Help with Network Printer & CUPS

[Guest adamsjw2]

Hi all,

I have a new MDK 9.0 box connected to my company's Win2K server based network. I can ping the server, I can get to the Internet through the firewall and I can connect so shares via the Samba client option in the MDK Control Center.

 

But, I can't print to a printer that is connected to the server. The printer does not have an IP, but is shared out by it's name. I gave the installation routine for cups all of the info such as the Server name, server IP, and selected the model of the printer. But, I can't print.

 

How should I begin to troubleshoot this?

TIA,

Jim Adams

[Guest popeye]

Here are some ideas. I am assuming a GUI setup.

 

When you define the printer it is a good idea to do it thru the Mandrake Control Center|Hardaware|Printer window.

 

Select "expert mode". Then "Add a new printer". Select the "Printer on SMB..." option and unselect the "Printer auto-detection..." option at the bottom of the window.

 

After hitting "OK", the next screen is the critical one. The following fields need some data:

 

SMB server host, Share name and Workgroup.

 

Optionally, if autentication is needed the following 2 fields may also need some data:

 

User name and Password.

 

Assuming that the host "Kokomo" in the domain/workgroup "Florida" has a printer shared as "Beach" then:

 

SMB server host: Kokomo

Share Name: Beach

Workgroup: Florida

 

If an authenticated user is needed then:

 

User name: joeblow

Password: secret

 

The rest of the setup is mostly related to the characteristics of the printer you have and the name and description you wish to give it.

 

I just installed a printer doing these steps a few minutes ago.

[Guest adamsjw2]

popeye,

Thanks for the info. I'm one step ahead of you, but it still isn't working and I can't figure out why. The SMB mount points functionality in the Control Center isn't working correctly either and I believe the two are related.

 

I installed Redhat 8.0 on the same machine and it works perfectly, but it doesn't use CUPS to print, in fact CUPS isn't even installed. I wonder what printing system it is using so I can get this to work in Mandrake.

Any suggestions,

Jim

[Guest popeye]

The SMB mount points functionality in the Control Center isn't working correctly either and I believe the two are related.

 

I installed Redhat 8.0 on the same machine and it works perfectly, but it doesn't use CUPS to print, in fact CUPS isn't even installed. I wonder what printing system it is using so I can get this to work in Mandrake.

Any suggestions,

Jim

I am not too conversant on Samba but it seems to me that the problem is related to Samba configuration. What I usually do is attempt to connect to the server using smbclient. Once I am able to see the server and its directory shares I use MCC to install the CUPS printers.

 

this is the way I use it assuming there is a "C" share:

 

smbclient //kokomo/C -Ujoeblow -Wflorida

 

The next prompts asks for the password and next thing I should see the "smb: >" prompt.

 

I also use CUPS web support to check the printer status and the Jobs, but if there is any problem then I go back to MCC to do any adjustments. I find MCC more versatile that CUPS webserver.

 

For the record, http://localhost:631 is the way to access it locally.

 

Back to your problem, since you are using samba just as a client the setup of samba should be somewhat minimal, for your intended purpose. If you find a solution, please let us know.