guest machine needs access to printer which host can't use

[KevinRaftery]

I have a new Mac, an old Mac, an old Windows machine, and a Xante AW1200 printer.

Almost all my work is done on the new Mac.  I get the old Mac or Windows machine out of the drawer on rare occasions, or when I need to print something, because the new Mac can't use the printer.  (Xante never bothered to develop an OS X 10.6.4 driver for this printer.)

I'd like to get rid of the Windows machine.  I've  successfully migrated it to a guest machine on the new Mac, using vmware  Fusion 3.1.3, but I haven't found a way to get the guest machine to see the printer.

This is not a complete surprise, because Xante doesn't provide a driver for their (old) printer and my host's (new) operating system OS X 10.6.4 -- but they did provide a WIndows XP driver which has always worked fine on the Windows machine, connected by its RS232 port.

The printer also works fine on my old Mac, connected via ethernet.

I can connect the printer to the new Mac's ethernet port.  Obviously the Mac can't work with it.  But could the Windows guest machine use its driver to manage the printer?

None of the four standard ways of printing seem applicable:  ThinPrint because the host can't use the printer;  USB because the printer doesn't have a USB connector;  networked/wireless because I'd like not to have my older Mac running all the time;  Bonjour because I think it requires that the host be able to see the printer.

This is certainly not a Frequently Asked Question.  Sorry my situation is so unusual.  But the printer is rather special for the work I do.  Any hints?

Thanks.

[weinstein5]

Welcome to the Community -  Yes you will be able to create a VM under Fusion with the approriate printer and be able to print to your old printer. The VM under fusion does not rely upon the host (the new MAC) printer drivers -

[WoodyZ]

According to the Technical Specifications for the Xante AW1200 printer it provides the following Interfaces: Parallel, 10/100BaseT Ethernet (EtherTalk, LPR, TCP/IP, IPP), USB.

A picture in the User Guide (shown below) shows the USB port to the left of the Parallel port and in between it and the Ethernet port.  Are you saying it isn't present or you don't have a USB cable?

If the USB port is not present then you might be able to use a USB Ethernet Adapter and connect it directly to the Virtual Machine if you are unable to bridge directly to the Host's Ethernet port with the printer connected.  In either case you'll need to configure an appropraite IP Address, etc. on the Printer if connecting it directly and it (the printer) is not connected to a Router.

Message was edited by: WoodyZ - Changed: "right" to "left" (of the Parallel port).

[KevinRaftery]

You guys are giving me hope!  I appreciate your giving of your expertise, and my ignorance.

How silly of me not to have checked for the presence of the USB port.  It is indeed there, but for 7.5 years I have used only the parallel and ethernet ports, and thought it was a great printer to have two simultaneous types of connection.  I stand corrected;  it has three.

I powered off the printer and Mac, connected an appropriate USB cable, powered them on, and followed the KB article
http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=101399...
to where it says "From the Fusion menu, click Virtual Machine > USB > Connect <name of your printer>" .

Alas, under Virtual Machine > USB > there are two other USB devices listed, but not the printer.

Going into Apple System Profiler, it's the same story.  The other two USB devices show up, but not the printer.

I swapped the USB connectors into different ports on the Mac.  No change.

I tried a different USB cable.  No change.

Can anyone spot what I'm doing wrong, USB-wise?

And if there's some insurmountable problem with the USB approach, WoodyZ, are you saying I could connect this printer to a router and thereby have access to a different approach?  I will now try moving my router within cable range of the printer and see what might happen...

Many thanks.

[WoodyZ · Accepted solution]

If you have a Router at your location then you should be able to attach the Printer to the Router, configure it as necessary, and then access it in the Guest as a Network Printer.  Note: The Guest's Network will need to be configured as Bridged to access it in this manner.

Another Network option that is doable, yet a bit more difficult to configure, is to attach the Printer directly to the Mac with a standard CAT5 Ethernet Cable, not a Crossover as suggested in the User Guide since Mac's Ethernet Port is Auto-Sensing.  You would then manually configure the IP Address, etc., on both the Printer and a Bridged Network on the Guest and although Bridged its only access will be to the Printer on that network adapter.  You then use a second Network in the Guest configured as NAT, if you do not also want to use Bridged on it, to enable the Guest to have access to other resources on the Host's Physical LAN, like Internet access, etc.

[KevinRaftery]

WoodyZ, you have caused me to see the light.

My router was downstairs because I'd been warned of potential problems with the telephone/modem splitter at the socket up here.  Anyway, I've brought the router upstairs, connected the printer to it with an ethernet cable, and proceeded in my clumsy way to figure out how to get all my systems printing to it.

The old Mac needed to be told to connect as an "IP printer" rather than cable-connected as I used to have it, and I learned the hard way that it needs LPD rather than IPP.

I then tried the same thing with the new Mac.  Behold, it works!  I should not blame Xante;  their driver does work on OS X 10.6.4

The final test was the Windows guest machine.  As you suggested, I bridged the network, and it wasn't too hard to add a network printer to Windows.

You have helped me solve not only the stated problem, but also a long-standing irritation.  I should no longer have to pull a laptop out of a drawer and connect an ethernet cable to it when I simply want to print something from the new Mac.

Many many thanks!