Problems with SMB and file sharing in Lion

Question

I have an HP OfficeJet 8500 Premier that is only 2 years old.  One of the things I loved about it was the ability to scan documents to a folder on my Mac.  Unfortunately, the only filesharing HP supports is SMB.  In SnowLeopard, SMB worked great (as long as SMB was set up in "Sharing"). 
Now, however, I cannot connect my HP printer/scanner to my Mac via SMB.  I have rebooted my Mac, rebooted my printer, turned on then off the SMB sharing, tried to re-setup the scan-to folder on my printer...all to no avail. 
One other oddity--when I try to turn off my SMB account (my login account) in sharing, it won't let me.  It asks for a password then unchecks the account briefly, then re-checks the account (leaving it on).  I have the opposite problem on my MBP--when I try to turn on SMB sharing and select the account, it asks for a password and briefly checks the account box, then un-checks it.
Anyone have any solutions for getting an HP printer/scanner to Scan-to a Mac running 10.7?
Thanks,
T.

Answer 1

Chih,
I also have a Xerox 6180 MFP that stopped connecting to a Lion Server machine via SMB, but I was able to come up with a workaround using FTP:
Although Lion Server's GUI doesn't have a service switch for FTP, it still exists and can be turned on via command line.
This is the workflow: Everyone at my office shares the Xerox 6180 scanner, so I created individual scan bins in the Xerox Directory for every user.  A user would select their scan bin on the Xerox 6180 (Scan > Server > Scan to... Richard's Scan Bin) and make their scan.  The Xerox 6180 FTPs the file to a Mac Mini running Lion Server.  The user goes back to their workstation, logs into the server via AFP, and grabs the file out of their private scan bin.
My workaround on OSX Lion Server:
1.) I already had a "xerox" user in a group called "scangroup" via the Server.app.  This user is for the Xerox 6180.
2.) In Terminal.app, I created an ftp access group called "com.apple.access_ftp":
   sudo dseditgroup -o create com.apple.access_ftp
3.) Then I added my "scangroup" group to "com.apple.access_ftp":
   sudo dseditgroup -o edit -a scangroup -t group com.apple.access_ftp
4.) Next, I turned on FTP:
   sudo launchctl load -w /System/Library/LaunchDaemons/ftp.plist
5.) In the "xerox" user's home folder, I created a directory called "Scans" and sharepoint subdirectories in it for each Shared User account (e.g. ~/Scans/Richard's Scan Bin)
6.) In Server.app, I gave each Shared User read/write permission to only their subdirectory (i.e. The shared user "Richard" has read/write permission for "Richard's Scan Bin" folder)
7.) In the Xerox Server Address Book Directory, I created entries for each user.  i.e.:
   Name: Richard's Scans
   Server Type: FTP
   Server Address: [Your server's address]
   Port Number: 21
   Login Name: xerox
   Login PW: [your password]
   Server Path: Scans/Richard's Scans
You can also tweak my workaround if you aren't using Lion Server.
Hope this helps!