UNABLE TO PRINT TO TOSHIBA FIERY COPIER AFTER 10.6 UPGRADE

Question

I have upgraded my OS to 10.6 and in doing so the OS has killed my printer.
I am printing to a high end Fiery Toshiba e-studio311c.
For those not familiar, a fiery is a rip device, when your Mac prints to it, the desktop printer spools to the Fiery Server, where it prints out directly and then goes into a queue. I didn't have any problems printing on 10.4..
My dedicated rip software which allows me to view and connect to the Toshiba server is still working fine. I KNOW it is not the printer server. I can login and reprint old archived jobs.
The new setup is a joke. I have re-added and reinstalled all my fiery software.
The PPD Drivers I have are old but the most up-to-date.
I have re-setup the printer in both IPP and LPD neither way matters.
If I select the proper PPD the the error I get is
"Connected to printer…"
"Network host '192.168.1.195' is busy; will retry in 20 seconds…"
It never completes.
If I select the "Generic CMYK" PPD the the error I get is
Status: ERROR
"The printer software was installed incorrectly."
"Please reinstall the printer’s software or contact the manufacturer for assistance."
I have called tech support to Apple - Each time I felt like I was getting my teeth pulled. The technicians were like reading from scripts and the solutions offered were, " oh just go back and reinstall 10.4 and be mindful to do a full erase "
* extend finger * When I asked to be promoted up the tech support ladder I got transferred to another tech (let's lean over to the cube next to us and see if he notices I give him the same lame answers * chuckle chuckle *. This tech gave me the same answers and directed me here
I called Toshiba, which referred me to to the people who sold me the copier,
They shrugged.
I called Toshiba again, they referred me to their electronic devices division, who referred me to their copier division, which referred me to to the people who sold me the copier, which referred me to to some other division of Toshiba's.
These people were of no help and said we are waiting on EFI - They referred me to Toshiba's PR company, who referred me to Fiery's public relations answering machine. No answers and I don't expect any.
I think this whole mess is directly related to the abandonment of Appletalk in 10.6. Snow tiger needs a warning label on the box. "Warning, blood you see is the 100% magenta from your printer."
At this point, I ask you my internet friends - Any advice? I need work around solutions.

Answer 1

Hi there.
I have several Canon devices that are using Fiery RIPs (albeit on Canon's they are called imagePASS and imagePRESS). Names aside, I have found that there are a number of limitations with the Fiery drivers on 10.6.
The first is that the driver installer requires Rosetta to be installed on the Mac. If you simply added the printer by browsing to the PPD, then there is a chance that the plugins referenced in the PPD are not present on your Mac and will cause problems with certain printing functions. So, I would suggest that if there is an installer for your model of Fiery, then run that installer but beware that your Mac may need to connect to the Internet to download Rosetta. Alternatively, you can manually add Rosetta by running the Optional Installs package located on your Snow Leopard DVD.
With the driver installed correctly, the error about the software not being installed correctly is due to a permissions error with the cups filter folder. EFI have posted an update that can resolve this error message, providing your RIP is running System 6. A Config page will confirm this under the System Info heading. You can download the CUPS filter update from EFI via this link.
Regarding the use of LPD, the Fiery's often require a queue name of print (and it must be entered in lower case). If you do not enter the queue name correctly then you can get the busy errors you mention in your post.
If you were using AppleTalk previously, you would have seen the print queue advertised and probably the direct and hold queues also. As for IPP, I never had much success with using this as a protocol. Personally I prefer HP Jetdirect-Socket (which connects to RAW Port 9100 on the Fiery). This is typically what Windows queues will default to and can be a more stable connection than LPD.
To end this reply, I suggest you go easy on Apple support. These folks aren't trained on network printer setups or issues but then they should not have to be. Toshiba should be providing you with your support and if they cannot then take it up with their management. It is not good enough to shrug shoulders and cry poor. If they cannot help, then tell them you are taking your business elsewhere. The wheel that squeaks always gets the best support...
One last thing. Get your head out of the past and stop crying for AppleTalk. It always amuses me that people want the latest operating system but then want support for outdated protocols and products. AppleTalk was rubbish on large networks. Yes it allowed you to see the printer on the network but it never happily co-existed in an IP-based network and was often the cause of lost connections.
We can't fear change....
Pahu