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cms · Feb 25, 2006, 10:46 AM

Just got my new 2.0 GHz MacBook Pro and am absolutely delighted with it, except for one really annoying prolem: I cannot get it to print to my network printer via AppleTalk over the Airport interface. My previous G4 Powerbook had no problem, and neither do the other 3 Macs on the network. They all pick up the Epson printer via Airport AppleTalk without a problem.

I can see and use the network printer on the AppleTalk interface if I hard-wire the MacBook Pro, but not over Airport. This is most frustrating, particularly when it has worked flawlessly for the past 2 years with my G4 Powerbook, and is not a problem for all the other Airport enabled machines on the network. The only printer I can see on the network via Airport is a Bonjour share, and that doesn't work either! Any ideas? I am a network professional, and set these things up all the time for clients, ranging from 6-600 users, so think I know what I am doing. I am beginning to think this a MacBook Prop/Intel-specific problem. Woudl appreciate any ideas/solutions. Thanks!

ghporter · Feb 25, 2006, 12:39 PM

Most networked printers prefer TCP/IP connections over AppleTalk. AT has been "depricated" in standards terms-it's not the preferred interface and is not being supported for newer products. Have you tried getting the MacBook to use the TCP/IP interface to see the printer?

cms · Feb 25, 2006, 01:24 PM

Yes, that works perfectly. Thanks! But I'm still at a loss to understand why it doesn't show up on the MacBoook Pro AppleTalk interface, when it did on my G4 Powerbook -- also running 10.4.5 -- and does on all the other Airport-equipped kit on the network. I'm happy to have found a fix but "need" to know why the problem occured in the first place, if you know what I mean! As I said in my initial post, could this be an Intel-specific bug?

asxless · Feb 25, 2006, 06:50 PM

Originally Posted by cms

Just got my new 2.0 GHz MacBook Pro and am absolutely delighted with it, except for one really annoying prolem: I cannot get it to print to my network printer via AppleTalk over the Airport interface. ..... I am a network professional, and set these things up all the time for clients, ranging from 6-600 users, so think I know what I am doing. I am beginning to think this a MacBook Prop/Intel-specific problem. Woudl appreciate any ideas/solutions. Thanks!

You probably already know this and have configured the Networking correctly but...
AppleTalk can only be active on one port at a time. So you have to specifically make AppleTalk active on the AirPort port. Perhaps the "bug" is that AppleTalk is not being deactivated on the Ethernet port when you activate it on the AirPort port. You might try deleteing all of the other ports in a test Location.

Can you see any other AppleTalk devices (e.g. a legacy Mac running OS 9) via AirPort?

-- asxless in iLand

cms · Feb 25, 2006, 07:00 PM

Thanks for that but yes, I did know it already

Tried deleting prefs, setting up a new user, all the usual suspects. No dice. I can't help it but even when a fix has been found and everything's working OK, I absolutely MUST find out WHY the original problem happened....! So, even though my problem is sorted (for which I thank you) any insights inot its cause would be really welcome.

ghporter · Feb 26, 2006, 02:51 PM

I'm starting to get the feeling that Tiger-Intel has some "differences" in the networking department. The AppleTalk issue is probably one of them. Remember, even Apple thinks of AppleTalk as a "legacy" protocol, so this may be a sort of lack of effort to make it less of a tool. And afterall, AT is not as effective or flexible as TCP/IP (or "Unix printing" as it is sometimes called).

No answers from me on this. Sorry.

cms · Feb 26, 2006, 03:25 PM

Hmmm...take your point BUT...If this is indeed the case, why can I see and access the printer via AppleTalk on my MacBook Pro on an ethernet connection? The AppleTalk access to network printer problem only relates to the wireless interface. If it was, as you suggest, a means of weaning us off AppleTalk, surely it would affect both interfaces. And wouldn't Apple have let us know if AppleTalk had been "deprecated" and was being sidelined?

I will be off on my rounds tomorrw and taking my new MacBook Pro into several of my many different working environments. I'll see if the problem is the same there. If it's not, I would have to deduce that this is a network and/or printer specific issue. Although that doesn't explain why it worked on my Powerbook G4, and also why other machines on this network are all OK over the Airport interface. Which brings me back full circle to my first instinct -- that it's an Intel glitch.

Thanks for your taking the time to respond. I'll keep you posted if you wish. Meanwhile, I would be really interested to know if others have encountered the same problem with AppleTalk over Airport on their MacBook Pros. Thanks!

ClassicMac · Feb 27, 2006, 05:42 PM

I am also having the same problem. I am unable to print over Appletalk using Airport but it works fine using the Ethernet port. Yes I made sure I had Appletalk enabled on the proper network interface. It would be interesting to know if this is a problem with the Intel build of OS X or just the MacBook Pro.

cms · Feb 27, 2006, 06:52 PM

Jolly glad to know it's not just me. And particularly useful that you have recreated my exact same problem. Try the TCP/IP interface to see and use the printer over Aiport. It works a treat, which pleases me. But I'd still like to know why the AppleTalk over Airport printing is an issue for me and for you. Any more with the same problem?

ghporter · Feb 27, 2006, 08:38 PM

I would not know exactly how differences in Mac OS for Intel-based machines have been implemented, but it's just as possible that the AirPort implementation is lacking in AT support while the ethernet interface still supports it. My point was that AppleTalk is probably not going to be your best choice for a number of reasons including its antiquity.

