Problem with Konica Minolta and Printing with Authentication on Mac OS X 10.10 in an Active Directory Domain Environment

I have a client who has a base of Macintosh OS X users, but they are all joined to the domain for printing and file sharing purposes. They also have apps that requires central authentication as well, as such, a domain environment is required.

The reported problem was simple:

"I am unable to save the Authentication Settings for the username and password for printing color print-out."

Upon inspection, I found out that the issue is that :


I spent 2-hrs over remote to help the user out. I checked the following:

1. ensured key-chain access is removed and not saving any passwords
2. login to different user profiles within the Mac to try, same problem
3. added printer and re-add printer drivers, ensured that printer driver is the latest (5.2.1) for Mac OS-X for Konica Minolta Bizhub C364 (printer in mention)
4. ensured that the LOCK is UNLOCK for all system settings
5. verified that all users that i tried have admin access
6. other printers do not have the same problem. I have 2 printers (one lexmark and the other konica minolta), but lexmark doesn't seem to have problems with saving authentication settings.
7. I read the following sites:
1. http://forumspain.net/thread/konica-minolta-authentication-account-track-greyed-out.html
2. http://forums.macrumors.com/threads/printing-to-konica-minolta-bizhub-c360.1039526/
3. http://manuals.konicaminolta.eu/bizhub-C554-C454-C364-C284-C224/EN/contents/id16-0030.html
4. http://www.copytechnet.com/forums/konica-minolta/87457-authentication-greyed-out-printing-c224e-mac-os-10-9-a-2.html?s=347e833b6c02a4f2594008dbea88a541
5. https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2733341?tstart=0
6. https://forum.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14453&p=67592
7. https://computing.si.umich.edu/confluence/display/SIC/Authentication+-+Mac+OS+X+10.6+and+Before
8. I also re-read the manual for installation... and it's found here: http://manuals.konicaminolta.eu/bizhub-C554e-C454e-C364e-C284e-C224e/EN/contents/id01-_101378675.html
9. I made sure that I tested printing from Chrome, Safari, Ms Word, TextPad and all the issues were the same.  

 Note that in my situation, I have the following scenario:

• this is the only MacBook that was unable to save the authentication details
• everyone on PC and other Mac were able to print.
• the printer is not showing any error, and job logs on the printer admin console shows that print-out are successful.
• my domain environment is a Windows Server 2008r2 domain
• Mac OS-X is 10.10.5 (Yosemite)
• Make sure that it's Authentication and not Tracking that you are troubleshooting. There is a difference and details of the set-up can be found here

The solution:

1. Remove printer driver
2. Unjoin (unbind, that's what mac calls it) the macbook pro from the domain
3. Restart the Mac
4. Re-install printer driver (5.2.1 at this time of writing -  https://www.konicaminolta.com.au/downloads)
5. Ensure that you can save the authentication settings
6. Rejoin (re-bind) to the domain
7. Restart the Mac
8. Test print - it should work now....

Hope it saves you all time instead of having to spend 2-hours like me!!!

Apple Mail and SMTP Offline issues

Client called me this morning, I found out that the apple mail email settings has gone awry. For some weird reasons, my SmarterMail Server settings is shown 'offline' all the time.

I tweaked, re-created account and nothing short of banging the mac on the table... and I realized that Apple Mail on the Mac OS-X (mountain-lion and above) doesn't like non-SSL based SMTP.

Gmail SMTP, or SMTP server that does not uses password authentication works well, but when SMTP authentication is enabled, it seems like a requirement for SSL to be enabled.

As such, since my server utilizes SSL (TLS Authentication) on a separate name for it's server, I had to use our own registered server name - cloudmail.b**.co*.s* and VIOLA! it worked almost immediately.

While it's a nice gesture to make the application smarter and think-ahead for it's users, I do feel that Apple should incorporate some form of warning or alerts into the Apple Mail configuration instead of simply blocking access for unsecured connectivity.

Oh well, time and efforts are already spent... glad that it is all resolved within the hour.

Enabling password authentication on my Fuji Xerox Copier with centreware 1.8

Client called me and complained... why can't I save my scanned documents over to my server share!?

My copier is a Fuji Xerox DocuCentre-IV 3060. It's running on Centreware version 1.8

At the moment, the SMB and FTP share works but there was no password field. I can't even import the dialist.csv file.

My colleagues scour through the user and administration manual to no avail.

Alas, I decided to contact the Fuji Xerox technical helpdesk in Singapore, they're pretty efficient I must say. Next day call-back, they hound you until they get to speak with you. Very impressed with how prompt they've been.

1. machine digital certification and create new self signed cert.
2. then apply. 
3. go to SSL/TLS settings
4. then tick on enable SSL/TLS communication

Viola! the authentication screen appeared.

the Address book entry can be found in:

1. going to the address book tab
2. click edit on the entry
3. scroll down to the fields:
   

glad that it's all resolved now. do note to key in the right domain username and password.

in summary, i believe Centreware is trying to ensure that passwords do not get hacked or retrieved as the copier will impose as a security risk/back-door in enterprises where the copier has an entry point to the server. with this configuration password is encrypted and communication between copier to server is also secured.