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Anyone brave enough to talk me through network printing?

S

Sabrina2000

macrumors member
Original poster
Apr 10, 2011
70
0
I've got the imac (os x snow leopard) bootcamped ( win xp) and am planning to complete migration by next weekend hopefully. I've worked on a dell dimension with 256mb ram for many years. I'm already over-awed by the speed of the new mac and am now really looking forward to having a new wide screen super fast comp at my fingertips; I needed the windows side for a work programme that doesn't work on mac.

I'm really worried about setting up the printing side. Would be really grateful for help.

What I've got at the moment is a gestetner MP3010 aficio multi function copier which is presently hooked up to my broadband hub via yellow colour (usb?) cable. I had to get someone set it up to work off my Dell comp and the Dell (win xp) is the main connection point for it ( i think - but the wire goes direct from copier to BB hub ) . I did get wireless printing off it on the mac side of the imac before bootcamp - but I messed up bootcamp initially and ended up reinstalling the os x before succesfully bootcamping second time around. So I lost the wireless printing on the imac too.

What's bothering me a lot is that once I get rid of my Dell , how will I keep my printer connection? I'm computer illiterate 😱 and don't understand many things. Someone else set it all up for me when I got the multi function copier and installed it to work on the Dell.

I just had a quick attempt now at setting up printing on the imac but can't figure it out at all.

I will be getting rid of Dell and working off bootcamped imac - so my question is how to switch over the printing - how to get the gestetner hooked up with imac.

Can anyone help with this? Thank you, and apologies for asking so many questions but I must say this site has been a fantastic resource and such a great help.......last week I had visions of having to get the massive screen imac packed up in a shopper and carted off to the nearest genius store
(which is quite a drive), but with help from here it's all been sorted out. 🙂
 
That printer works in both environments: Mac OS X and Windows.
http://www.gestetner.com/products/0...Black_White/020_Medium_Workgroup/mp3010.xhtml

You can see the support site of the printer manufacturer for further details:
http://www.gestetner.com/support_and_downloads/index.xhtml
Like downloading drivers etc...

You have several options it is up to you to decide what you want:
1- You can connect the printer directly to your iMac
2- Connect the printer to your home network and access it via the network?

For running Windows on the Mac you also have different choices"
1- BootCamp
2- Virtual Machines:
http://www.virtualbox.org/
http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/overview.html
http://www.parallels.com/

I believe that with some of the virtualization solutions once your printer is setup in the Mac you can print from the Virtual Machine.
And also you can configure the printer directly in the Windows partition.
 
Don't use USB if you can network it.

All you need to do is connect the printer to your network. If this printer was already configured for another network in the past, you may need to change the IP address to DHCP (sometimes called Automatic or Dynamic).

Your Mac should automatically find the printer when you add a new printer. Otherwise, download the printer drivers from the website.

To install in Windows, you will need to download the drivers from the website. To avoid complications, disable the windows firewall during installation, which is supposed to auto discover the printer and complete the configuration for you.

No reason to be afraid. It's a fairly simple process.
 
Thank you for input on this.

ok, so the starting point seems to be to download drivers from the website - which I will do asap. I now have windows in bootcamp - presumably the set up in bootcamp will also enable printing on the mac side? Or should I be aiming to set up printing first on the mac side and then in windows? I'll be using windows most of the time.

After that I'm not sure... ideally it would be fantastic to have it all set up wirelessly, but I vaguely recall we attempted that at some point in the past and just couldn't do it so ended up with a wire going across the floor - it's a yellow colour with a semi circular bump on each end and goes from the port named NIC on the printer to an ethernet port ( I think) at the back of a BT broadband hub ( presumably the BB hub is what's known as a router?)

When printing was originally set up it was set up via the Dell desktop which I'm aiming to move from - not sure whether there was a cd installation involved or how exactly the Dell was involved ( but a few weeks ago there was mad mad panic when I accidentally deleted the printer icon from Dell and couldn't print anymore....tried to reinstal via website / tried to add printer and search for it ...nothing ... and in the end genius husband suggested system restore and we got it back).

By the way, I did attempt to "add printer" and see if the imac would pick it up wirelessly but it didn't.

We do manage to print wirelessly off laptops - I think the person who set up the printer for us also set up a network.

I'll instal drivers once I'm clear where to instal them to, and then have a go again at wireless set up, and am guessing I'll be back for help as I go along !


(kramerica20 I did reply but strangely nothing shows in my sent messages ! sorry if it didn't get to you...I've responded above now anyway, and thank you for taking the trouble)
 
I'm slightly shooting blind here but it sounds like your printer is already networked. The NIC port typically stands for Network Interface Card, so it should be ethernet (larger phone jack connector) to ethernet in your router. If you can print wirelessly from other computers/iphones, etc, we can confirm the printer is indeed networked.

