Printing from SheepShaver on Windows platform demystified...

[mitchcraft]

I was pretty disappointed when I read about the printing work-arounds for SheepShaver on Windows. Needing to purchase additional software or suffer through the nag screens in perpetuity, or printing to a Postscript file and then having to switch to Windows and print the file... I just wanted something more Mac-like I guess (oh and free is good too).

As a result of poking around for a couple hours, I believe I have found a way to print from SheepShaver running on Windows to ANY PRINTER THAT WINDOWS CAN PRINT TO. This includes non-postscript printers and printers shared over a network from another computer. The setup is not for the faint of heart and is not Mac-like. But the result sure is.

Here is an overview of the steps:

1. Set up your printer in Windows such that Windows can print to it.

2. Activate LPR/LPD for your particular version of Windows (I will cover XP and Windows 7, but it can be done on most versions of Windows, although the steps will vary). XP instructions are here (stop after "Installing Print Services for UNIX", first 6 steps only) however, be advised I had to then go to services.msc and set TCP/IP printing service to load automatically rather than manually before it would work. Windows 7 instructions are here (stop after "Adding Print Services", first four steps only are needed to activate LPR/LPD on Windows 7).

3. Set up a virtual PostScript printer in Windows using Ghostscript and RedMon as described here and elsewhere on the internet, BUT DON'T USE SPACES IN THE NAME YOU GIVE IT. I call mine PSPRINT for simplicity. In Windows 7, you will NOT be able to add and then configure a redirect port while setting up your virtual postscript printer UNLESS you follow the workarounds described here; follow the cmd.exe as admin workaround to install the printer then follow the Print Management run as admin workaround to configure the redirect port. I used the Microsoft Imagesetter driver when I set up in Windows XP, and HP Color LaserJet 4550 PS when I did Windows 7, but others should work if they are for Postscript printers. If your version of Windows shipped with the Apple LaserWriter II NT driver, try that. Some experimentation here will probably help hone better results for your specific printer.

4. In SheepShaver, use Desktop Printer Utility in the Mac OS to set up a desktop printer using LPR. Use your Windows computer's IP address (NOT 10.0.2.2, this will crash the emulator- use ipconfig or similar to find your IP address- and set it static if you can to avoid needing to trash and re-set up your desktop printer when your IP changes). Use the queue name of your virtual PostScript printer (the queue name is usually the same as the printer name). Using the generic Postscript driver on the Mac for the desktop printer works fine for me. This is basically the same procedure as described on these forums for setting up the Desktop Printer with SheepShaver under OS X using LPR. I found that clicking on "Verify" after typing in the printer IP and queue name would often crash the emulator, but setting up the printer without clicking verify worked anyway.

There may be some limitations on fonts and quality depending on the drivers you choose, but this has the advantage of being a (nag) free solution.

I don't have access to other versions of Windows to test and set up, but I currently have this working, with only minor issues so far, under XP and 7.

[Ronald P. Regensburg]

Thanks! I cannot test this setup myself because I use Mac only, but I suppose we will hear from Cat_7 when he has time to try it.

In the above post I made the links underlined to make them stand out more clearly.

In our print setup guide I added this setup with link to this forum topic.

[mitchcraft]

Thanks for including this in the forum's printer setup guidelines. One additional note: If your printer is a postscript printer, you don't need step 3 in this process. Just use the queue of the ACTUAL printer when setting up your desktop printer in step 4 rather than setting up a postscript virtual printer first

[emendelson]

Thanks for including this in the forum's printer setup guidelines. One additional note: If your printer is a postscript printer, you don't need step 3 in this process. Just use the queue of the ACTUAL printer when setting up your desktop printer in step 4 rather than setting up a postscript virtual printer first

Or, if your printer is a PostScript printer with a network address, just set up an LPR printer in OS 9 and print to the printer's actual IP address.

EDIT: In the guide:

http://www.emaculation.com/doku.php/she ... k_printing

under "Printing in Windows hosts," item 5, it says that this method is very unstable in Windows. But I got it to work correctly the first time I tried, using the current Windows build under Windows XP. Printing is very, very slow, but it works.

[Ronald P. Regensburg]

under "Printing in Windows hosts," item 5, it says that this method is very unstable in Windows. But I got it to work correctly the first time I tried, using the current Windows build under Windows XP. Printing is very, very slow, but it works.

Interesting. The first time I hear someone report that it works without problems. If one has a true PostScript printer, this setup is certainly worth trying. I adjusted the text in the printing guide.