Trying to find Windows 95 driver for HP Photosmart C6180 printer (if it exists)

  • Thread starter Thread starter jay
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J

jay

I was told by a store clerk that a Windows 95 driver existed for this
machine, but had to be obtained from HP. We all know that HP will no
longer supply Win98 drivers to say nothing of Win95. I have seen
outdated Google results that strongly suggest that a driver that
supported this machine on Win95 existed along with Win98, W2K, etc.
However, when I attempt to go to various sites I find in Google, the
site either seem bogus or are circular/related -- and when I attempt
to download what I think I need, the download links come back as non-
existent (maybe they are linking to HP).

Can someone point me toward the driver I need for this, if it exists?

Alternatively, is there someway to fool the driver installer that came
with the machine to allow it to install on a Win95 machine. If it can
run on 98 and/or 98SE and/or ME, it should be able to run on 95.

(Yes, I know that 95 is ancient, etc., but I have a very specialized
legacy situation that I must deal with. BTW, I tried installing this
on W2K and simply could not get it to work -- the W2K is in Vmware and
connects to a linux RH8 network (using CUPS) to the printer. I can
ping the printer, but can't get it to print anything but gibberish
from W2K. I seem to recall problems installing multiple printers on
W2K -- any pointers to resources for this problem?)

Thanks. Jay
 
A) That is not an option for this particular situation. I am
responsible for keeping a legacy Win95 running.

B) As already described, I separately and for different purposes,
tried to get this printer to work with W2K and was unsuccessful after
several hours of working on it.

My question is: where can I find a driver file, if it exists? I
thought there were (used to be) sites on the 'net that had all these
legacy files.

Thanks.

Jay
 
I was told by a store clerk that a Windows 95 driver existed for this
machine, but had to be obtained from HP. We all know that HP will no
longer supply Win98 drivers to say nothing of Win95. I have seen
outdated Google results that strongly suggest that a driver that
supported this machine on Win95 existed along with Win98, W2K, etc.
However, when I attempt to go to various sites I find in Google, the
site either seem bogus or are circular/related -- and when I attempt
to download what I think I need, the download links come back as non-
existent (maybe they are linking to HP).

Can someone point me toward the driver I need for this, if it exists?

Alternatively, is there someway to fool the driver installer that came
with the machine to allow it to install on a Win95 machine. If it can
run on 98 and/or 98SE and/or ME, it should be able to run on 95.

(Yes, I know that 95 is ancient, etc., but I have a very specialized
legacy situation that I must deal with. BTW, I tried installing this
on W2K and simply could not get it to work -- the W2K is in Vmware and
connects to a linux RH8 network (using CUPS) to the printer. I can
ping the printer, but can't get it to print anything but gibberish
from W2K. I seem to recall problems installing multiple printers on
W2K -- any pointers to resources for this problem?)

Thanks. Jay
Click to expand...

The last time I checked the Vmware FAQ on their website, they said that
Vmware had no support for native print drivers.

Perhaps you can get Linux to drive the printer since there seems to be a
Linux driver for that printer:
http://openprinting.org/show_printer.cgi?recnum=HP-PhotoSmart_C6100

After getting the Linux print driver installed (and tested), you should
then be able to use SAMBA to share the printer for the benefit of the
Win95 application.
 
Thanks for the thought Murnia,

I am not sure where you are coming from regarding the Vmware stuff. I
understand what you are saying, but I have not experienced any Vmware-
related problems (that I know of) in terms of installing printers
inside W2K. Our printers are all network printers with their own IP
addresses, etc., thus Vmware neither knows about or cares about
printers being used by W2K. (The printer is NOT physically attached to
the server running the Vmware; the printers used by W2K are at the
other end of the building.)

Regardless, the W2K stuff was secondary and I should have put in a
separate post.

What I am trying to solve is the Win95 problem. Can anybody give me
any pointers of how to find the Win95 driver for this printer? Surely
there has to be a repository out there somewhere..... ?

Thanks.

Jay
 
Thanks for the thought Murnia,

I am not sure where you are coming from regarding the Vmware stuff. I
understand what you are saying, but I have not experienced any Vmware-
related problems (that I know of) in terms of installing printers
inside W2K. Our printers are all network printers with their own IP
addresses, etc., thus Vmware neither knows about or cares about
printers being used by W2K. (The printer is NOT physically attached to
the server running the Vmware; the printers used by W2K are at the
other end of the building.)

