Print 
(Image courtesy of 9to5Mac)
Wednesday was a day of disappointment for many -- at least those of us currently rocking the iOS 4.2 gold master who were looking forward to using the new AirPrint service, which was widely believed to require yesterday’s Mac OS X 10.6.5 release. But where there’s a will, there’s a way.
9to5Mac is reporting that AirPrint does indeed work with Mac OS X 10.6.5 -- at least with an earlier build than the one Apple released on Wednesday, the version the general public gets to install. The general consensus was that the final Mac OS X 10.6.5 released this week would allow iOS 4.2 devices to wirelessly print to those printers attached to your Mac, which has not turned out to be the case.
However, an enterprising developer named Steven Troughton-Smith came up with a method of getting AirPrint rockin’ again under the release version of Mac OS X 10.6.5, but it does require access to an earlier build, such as 10H542.
The trick involves copying the following three files from the hidden /usr directory (see below) on a Mac running the prerelease OS X, replacing any files already there:
/usr/libexec/cups/filter/urftopdf
/usr/share/cups/mime/apple.convs
/usr/share/cups/mime/apple.types
Of course, you’ll want to back up the files you’re replacing, assuming you have them (we didn’t). After a system restart, remove and then re-add your printer with the Print & Fax preferences pane and make sure it’s enabled for sharing, then you should be merrily printing sans wires from anywhere in your home.
To access the hidden /usr directory, you can use the Finder’s “Go” menu to select “Go to Folder…” and then type “/usr/libexec/cups” or from the Terminal type “open -a Finder /usr/libexec/cups” (no quotation marks in either case, please!).
So what about those three required files? If you don’t have access to a developer account you probably don’t have the required Mac OS X 10.6.5 prerelease build (or iOS 4.2 GM) to begin with, but your friends at 9to5Mac may or may not have you covered. The only way to be sure is to click that last link and find out!
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