Printer problems

K

Kathryn Talarico

Bit poster
I am new to Mac and even newer to Parallels, so I beg your indulgence.

I am running Mac OS 10.4.10. I installed Windows XP Pro on my virtual machine. My version of Parallels is build 4128 (I've not installed the latest build, given the discussions about crashing problems). My printer is a Kodak 5100 (USB connected). It works fine on the Mac side of things. In Windows XP, all I can print is the first (or sometimes just the last) page of a document in any program I use (Word 2003, WordPerfect X3), even when "print full document" is chosen.

My Parallels configuration editor tells me that the Default Printer is set to Parallel 1 and "Make sure that the driver for HP Color Laser Jet 8500PS or Apple Color LW 12/660 PS printer is installed in the guest operating system. This driver will be used for direct printing to any Mac installed printer." I have done this and can still print only one page of a document. My USB controller is on Autoconnect.

Getting the virtual machine to actually recognize the Kodak printer doesn't work at all. I followed the instructions in the Parallels 3 manual on pp. 120-121 for "Setting up a USB Printer." I have not tried the other two methods suggested by the manual for "Windows XP Operating system" or "Bonjour," since I really don't understand what Bonjour is.

Sorry for being such a newbie, but any advice or help would be appreciated.

Thank you,
Kathy Talarico
 
Here is a link to the instructions for Bonjour

Bonjour allows you to print from Windows to a printer attached to OSX, by basically making the OSX machine a print server.

The link points to the Parallels Knowledgebase. There you will also find instructions for making the Parallels Port work, which is what you are currently trying.
 
Still no printing

I tried everything you suggested, purplish (for which I'm grateful), but even with Bonjour I can't get the printer to print more than one page. One thing was resolved, however, and that is that any documents I have with foreign accents in them no longer print out garbage.

The Kodak printer came with a CD (which is supposed to be used for Windows installations only). On the CD, there is a folder called "Bonjour." I tried installing the software from the CD, thinking that perhaps Bonjour would recognize the drivers, but that just made matters worse. The generic postscript printer that shows up in my word processing programs is the HP Color Laserjet 4550 PS. In the "Printers and Fax" window of the Control Panel, it shows up as the name of my computer (which I've shortened to "damn kodak"!). When I click on "share this printer," however (just one of the gazillion tests I've been doing since 5:30 this morning), it says that sharing is not supported for this type of printer. Yet on the Mac side, there seems to be no problem in assigning the Kodak to the "Share thes printers with other computers" list. I've installed, reinstalled, Bonjour-ed and re-Bonjour-ed all day long, with no luck in getting anything more than one page to print.

If I can stay awake, I may try to borrow an HP printer from my sister and test it out with Bonjour, but at this rate, I'm not holding my breath.

Right now, I feel as if I have a very expensive web browser sitting on my desk, with no access to my apps.

Sorry for going on and on, but I am at my wits' end.

Any advice from anyone out there would be so very much appreciated.

Kathy Talarico
 
My advice would be to pick one method and stick to it. When you mix Bonjour and the other methods, the drivers walk over each other and it does not work. You will need to uninstall the other drivers from the other methods and reboot.

Method 1: Run the printer through USB support. You can install the Kodak disk in Windows and run the printer like it is attached to a Windows machine. The downside is that you will have to virtually unplug the printer from Windows and replug it into OSX if you want to print from there. This is down through the Parallels/Devices/USB drop down menu. It is a pain, but if you need more than the printing functions of your printer.

2) You can use the Parallels Port, and the generic HP ColorLaserjet Driver. If so, uninstall your installation cd from #1 and uninstall bonjour for windows and reboot. In this method, both Windows and OSX can access the printer without having to "unplug" it.

3) You can use Bonjour. In this case, uninstall your installation disk. Uninstall the drivers for the HP colorlaserjet. Reboot. Install Bonjour for Windows. If you do not see your printer listed in the choices, use generic postscript.

In all three scenarios, make sure the printer works in OSX before you start. If it does not, nothing you do in Windows will work either.

Good luck.
 
Just thought I'd let folks who look in on this thread know that my printer problems are still not solved. Sadly, Parallels support hasn't been able to help either. I'm about to lay out a small fortune to have someone from the Geek Squad who knows about Mac, Windows, and Parallels come in to help. This will be the last resort. If I can't get the problem resolved, I will switch over to Fusion and give it a try.

Kathryn Talarico
 
The problems with the Kodak AiO 5100 were solved by switching to the Brother MFC-240C. The Kodak didn't work with VMware Fusion either. It was the printer--not the program.

Thank you for all your good help and advice.

Kathryn Talarico
 
I am having the same problem with a Kodak 5300. Has there been any solution aside from what I've seen in this thread to address the problem?
 
My suggestion is to try another printer. There seems to be a real problem with the Kodak. I had exactly the same problem when I tried to install the Kodak on Vmware Fusion. Switching to another printer solved the problem.

A neighbor of mine is an Apple Consultant and he was intrigued by the Kodak problem since he was trying to help a friend of his who was having problems with a Kodak printer as well.

Kathryn Talarico
 
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