Obv!os ORP-800 printer on a mac.

Hey all,
so here is the challenge, i want to connect and print to the ORP-800 recept printer from a mac. now all the work arounds have been for PC

Can this be done? the plan is to print from a PC based server, however to do this i need to connect the printer to the computer first, then the remote login will work for the computers end.

so in shot can i connect the ORP-800 to a MAC and print... how?

Comments

Chris McGregor

I've only ever seen this done using boot camp or parallels. You still require the Mac driver for the local os then the Windows driver for the boot camp or parralells image. Here are the driver locations http://www.ftdichip.com/Drivers/VCP.htm Regards, Chris

Corrie_7874209

ok, we use "Microsoft remote desktop" to long into our POS system, on a windows based server (online)

is that a similar to boot camp? we have tried to install the drivers on the remote desktop however we need it to talk to the Mac first befor it will establish a connection (the accountants words not mine)

Chris McGregor

Ah I see.. Well the issue you have there is that the obvious printer uses a virtual com port to connect to the pc. And although that will work for a Windows emulation on the same machine I doubt it will work for Remote Desktop because as far as pos is concerned it's actually installed on the server. It may work and I can't remember if I have tried this my self but from memory the printing in pos uses the Windows messaging system to send the message to the printer so unless it somehow thinks it's local or on a Windows pc I doubt it. I remember when POS Hosted existed they have to make a lot of changes to that software version to get it to work with printers over Remote Desktop and I'm not sure if that was ever rolled out to the desktop version. In saying that though, that was one of the major failures of pos hosted as due to connection issues from desktop to server the Remote Desktop may loose connection to the printer for a split second and that was enough to either lockup pos or loose the printer until you restarted the program again. In my option your issues would be fixed if you used a network receipt printer then it shouldn't really matter what machine your using as Remote Desktop as the TCP/IP printer would have its config software on a Windows machine. Regards, Chris

Corrie_7874209

ok so i understood about 80% of that lol.
we were sold this printer with the software, as it apparently works with the software fine (on PC), that was until they installed it all and realized they couldn't get it to work on the Mac.

we currently have a Laser jet printer (a brother Hl-2130, drivers installed on the mac and the online server) connected to the store computer but is extremely slow!, plus we go to a number of trade shows and want to get the smaller printer running for transport.

remote desktop isn't allowing the Mac to see / install the printer directly (to mt understanding).

you mentioned the network receipt printer, (this is where i think i got lost) would this work if we ant to take this to trade shows? and would we be able to adapt the ORP-800 to do this? or simply need to get something else?

i greatly appreciate your knowledge and assistance in this matter.

gazza73

Corrie

First_ the printer physically connected to the MAC. Is that done and does it print OK (just something local, not POS yet)

Second, when you run the remote desktop session, using "RDP for Mac"(I assume), is there an OPTIONS button/tab that let's you declare that you want to use LOCAL DEVICES/RESOURCES (such as the local printer on the MAC) as a shared/reachable resource/device as far as the remote end is concerned (ie: the Windows Server at the other end?)

Sorry, no MAC here, so I'm assuming common options like the Windows version of RDP)

If you get that far, then whilst running the REmOTE SESSION to the Windows PC, and then when running the POS application, can you get that POS application t osee the complete list of potential printers to use/share/reach? (which would include the one you've introduced locally from the MAC in the first place)

Gary

Gary Pope
m: 0408994799
An Accredited Partner- Consultant (VIC. Aust)
http://www.alchester.com.au/reckon-ac...
"Working with Accountants/Bookkeepers PPs/APs, as an
independent IT Professional and retired FCPA Accountant"

Chris McGregor

Ouch.. if I were you doing trade show using Remote Desktop I would consider getting away from the whole receipt printer thing all together and instead look at something digital like a printer emulator that launches and email (print 2email) and change your payment buttons to print invoice instead of sales receipt. That way when you finalise a sale you could be prompted to enter an email address and click OK and the user would just receive it by email. That's one option anyway but I haven't researched it much myself. Good news is it would save paper

It may be possible for the network printer but.. I can't see it being easy to test and considering you don't have one already would be another expense. But in theory you would need to set the printer up on a vpn so it thinks it's local to the server even though it's right next to you and then it would work. Regards, Chris

Corrie_7874209

ok so how do i go about setting it as a VPN?

Corrie_7874209

Hey Gary thanks for weighing in on the debate lol.
So printer is connected but nothing is printing. i could get the RDP to print if it were printing from the mac, but as to date, no luck.

Corrie_7874209

is screen shot shows the Mac sees the USB serial cable connected to it, but not sure where t go from there.

gazza73

Corrie. I see someone has responded to your whirlpool forum query:.......
at: http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2471883

.....Can this be done?

yes. your just connecting a printer to your system. just use the default Epson mode / drivers if you have problems.

ie an Epson printer will work on a pc or mac. the only change is the software driver. just use the default printer driver to use the printer ..........

Perhaps test that theory out for the first step..

Gary

Chris McGregor

Because the printer doesn't have an operating system you will need to get a router that has vpn abilities built in. Also you will need the same config at the server side. For this stuff I highly recommend seeking the advice of an IT professional as it can be very difficult to setup. I haven't tried this but I did have another idea that you could take a Windows laptop with you and have hamachi vpn application installed on it and can have the printer hanging off that, but I suppose of your doing that you may as well not use the Mac . Regards, Chris