Fix printing issues with shared Intel-PowerPC printers
Mar 22, '06 06:18:00AM • Contributed by: acalado
Mar 22, '06 06:18:00AM • Contributed by: acalado
I was pulling my hair out trying to get my MacBook Pro to print properly to an HP DeskJet 9800 shared by a PowerMac G4. The main problem was that on the MacBook Pro, I didn't get all of the printer options I normally should (ie: paper type, quality and borderless printing), so I couldn't specify I was using photo quality paper, or adjust the print quality. Even worse, iPhoto would sometimes crash when I tried to print.
The Intel version of Mac OS X has the latest drivers for most printers, including my HP DeskJet 9800. When I plugged the 9800 directly into my MacBook Pro via USB, I could access all the printer options normally, and it prints fine, but that wouldn't do as a permanent solution -- I want to use my PowerMac G4 as the print server, so my wife and I can both print wirelessly from our two notebook Macs.
I noticed when I clicked Get Info for the 9800 in Printer Setup Utility on both computers that the version number of the drivers was not the same. The MacBook Pro had v3.3, and the PowerMac G4 had v2.8--even though they were both running Mac OS X 10.4.5. So a quick visit to HP's web site, and I saw they had an updated driver released in March 2006, which I promptly downloaded and installed on the PowerMac. Long story short, the version from HP's web site was still only v2.8, and it didn't solve the problem.
Well, if my MacBook Pro had the latest driver, then I figured I'd try and install the HP drivers from my MacBook Pro Install DVD on the PowerMac G4, and it worked!
Here are the steps I took to get it to work:
- Turn off Printer Sharing on the PowerMac G4.
- Reset the printing system on both computers via Printer Setup Utility.
- Pop the Mac OS X Install Disc 1 DVD that came with my MacBook Pro into my PowerMac G4 and run the Optional Installs package from the disc, selecting the Hewlett-Packard Printer Drivers on the Custom Install screen and click the "Update" button and wait for the install to finish.
- Add the DeskJet 9800 printer to Printer Setup Utility on the PowerMac G4.
- Turn on Printer Sharing on the PowerMac G4.
- Add the DeskJet 9800 printer to Printer Setup Utility on the MacBook Pro.
This solution may work for other printer makes/models where the printer driver included with the Intel Mac is newer than the latest download available for PowerPC. Just select your brand's printer drivers in step #3 above. Hope this saves other people some time and frustration.
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