When you install a printer, anywhere, you need to make sure of two things:
- The printer driver software for your printer must be installed on your computer
- The printer configuration must have been added to the list of printers accessible from your computer
Printer drivers for most modern printer brands, including the models we have at Nordita, are usually shipped with newer versions of MacOS X, so most likely you will only have to do the second step, install the printer definition on your computer, to get going. Below you find instructions on how to download printer drivers from the net.
A printer can be made accessible over a network to a user with a Mac computer in a variety of ways. The Nordita printers are accessible via both Bonjour (only locally at Nordita) and TCP/IP, and the procedures for installing a printer is only slightly different for the two choices. You should try to follow the Bonjour instructions below first, and if that doesn't work, try the IP option.
Download a Printer Driver Installation Package
The printer drivers needed for the printers we have at Nordita are installed in the newer versions of the operating systems (MacOS X, Linux, Windows). Only if you have an older OS you will need to download and install the driver.
If you are uncertain if you have the necessary driver installed, you can just follow the installation instructions below, step by step. You will then know that you need to obtain the driver if neither the automatic driver search described in the sections on installation via Bonjour and TCP/IP, nor the manual driver search described in the section on how to selecting a driver gave a result. In that case, install the printer with a generic driver, as described, and then afterwards download and install the correct driver.
This is what you should expect, for different versions of MacOS X. (If you are uncertain which version of MacOS X is installed on your computer, check by selecting the option "About This Mac" from the Apple menu.)
- Floor 6, East:
- HP Color LaserJet M554dn - Download driver
- norpr6e.nordita.su.se [130.237.164.141]
- Floor 6, West:
- Xerox Phaser 8560 mfp - Download driver
- norpr6w.nordita.su.se [130.237.164.140]
- Floor 5, East:
- HP Color LaserJet M554dn - Download driver
- norpr5e.nordita.su.se [130.237.164.139]
- Download the driver installation package (a DMG file) from the link indicated in the table above
- Double-click the downloaded DMG file to mount the installation program volume
- Run the installation program
- Continue with installing the printer on your computer as described below.
Alt 1: Install a Printer via Bonjour
This installation alternative assumes that you are connected to a Nordita or AlbaNova network, either via a cable or wireless.
The images in the descriptions below are taken from MacOS X 10.6 for an installation of the Nordita HP Color LaserJet CP3525 printer. If you have a different version of the operating system or want to install another printer at Nordita, the details in the procedure may vary.
- First open the "System Preferences" panel, for instance by choosing that option from the Apple menu in the top left corner of your screen:
- Select the "Print & Fax" icon:
- A new dialog window "Print & Fax" opens. First check that the yellow padlock icon in the bottom of the window is open, otherwise click that icon and enter the administrator password.
- To add a new printer to the list, click the plus sign at the bottom of the list of already installed printers:
- A new dialog window "Add Printer" should open. Select the leftmost icon in the top row, called "Default". This is for selecting printers available via Bonjour:
- Scrolling down the list of printers you should get to a group of printer with names starting with "Nordita". Single-click on the printer you want to install. The selected printer responds after a few seconds, and its name and printer driver name should appear in the form fields below the list:
- If the "Print Using" field says "Generic Postscript Printer", the installation program cannot immediately find the appropriate driver for the printer you have selected. Most likely this is because the driver is not installed. You should keep the generic driver for the time being, and just continue the installation instructions below. After the installation is finished, you might want to:
- Check and see if printing works anyhow, also with the generic driver (usually it does, but double-sided printing might not work)
- If you want to activate the correct driver, first check if the driver might be installed on your computer by manually selecting the printer (see instructions at the end of this page)
- if you cannot find the necessary driver, you need to download and run the driver installation package from the printer manufacturer homepage (see instructions at the end of this page)
- Confirm with the [Add] button.
- [For some drivers, a new dialog window "Installable Options" appears. If the driver is such that there is a Duplex option shown here, make sure is selected, since all Nordita printers provide this functionality, double-sided printing. Confirm with the [Continue] button.]
- The printer should now be added to the list in the "Print & Fax" window. Make sure that the printer is NOT shared! The paper size used in the Nordita printers is "A4".
- If you want to change the name of this printer, as shown in the Print menus in applications, click the [Options & Supplies] button. In the new dialog window, change the text in the "Name" field, and then confirm with [OK].
- You can now close the System Preferences window.
When printing from an application, just select the Nordita printer in the usual way. Remember that the printers can print double-sided.
Alt 2: Install a Printer using its IP Number
If the IP number of the printer you want to install starts with "192" (see the printing help page), you must be connected to a Nordita or AlbaNova network when installing or using the printer. Printers with IP numbers starting with "130" can be installed from any network.
The images in the instructions below are taken from an installation of the Xerox Phaser 8530MFP printer at Nordita on a computer with MacOS X 10.6. Again the details in the procedure may vary between the instructions below and the system dialog windows on your computer, depending on the operating system version or the printer you want to install.
- The installation proceeds just as for installing a Bonjour printer, see above, until you reach the "Add Printer" dialog window. Now select the icon "IP" at the top. Select the protocol "Line Printer Deamon - LPD", and in the "Address" field enter either the IP number or domain name of the printer you want to install:
- After some time the printer will respond, and its name and printer driver name should appear in the form fields below the list. If everythink seems OK, confirm with the [Add] button.
- [As before, if only a "Generic Postscript Driver" is listed, you need to select the appropriate driver for the printer manually, as described above, and if that driver is not installed on your computer you should abort this installation and run the printer driver installation package instead.]
- Now the new printer should appear in the list of installed printer, as well as the printer lists in the Print command of applications. Remember to select "A4" as the paper size for this printer.
- As before you can change the name of the printer in these lists by clicking the [Options & Supplies] button and edit the "Name" field:
Configuring an Installed Printer Driver after Printer Installation
Say that you have installed a printer on your computer, but the installer could not find the appropriate printer driver. After opening the "System Preferences" panel, then selecting the "Print & Fax" icon, and finally single-clicking on the printer in your list of installed printers, you would then see "Generic Postscript Printer" in the field "Kind" to the right of the window. Now do the following:
- Click on the button [Options & Supplies], then select the top-menu item [Driver]:
- Click on the drop-down menu "Generic Postscript Printer" and select the option "Select Printer Software":
- A new dialogue window "Printer Software" opens, with a search box in the top right corner. Type in some reasonably unique part of the model name of the printer in the search box, and see if any relevant drivers are listed in the window. If so, mark the desired driver and confirm with [OK]:
- Now you should be back in the "Driver" dialogue, with the driver name correctly listed. Depending on the model of your printer, there might also be shown various configuration options here, and if so make sure you have "Duplex" (double-sided printing) selected. In either case, confirm with [OK].
- Check that the driver is correctly listed in the "Print & Fax" dialogue, and then close the system preference panels. Check that you can print double-sided.
If you could not find a driver in the search window, close all windows with repeated [Cancel], and then proceed to downloading a printer installation package from the net.
