Image: twitter.com
Native macOS driver for a Windows-only HP LaserJet
A developer used Claude Code to build a native macOS tool for an obscure Windows-only printer, reportedly in about 30–40 prompts. Coverage disagrees on how much was new work: one report says it wraps an existing Linux driver in a small container.
Credits
- Video channel Danny Jose Source ↗
Earliest dated source:
The full story
The HP Laser 1008a is a cheap 2023 laser printer that shipped with Windows and Linux drivers only: no macOS driver and no AirPrint. It is a rebadged Samsung host-based printer, so the computer does all the rendering and sends a proprietary raster language (SPL3) rather than PostScript or PCL. That's why generic Mac drivers fail.
Indian developer Kuber Mehta used Claude Code (Opus 4.8) to build a working macOS driver in roughly 30 to 40 prompts over about four hours, referring to the existing Windows and Linux drivers along the way. He had to correct several of Claude's assumptions. The result is published on GitHub under the MIT licence with a one-command installer, along with the full session transcript. It covers the 1003, 1006 and 1008 family.
Success is reported, but the amount of new code is disputed.
How it was done
Tools
Themes
Loading themes…
Sources
From the maker's own write-up or code. We summarise what they report; we haven't tested it ourselves.
- TechRadar: no driver, no problem
TechRadar's write-up: why the printer had no Mac support, how the driver was built, and links to the code and transcript.
- Lemmy: Claude writing a macOS driver for my obscure HP printer built only for WindowsPublished
- YouTube: just Claude writing a MacOS driver for my obscure HP printer…Video channel: Danny JosePublished