Printing with hardwired printer

Hi,

First of all, try to connect the Ethernet cable from the printer to one of the LAN ports of a Wi-Fi router instead. The iMac could be wired by Ethernet to another LAN port, or wirelessly connected to the router. A direct cable connection computer to printer is not a good solution.

Anyway, you will need an appropriate driver. The HP 5.1.1 Printer Software Update from Apple is not supported for macOS 12 Monterey, but it may be worth checking whether it would work anyway. An HP LaserJet 5100 Series version 19.13 driver is listed in the article Printer and scanner drivers for Mac - Apple Support. Look upon this as an experiment, and make sure that you have backup copies of all important files before doing anything.

You may have to reset the printing system (see link provided by Old Toad) before/between tests.

The HP LaserJet 5100 Printer series appears to support PCL 6, PCL 5e, and Postscript Level 3 emulation. So, if you cannot locate a working driver, it may be possible to use a driver for a similar HP model, or a generic PCL or PS driver.

0ld_Chestnut wrote:

I believe I attached my HP 5100 series printer to my iMac running Monterey.

Either you did or you didn't. Which is it?

Please read the following user tip and restate your question/problem in detail: 

     Writing an Effective Apple Support Communities Question - Apple Community

Is this a new printer or have you used it before with this Mac?

What system are you running?

Go to the System/Printers & Scanners preferences/settings pane and see if the printer is listed. If not click on the "+" button and add the printer.

If the printer is listed follow these instructions: Reset the Mac printing system to solve a problem - Apple Support

Open –> System Preferences –> Printers –> click on the + and add the HP:

Add a printer to your printer list so you can use it on Mac – Apple Support (UK)