One possible easy method of adding the printer as far as the Mac is concerned is to choose file>print>add printer in hopes it will be automatically recognized. If it is, you should see the printer name and/or the IP address, which will look something like this: 192.168.1.4.

If not, it would be helpful to know the IP address given to the printer, which can be found by logging into the router from any networked computer (I'm putting alot of faith in you now!). By knowing the IP address, you can manually input and the Mac will find/add the printer. But I won't get ahead of myself.
 
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yes, it could be that the printer is in fact already networked....tried adding printer but it didn't find it. Don't recall seeing a prompt to enter IP address - though I think it may have asked for a network name

Not sure how to get ip address from router, but might be able to get it via the settings on the multi function copier/printer - would that be the same ip address?

I sort of vaguely recall being told by the IT guy who set up the printing that we'd have to download drivers on the mac for it to work - but let's try the ip address thing first.

I'm assuming it makes no difference whether I set this up via the windows side or the mac side, but also assume I'll have to set it up separately on both sides (?)

Thanks !
 
Sabrina2000 said:
yes, it could be that the printer is in fact already networked....tried adding printer but it didn't find it. Don't recall seeing a prompt to enter IP address - though I think it may have asked for a network name

Not sure how to get ip address from router, but might be able to get it via the settings on the multi function copier/printer - would that be the same ip address?
Click to expand...
Yes, indeed it would be.

Sabrina2000 said:
I sort of vaguely recall being told by the IT guy who set up the printing that we'd have to download drivers on the mac for it to work - but let's try the ip address thing first.
Click to expand...
I was able to add a networked brother multifunction with the macbook without any drivers. (not connecting to macbook via usb). Once I entered the network information, the Mac quickly found the printer. I will post that sequence shortly.

Sabrina2000 said:
I'm assuming it makes no difference whether I set this up via the windows side or the mac side, but also assume I'll have to set it up separately on both sides (?)

Thanks !
Click to expand...
Correct and correct. (All computers will need to add the networked printer, but we'll take it one at a time.)
 
The order that you do it doesn't matter, but you will need to set up the printer on the Windows side AND the Mac side.
 
Sabrina,
If you can determine the IP of the printer, you should be able to follow these steps to add on the Mac:

1.Click the apple>'system preferences'>'print&fax'
2.Then click plus sign bottom left to add and choose the tab 'IP' (should be between 'fax' and 'windows')
3.Make sure 'Protocol' shows 'Line Printer Daemon - LPD'
4.Address - type printer IP address. Once complete you should see "Valid and complete address" and the printer make/model should appear at the bottom as confirmation.
5.Click Add. You're done! Try printing.

Also, I did receive your message and replied. The reason your sent message wasn't saved (but was actually sent) - the option to save a copy is not checked on this forum by default. If you go to 'UserCP' (top left) > edit options, maybe this link will work , https://forums.macrumors.com/account/preferences , you can check 'save copy of sent messages' there. I do think pop up notification of new messages is checked by default, however....not positive though.
 
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thanks !

ok , well we've tried unsucessfully so far on the windows side - we select "network" option for installing printer, and then "browse" but it doesn't find the printer - tried inputting printer name manually ( as it is described in the Dell print settings) and selecting network name but it doesn't work - perhaps we'll have a go shortly on the mac side, and if that doesn't work then I think we have to instal drivers first (?).

Thank you for help-
 
Sabrina2000 said:
thanks !

ok , well we've tried unsucessfully so far on the windows side - we select "network" option for installing printer, and then "browse" but it doesn't find the printer - tried inputting printer name manually ( as it is described in the Dell print settings) and selecting network name but it doesn't work - perhaps we'll have a go shortly on the mac side, and if that doesn't work then I think we have to instal drivers first (?).

Thank you for help-
Click to expand...

On the windows side: The "browse" option has always been more cumbersome in my opinion. I like to choose the third option (in control panel XP) which is URL, to add via address, home network, etc. There you can simply add the IP address in this format (should show you an example - "http://xxx.xxx.xxx" where the x's designate the unique IP address. The next screen will allow you to choose the printer from a list or install drivers (have disk) etc.

But of course, this is contingent on knowing the IP address of the printer! 🙂
 
My 14 year old daughter has just got us printing !!!! She came down for a "break" from what she was doing and started messing around with print settings and decided to add a local printer, selected port and added manually......not really sure what on earth she's done but we're printing !!!

She's now working on the mac side......will report back
 
Well thanks for all the help/support - it's been extremely reassuring !

What we're going to do now - she suggests - is switch off the Dell to make sure the mac can stil print and she reckons if it still prints then I can get rid of Dell with no worries.....so now switching off Dell and will report back in a few minutes.....
 
