Need help printing to work printer from macbook

January 2, 2008 1:24 PM

How do I make my Macbook (leopard os x) play nice with the Ricoh Aficio 2232c printer at work?

My macbook is my main work computer. After much googling, I just can not find any definitive answers and can not seem to print to the office's Ricoh Aficio 2232c.

I do have have a PC in my office that I can access if it helps.

Right now my printing process is as follows.
1. Save document to be printed as pdf.
2. VNC over to PC, access macbook harddrive via SMB sharing, find file, and print.

I am hoping there is a much easier way to accomplish this. Preferred method is just direct printing from macbook, but would also accept some kind of utility on the PC that watches a certain folder and auto prints anything dropped into it.

posted by jlowen to computers & internet (7 comments total)

The ricoh will work, but you will probably have to set it up by IP address.

You can usually get it by getting the printer to print out a configuration page / information page from its menu on the physical printer. Since you are working with a large office sized printer, it shouldn't be hard to find (compared to ones with a weird button combination, etc.).

If not, check the network settings panel on the printer (but don't change anything) or ask the IT person.

Then launch System Preferences, go to Print & Fax, Hit Add Printer, Hit the IP button at the top of the window that appears, and enter in the IP address they gave you. If the print drivers are already installed, it should auto select the Ricoh drivers, or use generic postscript.

Make sure to change the name to something other than its IP address, so you can remember what you are actually printing too.
posted by mrzarquon at 1:36 PM on January 2, 2008

I should specify that I can successfully connect to the printer, and even set it up using what should be the correct driver, yet when I try to print a test page it generates about 50 pages of gibberish instead of the intended document. Well not gibberish per say, it looks like programming code, but still not the intended document.

Thank you for your help mrzarquon.
posted by jlowen at 2:00 PM on January 2, 2008

Have you tried switching to just using the generic postscript driver?

In the cases of finicky printers, I usually use LPD/LPR (the default IP setup) to print to them. Instead of using some weird protocol, the machine just connects to it, sends its the document converted to postscript, which the printers built in computer then renders to be printed on paper.
posted by mrzarquon at 2:08 PM on January 2, 2008

Yep, those "correct" drivers never worked for me either. Check out OpenPrinting and follow the instructions to install the packages. Then, use the driver ending in pxl when you setup the printer. Worked like a champ for me.
posted by mhm at 2:12 PM on January 2, 2008

I tried everyone's recommendations with no luck, then called to discuss the matter with the copier lease company and I was informed the problem is that the printer does not have a Postscript chip installed. Luckily for me a salesmen will call me tomorrow with pricing information about how to add this custom option. (read that last sentence with sarcasm)

Wow, my cheap ass printer at home is smarter than this behemoth?

Is there anyway to get around this, now that we know the problem?
posted by jlowen at 2:45 PM on January 2, 2008

Halfway there. This page directed me to which generic pcl driver will work. Now black and white printing works. Still searching for color options.
posted by jlowen at 2:58 PM on January 2, 2008

The Generic PCL 5c Printer driver will work for color. Install Gutenprint for Mac OS X if you don't have the driver in your list.
posted by I EAT TAPAS at 3:11 PM on January 2, 2008