card, have you tried loading the printer drivers again?

Were you previously connecting to it through your router and IP address or by USB? Router and IP.

Assuming that you were using the JetDirect card, have you tried loading the printer drivers again?

What is a JetDirect card--something inside the printer? I downloaded and installed the drivers again. When I go into Printer Setup Utility, I clicked Add, and then clicked IP Printer button, and selected the following settings:
Protocol: HP Jet Direct - Socket
Address: 192.168.2.142
Queue: <blank>
Name: 192.168.2.142
Location: <blank>
Print Using: HP LaserJet 4000


So the printer appears in my list, but when I send a doc to it, the"printer window" (I don;t know the name; its name is the address of the printer it seems), says "Unable to connect to printer (retrying in 30 seconds) Operation timed out.

What is the network address that router is giving your Mac?

Is it 192.168.2.xxx, or 192.168.1.xxx?

How do I find that out?

Either in your Airport, or by opening System Preferences > Network and looking at the location information. It will tell you what your computer's IP address is.

I mention this because if your router is basing addresses off of the address of 192.168.1.xxx then you won't normally be able to connect to a printer with the IP address of 192.168.2.xxx.

By "in your Airport" do you mean on the physical box itself? Or in some control panel? There are no IP address numbers I can see on the device itself.

Going to System Prefs> Network>Show Built-in Ethernet>TCP/IP, it says the IP address is 10.0.1.6.

Sorry to be so dense, but I said I was a novice at this.
Thanks for your help!

No problem, we all have to learn somewhere.

There is your problem. Your network is using 10.0.1.xxx. Go into your HP utility program, connect to the printer (you may need to make a physical connection for this) and manually change the HP printer's IP address to something like 10.0.1.50

What HP printer utility program would that be? I cannot find one on my Mac or on the HP web site---they only have drivers, which only run through installation wizards, without any option to change the IP address.

I eventually figured it out by discovering that I could find the IP address of my printer by printing out a Configuration Page from the printer. Then I typed that IP address into the Mac's Printer Setup utility (there is no HP printer utility that I could find that works with OSX---just driver installers).

Then it worked.

The printer is still using a DHCP address, though I have been told it's better to use a static one...can't figure out how to change that...but so far so good. Just trying to get duplex to work now.

Thanks for your help.