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ciphun · Nov 19, 2003, 10:57 AM

I have this router:

http://www.smc.com/index.cfm?sec=Pro...=63&site=c

which is an SMC wireless router. It also has a printer port and my lexmark printer has the connecting printer port as well. Currently, I use a usb connection to make my prints. However, I am always wireless in my home, as I am an ibook user. I have been bothered by the fact that SMC claims that I need a windows based computer in order to print from my printer, connected to the printer port on the SMC router.

Is there nothing that will allow me to print from my ibook, running Panther (10.3.1), via the printer port on my wireless router?

Is there any terminal command that I can use (note: i am extremely intermediate with the terminal, typing simple delete commands is still annoying for me, so if this is an option, please be thorough/complete with your steps) anything with the built in printer utility or what about this Cups printing option?

If anyone could help, I would really appreciate it.

John Strung · Nov 19, 2003, 12:24 PM

See if THIS THREAD helps.

ciphun · Nov 19, 2003, 01:33 PM

thank you, I'll check it out.

If anyone else has any suggestions, I'll still be checking here.

John Strung · Nov 19, 2003, 01:55 PM

Let us know how you make out. I may be trying to set up my daughter's iBook to print through an SMC router to an Epson 740 in the near future.

ciphun · Nov 19, 2003, 04:21 PM

John, I'll do that.

ghporter · Nov 19, 2003, 08:07 PM

The issue ain't drivers, it's a "wizard" that sets up LPR printing on Windows clients (not all of which use the same commands and implementations as the others). ANYBODY can set up LPR printing on ANY modern Mac following the instructions in the link John posted. In fact, anyone should be able to set up LPR printing on any Windows computer that supports it-basically anything since Windows 98. It's just a slight pain for about ten minutes, that's all. The driver runs on the computer, and all it really needs is what you'd use for any networked printer. The router really doesn't care about the traffic either.

ciphun · Nov 19, 2003, 09:14 PM

GHporter I hope so, but if I run into any difficulties (assuming from your post you have experience in this) can I contact you via the forums or by email?

I don't know when I'll actually go and do this, I still have to go and purchase the cable for the connection and find time (college student here).

thanks again for all your help!

ghporter · Nov 20, 2003, 10:36 AM

It's actually very easy; it is part of the printer setup process. The trick is to select the correct type of connection, and the LPR type is provided as one of the options when you set up a new printer connection. The only thing you need in advance is the IP of the print server.

If that wasn't clear, or you run into problems, post away! I may not be the first one to respond, but you WILL get all the help you need right here.

John Strung · Nov 23, 2003, 09:53 AM

I am not having much luck with this. I followed the instructions found HERE using both lp and lpt1 as the print cue and using the "Epson Stylus Color, CUPS+GIMP-Print v.4.25" driver. When I try to print, I get a message, showing "Printing 0,28%" etc., up to 100%, followed by "Connecting to 192.168.1.1 on port 631" followed by "network host 192.168.1.1 is busy". (192.168.1.1 is the IP address I use for the SMC 7004AWBR router to which the Epson 740 is attached by a parallel printer cable)

Any suggestions?

ghporter · Nov 23, 2003, 10:51 AM

John,

Do you have the print server enabled in the router? Is the cable properly connected both at the router and the printer?

John Strung · Nov 23, 2003, 11:34 AM

The cable is connected properly. The SMC Admin status page shows "Printer Status: Not Ready", but I can find any setting the SMC admin program for enabling the print server.

ghporter · Nov 23, 2003, 11:45 AM

I wasn't sure whether SMC had a "disable/enable" function-some others do. My print server-router is a USRobotics, but the hardware is pretty similar. The printer status shows correctly on my router.

The problem may be that your printer is an inkjet, rather than a laser. Inkjets like to have bidirectional (two-way) communication with the computer they're connected to, and LPR printing doesn't really support that. You may have to connect the printer directly to a computer and share it that way.

If you have a computer with a parallel port, try sharing the printer that way and see if it works.

ciphun · Nov 23, 2003, 11:50 AM

I plan to try this next weekend or so. I got to much work to do right now. I also have an inkjet, but on the back side of the inkjet, there is a parallel port, hopefully this bidirectional function will work ok.

John Strung · Dec 25, 2003, 07:46 PM

PROBLEM SOLVED! The problem turned out to be a Panther bug. The Fix is posted here: http://www.allosx.com/1067395661/index_html.