Ethernet-networked Printers and Mac Snow Leopard

If you upgraded to the new Mac OS, Snow Leopard (Mac OS X 10.6), you might find that your network printer not working properly. The operating system has been out for a couple of days and Apple has now revealed an official list of printers and scanners that are supported.

Yet if you have a printer that is not officially supported there still might be hope!  Many Mac users have been able to get their older printers working with Snow Leopard.

The first thing to look at is if you are using AppleTalk. Snow Leopard does not use AppleTalk.

So if your printer was connected to your computer with AppleTalk, that is the first place to start troubleshooting. Go to the Print & Fax System Preferences pane and click the plus icon.  This will bring up the ‘Add Printer’ window.  In that window, if your printer is listed in the default list, then just click it and all should be well!

If your printer is not in that list then it might be too old to include Bonjour support.  But you still should get it to work.  Just search a few of the Mac forums for your printer model and you will find instructions on how to get your printer working. Most of the fixes are relatively easy.