Setting up a printer for a Macbook can be easy. Just connect it using USB and you can use one of the available drivers go start using it. I’ve got a HP PSC 2175 multifunctional at home and as expected from HP, they have drivers and support applications on their website.
Shared Printer
But, the easy setup only applies when you connect it directly to the Macbook, trouble starts if you’re foolish enough to share the printer from a Windows XP computer and want to connect to it from your Macbook!
I’ve got the multifunctional running in my study which is way up in the attic while I like to use the Wifi down in the living room. Of course even on a Windows XP laptop I can’t do scans from down there, but printing is not much of a problem.
I just created a printer share (called printer home to keep it apart from the printers that I connect to at work) on the Windows XP PC that the multifunctional is connected to and connect to that share from the laptop. The drivers that come with my laptop don’t care if the multifunctional is connected to the USB port or over the network.
No Spaces!
Not so on OS X. The first and biggest problem, and the reason why this post is tagged frustrations is the fact that at first the printer share on the XP PC wasn’t displayed on the Macbook. I couldn’t understand why, I followed all the steps I thought were needed: goto Applications then to the Utilities folder. There I started up the Printer Setup Utility. Then I clicked on the Add Printer button, selected IP printer and clicked on the More Printers… button. In the Printer Browser popup I selected Windows Printing and then the PC that the printer was connected to and which had the printer share setup.
Don’t ask me why but a some point I had another look at the printer share and decided to change the name to PrinterHome without a space in the share name!
And that made the difference. The share now showed up on the Macbook. Duh!
Extra driver
But just being able to see the share wasn’t enough. The drivers on the Macbook that could handle printing to the USB port, can’t handle printing over the network. The detailed setup page that I’d been using for the first part of the setup also pointed that out and directed me to the hpijs page.
There I had to download 3 different dmg files that I then had to install to get a huge list of HP printers that I could choose from when connecting over the network to setup my printer.
So in the end, after way to much time, it worked.
Have you tried connecting the MB to the Fontys network printers? That is real fun. If you would like to, I found a way of making it possible via IPP, but unfortunately that involves sending your password over the network.
I haven’t tried that yet, primarily because I usually use the Macbook at home (in the evening or weekends). But I would like to try that and if you’ve already figured that out please let me know (by e-mail if you prefer). Thanks!