Big trouble connecting eMac to Printers via USB

[moggiemorgan]

Please help me!
I'm Recent convert to Macs and having big trouble getting my eMac to print. I have just reinstalled both OS9 and OSX, although I am booting in to OS9 as I am mainly working on OS9 apps.
I have an HP Deskjet 920c connected via a USB-to-parrallel-port cable.
I have tried downloading the driver from HP, as the disk supplied with printer had no driver for OS9, and they suggest putting the driver in 9 not X. The printer software
seems to work at first as I can clean, do test pages, etc. But when I try to print Appleworks (or Quark etc.) nothing happens when I click on File/Page Setup, and when I click on File/Print it says "you have not selected a printer..." - BUT when I select the HP Inkjet from the left window of Chooser, nothing appears in the right window (where Deskjet 920c should appear) and it asks if I want to scan for network printers (which I don't - I don't have or want a network setup!)

Aaaaggh! I think I'm getting muddled up between Appletalk, Chooser, Desktop Printer, etc. as I've tried all the help menu suggestions - Somebody help me stay away from PC's and get me printing pleeease!

 

[jimbopalmer]

I am confused, HPs site hints that USB support is all that works. The eMac certainly has USB, are you going from USB on the mac to USB on the printer? Why did parallel get mentioned at all? HP's compatibility matrix did not mention a 920c at all.

http://h20015.www2.hp.com/en/docume...hpdeskjet933996&docName=bpm06338&cat=prodinfo

I tried to remain child-like, all I acheived was childish.

 

[moggiemorgan]

I was using USB-parallel cable, as I was sharing printer with a standalone pc, but having changed to usb to usb and reinstalled driver for OS8 (instead of the downloaded OS9 driver) from a borrowed cd, I have got it going.

Lessons of the day: The usb-paralle cable has been retired using the nearest window, and HP downloads to be avoided in favour of cds where possible.

Thanks anyway.