The name of printer shared by a Windows-compatible PC might not make sense in the Printer Setup Utility (Mac OS X 10.3 or later) if the name contains certain characters.
Symptom
A shared printer's name appears as garbled text in the Printer Setup Utility. After adding the printer, you might not be able to print to it.
This happens when the printer's name contains high ASCII characters or 2-byte characters and is shared by a Windows-compatible PC.
Note: 2-byte characters are commonly used in Japanese, Chinese, and Korean fonts. High ASCII characters are "extended ASCII" characters that you typically type using the Option key. They are listed in table II of this webpage: (http://www.cdrummond.qc.ca/cegep/informat/Professeurs/Alain/files/ascii.htm).
Solution
The name of the shared printer should not include high ASCII characters or 2-byte characters. Change the name of the printer so that it only uses
alphanumeric characters.
Alternatively, if you have a compatible printer driver, consider sharing the printer from your Mac instead.
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