USB Printing problem solved! (Generic solution?)

Anyone have any luck with printing directly to their USB multifunction printer using the brand new build 3170 that came out today? We haven't downloaded it yet, but up until yesterday, we have NEVER been able to print to our multifunction HP USB printer, and we have tried EVERY "trick in the book" listed here on these forums. Believe me, we've tried it all. We won't be able to install build 3170 until this weekend, and we were wondering if anyone has any successes/failures to report on, in the meantime?.

Thanks,
Scott

 

Anyone have any luck with printing directly to their USB multifunction printer using the brand new build 3170 that came out today? We haven't downloaded it yet, but up until yesterday, we have NEVER been able to print to our multifunction HP USB printer, and we have tried EVERY "trick in the book" listed here on these forums. Believe me, we've tried it all. We won't be able to install build 3170 until this weekend, and we were wondering if anyone has any successes/failures to report on, in the meantime?.

Thanks,
Scott

 

No improvement with 3170

I see no change with 3170. Parallels still does not recognize my Epson R1800. It shows up in the devices menu as "USB 2.0 Printer (Hi-speed)", and the Epson software has very long delays followed by communication error trying to talk to it.

I have not bothered trying to actually print.

 

I have installed Bonjour and can print on my Canon MP180 from both OSX and XP in Parallels but the quality is poor. Do you know how to fix this?

 

Bonjour works for me (Canon i560). But colors incl. black aren't printed correctly, i.e. black is more a darker gray, red is more orange, etc. Tried it with several different apps under WinXP Prof but had no luck.
Printing under native OSX works without any problems (black is black).

I guess it's a parallels+bonjour issue but I'm out of ideas.

 

Simple Fix Sharing USB Printer Between OS X & Parallels

Login as an administrator on the Mac.
Add Printer to Mac.
Turn Printer Sharing on
Share the printer you added
In Safari, go to http://127.0.0.1:631/printers (This is CUPS, the actual Unix module handling all Mac printers, etc).
See the exact name of the printer you wish to add to parallels (including underscores, etc.).
Click on Add a Printer in the Printers and Faxes window on the Parallels side.
Select Network Printer.
Select Connect to a printer on the internet...
Type in the URL using the following format - http://OS X IP Address:631/printers/name of printer.
Example - http://192.16.24.48:631/printers/Officejet_Pro_K550
If you are using DNS resolution on your network, you can substitute the actual Mac OS X machine name for the IP Address but still have to add :631.
You may still have to use a Generic PS printer driver.
In my case, the HP Officejet Pro K550 works perfectly well with the HP Color LaserJet 4550 PS driver - go figure.

Using this method allows both the Mac and Parallels to print at the same time and both jobs will spool perfectly.

 

Bonjour for Windows is the key ingredient. I went to versiontracker.com got the latest version. Installed it on my Windows XP on Parallels. When I clicked through the wizzard it installed as generic/postscript with the proper address of the shared computer and the printers name Canon iP4200. To check it out I printed a page of email received in Windows.

 

Holy SH*T! I got my printer to work after 2 days!

Here is what worked for me:

Installed Boinjour on Vista in Parallels
Selected Printer Sharing in OSX printer preferences (turned it on)
clicked on Bonjour icon and it listed 2 printers - My HP 2840 and under that the HP 2840 Fax
I selected the top choice
then it goes to the next screen and has two boxes Manufacturer and Model
Here is what I didnt understand - I clicked on HP and then the model 2840 and then click next
DONT CLICK HAVE DISK
then click finish and you are all set!!!!

its INSANE that the major post for paralells is nobody can print. They should be embarassed!!!
"Hey here is a car and oh by the way we have not programmed keys for it yet....but call GM and read the programmers manual and the GM forums and MAYBE youll figure out how to start it "(this is my printing analogy!)

 

Still not working in 3186

Parallels still can not see my USB Epson R1800 in build 3186, supposedly a production release.

 

Sees my Epson R2400 and uses the native drivers with all the options (including duplexing)!

