Printing to a network printer connected to Hub

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Printing to a network printer connected to Hub

Hi,
I have a BT Homehub 2.0, and have connected a Hp Deskjet to the USB port on it. I have managed to print to this printer from an XP PC, so the connection etc works fine. I have found the following instructions as to how to connect a Mac to it, but I can't work it out using Snow Leopard (the instructions are for a previous version of OSX).
Could someone let me know how to set this up?? (I'm a Mac newbie, so can't find the relevant page which lets me set ports etc etc etc).

Previous instructions from Web are.....

1) Add your printer normally as if its attached to your machine.
2) Once added, right click on properties then on the ports tab.
3) Click add port, choose Standard TCP/IP Port, click New Port.
4) Enter 192.168.1.253 as the IP address, and anything you like as the name.
5) Click Custom, then Settings.
6) Choose LPR as protocol Queue Name: LPT1 check LPR byte counting as enabled, click ok.
7) Finish the wizard

Macbook, Mac OS X (10.6.4)

Posted on Dec 17, 2010 7:04 AM

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Answer 1

greg sahli

Level 7

25,508 points

Dec 17, 2010 2:12 PM in response to arwelBath

Print Drivers aren't as simple on OS X as on Windows. There are two types - monolithic and CUPS. The driver provided by HP is a monolithic driver with no network support written in. You need a CUPS driver. A Gutenprint driver is a CUPS driver. Or try hpijs.
http://www.linuxfoundation.org/collaborate/workgroups/openprinting/macosx

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Answer 2

arwelBath Author

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Dec 19, 2010 5:46 AM in response to greg sahli

I think I am using the Gutenprint driver for the HP. My real issue is how to then set up the relevant port settings etc??

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Answer 3

greg sahli

Level 7

25,508 points

Dec 19, 2010 6:36 AM in response to arwelBath

Looks like the instructions are explicit.
Click + to add, click on IP printers and select LPD,
enter the IP address of the homehub as the printer IP, then enter the queue name they give lpt1. Select printer model and finish.
No other port settings required.
Do you know the IP address of your Homehub? It is the same as the router/gateway address shown in your Mac Network Prefs.

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Answer 4

arwelBath Author

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Dec 19, 2010 4:24 PM in response to greg sahli

Nope, the address listed for the router in the airport settings is different (under the TCP/IP tab...).
But, the IP address above works fine for an XP PC connected to the same router, so... what next.

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Answer 5

greg sahli

Level 7

25,508 points

Dec 19, 2010 6:43 PM in response to arwelBath

This isn't all adding up. Sorry.
Is there something unusual about your network - maybe two routers, one ethernet only and a second one for wireless?

You need to tell me the IP addresses of your Mac and router and a PC.
(Remember that local LAN IP addresses are not accessible from outside your local network - it's safe to tell us those.)

By the way, you can confirm the IP your PC(s) are using by highlighting the printer, then right-clicking and selecting Properties and going to the ports tab and then clicking Configure port.

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Answer 6

arwelBath Author

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Dec 20, 2010 1:51 AM in response to greg sahli

Okay, sorry, I'm no expert on this.
My setup isn't anything unusual. It's a standard router provided by my ISP - British Telecom over here. It's a 'BTHomehub 2' as per here if it helps.... ( http://www.filesaveas.com/bthomehub.html).

If I log on to the settings of the router, then it shows the three things connected to it in my home network. The PC, which has IP if 192.168.1.163, the PC which is listed as 192.168.1.69, and the HP Printer which is listed as 192.168.1.253.

Anyway, from the PC, to set the printer I just point it to the IP of the printer, adjust the correct settings as described here... http://www.wallaceit.co.uk/Hardware/Use-your-BT-Home-Hub---Use-it-as-a-print-ser ver---Windows-XP-guide/80/article.aspx
...and it works.

If I try to set up my Mac, it seems to 'see' the printer, but when I actually try to print, The printer icon pops up in the dock, with a yellow triangle and an exclamation mark on it. If I open that to see the queue, there is a message saying 'Network host '192.168.1.253' is busy; will retry in 30 seconds...', and it never actually gets through.

With the Mac, I'm not setting the 'LPR Byte Counting Enabled' etc as described for the PC, and so I'm just wondering if that may be the problem, and whether there is somewhere in the settings on my Mac that I can go to adjust those?

Looking at the settings on the Mac, I can see....
(General Tab)
Name: 192.168.1.253
Queue Name: 192_168_1253
Driver Version: 5.2.3
url: socket://192.168.1.253/LPT1

(Driver Tab)
HP Deskjet 959C - Gutenprint v5.2.3

(Supply Levels)
Information not available.

And that's it!

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Answer 7

arwelBath Author

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Dec 20, 2010 4:24 AM in response to arwelBath

Ah, okay. I played around with it, and for some reason it was changing the queue name that worked. I have no idea why, but using the same one as the PC didn't (LPT1), but I just arbitrarily tried 'LPT2', and then hey presto it was all fine!
But, thanks for all your help anyway. Much obliged!

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Answer 8

greg sahli

Level 7

25,508 points

Dec 20, 2010 7:33 AM in response to arwelBath

I'm glad it's working for you...
But, I just want to point out that you didn't follow instructions. You used IP > HP Jetdirect-socket and NOT IP > LPD as you were supposed to. I can tell this because the info you gave above shows printer URI: socket:// ...etc

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