Still unable to print most documents in v.3.0

I've just upgraded to Parallels Desktop v.3 (build 4128) from v.2.5. My guest OS is Windows XP Professional SP2.

Since first buying Parallels Desktop, I've been unable to print. Using the Bonjour Printer Wizard allowed me to see my printer -- a new HP Deskjet 6980 connected to my Airport Express -- within Win XP, but not print to it.

Now, since upgrading to v.3.0 and once again following the Bonjour instructions, I'm able to print only the simplest documents to my printer from within Win XP, such as, for example, text-only Word documents. But when I try to print more complex documents such as web pages or Microsoft Publisher documents, the print dialog box does *not* have an active "Print" button. Cancel is the only option.

I followed the instructions to the letter, using the "Generic/Postscript" option instead of searching for my printer's own drivers. Is there some reason this simple setup won't print? Thanks in advance for any help.

Regards,
Eric.

 

So install in Windows the correct printer driver for your printer. You can still print to the same printer but it would be a good idea to identify it as a raw device rather than a Postscript device. That way OS X won't attempt to interpret the print stream but just pass it straight to the printer. If there are drivers for the printer made for OS X then so much the better as then both OS X and Windows can print to it using the full capability.

 

I agree with DKP. The advice to use the generic driver is especially important when your printer is directly attached to the Mac through USB. Since you are attaching through Airport Express, I would try the native driver. Even then, XP generally comes with the native drivers preinstalled. You can also check the Airport Express instructions and the Apple forums for Airport Express (printing from Windows) for ideas.

Bonjour for Windows is still crucial in your situation. That is the only way your Windows machine will see the printer attached to the Airport Express. (Your Mac has Bonjour built in).

 

The fact that the Print button is inactive for some documents is surprising. I can't see that this relates to the suitability of the driver. Any print driver will attempt to print anything - it may do a rotten job of it, but it won't usually reject it. It sounds more as if the application (Publisher or whatever) is deciding the printer is not present at all. Are you sure it's selected as your default printer? Is Print available as a menu option? Most Print dialogs have OK buttons once you've opened them. what web browser are you using when you try to print web pages?

 

Using the native driver for my HP Deskjet 6980 via Bonjour results in my not being able to print at all, even from Word, which was possible with the Generic/Postscript driver. Here's the resulting dialog when I attempt to print:



This is very disappointing. Are others able to print via AirPort-connected printers, or only to shared printers connected to another actual computer on the local network?

Is it possible that Parallels didn't test this configration? I ask because the only way to get the Bonjour wizard to see the HP printer was to turn on printer sharing from my *laptop*'s preferences. This should *not* be necessary, since the printer is de facto shared since it is connected to the AirPort Base Station.

In other words, every computer on the network -- except Parallels Desktop -- could see the printer fine when it was simply connected to the AirPort Express base station. As per Parallels' own documentation and tech support, it can only see the printer when I then take the further step of turning on printer sharing System Preferences on my host laptop. But even then only the configuration works: printing doesn't.

 

I print directly to the wi-fi printer from Windows and from OS X. A port was created in Windows that the printer driver uses to locate the printer. It looks like you are printing directly to OS X and not to the wi-fi printer. I think it should still work, btw, but clearly does not, so you might try creating a new path to the printer using the Ports option in the Windows printer manager.

As an aside - I'd thought the airport connected printers were also Bonjour devices and so should show up in the Bonjour wizard in Windows. In other words you should see the airport printer and the same printer shared out via OS X. Same printer with two ways to get to it.

I don't know the answer to this, but printing as you are, the OS X printer type should be a raw device so that OS X doesn't do any processing with the print stream. Anyone know if the Generic/Postscript driver is a raw device?

 

Alan,

Thanks for your reply. No, the printer was in fact selected as the default, and its dialog was appearing, but the "Print" button was dimmed, leaving "Cancel" as the only option. I was using IE 7 to try and print.

Cheers,
Eric.

 

What was happening was that under v.2.5 the device itself was appearing in the Bonjour wizard -- but only very briefly. The moment I'd try to select its driver, it would vanish, and the wizard would say the printer was no longer available! Others confirmed this same symptom in the forum with other printers, so it wasn't just me.

Parallels suggested the printer sharing trick, which worked to get the printer to stay (it had an "@ Eric Westby's computer" appended to it in the list), but as I mentioned, the resulting driver wouldn't print.

However ...

... just now using v.3, I tried once again selecting the printer itself on the network (not the alias on my computer) and it worked. And saints be praised, I could print to the resulting driver! So all's well that ends well. At least until the next build.

 

Please give a dummie more info how you did the trick.

MacBook OS 10.4.10 AirPort Extreme OKI C5700 printing from Mac OS but not from Parallells 3.0 and Win XP but managed somehow under the former Parallells version. Unfortunately I don't remember how I did it as I tried a lot of variants.

 

Sure thing. From v.3.0, I did the following:

1. In Windows XP, deleted all existing printers
2. Opened Bonjour Printer Wizard
3. Selected my printer name: the instance in which it was listed by itself, not the instance in which its address was "@ [my computer]"
4. Chose my printer manufacturer and model when prompted in the next screen

Finally I had a working driver in Windows XP. Though it seems superfluous, printer sharing was (and remains) on on *my computer* as well, and that may be a prerequisite for this all to work. I haven't had the guts to try turning it off out of fear that the whole house of cards will come tumbling down.

 

That's my only option - the @ [my computer] adress........
Thanks anyway.

 

I did it again by deleting my VM and created a new one and while it was perfectly fresh my OKI C5700 printer installed but is described by the system as HP Color Laser Jet 8500 (generic etc) though its name is "OKI C5700@ [my computer]".
Now I am happy again but for how long......?