Regardless, the W2K stuff was secondary and I should have put in a
separate post.

What I am trying to solve is the Win95 problem. Can anybody give me
any pointers of how to find the Win95 driver for this printer? Surely
there has to be a repository out there somewhere..... ?
Click to expand...

Have you tried the driver for some older models? You might be able to
find a driver someplace for a previous model, or maybe even one of the
stock Win95 drivers may work, at least basically.
 
What I am trying to solve is the Win95 problem. Can anybody give me
any pointers of how to find the Win95 driver for this printer? Surely
there has to be a repository out there somewhere..... ?
Click to expand...

I am sure there never was a Windows 95 driver for this printer, it was
introduced a decade after Win 95. You might have some luck with printing
using a driver for the DeskJet 990, you can download the Windows 95 version
at
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?os=19&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&product=61237&lang=en.
If the DeskJet 990 driver does not work try an earlier DeskJet such as the
DeskJet 970, 870, 850 or 550 (in that order). You will lose features such
as duplexing with any DeskJet older than the DeskJet 970, and other features
may not be available. HP drivers for Windows 95 for older DeskJets can be
found at http://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/support.html

You would have to install the printer as if it were connected to an LPT
port, then after installation go to the printer setup menu and change the
port to the proper IP address. Windows 95 did not support USB well, it will
not work to connect this via a USB connection.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging
 
I was told by a store clerk that a Windows 95 driver existed for this
machine, but had to be obtained from HP. We all know that HP will no
longer supply Win98 drivers to say nothing of Win95. I have seen
outdated Google results that strongly suggest that a driver that
supported this machine on Win95 existed along with Win98, W2K, etc.
However, when I attempt to go to various sites I find in Google, the
site either seem bogus or are circular/related -- and when I attempt
to download what I think I need, the download links come back as non-
existent (maybe they are linking to HP).

Can someone point me toward the driver I need for this, if it exists?
Click to expand...
==============
According to the HP site, no 95 driver ever existed for it.
DriverGuide brought up every driver language but English for the
C6180, go figure.

Here's an English one for an older model (C5188) that *may be*
Win98SE compatible. No rating so no idea if it is:
http://members.driverguide.com/driver/detail.php?driverid=806790

Use drivers1 for the user, all for the password.
 
I am sure there never was a Windows 95 driver for this printer, it was
introduced a decade after Win 95. You might have some luck with printing
using a driver for the DeskJet 990, you can download the Windows 95 version
athttp://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareList?os=19&lc=en&cc=us&dlc....
If the DeskJet 990 driver does not work try an earlier DeskJet such as the
DeskJet 970, 870, 850 or 550 (in that order). You will lose features such
as duplexing with any DeskJet older than the DeskJet 970, and other features
may not be available. HP drivers for Windows 95 for older DeskJets can be
found athttp://welcome.hp.com/country/us/en/support.html

You would have to install the printer as if it were connected to an LPT
port, then after installation go to the printer setup menu and change the
port to the proper IP address. Windows 95 did not support USB well, it will
not work to connect this via a USB connection.

Regards,
Bob Headrick, MS MVP Printing/Imaging
Click to expand...

Bob,

Thanks for the idea. I tried it, but could not get success. The
download web page and the install process warns (as you intimated it
might) that the printer has to be physically connected to the computer
(mine is on the network), but I proceeded anyway. Once it installed
the driver as LPT (and would not print a test page), I captured the
LPT1 printer port to the network path //MYNETWORK/ink1 and tried
again. Still no luck. It did NOT say that Windows could not print, it
just did not do anything -- and there were no jobs (that I could find)
in a queue on the Windows machine or on the network. I then removed
the printer instance and tried adding using Windows "Add Printer".
That added the printer well enough, but without all the HP specific
features. In this incarnation, when I attempted to print the test
page, Windows DID state that Windows could not print (again, nothing
in a queue that I can find).

(Note: yes, I can ping the printer from the Windows machine and
attempting to print with another driver reocmmened by Duh_OZ resulted
in getting garbage out of the printer, thus there is some physcial
connection taking place.)

I am guessing that the 990's lack of support for network printing is
the problem in this attempt.

Any other ideas?
 
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