recommend a multi-function with Windows network?

[Silks]

I am throwing in the towel on getting my Mac to see and install drivers for my Canon Pixma printer atttached to a shared networked XP machine. Other threads herein have expressed similar frustration (and the guys at the Apple store sold me this piece of junk! but I digress...)

Going back to the store for a multi-function printer/scanner/etc. Can anyone recommend one that is pretty good, AND that the Mac will actually install drivers for and print to, when it's shared and hanging off an XP machine on the network?

Someone please guide me. I'm still a novice to this Mac stuff, and it's been a pretty frustrating ride so far!
Thanks in advance.

[skybolt]

We have a Brother MFC3240C and it works great for our PC/ mac network. It is plugged into the airport base station, and my husband accesses it wired from there. I use it wirelessly with my PB. The CUPS drivers are readily available on the Brother website and after I downloaded the driver, my PB just "found" the printer. Quite simple! I am told that Brother is one of the better companies for this kind of support.

Good luck!

[gsahli]

Hi, Silks,
I don't recall if I'm the one who responded to you before...

Network printing/Windows printing only works with a driver that was meant for network printing. To use the OS X built-in CUPS network choices, you need a CUPS driver. For postscript printers, it's not an issue, because postscript is the native output of OS X, and can easily be routed to the various choices in Printer Setup.
Non-postscript printers are Very Different. Except for Brother, no manufacturer has provided CUPS drivers. Instead, what you get are Carbonized, OS9 legacy drivers, that have the comm protocol written into the driver (mostly USB). They can only print via local connection.
**Exception - when printing via an Airport/Bonjour enabled print server, where the software does a port redirection, USB output from the Mac gets routed to the USB port on Airport Express/Extreme.
***2nd exception - printers with ethernet or wireless built-in always come with network-capable drivers. I guess that's why they're $100 more.

The only CUPS drivers for Canons newer than 6 yrs old is from www.printfab.net. It costs $60, but may save you being disapointed all over again with some other multifunction.

[Silks]

Hi gsahli:

1. You did answer a question for me ages ago about network printing, but I gave up on that effort a while ago. You were right about the kinks not being 100% out of the Airport Express and Tiger combo at the time.

2. OK, so let me simplify your answer, and see if I’m reading you right…
A. This download (after paying my license fee, of course) will install on my Mac.
B. When I find my printer hanging off my XP computer, and try to configure it, I will now have some sort of Canon ip4000-like driver listed for me to use with that printer.
C. The driver will print more or less as well as the Canon ones would have if the Canon people had been so kind as to let me install theirs.
D. And it will all happen without the printer having to be connected to my Mac.

3. And, even if I bought another printer of some sort, and even if the helpful (but still somewhat novice) rep at the Apple store told me otherwise, I would likely still have this problem with another machine if it was attached to an XP box on my network, unless it had some sort of networking capability built into it (?)

This all just sounds way too easy…

[Silks]

OK. I thought it sounded too easy.
Drivers downloaded. Printer found in print setup. Cool. Proper printer drivers were right there where I had expected them all along (Thank you PrintFab!)

Try to print a simple page... Failure.
First message: Connection failed with error -- NT_STATUS_NO_MEMORY
Followed by: Unable to connect to SAMBA host

Might as well be speaking Russian. Helloooo. What does that mean?

I thought this Mac stuff "just works".
Not my experience so far, but still hoping...

KAS

[gsahli]

Couple of things could cause your latest symptoms - Do you have the WinXP firewall ON but haven't allowed printer sharing?

Do you have 1) an account on WinXP (a usernameassword) that matches what you use to login on the Mac (this is easiest)? 2) if not, do you have guest user enabled (next easiest)? 3) or, do you know a usernameassword for any account on the PC?

[Silks]

Turned the firewall off. Printer is shared. Login and pswd on my XP box are identical to the ones on my Mac.
On the Mac, I have SystemPreferences|Sharing|Printer Sharing and Windows Sharing both turned on.

Still, when printing... "Unable to connect to SAMBA host...Connection failed with error..."

What is SAMBA, and is it something I have to install on the XP box to be able to print to it?

[MisterMe]

SAMBA is the opensource clone of the default Windows XP networking protocol. There is nothing you need to install on your Windows computer to enable it.