Printer sharing from XP to Mac OS X 10.3.4

[Anthony Caruana]

Hi there

I'm just about at my wits end on this problem I have.

The Pieces

• Desktop PC running Win XP SP1 and all current updates (not SP2) connected to Belkin Wireless Router via 100 MB cable
• WinXP machine requires username/password to connect
• Mac iBook with all updates running 10.3.4 connected to LAN wirelessly
• HP PSC 1210 printer (multifunction unit with printer, scanner and copier)

What I can Do

• The iBook can ping the desktop PC by IP Address but not by NetBIOS name
• I can connect to files/folder shares on the Win XP machine using the syntax smb://NetBIOSname/sharename (requests authentication which is OK)
• I can print to the printer if I directly connect it to my iBook (confirming drivers are OK)

What I can't do
I can't print to the PSC1210 from my iBook even though I have shared it from the Win XP computer.

So, does nayone have any idea how i can print to this shared printer. I've tried everything I can think of and a few things I found through Google. I am pretty sure that my problem is a connectivity one. I don't think the Mac can see the shared printer.

Any ideas or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

[Anthony Caruana]

Hi there

I'm just about at my wits end on this problem I have.

The Pieces

• Desktop PC running Win XP SP1 and all current updates (not SP2) connected to Belkin Wireless Router via 100 MB cable
• WinXP machine requires username/password to connect
• Mac iBook with all updates running 10.3.4 connected to LAN wirelessly
• HP PSC 1210 printer (multifunction unit with printer, scanner and copier)

What I can Do

• The iBook can ping the desktop PC by IP Address but not by NetBIOS name
• I can connect to files/folder shares on the Win XP machine using the syntax smb://NetBIOSname/sharename (requests authentication which is OK)
• I can print to the printer if I directly connect it to my iBook (confirming drivers are OK)

What I can't do
I can't print to the PSC1210 from my iBook even though I have shared it from the Win XP computer.

So, does nayone have any idea how i can print to this shared printer. I've tried everything I can think of and a few things I found through Google. I am pretty sure that my problem is a connectivity one. I don't think the Mac can see the shared printer.

Any ideas or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

TIA

[Zack Mahdavi]

Anthony, when you say you can't print, does the printer not spew out any pages at all, or does the printer spew out some sort of error?

[Zack Mahdavi]

Anthony, I used these instructions to correctly set up Windows printing from a Mac. It works perfectly for me. One thing, though... In the bottom, it says to print using "IP Printing." That didn't work for me. I added the printer using "Windows Printing" and browsed for the printer.

[Anthony Caruana]

Hi Zack

Thanks for the pointer to the instructions you found. I am now in much better shape than i was previously. I can now "see" the printer and send a document to to the printer.

That's the good news. The bad news is that when I look at the print queue on thre Win XP machine (the print server in this setup) it receives the file for spooling. But when it gets to 64.0KB/XXX KB it fails. The job is sent from the Mac to the PC, but it doesn't print.

I suspect that this is a possibly now a driver issue. However, I'm much further along now than I was before receiving your advice.

Thanks.

[Zack Mahdavi]

Originally Posted by Anthony Caruana

The bad news is that when I look at the print queue on thre Win XP machine (the print server in this setup) it receives the file for spooling. But when it gets to 64.0KB/XXX KB it fails. The job is sent from the Mac to the PC, but it doesn't print.

Hmm.. yeah, that most likely is a driver issue. Try changing around the drivers until you get one that works. The "General" printer driver usually works for me. What kind of printer are you trying to print to anyway?

[Anthony Caruana]

The printer is a PSC 1210. The bummer of this device is that there is no "print driver" per se. As it is a multifunction device there is no single driver file.

I haven't tried the generic printer. I'll give that a go tonight when I get home from work.

Thanks for your help Zack.