 

Got my HP OfficeJet 6100 working

I'm using build 3186 and XP SP2 on a brand new MacBook. I installed BonJour from apple.com (as suggested in the latest Parallels user guide) and did the printer sharing on the Mac side. So far everything seems to be working.

One thing that messed me up for a bit was I had USB autoconnect turned on and every time I turned on the printer within XP, the "new hardware found" dialogue would start and create the same printer again, blue screen and re-boot itself. Obviously I turned USB autoconnect off for now. Has anyone else had this problem?

That XP window sure looks dowdy sitting on an elegant Mac desktop...

 

These are pretty elementary suggestions, but I am a 21 year Mac veteran/17 year PeeCee veteran, had the same problems as others here, and missed them at first:

Make sure that, in the Parallels Desktop-->Configuration Editor-->USB Controller dialog box, you have the device status "Enabled" (box checked) and also check the "Connect USB Devices Automatically" box. Now, start up your Windows VM with the USB printer NOT connected. After the VM is started up, turn on your printer and plug your printer cable into the Mac's USB port. Windows Quicklaunch should immediately tell you that it has detected new hardware. And you proceed from there. Make sure you have the driver disk handy if the drivers are not available from within XP itself.

I want to note that I do NOT have Bonjour installed at all. I successfully connected an ancient HP Laserjet 4 via a cheep-cheep-cheep serial to USB adapter, a kludge if there ever was one. Best of luck to you.

L.

MacBook Pro Core Duo 2.16 15"/2G/100G/10.4.8 running Parallels Desktop build 3186

 

DaveB - could you list what you did to get your R2400 to work with the native drivers?? I'm having serious problems getting my R2400 to print! (I also sent you a PM regarding this - you probably haven't been back to the forums yet, though...). Thanks in advance for any help you could provide -

Rich Santoro

 

I have an Epson CX6600 all-in-one printer working through Parallels (XP Pro) using Bonjour and Printer Sharing from the Mac by using the generic/postscript driver. It works, but is very slow. Has anyone found a way to improve the speed or get it to work with the proper driver?

 

Hi JAVDB,

You might want to take a look at this thread - the fix worked for me...

http://forums.parallels.com/thread9900.html

Regards,

Rich

 

This is the solution that I also came up with for one of my users. He is still not happy as he wants to be able to print from either the Mac or the PC without going through tech contortions. It does work though so he is working with what we have.

Leia

 

Same for me. OSX printing is ok with my Canon Pixma MP810. I was not able to get it working with Bonjour in Windows XP. The printer is visible in the connected USB devices, but now way to print. I connected a GPS watch (Suunto X9i) and everything just worked perfectly (data transfer to the tool, even data transfer to Google earth), so it seams not to be the USB integration that isn't working, it's only the printer not working. I will not invest a lot more time in this issue. It seams to be a general point that should be solved.

 

I have a Canon MP730 (all in one) which worked fine yesterday, and today it wouldn't connect through the USB Controller in Parallels.

I downloaded Bonjour and ran it with the Generic/Postscript Driver, and nothing happens when I try to print.

Bonjour automatically selected Canon Bubblejet BJC1000 Driver. When I try to print with that driver, I get a really tiny print in the corner of the page.

HELP!! What else can I do?

 

Bonjour works GREAT

Bonjour for Windows is a lifesaver for me. I had all kinds of issues beforehand. Now I can print effortlessly to three separate USB printers - one of which I print to wirelessly through my Airport Extreme even though it is not "supposed" to work that way. They are:

Brother MFC4800 (wireless via Airport Extreme)
Canon i450
Epson C86

AND - I don't need to select a "generic" printer - I can use the manufacturer's drivers.

 

Problem solved for my Canon MP810!

After a new installation of XP, I clicked into the USB connected devices and activated the printer, the system "found" new hardware, started to install drivers (I allready installed the drivers before) and now: everything (printer and scanner just works perfectly! Now I really like this software and will buy it, because I can now connect my not Mac compatible devices like Suunto Watches, SonyEricsson Phones, and some more. Just beautiful!