Airport Extreme, USB printing and OS 9

[joshfree]

I have an Airport Extreme base station hooked up to my Epson 1280 via its USB connection. Works like a charm for all my OS X Macs. But the only utilities the 1280 seems to like are those on an OS 9 machine, so I can't do things like check the ink levels, etc. via my OS X computers.

I now have to physically swap out the USB connections between Airport and the older computer in order to use the utility. So I thought -- aha! -- I'll connect BOTH of them via a Belkin printer-sharing USB hub (4-port electronic switch, in fact). Wrong. :eek: Airport doesn't like going through the switch and won't recognize the Epson 1280. So I'm back to square one.

Does anyone know...

(a) If I can get an OS 9 machine to print via Airport's ethernet connection to the USB printer? Will my utilites then work?

(b) Is there a switch that will allow me to connect both the old computer and the Airport base station, and that Airport will like?

Thanks for any help on this.

[joshfree]

I have:
- an Airport Extreme base station
- an Epson 1280 USB printer
- an older Mac running OS 9
- a bunch of new Macs running Panther

The utility that checks ink levels, etc on the Epson 1280 only seems to work with the OS 9 machine, directly connected to the printer. Can't check ink from any of the OS X machines.

I thought I could use a Belkin USB 4-port electronic USB switch to allow both the Airport statiion and the OS 9 Mac to be simultaneously connected to the same printer. Nope. Airport won't print to the 1280 through that switch, regardless of whether or not anything else is connected alongside it.

Any ideas?

Thanks!

[Las_Vegas]

Had problems with that 'Submit Reply' button, huh? :)

Unfortunately, your problem is explained in the Airport documentation. It's a limitation of the interface. There is no viable solution other than your current practice of moving the USB cable.

[joshfree]

Not the button...just the total lack of the submission having shown up as a posting, after I'd checked three times. I figured maybe it hadn't gone through.

Anyway, thanks for the reply. I realized that there was no official Apple-authorized way to do it, but thought somebody might think of a workaround. I don't get why a switch won't work, since the drivers are on each separate computer and all the printer is doing is receiving the data. It's not even as though I'm trying to use both computers to print at once.

I wonder if anyone makes a mechanical Y-connector where you can literally flip a switch to redirect the connection?

[Las_Vegas]

Yes. A mechanical USB A/B switch would work. The "Smart" switch won't work because it's actually a USB hub (of sorts) and the Airport Extreme requires direct connection to the printer.

[joshfree]

Thanks. I'll see if I can find one.