Category Archives: printing and scanning

fixed : premature timeout of TimeCapsule-connected USB-printers

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Solving the premature timeout-problem of TimeCapsule-connected printers

Some printers work fine when connected directly on the USB-port of your Mac, but when you connect them to a Time Capsule they choke on large files. They will print part of your document, and then suddenly end by printing a nearly blank page with an error message “SPL-C ERROR – Including Corrupted Data”. This is caused by a pre-mature timeout of connection between the printer and the Time Capsule.

Two simple solutions, and a 3rd ‘DareDevil-solution’ that’s more complex :

  1. your USB-cable is too long ; replace the USB-cable with a shorter one (standard length is 1.8 meters, shorter ones are hard to find)
  2. your USB-cable is too thin ; replace the USB-cable with a thicker, more rigid one
  3. If the above options are not possible to implement in your case, try this (if you dare) :

Edit the .gz-file

  • find the .gz-file for your printer in Library / Printers / PPDs / Contents / Resources / [printer diver name].gz
  • for failure-protection, duplicate it and rename it from [printer driver name].gz to [printer driver name](orig).gz
  • double click the initial .gz-file to unpack it
  • then, in the same folder, find the file with the same name, without the .gz-extention
  • open this file in the application TextEdit
  • find this line :

*Throughput: “[number]”

  • change the “[number]” to “60” (or something at least twice as big as the initial number)
  • save the file ; make sure the name is the same as when you opened it (omit the .txt-extention ; if you fail to do that while saving, rename the file in the Finder, but omit the .txt-extention)
  • download a GZIP-encoder ; for instance The Zipper :

http://lipidity.com/software/zippit/

  • use the GZIP-encoder to turn the [printer driver name] file into a [printer driver name].gz file
  • make sure this new [printer driver name].gz file is located in Library / Printers / PPDs / Contents / Resources /
  • you’re done… …on this computer at least…
  • now you have to got to each of the other Mac’s on your network and replace the old Library / Printers / PPDs / Contents / Resources / [printer diver name].gz by the new one…

…time-consuming isn’t it ?

…and your out of luck : you have to go though this each and every time the printer drivers for your printer are being updated… (until the official Printer-driver will include a longer timeout-delay…)

so… isn’t replacing the USB-cable an easier option ?

tip : looking for a good test page to test your pinter ?

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Here’s a good test page that I’ve found somewhere on the internet. You can use it to test the print quality of your pinter if  you think you have a problem.

CAUTION ! this test page will use quite a lot of ink, so using it often will drain your printer (if you have an inkjet-printer that is… for laser-printers this is less of a problem)

color printer test page

tip : changing the icon that is displayed for your printer

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If you do not like the way the printer icon for your printer looks in the “Print & Fax” System Preference or in the Dock on your Desktop, you can edit it yourself.

  1. First thing to do is upgrade the driver for your printer ; sometimes older drivers show a generic printer icon in OSX, and that might be updated in the new drivers also. Go to the support-part of your printer’s brand and download and install new printer drivers for your version of OSX
  2. If have an alias to your printer on your Desktop or in your Dock (a.k.a. a “Desktop Printer”), you can change the icon just like you can change any icon in OSX ; by selecting the icon in the Finder, right-clicking “Get Info”, selecting the icon in Get Info, and then pasting the desired picture onto it (you could use a proper icon, but any picture can be used)
  3. …or you can do the ‘DareDevil-method’ : [this example shows how to do it for the Samsung CLP-315 printer, but it is similar for any other printer]
  • start by delete the printer from the printer list in “Print & Fax” System Preference (a.k.a. “Print & Scan” – depending on which OSX-version you have)
  • then find this file :

/Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources/Samsung CLP-310 Series.gz

  • Note : this file is located in the “Library”-folder that is directly on your hard disk, it is NOT in the “Library”-folder that is in the “System”-folder within the “Users”-folder !
  • copy this file to the Desktop
  • and rename the original file to Samsung CLP-310 Series (orig).gz so you will have a backup just in case…
  • then go back to the Desktop and unzip the copied .gz-file by clicking on it
  • open the unzipped file in the TextEdit application
  • add this line into the code :

