[magicbbird]

hello all,
hope this is the right forum to post this question.
my office has pcs and they are networked via a router + switch, mainly sharing internet and access to a central harddisk. nothing fancy. my iMac is the only Mac computer.

a HP 6P is connected via parellal port to the router's printer port, and it has a fixed ip address.

i don't know how to set up my Mac to print to that port. I tried ip printing, ldp printing, and only get error messages. i have tried, with limited success, to print thru another pc. but when the ip address changes, connection fails again.

from my understanding no firewall is preventing my access. I wonder if OSX supports parrallel printing, or if HP 6P is compatible to Mac networking printing?

if so, how can i set up? Thanks in advance for your help.

[cms]

Just a thought: SImplest way would be to see if it your iMac was picking it up as a Rendezvous share. I have set up several HP network printers recently on mixed networks, and the Macs see it as a Rendezvous printer, while the Pee Cees connect to it as a network resource.

If that's not a flyer, have you tried accessing through the LPD protocol? It's just another way of getting to printers via an IP address. Try this: When adding a printer in the Printer Setup Utility, select IP Printer instead of the Default Browser, and choose LPD (Line Printer Daemon). Click ont the blue arrow to the right of the (probably empty) address field, as your iMac will search for printers on this interface, much as it does under the AppleTalk interface, and give you the names, locations and IP addresses of printers on the network. All you have to do is add the printer, select the drivers -- you may need to install these -- and away you go...... And for good measure, check that Windoze sharing is activated in your preferences. Come to think of it, I'm sure it already will be if your on a mainly Pee Cee network!

[magicbbird]

thanks cms,
but no, unfortunately i have tried what you recommended, and no printer show up when searched. i tried ip printing, lpd printer, appletalk, hp ip printing, etc. and nothing work.

the only info i have from the print server is the ip address of the parallel port. maybe i need more info to tell my mac?

thanks anyway for your advise.

[cms]

Have you tried logging into the printer configuration info. via the IP address in Safari? You would be able to see the print server setup information here and ensure your iMac is configured for access in the correct workgroup, etc.