Canon iP4000 invisible to Mac on Buffalo network

[Capabar]

I've almost written out the entire problem. I am new to a Mac, having a mini Mac which I bought so the family can get access to the home wireless net from a communal room. On my Buffalo Airstation network (still reading?) I have a Buffalo Linkstation hard drive ethernet conected to the Airstation. The Linkstation is a back up drive and acts as a print-server to a Canon iP4000 printer. It all worked fine under windows (and still does, from my office Windows XP machine). However the Mac (OS X 4.4) can't seem to find the printer. It can find the Linkstation, I have local and internet access, I can even find the Linkstation's own hard-drive and a USB drive attached to it. But I can't discover the printer.

If I connect the printer directly to the Mac it works immediately, bingo! But that's no use. It has to be on the home net for the benefit of the other machines (and also because there's nowhere to put it, hence the purchase of the mini Mac).

On the windows machines the drive (which is at 192.168.12.7) shows up as networkdrive and the printer as networkdrive/lp. If I navigate to that address with the Mac it finds the printer okay, but drivers, utilities and all the rest can't discover it on their own.

If you are still reading after all this you deserve a prize. Perhaps I deserve on for the longest ever first post. Either way, what would be a great prize is to get this blinking machine printing!

ps Firewall off and printer sharing on.

[eric2006]

Wait, you said "If I navigate to that address with the Mac it finds the printer okay, but drivers, utilities and all the rest can't discover it on their own."
So, in the print and fax preferences panel, you can navigate to the printer? Or am I just completely reading this wrong?

[Khama]

I have had issues trying to do simaler setups.

It seems the Mac can print to it, if you set it up as in IP printer in the Printer Setup Utility. However, becuase the device is connected to a "Windows" print server, you will not have any of the extras ( IE Fax, Scanner, Ink Levels, Align Heads, ETC ... ) But will do basic prints.

Does the Printer have a ethernet port, or is it USB?

You might be able to get a USB -> Ethernet adapter and place the printer on the network that way.

Or you can connect the printer directly to either the Windows box or the Mac and turn on Printer Sharing. ( If on the Mac you will need to turn on Windows Services as well )

Either way, the only way to get the FULL features of the printer on your Mac is to connect it directly.