Developer Uses Claude AI to Build macOS Driver for Incompatible HP Printer

Dev uses Claude AI to create native macOS driver for 'obscure' Windows-only printer -- Linux container hack enables system-wide Cmd-P printing, driver now available on Github

'HP never shipped a working macOS driver' for this model, says the dev. A developer has revealed that they used Claude Code to create a macOS laser printer driver for the HP Laser 1008a, a machine designed for Windows users. Kuberwastaken (AKA Kuber) says that "HP never shipped a working macOS driver for these," but the Claude Code-assisted driver package now works so well they can "print from Apple Silicon macOS like a normal printer. CMD-P from any app. No terminal, no per-job scripts." Kuber provides some background to the driver development on the above-linked GitHub page. The HP family of printers, which includes the Laser 1008a, were just rebadged versions of Samsung's SPL3 lasers, they say. This is fine for Windows users, but they don't talk to computers via more widely compatible standards such as PostScript or PCL. Nor do they work with open source SPL/QPDL drivers, or Apple AirPrint. So, how was this driver wrangling achieved, other than handing the job off to an AI coding agent? Kuber notes that the hp-laser-1008a-macos project leverages HP's own rastertospl. This is also used by the HP Unified Linux Driver, which works with this 'Windows printer.' Thus the new macOS driver works by inserting this codec inside a tiny Linux container, which delivers the result over USB. Setting up this driver is a simple one-shot, one-time process - as it should be but might not have been expected. Kuber explains that a user needs only to make sure that Homebrew (Apple's package manager), is already installed on their system. Many may already have this installed, and if so, can just open up Terminal and paste in: git clone https://github.com/Kuberwastaken/hp-laser-1008a-macos.git && cd hp-laser-1008a-macos && ./install.sh "That is it. It will ask for your Mac password once, set everything up, and your printer will appear as "HP Laser 1008a". Print to it from any app with Cmd-P," boasts Kuber. If you are a macOS user and get access to or are offered a cheap HP Laser 1008a, there's now no need to turn your nose up at this SPL3 laser. Models including the HP Laser 1003/1006/1008 are all good with this driver, it is claimed. However, there are a few things to be aware of. Kuber notes that hp-laser-1008a-macos can be a bit slow from idle to first print, that Colima must be running, and some may have to update their USB product ID if the driver complains of "printer not found" on your model. As per the intro, Kuber has shared this slickly working macOS printer driver on GitHub, so other developers don't have to replicate this work. Follow Tom's Hardware on Google News, or add us as a preferred source, to get our latest news, analysis, & reviews in your feeds.

Dev taps Claude Code to craft custom printer driver for macOS

There's a new and very helpful use case for AI coding agents: designing drivers for devices, such as old printers, that were never meant to work with a particular operating system. Kuber Mehta, a New Delhi, India-based developer and founder of PolyThink, has published an account of how he coaxed Anthropic's Claude Code into creating a macOS driver for his HP Laser 1008a, for which HP offers only Windows and Linux drivers. "My HP Laser 1008a is a rebadged Samsung host-based printer that speaks a proprietary raster language (SPL3), and it has no macOS driver and no AirPrint," Mehta explained in a blog post. "So on paper it just does not print from a Mac. This is the (lightly redacted) transcript of me and Claude Code getting it working anyway." The GitHub repo for the driver - published under an open source MIT license - outlines the problem, which is that none of the common connection options work. There's no support for AirPrint, PostScript, or PCL (Printer Command Language), and SPL/QPDL drivers didn't work. What Mehta and Claude did was create a patch to SpliX, an open source driver for SPL2- and SPLc-based printers made by Samsung, Xerox, Dell, Lexmark, and Toshiba. Mehta's series of social media posts about the project appears to have touched a nerve. The discussion elicited appreciation for what people see as a positive use of technology, one that recognizes the finicky nature of printers and offers hope that old devices are potentially salvageable. Mehta's conversation with Claude Code took around 30-40 prompts and cost about 4 percent of his monthly usage. It's worth reviewing for anyone unfamiliar with AI model interaction because it illustrates how the model - Opus 4.8 in this case - makes confident statements that have to be corrected and often characterizes its remarks as "honest" (a behavior drilled into Opus 4.8). The project also serves to validate one of the often-cited benefits of AI tools - that they allow people to participate more broadly in the way they use software. Writing a device driver traditionally required specialized programming knowledge, and Mehta, by his own admission, "knew very little about macOS drivers but learned along the way." While it's fair to say that AI assistance encourages people to tackle tasks they're not really prepared to manage on their own, the sense of enablement is clearly catching, despite the technical debt being generated. Others have also used AI coding agents to come up with ways to make their printers more functional. Vercel CEO Guillermo Rauch articulated the sense of possibility that animates the AI-pilled in a social media post about the general utility of AI. "Every idea you shelved as 'too ambitious' is now back in play," he said. Indeed, every shelved idea is becoming software. There were about 1 billion commits to GitHub in 2025, according to Kyle Daigle, chief operating officer at GitHub. If current trends continue, that figure could reach 14 billion by the end of 2026. Enjoy the abundance while it lasts. ®

Claude AI Wrote A Driver For macOS From Scratch To Enable Compatibility With An HP Printer That Was Only Meant To Work With Windows

HP's Laser printer lineup utilizes a proprietary protocol that prevents these machines from working with macOS and can only be exclusively compatible with the Windows platform. Obviously, you cannot stick with the same operating system forever, so a developer found a way around this limitation; using Claude AI to develop a macOS driver and ensure that compatibility becomes a non-issue. The Laser series never had macOS drivers to begin with, but AI successfully scaled what would have been an impenetrable obstacle a few years ago The image shared by Kuber up top appears to show an HP Laser 1008a, a rather inexpensive printer that relies on the company's Host-based or Quick Page Description Language protocol, which is only compatible with Windows. To actually get a printer to work with macOS, you'll need standard printer languages like AirPrint or PostScript. Sadly, HP never made the effort to develop macOS drivers, meaning that if you still had one of these printers around but got yourself those incredible Apple Silicon Macs, you were out of luck. Fortunately, using Claude AI, a custom driver that introduces a translation layer, helps bridge the compatibility gap between macOS and HP's Laser 1008a, making both machines compatible with one another. Kuber also shows proof above that a test print was successful, so imagine all those years where users had no choice but to keep on using Windows for the sake of retaining functionality. Thankfully, AI has cleared a ton of these frustrating problems, and to make matters simpler, Kuber isn't the kind to gatekeep the software to prevent others from taking advantage of this fix. The Samaritan has uploaded the code to GitHub so that you don't have to go through the same ordeal. This is just one of the many examples where AI has eliminated the incompatibility problems once and for all. For instance, Claude was used to port a native version of Command & Conquer: Generals Zero Hour to the iPhone and iPad, complete with touch controls and everything. News Source: Kuber Follow Wccftech on Google to get more of our news coverage in your feeds.