on hold authentication required while printing

The error could be caused by two things;

1. Windows is blocking the connection to the shared printer for the user account name you are using

or

2. The driver you are using on the Mac cannot be used when connecting to a Windows shared printer.

For the first cause, are you using the Windows account you would normally use to login to Windows or are you using the Guest account? If you are using Guest then this account could be disabled on Windows.

Also, if you have Windows 7 there could be other items blocking the print sharing, such as HomeGroup or Network Location. Do you have Windows 7?

With regards to cause 2, you may have to look at using a Generic driver instead of the Xerox driver. Do you know if this printer supports Postscript or PCL. If it does then you can create your print queue using one of the two Generic drivers included with OS X.

PAHU, can you elaborate on the problems with printing through a Windows 7 share?

I am trying to get my mac to print to an HP deskjet shared by my win7 PC. I keep getting the "On Hold (Authentication Required)" error, and using the main administrator username and password for the authentication info doesn't work. This is odd, b/c the same info does work when I try to connect to the printer using another PC.

I took the PC out of its homegroup, but I still can't print from the mac. What else should I be looking at?

Thanks!

I'm having this same problem. Been at this for about 90 mins already. Read a ton of threads on it and cannot resolve this issue.

My setup: Windows 7 desktop, USBed into a Canon MX310. Then a Macbook Pro 10.6.5 laptop on the same router network. The Windows 7 computer is on the Homegroup and has its Printer shared with the Mac. I even have the latest drivers from Canon's site installed for both the Mac and Win7 computers.

And currently, whenever I try to print from the Mac (which is airport, not ethernet-ed to router) I'm getting Status: 'On Hold (Authentication Required)' message. So I removed the printer and re-added it, using the Windows > Homegroup > option from my Mac's System Preferences: Printers & Fax tool. It read my network and saw the Canon MX310 there. So far so good. I then added it using the MX310 drivers I recently installed.

But the same error kept popping up.

So I removed the printer and re-added it again, this time using the Generic Postscript drivers. Then, when I went to print from the Mac, nothing happened. Not even the Printer Status utility popped up. It's like I didn't even click Print. It's almost like this issue has devolved and grown worse the more I work on it.

Is there anything I'm not doing? Help, this is driving me nuts.

Reading your post there are a couple of things.
1. Disable Homegroup. This is for Windows 7 to Windows 7 sharing.

2. You are using the wrong driver. The Canon Mac driver has not be written to work for a printer connected to Windows and shared. And when it is used you will get authentication errors.

So you need to look at using an alternate driver that does work when the printer is being shared by Windows. Gutenprint is one such driver that works for cross-platform sharing, however the MX310 is not listed as a supported model. So you could try using a different Canon/Gutenprint model, such as the MP160. If this does not work correctly (you should find that it prints without error but the colors/text could be very out) then you would have to try another model. But the amount of time and ink/paper you use in trying to find a compatible model can be costly so you should consider purchasing [PrintFab|http://www.printfab.net]. The MX310 is a supported model and there is a 30 day trial available so at least you can test it before you part with €49.

I am having the same issue here, and things become a little more bizarre:

My computer (OS X 10.6.6) is connecting to a Dell 1100 (which is a Samsung something or other) shared on a Windows 7 computer using the SpliX v. 2.0.0 driver. Works beautifully.

My roommate's former computer, an eMac running OS X 10.5.8, used to print just fine to the same printer over the network using a slightly different driver. She recently got a new MBP, and used the Migration Assistant to port over all settings and preferences. She is now running 10.6.6, but now gets this "NT STATUS_ACCESSDENIED" error, even using the same drivers I'm using, even using my username and password when prompted for authentication. Her IP address is different than it used to be, but I already checked the firewall on the Windows, and made sure nothing was being blocked.

Feels like a locked room mystery!

