Can't get network printer to work - iBook G4 (10.4.10)

[paj4x4]

Home Network
- ADSL Router
- DLink DI-524 wifi router
- 2 lappys equipped with XP Pro SP2 (one wired and one wireless)
- 1 lappy on Vista Home Premium (wired)
- iBook G4 on Tiger (10.4.10) (wireless)
- Canon Pixma iP1500 printer
- DLink USB Print Server DP-301U

I just set up the print server today using one of the XP equipped laptops. Went quite well. No issues as well getting the lappy on Vista HP to print to the network printer...

Now for the hard part...I can't get the iBook (with Tiger 10.4.10) to print over the network. Been at it for the past 2 hours with no success. Hope you guys can help out as I'm really at a loss on how to get this thing to work...

Thanks in advance.

 

[paj4x4]

Anyone?

Thanks.

 

[MisterMe]

This question has been asked and answered on this forum too many times to count. You cannot use a USB print driver to print over the network [with rare exception]. You have to use a CUPS driver for your Canon PIXMA iP1500. Search this forum on CUPS and Gutenprint to find their download locations.

 

[cying]

sharing usb printers amongst mac and windows

I have been testing many different models of "usb to Ethernet" print servers. Most are designed only for Windows. Some rare ones actually claims to work with MacOS. I think I recall a Netgear box that showed a Mac logo on the box. But what they do is really make the network side work with Windows and Unix. You have to make the Mac print to Unix printers (aka CUPS). Many times, manually setting up a static TCP/IP address when you install your print server helps simplify this process. But no doubts about it. the setup is a pain and when something breaks, figuring out what you did and how to fix it can far exceed the price of a new inkjet printer.

So, bottom line. Simplest is to buy a new inkjet for your Mac users. Any USB printer attached to any Mac is visible and can be shared automatically by all other Macs on the network. (See Sharing System Prefs)

The first painless solution for USB printer sharing I have found so far is via the new Apple Extreme Base Station. It turns any USB printer(s) connected to its USB port (supports USB hubs so can put as many printer on one Base Station as you want) into a Bonjour-aware network printer. Then download and install the free Bonjour for Windows utility from apple.com on each of your Windows computers and it will install an app on your windows computer which when launched will discover your usb printers and let you print to them from Windows. No TCP/IP setup needed. Very clever. That and the ability to turn any USB disk (plugged into the same hub) into a NAS drive that supports both Windows (WORKGROUP) and Mac networking make the Gigibit AEBS one of the best products from Apple.

I have stopped testing Print-servers after setting up several of these AEBS. They are great.

HTH

Charles

 

[paj4x4]

Thanks for the assistance Misterme and cying. I searched the forum for CUPS and Gutenprint as advised and have downloaded the latest Guterprint SW.

The SW installed additional drivers but I still can't get the thing to work.

I have tried the ff. to no avail:
1. Tried adding a printer via IPP, LPD, Apple Talk and Bonjour
- it seems that the print server processes LPD but no document goes through or is printed.
- when IPP is used it always says "printer (its IP address) is busy and will retry in 30 seconds"
- Apple Talk takes forever to read the chosen file to be printed
- while print jobs in Bonjour are always "stopped"

2. The DLink DP-301U is supposed to support Apple Talk. But when I go to check the print server's status only the LPR protocol processes work from the ibook. By the way the list of Canon Drivers in the Gutenprint SW unfortunately misses out on the ip1500 So I've used the driver for ip2000...actually i've tried all Canon Pixma ip drivers.

So the culprit could be the simple fact that the ip1500 driver is not in Gutenprint SW or the print server does not really support LPR/LPD protocol for Macs...but it does support Apple Talk which I can't get to work.

Appreciate some assistance. Thanks in advance.

 

[CanadaRAM]

Appletalk may not be supported by your router over wireless. Try when cabled to the router.