Network printing issues in Mac OS X Lion 10.7.1

Based on the error messages, it would suggest that the printer/s are not reachable from the Air. This could be somewhat explained when the Air was on a different subnet to the printers and the Pro, but with you changing the IP of the Air so that it is on the same subnet then it does not make a lot of sense.

Since the Pro is working have you looked at System Information > Hardware > Printers to see what it has set for the printer. Maybe this will give some clues as to a setting you've missed?

Also, when you do have the Air set to the same subnet as the printers, does the print job spool off the Air or stay in the queue? If it stays, then it would suggest that there is no path from the Air to the printer. If the job left the queue but failed to print, then you would suspect that the protocol you have selected is not supported or the printer language you are using is not supported. Again, checking what the Pro for its connections to these printers could be helpful.

I am having the same exact problem, but with a Mac Pro, not a MacBook Air, running Lion (10.7.2). Furhter, I also have a MacBook Pro running 10.6, and I have no issues printing over a network. The problem is definitely with Lion.

So, I got this to work, only moments after replying to your thread. Here's what I did:

1. Removed the printer in System Preferences | Print & Scan

2. Added the printer, again

3. Under the IP tab at the top of Add Printer, I chose the LPD option to the right of Protocol, instead of IPP

The remainder of the install process was identical to how I originally setup the printer.

Thank you Roy!

Your advice worked perfect!

Our IT guy couldnt figure it out and gave up! I was determined and found the answer, thanks to you!!!

Hey I'm having the same problem! I did what you said...chaning it to LPD and it trys to connect to the printer and then pauses...I'm no longer getting the authenication required but it will just say 32% complete then will pause, when i click resume it repeats the 32% complete then pause. Please help!

This will only work if you have LPR enabled in the printer. Based on the message you are getting it would suggest that the printer does not have it enabled. Do you know how to check this?

I do not know how to check this. I know i have a Epson Stylus Photo RX500

I think you should be able to connect to the internal web page of the Epson by typing its IP address into a web browser. This often gives you access to the network configuration of the printer.

Just checking that this printer is connected to your network, either via Ethernet or wireless. I ask because I see you also posted in another thread where the printer was being shared by Windows, which is different to what the OP of this thread had.

I have tried several ways to connect the printer. I don't know much about all of this stuff... I know my printer is an Epson Stylus Photo RX500 and is connected to my home computer (window vista) by USB port... when I tried to connect the printer by going to system preferences...print&scan...+...windows...clicking my workgroup...shared name..printer name...then it connected said it was connected and tried to print a test page i got the error message...authenication required....i tried that multiple times.

I then tried it by switching the ip to LDR....which i think what your saying is that can't work because im sharing the printer with a windows network...?

Do you have any idea what to do?
or what i should try?

Thanks for the additional info. Your setup is different to this thread and more like the other scenario that you posted in, so the steps above don't quite apply.

But fear not, I can give you what you need to know.

The first thing is that the method you used to add the printer previously, ie select to Add via Print & Scan and select Windows, was the correct method for connecting to Windows shared printers. What would have been stopping you from printing was Windows. The authentication pop-up you saw was a request from Windows asking for user credentials to permit the printing. At this stage, if you entered your Windows user name and password the printing should have completed. Note that if you don't have a password set for the Windows account then this can cause errors with shared printing. So I suggest you do set a password for Windows (you should do this by default if this computer connects to the Internet) and this can help with getting the printing to work.

If you were entering the correct details then the second thing is that there are known issues with using Mac drivers when printing via Windows shares. Many vendors do not make printer drivers that work with this type of connection and when you do you can get these authentication messages. So if you were entering the correct Windows user name and password then it could have been the driver rather than Windows causing this pop-up to appear. In this case you need to look at using an alternate driver suite, such as that offered by Gutenprint, although without checking I don't know if your model of Epson is supported. Anyway, the web site will show you if it is.

If Gutenprint does not list your RX500 as a supported printer then there is a way that you can use the original Epson driver and that involves enabling Unix Print Services on the Vista PC. There is a bit to this so I recommend you try to get the above procedure working before you look at this alternative.

Thanks for all your help. I was being asked to enter a username and password. And like you said my printer does not have a password required to share so how do i go about setting a password?

The account and password you are being asked to enter is your Vista PC user name and password. So if there is no password set for the account that you use to access this Vista PC, then you can set one via Control Panel > User Accounts.

Thank you Roy from New York, your answer helped me too.

Thanks a lot Roy from New York ! I asked our IT guy as well and he couldn't figure out. So, I started searching. Your LPD suggestion rocks ! I am using Macbook pro !

Cheers !

This worked for me in El Capitan.

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So, I got this to work, only moments after replying to your thread. Here's what I did:

1. Removed the printer in System Preferences | Print & Scan

2. Added the printer, again

3. Under the IP tab at the top of Add Printer, I chose the LPD option to the right of Protocol, instead of IPP

The remainder of the install process was identical to how I originally setup the printer.

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