How To Get AirPrint Working In Mac OS X 10.6.5

Apple’s new AirPrint wireless printing service for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch is now available for anyone running the golden master of iOS 4.2 on their iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. It was also supposed that the recent Mac OS X 10.6.5 update will bring AirPrint support to OS X, as it was available in the recent 10.6.5 pre-release builds. But AirPrint support from the final version of 10.6.5 was pulled out due to a last-minute issue (patent troll?).

Mac OS X users who are running 10.6.5 can now get AirPrint wireless printing support working, thanks to developer Steven Troughton-Smith. He has come up with a simple guide for getting AirPrint work on all installations of Mac OS 10.6.5.

For AirPrint to work in OS X 10.6.5, all you need to do is pull some files from a prerelease version of 10.6.5. Here’s what he says:

The files you need are:

/usr/libexec/cups/filter/urftopdf
/usr/share/cups/mime/apple.convs
/usr/share/cups/mime/apple.types

If you migrate those from a 10.6.5 prerelease build (there seem to be many floating around torrent sites and file sharing sites — build 10H542 works; naturally I can’t link you to the files themselves, sorry!) to your machine you’re just one step away from having AirPrint working.

The final key thing is you have to remove and re-add your printer in the Print & Fax preferences pane. Once you do that (and share your printer in the Sharing preferences pane) it should show up on any iOS devices that support AirPrint.

Thanks to 9to5Mac, you can download those files. Here’s another mirror for those files.

They’re located in a hidden “/usr” folder in your Macintosh HD. You can get access to that folder either via Terminal or through the “Go to Folder” function present in Finder’s “Go” menu.

If you are using Terminal, simply type the following:

open -a Finder /usr/libexec/cups

If you are using Finder, simply type /usr/libexec/cups into the dialog of “Go To Folder” and hit Enter. Drop the files in the places mentioned.

Next, remove and re-install your printer, and activate sharing in the Sharing preferences pane, if you haven’t already done it.

Note: Don’t forget to take a backup of the files that you are modifying/removing. Don’t held us responsible if you mess with your system.

You should now be able to see and print to your printer directly over Wi-Fi, from your AirPrint-enabled iOS device of choice.

[via 9to5Mac]

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