Shared Printers/Bonjour Printers issues...

Bonjour is used to discover networked printers including those shared by another Mac. For example, when you browse for a printer on OS X Server, it is shown as a Bonjour printer.

The fact that you see the word Bonjour instead of Shared may be due to the .7 update. I did a quick test between my MacBook running 4.6 and my iMac G5 running 4.7 but the dialog in the printer menu and in the printer browser still show 'Shared Printer'. I'm not planning on running the .7 update on the MacBook just yet but I am thinking that if both Mac's were .7 they may show the shared printers as Bonjour?

Can you confirm something for me? On your PowerBook open your printer browser by running Printer Setup Utility (located in Applications/Utilities) and click Add. Click on Default Browser and see if the printer shared by the iMac is shown as shared or Bonjour. If it is shown as Shared then there must be something else going on with your print menu. If it shows Bonjour then we have more work to do...

Regards,

Paul

I still get Shared Printers with 10.4.7. I can also add shared printers with the Printer Setup Utility, so they appear in printer list as well. They only show up when the host computer is on and awake.

I did some more testing in my lab that has a G5 (10.4.6), a G4 (10.3.9) and a Xserve (Server 10.4.6). When I open the Printer Browser I can see the printer I have enabled on the Xserve as a Bonjour printer. I also see some wide formats as Bonjour printers as they support this protocol.

If I open an application like TextEdit, I only see Bonjour Printers in the print menu, not Shared Printers. But after I enabled Printer Sharing on the G4, Shared Printers and Bonjour Printers appeared in the print menu of TextEdit.

So given the .6 was behaving the same as your situation I am not convinced that the .7 update is entirely at fault, although I am sure your printing was fine prior to this latest update. And as Bruce has replied, his 4.7 is still showing shared printers.

The fact that your printer driver has changed to some limited version can occur when OS X thinks you don't have the required print driver installed locally so it downloads the PPD of the shared printer from the system sharing the printer. But for printing to most non-postscript printers, the use of a ppd only is not suitable and causes printing errors including no printing at all. And this is what I think is causing your trouble, more than the printer share being shown as a Bonjour printer. The task for us it to work out how we can get the correct local HP driver to connect to the share. In the server environment you are given the option to select the driver of choice. But if you are not being given the option then we may have to workaround this.

At this stage I would download and run the 10.4.7 Combo Update ( http://www.apple.com/support/downloads/macosxupdate1047comboppc.html) to see if that changes what you see.

Regards,

Paul

Hi Shea,

I just read one of your previous comments about what is displayed on your iMac and I think I may have an answer.

But first can confirm this for me. On the iMac that is sharing the printer, in the Printer Browser when you clicked Add you saw the 750xi twice. Once shown with a Connection type as Bonjour and the other as USB.

If this is the case, did you add the printer for the 750xi shown as USB or Bonjour?

Also, still on the iMac open 'Print & Fax' in System Preferences and click on Sharing. Which printer is listed (the USB or Bonjour)?

Regards,

Paul

Hi Shea,

Thanks for the info. This explains why I haven't been able to recreate your problem.

Reading some info from the HP site I now know that their software will create a Bonjour printer connection and that is why you aren't seeing the printer as Shared. If you were to add the printer using the USB option in Printer Setup rather than using the HP software, then I am sure you would see the printer as Shared from the other Mac.

But the issue is that if you were to add the printer using Printer Setup rather than the HP utility, would you still be able to print from the iMac. I am hopeful that you can and that this should then help with then printing from the PowerBook.

So since it isn't working anyway, try using Printer Setup on the iMac to add the 750 shown as USB. Make sure you can print and if you can check that it is still shown as shared printer in System Preferences.

Then on the PowerBook open Printer Setup and Add. Now you should see under Default Browser the 750xi and the Connection type as Shared Printer. When you select it in the list the Name, Location and Print Using will be greyed-out but that is okay. It should create the printer locally when you click Add.

Hopefully this helps. This is how I connect to my Canon printer. I'm just hoping that the HP driver can work this way...

Regards,

Paul

Hi Shea,

Unfortunately this sounds like the driver doesn't like connecting in this manner. Without a HP I cannot determine a workaround so it looks like you may have to forget about connecting this way unless someone else has a suggestion/answer.

Now I think you will have to look at getting the HP install util working on the PowerBook to see if it can provide you with an option for connecting to shared printers.

Or you could invest in a USB hub that would let you connect both Mac's and the printer via USB.

Regards,

Paul

I hope you don't mind if I interject a random thought here...
I see that the printer shows up as generic under Bonjour from the iMac, but... just for kicks is your wireless by any chance an AirPort Extreme? Are you willing to try plugging the printer into the AirPort & sharing (which is Bonjour I know) that way just to see how things work?

Just a thought.