I really have no idea whether CUPS was being utilized with my 8.2 setup or not (it was working so I didn't mess with it) but when I saw this thread and these directions I attempted to follow them. That's when I realized my CUPS installation is probably hosed because I couldn't get past step 1.
When I go to Mandrake Control Center | Hardware | Printer it shows me a pop up that says that it's looking for installed software. That quickly goes away and then the content window for Mandrake Control Center goes blank and stays that way. On the off chance that it's actually doing something, I've let it sit that way for as long as 20 minutes with no change but when I try to select a different area like "Boot" or even "Hardware" again, it tells me that the changes haven't been saved. I usually wind up cancelling and then closing down the Control Center.
Would you suggest that I attempt to reinstall CUPS or is there possibly a simpler solution?
I have to admit that, although I've used Linux off and on since '95, the print system is still a black box to me. In the past, whether I was using Slackware, RedHat, or Mandrake, I've always just installed the distro and prayed that the printer worked so I wouldn't have to dive into it. I'm very comfortable with editing config files, compiling software packages, or even doing a little Perl or shell scripting if need be, but I've never been able to find a good overview of where everything is in Linux (and specifically the Mandrake distro) and how it all fits together. It may be that I wasn't looking in the right places. :-) Any pointers you have as to where I could find clear documentation on the print services for Mandrake would be appreciated. Maybe I don't know what I'm asking, but I'm interested in something that covers more than just how to use the GUI tools that are included in the distro, if possible.
Thanks for any help you can give me,
Carl
Technoslick wrote:
Tom,
CUPS, in my very limited opinion, the best for easy and control in setting up an LPD printer.
1) Go into Mandrake Control Center | Hardware | Printer to set up CUPS. It may ask for CD #1 to load necessary files.
2) Click on 'Expert Mode'. I could not set-up my print server in 'Normal Mode'.
3) Click on 'Add a printer'
4) Click on 'Printer on remote lpd server'
5) Fill out printer name and description. Location can be left blank.
6) In 'Remote host name', you can either put in the IP address of the NIC in your printer, or the host name you wish to give it. Keep in mind that if you give the printer a host name (like 'xerox' or 'printer'), you will need to add an entry in /etc/hosts with the name and IP address for name resolution over the network. In the second box, you would give the specific printer's name under the server. I think that you would leave this blank.
7) Pick your printer driver.
The rest is easy enough.
Does this sound like what you did? If is what you did before, let me know. I am sure we can figure it out.
The key is that the device is supported. What are called 'all-in-wonder' printers are those that are multi-function units. I have an HP Laserjet 3100 that must have software support to drive it. I don't use it this way, but if I did want to use it as a printer in MDK 8.2 or 9.0, there's a specific software package that comes on the distro CDs for this model. I have no idea how the others are supported, or if they are. You got it to work once before. It should now. It wouldn't hurt to make sure that 'foomatic' is also loaded on your system, and when choosing the drivers for your printer, make sure to choose one that is a combination of 'CUPS' and 'foomatic'.
Does this help you any?
T
----- Original Message -----
From: Tom <mailto:duffer@;usa.net>
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <mailto:newbie@;linux-mandrake.com>
Sent: Tuesday, November 12, 2002 2:40 PM
Subject: [newbie] CUPS Help
I have searched the web, read CUPS documents, and still cannnot find the answer. Or maybe I am over looking it somewhere.
I have a XEROX document centre machine that I am trying to print to. In RH7.3 I set it up as a unix printer 204.xxx.xxx.xxx with que name lp and it worked just fine as an lpr printer. (NOT CUPS).
Tried this in CUPS and it will not work on the Mandrake 9.0 machine. Am I just ingnorant or do I need to be doing something else in CUPS?
Want to buy your Pack or Services from MandrakeSoft? Go to http://www.mandrakestore.com
