Accessing a shared printer

  • Thread starter Thread starter DaveC
  • Start date Start date
D

DaveC

Hi,
On a wireless network with PC and Mac laptop computers using a mix of OS
versions, I've connected a Brother DCP-110c multifunction device
(printer/scanner/etc.) to my PowerBook G3/400 (OS X 10.3.9). I checked the
"Printer Sharing" and "Windows Sharing" check boxes in the System Preferences
Sharing panel.

The Apple PowerBooks and MacBooks can see and use the printer. It seems to be
a bit more involved as to how to do this for the PCs. For Windows XP, for
example, do I "Add a network printer" or is there some other means?

BTW, the instructions for sharing a printer on a Mac say that it will be
accessible for *all* on the network, not just Macs. To quote:

"The printer queues you¹ve already configured for your Mac will be made
available to other Mac and Windows systems on the network. Windows users can
create a queue for a Mac printer the same way they do for a shared Windows NT
printer server, using the print wizard built into Windows. Because the Mac
uses the same SMB/CIFS protocol as Windows, no additional software is
necessary on the Mac or PC.".

Unfortunately these instructions don't go into detail on the PC side of the
equation.

Suggestions?

Extra credit for step-by-step instructions or a link to such.

Thanks,
 
DaveC said:
Hi,
On a wireless network with PC and Mac laptop computers using a mix of OS
versions, I've connected a Brother DCP-110c multifunction device
(printer/scanner/etc.) to my PowerBook G3/400 (OS X 10.3.9). I checked the
"Printer Sharing" and "Windows Sharing" check boxes in the System Preferences
Sharing panel.

The Apple PowerBooks and MacBooks can see and use the printer. It seems to be
a bit more involved as to how to do this for the PCs. For Windows XP, for
example, do I "Add a network printer" or is there some other means?

BTW, the instructions for sharing a printer on a Mac say that it will be
accessible for *all* on the network, not just Macs. To quote:

"The printer queues you¹ve already configured for your Mac will be made
available to other Mac and Windows systems on the network. Windows users can
create a queue for a Mac printer the same way they do for a shared Windows NT
printer server, using the print wizard built into Windows. Because the Mac
uses the same SMB/CIFS protocol as Windows, no additional software is
necessary on the Mac or PC.".

Unfortunately these instructions don't go into detail on the PC side of the
equation.

Suggestions?

Extra credit for step-by-step instructions or a link to such.

Thanks,
Click to expand...

According to what you quoted above, it said to use the print wizard
built into Windows. Are you saying you tried that and it didn't work?
If so, what part didn't work about the wizard?
 
Thus spake Rodger:
According to what you quoted above, it said to use the print wizard built
into Windows. Are you saying you tried that and it didn't work? If so, what
Click to expand...
part didn't work about the wizard?
Click to expand...

When we use Windows XP Add Printer Wizard I get to the question where it asks
to enter a URL for the printer. In the Sharing panel of my Mac's System
Preferences, it says:

"Windows users can access your computer at \\192.168.1.3\DaveC".

How can I find out what the complete URL for the shared USB printer is?

Thanks,
Dave
 
DaveC said:
Thus spake Rodger:



When we use Windows XP Add Printer Wizard I get to the question where it asks
to enter a URL for the printer. In the Sharing panel of my Mac's System
Preferences, it says:

"Windows users can access your computer at \\192.168.1.3\DaveC".

How can I find out what the complete URL for the shared USB printer is?

Thanks,
Dave
Click to expand...

\\192.168.1.3\DaveC is the complete URL for the shared USB printer. Do
you have a router somewhere inline that could be blocking access?
 
Thus spake Rodger:
\\192.168.1.3\DaveC is the complete URL for the shared USB printer. Do
you have a router somewhere inline that could be blocking access?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure that the URL on the Sharing pane is for access to my computer
(as the text there says).

Maybe there's some printer name or identifier that is tagged onto the end of
the URL?

Thanks,
 
| Thus spake Rodger:
|
| > According to what you quoted above, it said to use the print
wizard built
| > into Windows. Are you saying you tried that and it didn't work?
If so, what
|
| > part didn't work about the wizard?
|
| When we use Windows XP Add Printer Wizard I get to the question
where it asks
| to enter a URL for the printer. In the Sharing panel of my Mac's
System
| Preferences, it says:
|
| "Windows users can access your computer at
\\192.168.1.3\DaveC".
|
| How can I find out what the complete URL for the shared USB printer
is?
|


Can't you browse for the network printer share when you run the "add
new printer" wizard? I don't use XP regularly, but I believe such an
option exists when adding a new printer. XP should find the shared
printer somewhere on the network.
 
Thus spake TKnTexas:
Dave since you are hosting on Mac and wanting the XP to access, have your
tried Bonjour for Windows? You can download it from the Apple website, just
search on Bonjour for Windows. It might help. TK
Click to expand...

Thanks, TK.

I -- and the PC laptop users -- are reluctant to use any solution that
requires installing any software on the PC. I am not very experienced at this
(Windows) and would hate to have to fix a bungle I created, and likewise,
most of the PC users here are not IT savvy.

The Apple description of sharing a printer for all to use stated that no new
software need be installed. I'm still trying to see how to accomplish this.

Thanks,
 
I -- and the PC laptop users -- are reluctant to use any solution that
requires installing any software on the PC. I am not very experienced at this
(Windows) and would hate to have to fix a bungle I created, and likewise,
most of the PC users here are not IT savvy.

The Apple description of sharing a printer for all to use stated that no new
software need be installed. I'm still trying to see how to accomplish this.
Click to expand...

In Windows XP, when a printer is shared on PC1 say, when PC2 wants to
add that printer as a network printer, for PC2's use, the driver for
the printer will automatically be transferred from PC1 to PC2 over the
LAN. A warning will be given before this occurs so that PC2 can stop
the process from occurring if desired. Of course then PC2 would not be
able to use the printer.

jd
 
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