*APPrinterIconPath: “/Library/Printers/Samsung/Icons/CLP-310.icns”

  • this is at the beginning of the code, immediately after the block of code that starts with :

*APDialogExtension: “/Library/Printers/Samsung/CLP-310/PDEs/.…

  • and immediately preceding this line of code :

*Manufacturer: “Samsung”

  • double-check to make sure that the desired icon is located at “/Library/Printers/Samsung/Icons/CLP-310.icns” in the Finder
  • save the file (just use “Save” in TextEdit)
  • convert the file back into a .gz-file with this name : Samsung CLP-310 Series.gz
  • Note : you will need to use a dedicated application like the free “The Zipper” for this (you can download “The Zipper” from MacUpdate.com)
  • assign a color to the file using your right mouse-click (CMD-click)
  • drag the file back to the place where the original used to be
  • go back to the “Print & Fax” System Preference, and add your printer to the list again
  • do NOT use the pre-selected driver, but choose “Other” and select the .gz-file you’ve just made :/Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources/Samsung CLP-310 Series.gz

AirPort-connected USB-printer sometimes prints, sometimes not

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— THIS IS A REPOST ORIGINALLY POSTED ON THE APPLE SUPPORT COMMUNITIES IN 2010 —

Question : I have a Samsung CLP-315 connected via USB to an Airport Express. The problem is that the printer works for a page or two and then it stops working, usually with a larger document being printed. (Firmware on Airport Express is 6.3 and I am using OS X 10.5.5)

Answer : I had the exact same problem with my Samsung CLP 315 and my Time Capsule.

I seem to have fixed it this way :

  1. download & install the latest driver for the CLP 315
  2. download & install the latest AirPort Utility (Apple-software)
  3. after configuring AirPort Utility, close it & re-open
  4. in AirPort Utility choose Manual Setup
  5. in Summary click on the small arrow that appears on mouse-over left from / next to “USB Printers”
  6. on the page that appears, change the name of the printer to the exact name you want to use for it on your Mac (and leave the “Share printers over the Internet using Bonjour blank) and click “Update”
  7. go to System Preferences on your Mac, go to “Print & Fax” and “Add Printer” (the “+”)
  8. under the Default tab, select your Samsung CLP 315 (it will be listed exactly the way you’ve named it in your AirPort Utility, followed by the “Kind = Bonjour” info)
  9. now your printer’s Name, Location and Driver (“Print Using”) will all be listed automatically
  10. click “Add” and you can start using your Samsung-printer wirelessly through your Time Capsule

That seems to be all there is to it…

the original post(s) can be found here :

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/1839505?threadID=1839505&tstart=295

Old School Mac [5] : can I share the printer of my pre-OSX Mac to my network ?

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— THIS IS A REPOST FROM LONG WAY BACK ; JUST FOR ENTERTAINMENT — ORIGINALLY POSTED ON MACOSX.NL (a.k.a. ONE MORE THING) IN 2004

Question : Can I share the Epson printer that is connected to my PowerPC running OS8.6 on my network so I can use it from my iMac ?
Answer : If your Epson-printer is a USB-printer, and your iMac is on OSX (preferably 10.3 Panther), then you would be better of to plug the printer into your iMac and share it to your network and your old PowerPC-Mac from there…
If you have a iMac with OSX 10.3, you will also have an installer-CD of OS9…  use that to upgrade your PowerMac from OS8.6 to OS9 ; that will make your network more compatible… Note : you can run OS9 on all PowerMacs, for more info on that :

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=25114

Griffin Technologies has made some adapters that might be of use in your case :

CAUTION ! : do extensive research to make sure that these Giffin-adapters are compatible with your Mac !!

Again : if you are really sure you want to make this work, upgrade to OS9. There is no guarantee that things will work, but it’s a fact that OSX has better network-compatibility  with OS9 / OS9.1 / OS9.2 than with any prior version of MacOS…

Some other links that you might want to have a look at :

  • Three Macs and a Printer :
  • Low End Mac :
  • Great Ideas for Old Macs :

http://weitzman.net/classicmacs/

the original post(s) can be found here :

http://www.onemorething.nl/community/topic/printer-power-pc-via-netwerk-naar-i-mac-osx

Old School Mac [3] : will my printer work with OSX ?

