Shared USB Printer
Shared USB Printer
- Subject: Shared USB Printer
- From: Nick Wheeler <email@hidden>
- Date: Thu, 02 Aug 2001 11:50:32 -0400
Joe, Mark, John
I mentioned to you all some time back that there was a way to use USB
printer sharing to set up an old iMac or any old USB equipped Mac as a
primitive but very functional print server. You can then use the Epson
QuickDraw driver to print to a USB printer from any Mac on your local
network.
Naturally we all tried to duplicate this and failed.
I finally have figured out how to recreate my setup of some months ago.
First set up a functioning TCP/IP local area network. I use a DHCP server
(Dynamic Host Control Protocal for those who hate acronyms as much as I do)
here, but you can do it manually with the TCP/IP Control Panel as well. I
also use AppleShare IP here, what effect that may have I haven't a clue, I
doubt it matters.
Next make sure that USB Printer Sharing is turned on at all your client
computers. Naturally the clients all have to be USB "aware".
Now here is the critical part. Let's call the computer actually physically
connected to the printer via USB the "Print Server". In the Print Server's
chooser dialog box, turn Backround Printing ON. Then right next to the
Backround Printing buttons you will see a button labled "Setup". Click on
that and you will get an EPSON dialog box where it will allow you to check
ON "share this printer" and apply a name and password. I believe it is here
that you allow a remote computer to call the print monitor subroutine at the
"Print Server".
At your remote or "client" computers make sure you turn backround printing
off. Then when you click on the Epson Quickdraw driver you should see
"Shared USB printer" or whatever name you chose at the "Server" to appear
after a few seconds. Select this as your printer. Now when you print from
the clients they will spool the file over the network to your "Print Server"
and the Epson Print Monitor subroutine running at the "Server" will pick up
the job and actually send it to the printer.
At the Client you will also see an option labled "USB printer". If you
choose this option all the printing chores will be handled by the local or
"client" computer. Beware the difference. The job will still be sent to the
remote printer but the local print monitor application will be called
instead.
I would be sure to choose a distinctive name at the "Server" to help avoid
these errors. Something without USB in it.
This will free up your clients quickly and the actual printing will be done
by the "Server".
You can spool multiple documents etc. There probably has to be sufficient
memory at the server allocated to Epson Print Monitor to make this all work
well. I have not investigated that very much. This may be a problem for the
Epson 10000 but so far everything works well for the 2000.
Incidentally if you choose "Colorsync" color matching at the local computer
the Epson Print Monitor subroutine at the "Server" will actually call
colorsync at the "Server". This seems to be problematic. I don't believe
this to be a workflow any of us use anyway so it's no big deal. No Color
Adjustment and Automatic seem to work fine.
Incidentally the Epson Print Monitor is labled as an Application Program in
the extensions folder. I really think it helps to think of the Epson Print
Monitor (and Colorsync for that matter) as a subroutine. This helps me
visualize the flow a little better. In the chooser you are enabling or
disabling different subroutine calls, in the Epson driver you are either
calling or not calling colorsync and so on.
Best wishes:
Nick
PS: Do you think Epson will ever choose to document any of this?? Any of it
at all??