Can not print to shared printer

[Kando]

Here is the setup:
6 iMacs numbered 1 through 6
7 various Mac laptops
2 epson stylus photo 1400 printers named A and B

The printers are attached via usb to iMacs 1 and 3, A is on 1 and B is on 3, both printers are shared and installed on all machines.
On iMac 1, 2 and 6 the default is A, on iMac 3, 4 and 5 the default is B. All computers are wireless and running 10.5.8-10.7.
This is a photo lab and they use Photoshop Elements 9 for their picture editing.

When a student tries to print from 4 to B through the shared connection on 3 the print queue on 4 shows it going through, but on 3 the queue comes up with an error and nothing prints. When a student tries to print from 1 to A (the wired connection) the queue shows "printing" for about 3 minutes and there there is an error.

I was able to print a page from a pdf on 3 to B, but could not print from 3 to A.

Everything looks ok, but this printing problem is happening in the worst classroom at the worst time. Projects are being finalized and they need to be printed up. Any ideas on why this has suddenly stopped working?

I posted this to hardware because I don't think it is a Mac problem.

***Just tried pasting a picture into a Word document for printing from 2 to A through 1 and got the same error.

***The error looks like /Contents/MacOS/rastertoescpll failed.

***More strangeness, just connected a Macbook to B via usb and tried to print, the queue came up as "printer offline". Copied the picture to flash drive, plugged it into 3 to print to B and a miracle, it printed. Not quite feasible with 6 or 7 classes needing to print so still looking to fix the overall problem.

[Kando]

Still not printing the way it should.

Any help is REALLY appreciated.

Thanks.

[Geek-9pm]

You are using 13 computers on a local network. You want to share two printers.On some computers is always works. On others it sometimes works.

What kind of network? Does it use a router?
Is this a network recommended to you by a salesman?

Why did you not use printers made for networking?
Or are both network printers? Is so, why are you using the USB ports?

Shared USB printers have some issues tat have been documented elsewhere.  Better performance comes with printers the work directly with the network.  You may wish to investigate a router that has printer sharing built-in.

[Kando]

Did not think I would get an answer.

Ok

The computers are all wireless and get online through an an access point using 802.11n in the classroom. There is no router only the AP, the teacher wanted to use only Macs and they all came from the DOE setup wirelessly.

The photo teacher is big on family/industry participation and the printers were donated. Since they are color and can print 11x17 she was not picky. No they are not network printers, only usb. I suggested getting network printers but she has a limited talent budget and the authorized list of hardware (that we can order from once or twice a year), for the school does not include these types of printers.

We have to work with what we have.

[Geek-9pm]

begin dictation
There are many volunteers here on this forum that want to help you.  Having all Macs in the system is no problem.  The issue is the printers you have selected are not network ready printers.  This means the USB connection places an additional load on the network.  I am not sure exactly why that is so, but it has been documented elsewhere. But it is part of the reason why printers have to be network ready to work reliably in a network with more than two or three computers.

But believes the solution to your problem is going to be more social than technical.  It's understandable the department has a limited budget, and, unfortunately, buying decisions are often made only on the most simple analysis of quality and cost.

Please pardon me as the grammar or forewords  doesn't seem right.  I am severely handicapped and I have to do this by voice dictation.  Otherwise i d have to give you a very short her response.

Perhaps you can initiate some effort to communicate with the parents or others outside the school.  Once they realize there is a need for a specific piece of equipment, they may work together and perhaps make an independent??? will make an independent choice  about buying a piece of new equipment and donated to the school with the stipulation that has to be used for specific purpose.  That's why I say it becomes a social issue more than technical one.

It is possible to find patches and updates to the USB drivers that will correct problems you have with the network.  However, the amount of man hours it takes to do such is unreasonable.  So in essence, there is no such thing as a zero cost technical repair.

My best recommendation is for the donation of good wireless print server that will connect to both printers using USB ports.  It should be possible to locate such a device for under $200.  If the parents realize him how important it is to have this extra piece of equipment.  They may find some way to form an ad hoc committee and resolve the issue.
But rather than just take my word for this, find out if there is a IT professional among the parents are their relatives that understand exactly what I'm confident about. He can either fly with what I said, or kill it and tell you I'm talking through my_____.
end dictation.

[truenorth]

Given the limited budget and the other constraints you have i am going to propose a possible solution which will require a small amount of hardware (printer/usb cables-- which you may already have). I assume that it has already been determined that the USB printer has software that is compatible with all the computers. So install the printer software on all computers. Given that the printer can only print one job at a time have each computer with the pertinent printer/usb cables installed on each one. When a particular student needs to do a print job have them insert their printer/usb cable into the printer(removing it when done so it can be used by another student), Alternatively only make one of the computers the one for the printing tasks if that does not diminish the opportunities for student learning. If the 1st suggestion is used it may be necessary to have a removal/installation protocol (instruction to the student of how to do so properly) so as to not cause problems for printer access, truenorth

[Kando]

Geek-9PM, Truenorth, thanks for the replies.

I will speak with the photo teacher and she in turn will take it to the parents or photo pros about getting network printers. The printers are installed on all the comupters, but the "plug in and print" option was used and found to be disruptive. It was the 6 iMacs and 7 laptops being used by kids that all wanted to see their work on paper. That is just the 13 out of 30 and 6th, 7th and 8th graders are not known for their patience.

It is less than 6 weeks until the end of school so new equipment is highly unlikely. I will be putting this at the top of the list of NEEDED equipment for the hardware order once school resumes in the fall. Until then I will make sure the machines are patched and keep my fingers crossed that nothing else weird happens.

Thanks again.

[Geek-9pm]

I have found  dual port wireless print servers at both Newegg and Amazon for about $120. Just one one of  these will let you use the equipment you have. One print server connects by USB  to the two printers and it manages the print jobs for all computers in the same network.
TRENDnet Wireless 2-Port Multi-Function Print Server

[Kando]

Thanks, I ran a search on ebay and found the following. It might be a better fit in case the teacher wants to keep the printers and gets more that only have usb ports. This one has 4 usb vs 2 on the other. I checked the model on D-Link's site for retailers and apparently it is very popular as they are all out of stock. I am heading up to see the teacher how, she should like this.


http://www.ebay.com/itm/D-Link-DPR-1260-Wireless-Lan-Multifunction-PRINT-SERVER-/200759660945?pt=US_Print_Servers&hash=item2ebe355191

[Geek-9pm]

Excellent choice!  D-Link is a brand name. In 2007, it was the leading networking company in the small to medium business (SMB) segment worldwide with 21.9% market share
Why is the price so low? Just US $34.99 free shipping

This item is NEW OPEN BOX on manufacturer direct warranty.

It was apparently returned by somebody and was found to be good. The warranty is still in force. So they discount it as a promotion or loss-leader item. The vendor is none of the larger eBay vendors. So for that price, it is worth a try. Buy it for yourself and loan it to the school.

Four USB 2.0 printer ports. Plus Ethernet.