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Kathryn_Talaric
Contributor
Contributor

usb printer problems in Fusion--suggestions for brands?

I have posted several queries to the forum about the problems I've been having getting my Kodak AiO 5100 USB printer to print from the VM. So far, none of the suggestions have helped. I called Kodak and they suggested that I alert the Fusion folks about this problem (since they don't deal with "intermediary" programs).

I am going to go out and get a new printer (the Kodak didn't work in Parallels either).

Has anyone had any experience with the Brother DCP-110C All-in-One or the Brother MFC 240C? Are there any particular brands I should look for or, more importantly, avoid?

Thank you for any assistance.

Kathryn Talarico

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jfriesne
Enthusiast
Enthusiast

I'd recommend setting up printer sharing instead... that way any printer that works with your Mac will automatically work with your Windows VM as well. (the Windows side will see it as a networked printer). Another big advantage is that with a networked printer you don't have to switch the printer between being "connected" to the Mac side or the Windows side... it's always available to both.

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nancy134
Contributor
Contributor

Canon doesn't work either. Neither Apple nor Canon have answers so far.

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Kathryn_Talaric
Contributor
Contributor

I got the Brother MFC 240 C printer and installed and connected it in about 10 minutes. See if you can borrow a printer from someone and try to connect it.

There appears to be a real problem with certain printers working on virtual machines. I spoke with one of the Apple Consultants who was trying

to help out a friend with his virtual machine (he was trying to install a Kodak printer) and he didn't understand why it wasn't working.

I reported these same problems to the Parallels people as well.

Again my suggestion to the VMware Fusion people is to test out all sorts of printers. Not all of them work with virtual machines--no matter what sort of connection one chooses. It might be helpful for users to post which types of printers they have working (and with what sort of connection).

Kathryn Talarico

kathryn.talarico@gmail.com

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asjas
Contributor
Contributor

How do you set up print sharing in VMFusion? I have a Mac Pro with an Epson 3800 printer connected to the ethernet port and a HP Laserjet 2300L connected to the USB port.

I want to access both printers from XP running under VMFusion. Thanks

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pdtay84
Contributor
Contributor

Without being advanced in computers it's almost impossible to get your printer installed on windows if it's not doing it automatically. I just spent hours figuring it out and there's no help from Apple, VMWare, or Microsoft on how to fix it. I tried connecting it and installing it about 5 different ways and tried using it as a shared printer 5 different ways, nothing worked. Finally got it though, here's how:

1st: Make sure you connect the printer on VMWare (at the bottom it shows the different USB ports, make sure the printer says connected. VMWare says it's connected, which is what confuses you because you think Windows is then able to recognize it.... Wrong.

Since windows isn't reading the USB ports (at least not the printer) DO NOT go to install printer. Instead, you need to go to device management. If you don't know what or where this is, go to Control Panel > Performance and Maintenance > System then click the tab for Hardware for the button Device Manager.

This brings up an internal list of all the computer hardware. Scroll down to the bottom, there is going to be two different options for USB. Select the one that is spelled fully out (Universal...... (it should have a yellow icon)). Click into the properties of it and you are going to have a button that will completely reboot all the USB Drives (this doesn't effect the Mac portion, it's only rebooting them from Window's perspective.

Once this is done, the printer should suddenly show up, the "found new hardware" icon should show up at the bottom (like 5 times for different things, one of which being the printer) and the printer should install.... Finally!

Hope this helps many people, although I'm sure there's other glitches that some printers/comptuers will have that will make even this not work.

    • Note: These instructions are based on Windows XP

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nancy134
Contributor
Contributor

Tried this, but in the USB device manager properties window, I don't get an option to reboot - I only have reinstall, uninstall, or roll back - went through all the tabs, but no choice to reboot USB or anything that will cause anything to happen. Is there some other screen that I am missing?? I'm running XP Professional??

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pdtay84
Contributor
Contributor

sorry, I wasn't really paying attention to the exact names.. it's reinstall. It's basically going to delete all your USB drives and reinstll them... Again, only from windows' perspective, it doesn't effect the actual drives on the mac.

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