Miscellaneous > Programming & Networking

nasty network problem

(1/1)

worker201:
In case you haven't read the other thread, here's a diagram of how my network works:


--- Code: ---cable modem --- router ___ PC
                      |___ Mac
                      |___ printer

--- End code ---
The printer is an HP OfficeJet 6310, a print/fax/copy/scan thing.  The 6310 will print without software or driver installation on the Mac, but it requires the use of HP proprietary software to scan or fax.  I have installed the latest software from HP, which is supposed to be Leopard compatible.  When the printer is plugged directly into the Mac via cat5, it prints and scans and all that beautifully.  However, in the normal network environment, the HP software cannot even find the printer.  I can print by setting up a software-less connection, so the network path between the Mac and the printer is unobstructed - it's just that the software doesn't know where to look.  Even when giving the software the IP address manually, it can't negotiate that address.

Now, here's what I think is happening.  Because of the way the cable is setup, it won't supply an IP address to any hardware but my Mac.  In order to get the network to work, I have to use MAC spoofing on the router.  So the ISP gives the IP to the router because it thinks my router is my Mac.  Then the router gives out IP addresses to the rest of the hardware.  So the Mac and the router have the same MAC addresses, but different IP addresses.  What if the HP software is searching the network wrong?  If it looks only at the MAC address, it will not notice that there is a difference between the Mac and the router.  And since it cannot find a printer attached directly to the Mac, it fails.  The HP software is for some reason not smart enough to go to the gateway first to start its search for printers - that's the main problem.

So how do I solve this?  It would be just plain stupid to plug the printer directly into the Mac via USB to print, and manually switch the cable to print with the PC.  It would be equally stupid to print with the current network, and break out the USB cable or manually switch the network cables when I need to scan.  There's no reason in the world that this shouldn't work - which makes it all the more frustrating because it doesn't.

Ideas?

Lead Head:
If you can find out what port it uses, your might be able to port-forward the MAC right the printer

worker201:
Please restate, I didn't quite catch that.

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