# Sharing windows printer with mac



## rex27 (Jan 23, 2007)

Hi, i've got a problem!

My new *Macbook (2.16GHz intel gen)* doesn't seem to work with my printer which is installed on my windows xp machine down the hall.

The printer is an *HP Deskjet 930c* and is connected via USB to the windows machine.

The windows pc and the mac are part of a local network, the mac connects wirelessly to the network.

Every time i try *and print something from the mac, the printer starts but produces a blank page*.:sigh:

If file sharing has something to do with it, file sharing seems to work...i can see the pc on my mac in the network tab in finder.

So 
1) is this a firewall/driver/windows/mac problem?

2) is there a simple solution that* doesn't involve downloading half a dozen programs and writing out applescript?*

much thanks for ur time.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

so, you made sure that the printer was set up correctly on the windows machine for sharing. have you have installed the latest drivers for the printer on both computers? have you have told the mac to use a shared windows pinter, and made sure that the mac's firewall isn't turned on, or if on, isn't blocking network printing?


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## rex27 (Jan 23, 2007)

no....
sorry i'm a bit of a n00b at these things but how do i tell the mac to use a shared windows printer....and how do i check the mac firewall settings? 
i believe the drivers are up to date i checked them on the hp website


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

1st open the system preferences and then click on the sharing pane. now click on the firewall button in the middle and see if its even on. if not, then its most likely an issues with the windows pc. if the firewall is on, click on the checkboxes next to windows sharing. that will open the ports that windows uses for its sharing services, and should allow you to print.


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## newhere123 (May 10, 2007)

I doubt it is a sharing issue; the mac can connect to the printer and make a blank page.

I've tried everything with my Canon PIXMA printer, but I'm getting a similar issue. I installed a driver, but I don't see it on my computer, so I don't know what good it is for network printing.

I've also had a similar problem with an HP Photosmart in the past, but I was only able to get it to print (poor quality, mind you) by some obscure workaround.

I can't wait until all computers on the network become macs...


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## jo-briggs (Jan 29, 2005)

Welcome to the Pleasure Dome, or in truth "Abandon Hope all ye who enter here"

The Mac printer drivers are very stupid over a network, and if you go to the Guttenberg web-site there is a list of supported printers, very few other than Epson and HP, and not all of those. The PC will know if you are trying to drive the printer with the driver for the wrong model number, but the Apple won't.

You can by any Windows PC or Laptop, turn it on for the first time and in 5 or 10 minutes be printing over a network - This is an Apple problem, not a PC one!

If it's printing nothing, then it's connected; sometimes it prints a corner of the page, and if you load the "cups" drivers sometimes it prints a quarter of a page of solid black, good for ink manufacturers if not for your bank balance.

If in the Apple's "Add a printer" window you try installing drivers from above and/or below your model in the range you may get results. I could print text to my PIXMA3000 using the 4000 driver, and graphics using the 7000 driver, but only passably. I eventually bought *Printfab* drivers from http://www.printfab.net/info.html and got reasonable results. Apple don't give a toss, and their reaction to my complaints was to threaten to throw me off the Apple Forum!

If you use that forum, all the steps I had to take are under _jo-briggs_ in tedious detail.

I still maintain that Apple sould supply proper drivers with their computers, and they've lost me as a returning customer, I shall stick with computers designed for people to use without all the cliquey fuss that seems a concomitant to possessing an Apple - they won't even supply a European keyboard for goodness sake!


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

its not an apple issue. it has to do with the maker of the printers not making good drivers. i just remembered that in order to print to a shared windows printer, you have to have inputed a username and password of an account that is on the computer that has rights to the printer. in the past i had to make an account just for the mac to log into tp be able to print to the printer.


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## newhere123 (May 10, 2007)

I downloaded the trial for PrintFab and I got it to print with the driver for the iP5300. (I didn't enter any Windows account info; what's this about? Does it still apply in Tiger?) Using Glutenprint, it can kind-of print with the driver for the MP150. Glutenprint should have an iP4500 driver eventually, right?

Apple only supplies Glutenprint drivers. Other than that, you have to use the company's (Canon, HP) drivers... which shouldn't be a problem unless you have some wacky cross-platform network... Thanks guys.

BTW: jo-briggs, I do use the Apple forum. The people there (users, that is, I didn't see anything from Apple employees for the simple reason that I didn't make a rant) were somewhat helpful. They basically told me to try similar drivers, like you guys did. Apple live-chat support was less helpful, telling me to try re-installing the Canon drivers and possibly try similar printer drivers (but none of which worked). Canon support was even less helpful, saying they don't support cross-platform printing. (But you can print from Windows through Mac without problems, you know.)


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## jo-briggs (Jan 29, 2005)

sinclair_tm said:


> its not an apple issue. it has to do with the maker of the printers not making good drivers. i just remembered that in order to print to a shared windows printer, you have to have inputed a username and password of an account that is on the computer that has rights to the printer. in the past i had to make an account just for the mac to log into tp be able to print to the printer.




Typical Apple response - the printers existed before the Apple OS was rewritten...... again. The printers work quite happily with 101 other makes of computer using Windows, Linux, and many other operating systems, but it is all the fault of the printer manufacturers because they don't know 2 years in advance how Apple is going to alter their OS! Yeah, right. Funny how PrintFab can supply drivers that work.