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— THIS IS A REPOST FROM LONG WAY BACK ; JUST FOR ENTERTAINMENT — ORIGINALLY POSTED ON MACOSX.NL (a.k.a. ONE MORE THING) IN 2004

Question : Will I be able to use my WindowsPC’s printer on my new Mac ? Mine is a HP DeskJet 916.

Answer : Yes – the general rule is : any printer that you can connect to your OSX-Mac, will be useable (a least partially) from within OSX

About the meaning of “any printer that you can connect to your OSX-Mac” in the sentence above :

To connect a printer to a OSX-Mac, you need to connect it using a USB- or UTP/Ethernet-cable ; printers that can only be connected using a Parallel PC-printerport will therefore not do…

In this case it’s about a HP DeskJet 916 (HP calls it the “DJ916”) ; that one is included in the so-called DJ9xx-range… those ones are compatible with an OSX-Mac, but when using older versions of OSX you will probably need to use a ‘detour’ using the UNIX-base of OSX combined with the Linux-drivers by HP ; follow these links for more info :

http://www.allosx.com/1034107267/index_html http://hpinkjet.sourceforge.net/productssupported.php http://www.linuxprinting.org/tylerb/hpijs/

That last link is to the actual HPIJS for MacOSX, but be aware ! : do read the instructions and keep a copy of them for future reference before you do any install !

Note : using MacOSX 10.3 Panther your printer will be compatible if it is listed here :

http://www.apple.com/macosx/upgrade/printers.html

the original post(s) can be found here :

http://www.onemorething.nl/community/topic/hp-printer-op-mac

Old School Mac [1] : share internet among OSX-Windows-OS9

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— THIS IS A REPOST FROM LONG WAY BACK ; JUST FOR ENTERTAINMENT — ORIGINALLY POSTED ON MACFIXIT IN 2003

I finally figured out how to share the cable internet connection from my OSX-G4 with my WinMe-PC and my old OS9-Mac !! (without a Router !! – just a Hub !!)

NOTE : I only tested this with WinMe, but it should work with any Win-version from Win95 onwards (because Win95/98/98SE/Me are all from the same OS-family and WinXP is also quite similar – even a little easier on networking)

Here’s how to do it :

STEP 1 : HARDWARE SETUP

  • connect the incoming UTP-cable to the Build-in Ethernet-card on the G4
  • connect the UTP-cable for local networking from the G4’s 2nd Ethernet-card to the Hub
  • connect another UTP-cable from the PC to the Hub
  • connect yet another UTP-cable from the OS9-Mac to the Hub
  • IMPORTANT : make sure that all UTP-cables are connected to ‘normal’ Hub-ports ; do not connect to the Uplink-port, because that will prevent from using the Network-printer

STEP 2 : OSX INTERNET-CONNECTION VIA BUILT-IN ETHERNET-CARD SETUP

  • go to Apple Menu / System Preferences / Network / Built-in Ethernet
  • in TCP/IP : choose ‘Using DHCP’
  • in PPPoE : leave all alone
  • in AppleTalk : choose ‘Off’ [uncheck switch]
  • in Proxies : choose ‘Use Passive…’

STEP 3 : OSX LOCAL NETWORK (LAN)-CONNCETION VIA 2ND ETHERNET-CARD SETUP

  • go to Apple Menu / System Preferences / Network / … [name of 2nd Ethernet-card]
  • in TCP/IP : type IP Address = 192.168.0.1 [or any alternative you choose]
  • in TCP/IP : type Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.0
  • in PPPoE : leave all alone
  • in AppleTalk : choose ‘On’ [check switch]
  • in Proxies : choose ‘Use Passive…’

