Can't print to 2 separate printers from VM...? Please help...

[Matt@SDA]

I'm having a problem setting up a second printer through the Windows 7 VM running on Parallels 6. We have 2 printers in the office (1 Sharp all-in-one, and 1 HP plotter). I can print to both of these printers from the Mac side. From the Windows side I have only been able to get the Sharp to print using the HP Color LaserJet 8500PS setup configuration in Windows. We are an architectural firm, so I need to be able to print on the plotter as well.

I added a second printer port to the Windows / Parallels configuration, which is the one connected to the HP. All the sharing options are selected and the printers are marked as connected. I even reinstalled the Parallel Tools, just in case. I went through the whole "Add a Printer" setup routine on Windows several times and several ways, including using the LPT1, LPT2, & TCP/IP ports. I've followed the instructions on this site and from several other posts. They all just add one printer though, which I've already done successfully. I just can't seem to get the VM to connect to the second HP plotter.

Please help. I have 2 more Macs coming to the office over the next few months and I have to be able to set this up for them as well, without losing my mind. Thanks in advance.

 

[steveox]

It sounds like you've experienced the same problem that I have, and yes, I've also noticed that all the available documentation just walks you through adding a single printer.

I did a little experimenting, adding a third printer in VM Config (Printer Port 3) and in Windows (LPT3). When I tried printing to the Windows LPT3 printer, the output was sent (successfully) to the printer assigned to Printer Port 2 in VM Config!!!? And guess what, when I used the Windows LPT2 printer, output was sent to the printer assigned to Printer Port 3 in VM Config! So, to recap:

Windows :: Parallels VM
LPT1 ==> Printer Port 1
LPT2 ==> Printer Port 3
LPT3 ==> Printer Port 2

Try reassigning your second printer to LPT3 in Windows. It worked for me - hopefully, it will work for you (and hopefully, better late than never).

One more comment: I've gotten the impression that using the generic printer drivers in the usual VM-PrinterPort/Windows-LPT manner does not allow use of a printer's "special features". For example, I can't print envelopes through the LPT port because the driver seemingly doesn't know about anything other than letter-size paper. However, if I connect the printer through a USB port or use Bonjour, then it works fine. So if your printers still don't work right, try connecting them by one of the other methods. I actually have both of my printers "double-connected" through both the LPT ports and Bonjour and (so far) they seem to coexist happily. I can use the LPT-connected printers for simple stuff like text pages even with the VM Network connection disabled (which I prefer to do). If I need to do something less-generic (like printing envelopes), I enable the Network connection and print through Bonjour. Probably a lot depends on whether the drivers for your particular printers are included in the Bonjour suite, but for me, Bonjour installation and configuration was amazingly easy and went without a hitch - wishing the same for you.

 

[steveox]

Parallels Support has admitted to a bug in the printer mapping and told me that it will be fixed in a future update. In the meantime, anyone having trouble adding a second printer can try the work-around above.

They also agreed that the generic drivers used in the VM-PrinterPort/Windows-LPT method (a.k.a. "Sharing a Mac Printer") does not allow use of some extended features. I encouraged them to document both of these issues.