Omigod! Omigod! Omigod!

Can you believe it? After two years — two years — I am finally able to print from a Macintosh to a Windows network!

"What's the big deal?" you ask.

The big deal is this: ever since I got my first iBook two years ago, I've been unable to get a Mac of any sort to print across a network to a printer hosted on a Windows based machine.

I've rooted around in OS X. I've scoured the internet for info. I've pulled my hair out in vain. At one point, Dana actually spent two hours trying to help me to get shared printing to work.

No matter what I did, I could not print across the network. I could not see a Windows-based printer, let alone print to it.

Then, today, while researching a completely different problem ("Why won't my new PowerBook connect to Olympus, my Windows workgroup?") I found a web page that explained how the hitherto unknown utility Directory Access would allow me to configure Samba.

Well, as the geeks among you have guessed, I knew immediately this was the answer to my dilemma. Once the exclamation points stopped bouncing above my head, the first thing I did was make an effort to connect my Mac to a Windows printer on the network. This time, I could see the available printers. What's more, I could connect to the available printers. And — you guessed it — I could print to the available printers.

Outstanding!

To summarize: if you'd like to print from a Mac to a printer connected to a Windows-based PC, first connect to the Windows workgroup:

1. Open the Directory Access utility (under Applications -> Utilities).
2. If the window is locked (padlock closed on the lower left), click on the padlock to unlock it.
3. Select SMB and click Configure...
4. Type in the name of the desired Windows workgroup in the Workgroup field, enter a WINS server (if appropriate) and click OK, then Apply.

Next, connect to a printer:

1. Open the Printer Setup utility (under Applications -> Utilities).
2. Opt to add a printer (by default the utility may ask if you'd like to do this).
3. From the dialog box, select Windows Printing and then the correct workgroup.
4. The workgroup population should appear. Select the computer that hosts the target printer. (You may need to enter a username and password.)
5. Select the target shared printer and then indicate the appropriate printer driver in the listbox. Click Add and you're all set!

I'm not sure why this information isn't more readily available. Maybe I've made this too complicated. Or maybe this is common knowledge to most Mac users. Whatever the case, it took me two years to figure this out, and now I'm ecstatic.

This PowerBook is now seamlessly integrated to the Custom Box Windows network.

On this day at foldedspace.org

2003 — Creative Writing: Fiction   In which I take a writing class at Clackamas Community College.

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