HP Laserjet 1020 printer doesn't connect

All I can report is that my HP Laserjet 1022 (same vintage as the 1020) is working fine on my M1 Studio Max running macOS 15.3.2 Sequoia. The driver version listed in System Settings->Printer and Scanners-> is 1.6.1. In addition I am using Printopia, an AirPrint server software app that makes the HP 1022 accessible to our iPhones and iPads. May wife prints to the 1022 from her iPhone regularly.

You might try resetting the print system and add the 1020 back in.

Reset the printing system on your Mac to solve a problem - Apple Support

Solve printing problems on Mac - Apple Support

This all being said the 1020 and 1022 are ancient and no longer supported by HP at all. You’re kinda on your own getting it to work.

The following package from Apple contains drivers for older HP printers:

HP 5.1.1 Printer Software Update - Apple Support

Earlier reports indicate that the use of an HP LaserJet 1022 driver is possible for an HP LaserJet 1020 printer as well, just as lkrupp mentioned. The problem is that the text says Not compatible with macOS v12 and newer, so do not expect the download installation to work under macOS Sequoia 15 without modifications. Various workarounds have been suggested for the HP LaserJet 1020, P1005 and other models, as a community search will show, but the success rate is somewhat unclear.

If nothing else helps, a small and relatively inexpensive Linux-based Raspberry Pi print server with CUPS may allow a USB-connected HP LaserJet 1020 to be shared with a modern Mac (or iPhone/iPad) in an AirPrint-like way. Look upon this as an experiment. Tesserax reported about using a Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ for an old HP LaserJet printer (Can I connect my laser printer to my netw… - Apple Community). Details about a Raspberry Pi print server setup can be found in the posts by Techguyuk in Can’t print with iPadOS17 - Apple Community.

Yes, that is interesting. Did you already have the driver under an earlier macOS version, and was that very driver transferred when upgrading/updating? The problem now seems to be connected to the package installer.

I first used the HP 1022 on a 2008 iMac, one of the first Intel iMacs. Moved onto a 2013 iMac using Migration Assistant. Now running a M1 Studio Max also using Migration Assistant. The HP 1022 has counted to work for three different Macs now and many macOS upgrades. It just works.

As I pointed out these HP printers are 20 years old now (introduced own 20025). Mine just keeps plugging away and I now buy third party refurbed toner cartages from Amazon. Is this a miracle or what!

Thank you for the information.

Apparently, mainly a problem with new (macOS 12 and later) driver installations from the HP 5.1.1 package.

Yes, older laser printers can be quite useful (I am still using, for example, an HP LaserJet 1100 with a few early operating systems).

Except I’ve never had to install drivers or modify anything. My HP 1022 just kept on working through many macOS updates though the years.