Unable to print on Windows networked printer

[Kubus]

I have a MacBook on Lion 10.7.3.

My office is comprised of mostly Windows machines.

The server is Windows Server 2003. The printer is a Sharp AR-M277 connected over a parallel cable (the printer doesn't have a network card) and is shared to the workgroup.

The computers we have at the office are all on a wired network. The majority are XP, a couple on 7 (64 bit) and Im running the Mac.

Everyone can print except for me. The server has a number of drivers installed. It has Unix and Apple support installed an enabled. If I try to SMB into the server the printer receives the document and deletes it and doesn't print.

On one of the Windows 7 machines the IT guy shared his printed and it receives the document but I get stuck with On Hold (Authentication Required).

I have the 10.7 PPD driver installed on my Mac.

I have tried installing via LPD, CUPS... I feel like Ive tried everything but I can't print.

Can someone please help me. If you need anymore info I will be delighted to provide it.

 

[rchoppin]

printing from os x 10.7 to printer on windows xp

I got stuck at the point where I had the printer selected from the "windows" route. When I tried to "choose a Driver or Printer Model", I tried both (1) "Select Printer Software" and (2) "Other". Using (1), the only option was to filter the list (which came up blank), which implied that it was looking for ppd files. Using (2) brought up a file browser with no hint as where to find printer driver software. I got the "others" option to work by directing the browser to:
Macintosh HD/Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources. Then I got this huge list of Cups and PPD files in ".gz" format. Selecting the appropriate HP printer PPD (HP Officejet Pro L7500.ppd.gz) apparently allows the "Add" button to work which then installs the printer. The miss-directions include "Installing the downloaded HP drivers", which only seems to place the file in the "...Resources" directory, but doesn't seem to actually install anything. Note that to get to this stage I had to set consistent workgroup names and make the printer shared, but that was obvious from other posts. After the printer is installed, an app file (HP7500.app) appears in ~/Library/Printers which is an INVISIBLE directory by default. I had to stumble on the instructions to make that directory visible. Apple should make this process a LOT more intuitive.

 

[MisterMe]

Instructions for printing to a Windows-shared printer are included in the MacOS X Help menu. Who knew? They are quite clear, but you have to read them. You knew there was a catch, didn't you?

 

[rchoppin]

Did that.

I followed the steps below as given by the Help on OS x

<Connect to a printer shared by a Windows computer
You can print to a printer connected to a Windows computer. The printer’s owner must set it up to be shared and use only the following characters in the name of the printer and computer: A-Z, a-z, 0-9, !, $, *, (, ), _, +, -, ‘, and . (period).

To add a shared Windows printer to your list of available printers, you need to know the printer’s workgroup name and (if necessary) the user name and password.

Open a document to print, and then choose File > Print.
Choose Add Printer from the Printer pop-up menu, and then click Windows.
A network browser appears, listing the Windows workgroups on your network.

Select the printer from the network browser.
To locate the printer in the browser, click the workgroup, and then click print server (the computer that’s sharing the printer). If prompted, enter the user name and password for the print server.

Choose the printer software appropriate for the shared printer from the Use pop-up menu.
Be sure to choose the correct printer model for the printer you’re using. For more information, see the documentation that came with the printer. If you have an HP PCL-compatible printer that’s not listed, choose the printer model that most closely matches your printer.

Click Add.>
It fails at "Chose the printer software ...." as I said in my msg.
Sarcasm isn't called for.
I installed the HP printer drivers on os x but the drop where the software is supposed to be listed is blank.

It would have been helpful to explain where to point the search for the loaded drivers since there isn't any guidance that I can find after considerable searching.

LPD installation stalls when the "Advanced" form doesn't respond to any input. The "Type" dropdown doesn't drop down. The URL block doesn't accept input.

Sarcasm doesn't substitue for information.