Sabrina2000 said:
Well thanks for all the help/support - it's been extremely reassuring !

What we're going to do now - she suggests - is switch off the Dell to make sure the mac can stil print and she reckons if it still prints then I can get rid of Dell with no worries.....so now switching off Dell and will report back in a few minutes.....
Click to expand...

most welcome.....it will probably be fine, but good idea. Since the printer should be networked (connected via router), switching off any networked pc or mac will have zero effect on the printer's status. My guess is now that the Mac is connected, it will keep right on rolling.

....and congratulations.
 
thanks kramerica20...but we've run into a problem.....now it's not printing ! We switched off Dell and it printed fine on the mac side( we followed your instructions for online printing ) , but now not printing on the windows side - she's trying to resolve - HANG ON ....I think she's just done it....it's just working again....but I think we'll be monitoring this during the week to make sure we're printing every day !

It's not wireless as the yellow cable is still running printer to hub/router......not sure if we're brave enough to attempt the whole wireless thing...maybe
 
forgot to mention a couple of issues -

We did go on the gestetner website support and downloads but when we selected our printer we were faced with a whole load of downloads for win xp and didn't know which one to pick !

Secondly, the scanning facility ! When I scan from the printer it automatically goes to a folder on my Dell desktop - how do I now set that to scan to the apple windows desktop?
 
Sabrina2000 said:
thanks kramerica20...but we've run into a problem.....now it's not printing ! We switched off Dell and it printed fine on the mac side( we followed your instructions for online printing ) , but now not printing on the windows side - she's trying to resolve - HANG ON ....I think she's just done it....it's just working again....but I think we'll be monitoring this during the week to make sure we're printing every day !

It's not wireless as the yellow cable is still running printer to hub/router......not sure if we're brave enough to attempt the whole wireless thing...maybe
Click to expand...

Here's the thing: If you added a printer connected to the Dell, where the other computers 'share the connection' the printer connected to the Dell, they won't be able to print. Each Windows PC needs to be connected to the printer over the network, in the same manner as the Mac so that as long as the router is on and the printer is connected to the router/network, they will all be able to print independently with no issues.
 
Sabrina2000 said:
It's not wireless as the yellow cable is still running printer to hub/router......not sure if we're brave enough to attempt the whole wireless thing...maybe
Click to expand...

Do you absolutely need wireless? (if you want to physically move the printer to another location) If not, my advice is to leave that stable little yellow cable connected as is......not that I doubt your ability to go wireless or anything.
 
Sabrina2000 said:
forgot to mention a couple of issues -

We did go on the gestetner website support and downloads but when we selected our printer we were faced with a whole load of downloads for win xp and didn't know which one to pick !

Secondly, the scanning facility ! When I scan from the printer it automatically goes to a folder on my Dell desktop - how do I now set that to scan to the apple windows desktop?
Click to expand...

The scanning issue - what type of printer is it? (specifically the model)
On the dell, is the scan to folder accomplished via proprietary software? Some sort of printing suite etc?

Also, if you need help with the drivers, let me know the options for downloading or the link to the page and I'll check it out.
 
Sabrina2000 said:
Thanks for your honesty ! LOL
Click to expand...

I meant that respectfully of course. 😀

But seriously, think of it like connecting a desktop. The wired connection is faster, snappier, etc. If there is no need to wirelessly connect (unless you want to do it for fun/because you can), then you're fine with wired. But I'm quite certain it was a woman somewhere who coined the phrase "...because I can" so I will definitely not stand in the way!
 
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Thanks ever so much for the offer of further help if needed - will let you know

Daughter has somehow got the scan thing sussed and we're suddenly scanning simultaneously to Dell + Imac ! 🙂

But she thinks we still have a problem printing in windows bootcamp when Dell is switched off - she is looking for drivers and not sure which ones .....the machine is : Gestetner MP3010 Aficio....no cd software available

thanks for clarifying about the wired connection- that makes sense so we'll leave good alone !
 
Sabrina2000 said:
Thanks ever so much for the offer of further help if needed - will let you know

Daughter has somehow got the scan thing sussed and we're suddenly scanning simultaneously to Dell + Imac ! 🙂

But she thinks we still have a problem printing in windows bootcamp when Dell is switched off - she is looking for drivers and not sure which ones .....the machine is : Gestetner MP3010 Aficio....no cd software available

thanks for clarifying about the wired connection- that makes sense so we'll leave good alone !
Click to expand...

Glad to assist, though I'm not sure how much I actually helped. Sounds like you figured it out.

So are you still having trouble printing at all? Which machine are you having trouble printing from, when the Dell is off, the iMac?
 
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