Printing to a Windows PC

[dmachine]

I have a Windows network with 4 PC's in it and I just recently added an iBook G4 and want to print to the main printer connected to the one computer. The computer that has the printer is a WinXP machine. All of the windows computers can print to it. I can add it to the iBook but it wont print to it. I also did what I read from another thread about this but that didnt work either. I really need to be able to print to this printer. What can I do?

Thanks in advance
Nick

 

[merkhet]

I had the same problem a few days ago, here's a link on how to fix it:

http://www.macosxhints.com/article.php?story=20021230045509864

Although, I didn't have to follow the Mac part. If you make sure that your printer's share name has no spaces in it, you can just use Windows Printing to find your printer...

Btw, if you finally find your printer, do a test print. If it starts printing blank sheets of paper (as my HP OfficeJet 710) did, you're gonna need HPIJS... do a seach on google for it.

Hope it works out for you.

 

[dmachine]

I tried that before and it still wont work. I really need to be able to print to that printer. What if I called Apple Tech Support?


Nick

 

[lplplpx3]

What kind of network is this...wireless or otherwise?
Are you also sharing the internet connection...is that working fine?
What about network...are you able to see your windows computer (and others), share files etc?

I would also suggest making sure you have the latest Panther version before you really start troubleshooting as apparently it fixes some network compatibilty issues.

 

[dmachine]

It is a wireless network. I am sharing the internet connection and this is fine and I can see the windows computers and am able to share files between the Mac and PCs. I have the latest Panther version.

 

[lplplpx3]

I had the EXACT same problem, very frustrating.

You can try this:
System Prefs/ Accounts - Create a brand new user, all rights
Log out and log onto your system with the new

1. System Prefs/ Hardware/ Print and Fax - Add Printer
2. Select Windows printing and Network Neighborhood
3. Double click MsHome (or your network name) and drill down to the windows host computer name
4. Enter the name of your printer exactly as named on your PC and follow on screen instructions

If this allows you to print then there is a problem with one of the Preferences found in 'YourOriginalUserName, Library, Preferences" folder

I looged back in as the OrinialUser and moved the above folder to my desktop and then deleted from the original location (might take a while as has to recreate, I ended up force quitting).

Shut down/ Restart and thewn do steps 1-4 above and was able to print just fine.

Note: Your preferences folder holds all the info about your computer setup ie how your dock was organized, explorer favorites etc so it will basically set the comp back to how it was setup when shipped...same as creating a new user.

Let me know if this helped.

 

[dmachine]

I tried that and it still didnt work. Would Apple Tech Support be able to help me if I called or would they say that its not an Apple product and wouldnt help me. I really need to get this figured out.


Nick

 

[lplplpx3]

Yep. They dont know much about windows but you tell them you can perform all functions but print they should be able to troubleshoot.

Sorry to state the obvious but also make sure you installed the Mac driver for the printer you are using. Sorry couldnt be of more help. Good luck.

 

[Suldal]

Dmachine, if you're still trying to get printing to your printer that's connected to your XP machine you should try this.

The link that was previously given is what I followed but what you need to do is make sure you have the Gimp-Print drivers installed. Head on over to http://sourceforge.net/projects/gimp-print to download it. I actually ignored it all because once I did the Gimp-Print portion of it, it worked.

Once I did that, I went to System Preferences->Print & Fax->Set Up Printers->Add

After this, I selected Windows Printing, then below it I went to Network Neighborhood and found the Workgroup my XP machines are connected to, and I found the printer. Once you add your printer you should select the Gimp-Print driver for your printer (hopefully it is supported). My XP printer is the HP PSC2110 All-In-One, but the Gimp-Print driver that works fine with it is the HP DeskJet 900 Series CUPS+Gimp-Print. At the site where you download the Gimp-Print drivers it should give you a list of supported printers (it might also be included in the downloaded drivers, I can't remember.)

The most important thing for me was (after hours of frustration) to download the Gimp-Print drivers and making sure your iBook is using the particular Gimp-Print drivers suitable for your printer.

Hope this helps,

Suldal