Can you check with the Apple Store in London to see if this is something they've seen?

humvee · Mar 9, 2006, 06:26 PM

I have exactlu the same problem as discribed. How do you set up a TCP/IP printing with a network printer ? How do you find IP address of the printer (LW 630) ?
Thanks

siamesekitten · Mar 9, 2006, 08:38 PM

I have the exact same problem with my new MacBook Pro. Prints fine over AirPort/AppleTalk on my old PowerBook, won't print over AirPort on my new MacBook, although it WILL print via Ethernet.

I have an AppleTalk-to-Ethernet adapter on my LW 4/600 PS, and have no way of knowing what the IP address is. Also, it would change periodically due to DHCP restarting on my router. So how do you set up the printer as a TCP/IP printer under these circumstances? I hope Apple fixes this soon in a maintenance release...

cms · Mar 10, 2006, 03:57 AM

I have my printer set up on my home network with a static IP address. When adding a printer in the Printer Setup Utility, select IP Printer instead of the Default Browser, and choose LPD (Line Printer Daemon). Your MacBook Pro 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 and away you go......

Also, I believe it makes sense to set up network shared resources on a static IP so you always know where they are! You can do this via your router admin tools under the DHCP options.

siamesekitten · Mar 10, 2006, 04:26 AM

I set up my LaserWriter 4/600 PS as an LPD per the instructions above, and chose the correct Apple driver from the list. However, when trying to print, it's still unable to find the printer over AirPort and AppleTalk.

Any other ideas?

cms · Mar 10, 2006, 04:33 AM

You are not looking to set the printer up over AppleTalk if you use the LPD interface. If you click on the blue drop-down arrow to the right of the Address field, you will see the network printers identified by their IP addresses on the network. It also "remembers" the IP addresses of printers on other networks you connect to. Right now, I can see 8 IP addresses from 3 different networks I have used in the past couple of days.

The whole point is that you don't need to use AppleTalk. LPD will do the same job for you using different protocol.

amazing · Mar 10, 2006, 03:56 PM

There are many, many WAPs that support Appletalk over ethernet but don't support Appletalk over wireless. I suspect from what's been said here that the Intel wireless chip in the MBP is like those WAPs. The chip simply isn't made to support Appletalk over wireless.

A quick search of Apple's MBP support didn't turn up any info, but I suppose that Apple will eventually get around to clarifying this.

Archmikus · Apr 2, 2006, 09:26 AM

I too have the same problem. I have two HP LaserJet 5MP printers in my house connected to my 802.11g wireless router via the Farallon Ethermac iPrint adapters. There are several different Macs that have been able to print fine to these printers via AppleTalk for years: A 9600, an iBook, an iMac, and my old PowerBook G4. But this new MacBook Pro cannot see these 2 HP printers when connected to the network wirelessly (though it works when connected via an ethernet cable).

Very curious. Perhaps its as the last poster said: maybe the wireless chip in the new Intel Macs doens't support AppleTalk?

chabig · Apr 2, 2006, 09:39 AM

Slightly off topic, but don't the Laserjet 5MPs have ethernet ports? If they do, then by all means scrap the Farallon adapters. They are completely redundant.

Chris

ClassicMac · Apr 3, 2006, 10:35 PM

Appletalk now works over Airport after the 10.4.6 update released today.

amazing · Apr 4, 2006, 12:33 AM

Yep, great news, as ClassicMac has pointed out! This is from the read me for 10.4.6:

''Addresses an issue that could prevent MacBook Pro from printing to wireless printers via AppleTalk."

cms · Apr 4, 2006, 02:17 AM

Great stuff! Just updated my MBP and we're in business.

eobet · Apr 4, 2006, 11:40 PM

Hi,

I've been going thru the thread. My MacBook won't see my Laserjet 6MP (connected thru JetDirect) using any of the above methods - Appletalk (active on Airport but not on Ethernet) or IP Printing via LDP. I just updated to 10.4.6 and it still doesn't work. I'm using an Airport Express which is connected to a Belkin Router.

I do get internet but interestingly enough, when I try to see the other appleshare computers on the network, they don't show up. However, if I type in their IP addresses in the "connect to server" window, they show up just fine. I get the same results on an iBook G3 (which connects as expected when I use the Ethernet instead of Airport).

Any idea what might be going on?

You'llbehappy · Apr 8, 2006, 08:44 PM

I just installed the combo Apple patch last night 07 April 2006 and it fixed the problem. I can now see my Laserwriter printer via Appletalk via wireless. I had to use my PBG4 as a printer server and wake it when I needed to print until now.

So, simply add the printer again and you should now see your printer(s).

Enjoy.

Jon