Mailing Lists: Apple Mailing Lists
Image of Mac OS face in stamp
 
[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: Multiple USB printers of the same type

As Roger indicated we will use the serial number from either the 1284 Device ID string, or the USB Device configuration.

Generally, we search for the information in the Device ID string first so that printers connected with USB-parallel dongles work correctly. While we won't intentionally break that support, we strongly favor native USB devices. Putting the serial number in the USB device configuration is the best solution.

If you're experiencing a problem with printers without serial numbers, submit a bug report. That allows us to allocate resources to properly investigate, solve and deploy a solution that will affect all USB printers.

On Panther you can use a custom class driver to support your device. You can use this mechanism to fix "disagreements" between the device behavior and the OS behavior -- effectively changing your device into one that perfectly agrees with the platform. For instance, you can intercept the request for Device ID and report a serial number synthesized from the location; that would get your customers around the problem. Since your fix is device specific, there's a lot less risk and testing involved than what's required for Apple to make a fix to our code.

As far as the problem with printer pools, it sounds like you're reporting the same underlying problem where printers without serial numbers aren't distinguished from each other.

-olav
Olav Andrade
Apple Printing

On Mar 18, 2004, at 11:44 AM, Roger Long wrote:

Serial number is specified in the USB Device Class Definition for Printing Devices. An index to the serial number string is returned in the device description. I don't believe it to be a required tag in the 1284 Device ID string, but believe some recent printers have included "SERN" or "SN" in the 1284 Device ID string as well.


On Mar 18, 2004, at 8:38 AM, email@hidden wrote:

On Oct 27 2003, Paul Danbold responded to a user's question by stating that
"Panther handles multiple printers of the same model on the usb bus. The
device uri contains the printer's s/n, and if the s/n is missing we
synthesize one from the location id. If you find any problems, please
report a Radar bug."

This response was directed to a CUPS raster printer driver, but I suspect
it applies to Tioga drivers also. I attached two Kodak 8500 printers to the
USB bus while running OS X 10.3.2. When I selected 'Add' and USB from
Printer Setup Utility, I could see two printers in the sheet. I couldn't
select and add both simultaneously, so I added the 'top' one, then the
'bottom' one, then the 'top' one again. Three 8500 printers showed up in
the printer list. However, when I sent a job to each printer queue, all 3
jobs printed on the same physical printer. Is this expected behavior?

Since Kodak would like to improve the user experience, future USB raster
printers will probably contain unique serial numbers. If so, how should we
implement this feature so Mac OS X could take advantage of it? Would we add
"SERN:<S/N>" or "SN:<S/N>" to the 1284DeviceID string? Is there something
else we should do instead?

Is printer pooling supported for USB printers with unique serial numbers?
(A fellow employee tried pooling two 8500 printers, but all jobs went to a
single printer.)
_______________________________________________
_______________________________________________
printing mailing list | email@hidden
Help/Unsubscribe/Archives: http://www.lists.apple.com/mailman/listinfo/printing
Do not post admin requests to the list. They will be ignored.

References: 
 >Multiple USB printers of the same type (From: email@hidden)



Visit the Apple Store online or at retail locations.
1-800-MY-APPLE

Contact Apple | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

Copyright © 2007 Apple Inc. All rights reserved.