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## jo-briggs (Jan 29, 2005)

When I installed the Canon drivers off the disc that came with the printer, it crashed the Mini and it had to go back to Brent Cross for two days to be reformatted and have the OS re-installed.

I got annoyed, because I rang their help-line several times, at one point leaving it ringing unanswered for nearly 2 hours. They didn't reply to a single e-mail, so I wasn't too happy when I logged on to the forum.


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## newhere123 (May 10, 2007)

jo-briggs said:


> When I installed the Canon drivers off the disc that came with the printer, it crashed the Mini and it had to go back to Brent Cross for two days to be reformatted and have the OS re-installed.
> 
> I got annoyed, because I rang their help-line several times, at one point leaving it ringing unanswered for nearly 2 hours. They didn't reply to a single e-mail, so I wasn't too happy when I logged on to the forum.


Of course. I can't blame you... But still, business hours are business hours. When I called (during business hours) it was quick. Did you call during business hours?

Are you suggesting that Apple makes a deal with PrintFab to have the list of drivers periodically updated with the rest of software-update? That would be good. Apple doesn't make print drivers (and I doubt Microsoft does), they just use the Glutenprint ones out there and hope you will use one of those printers. But, with a printer made after Windows was released, you still need to install the company's drivers by downloading off the internet. As with Mac. And those drivers don't support cross-platform either. As with Mac. I don't think Apple is really to blame. It's just Canon drivers aren't meant for cross-platform. If the two computers would be both Mac, it would network fine. (And installing the driver messed up your computer? That is really surprising, but I think unlikely.) In fact, the only way you can print to a Mac from Windows is by having Windows think it is using a Mac post-script printer (i.e. not with the Canon driver). The only way to print from a Mac to Windows, HOWEVER, which is proving to be the big problem, is that WINDOWS never made a windows post-script printer driver for Mac, so you need to have special drivers, made after your computer was made, downloaded, not from Canon, to be compatible with the printer and have cross-platform support. :upset::4-dontkno I think I had enough of the whole subject; it's really too hard to pin the blame.


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## jo-briggs (Jan 29, 2005)

Actually you don't - just say you want to print to the printer on the host computer and Windows will offer you the choice of picking the driver up from the host computer or downloading - Picking it up from the host ensures it is the correct one.

I don't suggest that Apple are tied up with Printfab at all, just that PF seem to be able to manage something that Apple can't/won't do, provide a service to those who have paid money for their product - nobody else charges for printer drivers, you can go to any printer manufacturers web-site and download drivers for free. If you check the Guttenburg site you will see that some of the drivers are years old, no free updates there. Apple have a very take it or leave it "We're Apple" attitude.

Several times I phoned mid-morning, finally got the switchboard "I'll put you through" she said - every time it was never answered, I once left it ringing just to see just how long they would ignore a ringing phone, after nearly 2 hours I had to leave for an appointment.


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## newhere123 (May 10, 2007)

That's too bad. It actually reminds me of the time I tried to connect to Trend Micro technical support live chat and it just said that the next available guy would help me soon; I disconnected a couple hours later with no response. And that was also during business hours. :upset:
Sometimes these guys are fast, sometimes they, well, aren't.


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## ogonzague (Dec 8, 2007)

ok. i have similar case. i've gotten my imac g4 running os 10 tiger to connect to my pc via an ethernet cross cable. i've shared the internet connection and that seems to be working quite fine, if i may say so. i took things a bit further and tried sharing my printers connected to my pc that being a) an hp 1310 all in one printer and b) a canon pixma ip3000. they both come up in the printers list when i install them through the printer setup utility after going through the process of authenticating and accessing the pc. the funny thing is, that when i select either of the printers in the print & fax section, i can see the shared printer name and the location. in this case it says workgroup. when i click on printer options for either printer and go into printer info it says e.g Printer name: Canon, Location: workgroup, Queue name: Canon, Host name: PowermacG4-4 local. 
should'nt this section show me the name of the pc sharing the printer?
how do i get to change it to show me the pc?

i've tried installing both printers locally and then taking them back to the pc and tried sharing them again but i still cant use the local printer model info to set them up. also when i go back to the printer setup utility and select one of the printers and i click on the printers menu both -test print- and -network diagnostics- appear greyed out. when i open up a document and send a print, the printer spooler shows me that the print goes through but nothing comes out on the other end. i dont understand.

i've tried installing printfab and samba, was not sure what i was doing, i also tried using some other programs but i had to use some apple script and these things just look too complicated.

can any one walk me through this or have any suggestions as to how i can go about sharing my pc printers and printing directly from my mac?
i'm thinking it may be a driver problem or some protocol that's not in place. i don't know what to do.


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## herojig (Sep 29, 2004)

I think sharing printers with mac and pcs works best with an apple router like the airport with the printer plugged into the airport, i have an express, and then u run bonjour setup on the windows machine and update the macs and the pcs with the latest printer drivers. works great that way...


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## jo-briggs (Jan 29, 2005)

A very late update! I happened to be in the Brent Cross Apple store, while my daughter was getting a dock for her iPod, and was discussing my old problem with the manager. He said that it should never have happened and immediately refunded the cost of the PrintFab drivers.


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## sinclair_tm (Mar 11, 2005)

Yes, that is a late update, but thanks for it nevertheless.


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