Multiple printers of the same type on one computer?

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spectre_240sx

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I've been trying for a while to figure out how to set up a print pool for a digital classroom. We've got multiple Epson SP 1280 printers which I'd like to connect to a macintosh G3 which would funtion as a print server. Unfortunately, I haven't had much luck in doing so. Once the printers are connected, the print center will only allow me to install one printer. For some reason it doesn't seem to recognize the others.

Also, to add a bit of a twist to the problem, people need to know exactly what printer they're printing to, because they buy paper themselves and will be putting single sheets into to the printer they want to work with. I've thought about setting up multiple workstations to handle the printing, but we don't have enough systems at the moment and I wouldn't really feel right wasting them like that anyway.

Any input would be appreciated.
 
See if you can use different names for each printer;

Epson SP 1280_1, _2, etc.
 
I had thought about that, but I can't even get more than one in the print center at a time. It just reinstalls the current printer if I go to add another.
 
That is annoying. They are all exactly the same printer model, eh ?

I would wonder if the USB bus is even recognizing the other printers. Open the /Applications/Utilities/System Information application and go to the USB item in the list, see if all the printers appear in the USB devices list or just one.

I'll have a more unixy look at it to see if you can (easily) add them manually or not. I can't really test it though since I have only one of each printer...

EDIT A thought: I don't know anything about that printer model but is there any way you can connect the two printers to your computer using different busses (like, ADB/Ethernet/FireWire/USB) so they don't both use USB or both FireWire, etc.
 
well up until i read this post i thought it was something to do with the kodak professional 8500 thermal printer drivers only allowing one at a time, but maybe it is a limitation of the printer setup util. I have tried hooking up more than one of the 8500 printers with the same problem. I even tried to hookup one and rename it and then hook up the second and it renamed it (one of them) back to the original name and only showed me one of them. the only way i have been able to get around it is to hook up one to each computer (or airport base station) and then printer share them, which is not ideal for what i want to do. I am not at my macs right now but i am going to try the CUPS url above when i get a chance and let you know how it turns out.
 
damn!
every print job since I installed panther!
Where do I delete that log?
 
pds said:
damn!
every print job since I installed panther!
Where do I delete that log?
Click to expand...

I think it gets cleared out by the monthly cron script because mine only go back 1 month.
 
Nope, I manually run my periodic monthly script - well - monthly. The log goes back to February. Do you use some other program to do the cron scripts?
 
pds said:
Nope, I manually run my periodic monthly script - well - monthly. The log goes back to February. Do you use some other program to do the cron scripts?
Click to expand...

I let mine run whenever the system wants them to which is every month on the 1st I think. Mine go back to August 1st, but I've had Panther installed for a lot longer than that.
 
well, it's refreshing to see that others have had this trouble as well. Has anyone had a chance to try the CUPS administration tool? Things have been a bit too busy here for me to give it a shot again.
 
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