Windows guest doesn't detect wireless printer

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macbeth
Posts: 3
Joined: 25. Jan 2009, 01:38

Windows guest doesn't detect wireless printer

Post by macbeth »

I'm having a strange problem with my HP Photosmart wireless printer.
The printer was setup and installed using a windows machine, and is working fine from both that machine as from my fedora box.
The fedora box is the host for a Virtualbox running windows XP as guest. I can't install the printer drivers & software in the virtual WinXP though. At some point during the install, it tries to detect the available wireless printers, but doesn't find any (even if I manually specify the printer's IP). This is a confusing, since I can ping the printer from the virtual machine, and I can also see its status webpage by pointing my browser to its ip. So the connectivity is there, but somehow the install program doesn't find the printer.
This happens with both NAT and host-based networking in VirtualBox 2.1.2.

Any ideas anyone?
Sasquatch
Volunteer
Posts: 17798
Joined: 17. Mar 2008, 13:41
Primary OS: Debian other
VBox Version: VirtualBox+Oracle ExtPack
Guest OSses: Windows XP, Windows 7, Linux
Location: /dev/random

Post by Sasquatch »

Create a new TCP/IP printer port. Set it for the IP of the printer. Now point the install wizard to the driver install location. It should install the driver for the printer, unless it needs that whole damn install junk.
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macbeth
Posts: 3
Joined: 25. Jan 2009, 01:38

Post by macbeth »

Thank you for the reply, but what exactly do you mean by "Create a new TCP/IP printer port" ?

I was thinking, maybe the installer doesn't detect the printer because it can't find a "wireless" network (since the network present in the virtual machine presents itself as a "wired" network).
Sasquatch
Volunteer
Posts: 17798
Joined: 17. Mar 2008, 13:41
Primary OS: Debian other
VBox Version: VirtualBox+Oracle ExtPack
Guest OSses: Windows XP, Windows 7, Linux
Location: /dev/random

Post by Sasquatch »

The wireless part is the primairy issue, yes. When you open the Printer and Faxes window, you can add a new printer. Follow the wizard, tell it that it's a local printer and in the next screen, you can select to create a new port for it. Install a new TCP/IP port. The wizard explains what you need to do.
Read the Forum Posting Guide before opening a topic.
VirtualBox FAQ: Check this before asking questions.
Online User Manual: A must read if you want to know what we're talking about.
Howto: Install Linux Guest Additions
Howto: Use Shared Folders on Linux Guest
See the Tutorials and FAQ section at the top of the Forum for more guides.
Try searching the forums first with Google and add the site filter for this forum.
E.g. install guest additions site:forums.virtualbox.org

Retired from this Forum since OSSO introduction.
macbeth
Posts: 3
Joined: 25. Jan 2009, 01:38

Post by macbeth »

It worked like charm, thank you Sasquatch!

Only disadvantage is that this way, only the printer driver gets installed, and not the extra software (there is some OCR stuff I'm interested in on the CD). But the most important thing is that I can print now!
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