STEP 4 : OSX LOCAL NETWORK (LAN)-CONNECTION FIREWALL SETUP

  • go to Apple Menu / System Preferences / Sharing / Firewall
  • put Firewall ‘On’
  • add ‘New’ to open an extra connection port
  • click ‘Other’ and type the Port Number that is needed to connect to your Internet Service Provider (ISP)’s Proxy [e.g. 80] -> give this new port a Description [e.g. your ISP’s name]
  • go to Apple Menu / System Preferences / Sharing / Internet
  • put Internet Sharing ‘On’

STEP 5 : WIN-ME (PC) LOCAL NETWORK (LAN)-CONNECTION SETUP

  • go to Start / Preferences / Configuration Panes / Network / Configuration
  • select ‘TCP/IP -> …’ [for your Ethernet-card]
  • select ‘Configure’ : a window ?TCP/IP? opens
  • in IP-address : choose ‘manually configure IP-address’
  • type IP-address = 192.168.0.2 [or any other IP-address you choose]
  • type Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.0
  • in WINS : leave all alone
  • in Gateway : add 192.168.0.1 [the IP-address of the interent-connected OSX-Mac]
  • in DNS-configuration : choose ‘activate DNS’
  • type Host = … [network-name of the OSX-Mac]
  • type Domain = … [network-name ot the Workgroup both the OSX-Mac and PC are part of]
  • add all (normally 2) DNS-server IP-addresses your ISP has provided
  • in Bindings : check both ‘File- and Printer-sharing’ and ‘Client for Microsoft Networks’
  • in Advanced : leave all alone
  • in NetBIOS : leave all alone

STEP 6 : WIN-ME (PC) INTERNET BROWSER SETUP

  • go to Start / Applications / Internet Explorer / Extra / Internet Options
  • in Connections : choose ‘LAN-configuration’
  • in LAN-Configuration : uncheck ‘automatically detect…’
  • in LAN-Configuration : uncheck ‘use automatic configuration script’
  • in LAN-Configuration : check ‘use Proxy
  • type Address = … [the Proxy-IP-address your ISP has provided]
  • type Port = … [the Proxy Port-number your ISP has provided]
  • check ‘do not use Proxy for local …’

STEP 7 : OS9-MAC SETUP

  • go to Apple Menu / Control Panels / TCP/IP
  • choose ‘Configure Manually’
  • type IP Address = 192.168.0.3 [or any other IP-address you choose]
  • type Subnet Mask = 255.255.255.0
  • type Router = 192.168.0.1 [the IP-address of the OSX-Mac]
  • type Nameserver Address = … [the DNS-server IP-addresses your ISP has provided]
  • choose ‘Options’
  • check Make Active ‘Always’
  • go back – choose ‘Info’
  • see if all settings are made correctly
  • go to Internet Explorer / Edit / Preferences / Proxies
  • check ?Web Proxy?
  • type Web Proxy = …. [the Proxy-IP-address your ISP has provided]
  • type Port = … [the Proxy Port-number your ISP has provided]
  • check ?Always Use Web Proxy?

…that’s it – it’s that simple (looking back solutions always seem obvious…)

…but there’s one little flaw : MacOSX 10.2 “Jaguar” automatically turns off Internet Sharing on restart… only upgrading to MacOSX 10.3 “Panther” will fix that…

——————–

in this setup, it’s also very easy to make your PC’s harddisk(s), CDromplayer(s) and floppydisk available for MacOSX :

  • on the Windows Desktop go to ‘My Computer’
  • right-click the icon of the disk or drive you would like to share
  • in the pull-down menu that appears, select ‘Share…’
  • under the Share-tab, select ‘Shared as’
  • type Sharename = … [anything you like]
  • select Access Type = Full
  • click ‘OK’

…now ‘a hand’ has appeared under the icon, meaning this is a ‘shared disk’

to connect from MacOSX :

  • go to Finder / Go / Connect to Server… [or type Apple-K while in the Finder]
  • type Address = smb://192.168.0.2 [the PC’s IP-address]

…and you get a pop-up window asking you which PC-‘shared disk’ to mount

the original post(s) can be found here :

http://archive.macfixitforums.com/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/483947/site_id/1#import