The Rabbit printers are the district's Managed Print System (MPS) — shared Ricoh printers where you print to a single secure queue (SecurePrint), then walk to any Rabbit printer and release your job by swiping your campus ID card (or logging in at the panel). Your document only prints when you're standing at the machine. This guide covers setup and troubleshooting for Mac.
Install the Ricoh Universal Print Driver
The Rabbit printers use Ricoh's universal PostScript driver package. Install it once before adding the printer.
- Download the Ricoh Universal Print Driver.
- Open the downloaded .dmg file. A window opens showing the installer package.
- Double-click the installer package (.pkg) to start the installer.
- Click Continue through the Introduction (you'll see a long list of supported Ricoh models — that's normal).
- At the Software License Agreement, click Continue, then Agree.
- Click Install. When prompted, enter the computer's administrator name and password (this is your Mac's login — not your MyPortal password) and click Install Software.
- When you see "The installation was successful," click Close. The driver is now installed.
Set up the Rabbit printer
- Open System Settings → Printers & Scanners and click Add Printer (+). (On older macOS this is in System Preferences.)
- In the add-printer window, choose the Advanced (gear) option — if you don't see it, Control-click the toolbar and choose Customize Toolbar to add it.
- Set Type to Windows printer via spoolss and enter this exact URL: smb://rabbitprint.ad.fhda.edu/SecurePrint
- Name it Rabbit SecurePrint, choose the Ricoh driver when prompted (or Generic PostScript if the Ricoh driver isn't offered), and click Add.
- Print something. When asked to authenticate, enter your district username and MyPortal password, and check “Remember this password in my keychain.”
- Walk to any Rabbit printer, swipe your campus ID card, and release your job.
Just changed your MyPortal password?
Your Mac keeps a saved copy of your old password in the keychain, so printing breaks the day you change it — jobs sit in the queue saying "Stopped — Authentication Required." Update the saved password and everything resumes:
- Open Keychain Access (Applications → Utilities), search for rabbitprint, and delete the saved entry.
- Print again. When prompted, enter your new password and save it to the keychain.
Shortcut: sometimes you can skip Keychain Access — click the stopped job in the print queue (the printer icon in the Dock) and re-enter credentials when asked.
Troubleshooting
Job says "Stopped — Authentication Required"
Saved password is stale (usually after a password change). Follow the keychain steps above.
If it still fails, delete the rabbitprint keychain entry AND remove/re-add the printer, then print and re-authenticate fresh.
"Unable to start job" or the job vanishes
Remove the Rabbit printer (System Settings → Printers & Scanners → select it → Remove) and re-add it using the setup steps — this refreshes the driver, which fixes most cases.
I swipe my card but my job isn't at the printer
Make sure the job went to Rabbit SecurePrint, not a local/departmental printer — check the printer name in the print dialog.
Jobs are held only temporarily; if you printed a while ago, print again and release promptly.
If your card has never worked at any Rabbit printer, it may not be linked — call the Help Desk.
Older Mac that stopped printing after years of working
Very old macOS versions (Big Sur and earlier) can't run the current driver. Update macOS if the machine supports it — printing typically starts working again immediately after the upgrade.
If the Mac is too old to update, contact the Help Desk about a replacement.
Everyone in the office suddenly can't print
Reboot the printer (power off, wait 30 seconds, power on). If it persists, call the Help Desk — the print server may need attention. Include your building and room number.