I have to think it's something in Windows specifically, but am at a loss. Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance!

sandra

Her error could be a result of the migration from 10.5. I suggest you perform a reset of the printing system on her Mac. This will delete all printer queues so if she has more than one printer queue she will have to re-add them after the reset.

*How to Reset the Printing System*

1. Open System Preferences > Print & Fax
2. Move your mouse over the Printers list
3. Hold down the Control button and click the mouse
4. Click the "Reset printing system ..." popup
5. Restart your Mac

Before you add the queue to your Windows share I suggest you connect her MacBook directly to the Dell to see which driver gets installed/added. Make a note of this by opening Print & Fax, selecting the printer and then opening Options & Supplies. Under the General tab will be the driver name.

If the printing is fine when connected directly to the Dell then disconnect the USB and add the network printer. If the networked print queue fails then the authentication error could be driver related rather as mentioned in the other posts. This is due to many drivers only being written for the Mac for USB connections only. And given that you are entering your Windows user name/password when prompted then this could support that theory.

You also make mention of the 10.5 eMac using a 'slightly different driver'. Do you mean this was different to the one she is using now with 10.6 or is it a different driver name to what you are using on Win7?

Thanks, we're trying the reset right now. Connecting it directly would be difficult so that'll be a last resort.

The other drivers previously in use were the foomatic / samsung-gdi ones which in all honesty were much more trouble to get working than the SpliX one, which works just fine for me and has from the first time using it.

...pause...

OK, resetting the queues did not work. On a hunch I tried this, which worked: instead of browsing for the printer through the "Windows" pane, I used "IP" and selected "Line Printer Daemon LPD" with the IP number instead of the host name for "Address", the printer name (Dell1100) as the "Queue" (as it showed in the "Windows" view), and the appropriate Splix 2.0.0 driver for Dell 1100. Printed the test page like a charm!

I very much appreciate your taking the time to help!

sandra

Message was edited by: Sandra Guzdek

Message was edited by: Sandra Guzdek

Xclnt news. The LPD is a good option as it will bypass the authentication issue that SMB has. Only issue is that it is not enabled by default and finding where to enable it in Win7 can be daunting for some users. With XP it was much easier to find...

Hi Pahu,

First off, I want to sincerely thank you. You've been amazing on this thread and it's really appreciated.

OK, I went ahead and followed your recommended steps. I disabled Homegroup from my Win7 desktop computer (the one USBed into the actual Canon MX310 printer). I then went over to the Macbook Pro and deleted the Printer History (performed a reset of its system preferences to start fresh). Then, I downloaded and installed the 30 day trial of PrintFab. I then went ahead and added the printer back to the Macbook Pro using LPD (under System & Preferences > Printers & Faxes > Add Printer > Advanced Tab > LPD/LPR Host or Printer.

My printer name on the Win 7 computer is 'CanonMX310' (I was told to keep it one word) and it is indeed Shared.

So my URL went: lpd://computername/CanonMX310

I then selected the Printer Drivers for 'Canon PIXMAMX310 PrintFab' (was very excited to see that in the list, btw)

The printer seemed to add successfully, but when I went to perform a test print, my queue window started flashing and I saw this error message:

'Printer Paused'

I clicked 'Resume' and then saw:

'Unable to locate printer 'my computer name here'"

Any suggestions?

Message was edited by: intrloper9

The LPD service is not enabled by default on Windows 7. You would either need to enable the service or use Windows SMB on the Mac to connect to the shared printer.

To use Windows SMB, click + to Add the printer and select the Windows icon in the toolbar. The three columns that are displayed are for workgroup, computer name and shared name. After selecting the computer name you may have to enter your Windows user account credentials or select Guest if you have this account enabled.

To enable the LPD on Win7 you will have to open Control Panel > Programs & Features > Turn Windows features on or off. This will present a new window and eventually display a list of features. Expand the entry Print and Document Services and enable the LPD Print Service. OK this and I think you should restart the Win7 to start the LPD service (or use the Service MSC to start).