Ricoh printer/copier setup for older models not supported in OS X 10.6

There is (as of this writing) a large user base of older model Ricoh MFPs (copier/scanner/fax) installed that do not have an OS X 10.6 driver from Ricoh. This includes the Ricoh Aficio MP 8000.

The researched solution is to use the open-source pxlmono driver setup (Linux openprinting/Apple CUPS). Many additional workarounds exist (e.g. use the newer model drivers for an older MFP), but there are some issues— for many, UserCode support is required to print, which is missing.

For these cases:

Step 1:

Install pxlmono drivers (currently pxlmono 1.9, Foomatic-RIP 4.06, Ghostscript 8.71) from here: http://www.linuxfoundation.org/collaborate/workgroups/openprinting/macosx/pxlmono

Step 2:
From the same link as above, scroll down to your printer model, click on the link and go to that printer page. Then click on “view PPD” to identify the printer PPD file name to verify functionality you need. (this step may not be necessary)

Step 3 (thanks to August from Ricoh for figuring this out):
Go to
/Library/Printers/PPDs/Contents/Resources/en.lproj

Find the ppd.gz file that corresponds to your printer. Extract it to just a .ppd file.

Step 4:
Edit the PPD file to change the user code from the generic predefined 1001, 1002, or 1003 to your actual user codes.
(per "Hard code Usercode in the driver PPD file, chose to edit it manually; instructions:
http://www.linuxfoundation.org/collaborate/workgroups/openprinting/database/ricohfaq#Ricoh_FAQ
)

Save the changes. It may be useful to repack the extracted PPD file again but it is not necessary— it is somewhat more clear if you do so.

Step 5:
via System Preferences, add the printer as normal. Make sure to select the correct driver— you may see it twice since you have now the .ppd version and the .ppd.gz version— guess between the two (aka try both if needed), but one of them was correct. If you have repacked the PPD file into ppd.gz and removed the uncompressed version then this potential complication is removed.

Print a test page— e.g. in Microsoft Word 2011, go to Print, under Standard Presets, go to Printer Features, then Feature Sets: Job Log: and pick the correct user code you have inputted.

If the correct user codes do not preset themselves as choices you may need to reboot the machine, reselect the printer driver, or both. It did not work the first two times but the third time it took.

(Suspect the OS was caching the printer driver, hence why no changes were seen to the UserCode).