Topic: XP -> Samba Printing Probs

[gbentley]

Hi All,

Not entirely SME related but has anyone had probs when trying to print from an XP machine to a Samba shared printer ?

On XP box the samba file and printer share are visible in Nethood and the file share has open access.

I can add printer > browse and install the XP provided drivers. It all looks like it *should* work but then as soon as I click the 'Print Test Page' button I get an error "Cant print, unable to create print job etc"

This happens immediatly, I dont think the job is getting anywhere near the Linux box.

I can view the cups webmin in a browser and no job appears in the queue - printing from the cups webmin work perfectly as does job control and taking the printer 'offline'

In XP 'Printers and Faxes' the printer shows as 'Ready' - its just that I cant print to it.

Really ripping my hair out with this so ANY tips really really appreciated !!!

Thanks !

[Robert]

What does the command "which lp" return when you run it on the SME Server?

[gbentley]

Part of the problem - the system is at a clients 3 miles across town (as usal) and they are wondering what is taking so long !!!

I suppose I should learn howto set up remote dial-in to make things easier

[Robert]

I had just typed a lengthy reply and wanted to submit it, only to find that my frigging login had timed out. So, here's a brief summary:
1. If "which lp" says "no lp in (your $PATH here)", reread the e-smith-cups installation howto. If it says "/usr/bin/lp", continue with 2.
2. You may be using the wrong combination of Windows printer driver and CUPS queue type, as in raw vs filtering queues. If you're using a filtering queue, try adding a raw queue and see if that helps.
3. If neither of the above applies, change LogLevel to debug in /etc/cups/cupsd.conf, reload cupsd, and look for interesting lines in /var/log/cups/error_log.

[gbentley]

Thats just happened to me - highly annoying !!!

I must admit I didnt try just a raw queue in cups
and I'll come clean anyway - I was setting this up
on Trustix with the latest cups/samba stables.

I remembered that I got XP printing to HPDJ1100
with SME6.0 with little probs - I think Lprng is
used with a simpler raw que mech - anyway I stomped
over Trustix with SME and its now working slowly.

Curiously I had to change security = share
in smb.conf to get non password access to
file shares.

I have limited knowledge on Samba and have
now joined the mailing list.

[chrislaurie]

Robert

I'm a complete newb with linux so bear with me. From your last message:

If it says "/usr/bin/lp", continue with 2.
2. You may be using the wrong combination of Windows printer driver and CUPS queue type, as in raw vs filtering queues. If you're using a filtering queue, try adding a raw queue and see if that helps.

How do I do this: "adding a raw queue" ?

Also, from that last message, I changed the 20LogLevel file to read debug. Now how do I "reload cupsd"?

Cheers

Chris

[CharlieBrady]

Robert

I'm a complete newb with linux so bear with me. From your last message:

If it says "/usr/bin/lp", continue with 2.
2. You may be using the wrong combination of Windows printer driver and CUPS queue type, as in raw vs filtering queues. If you're using a filtering queue, try adding a raw queue and see if that helps.

How do I do this: "adding a raw queue" ?

The standard SME server system only ever adds raw queues. If you have a queue, it's raw.

Also, from that last message, I changed the 20LogLevel file to read debug. Now how do I "reload cupsd"?

SME server doesn't use cups for printing. So you don't reload cupsd.

[chrislaurie]

Hi Charlie

Thanx for the reply - I did not make it clear. I implemented cups as a test and I am also having a problem with printing from XP as this is what this topic is about. So I am interpreting and trying to use advise given earlier in the topic, and since I'm a newb, I do not understand what certain terms mean. So my questions are (given previous advice from Robert):

- how do I add a raw queue when using cups

- how do I "reload cupsd" withour restarting the server.

Cheers

Chris

[gbentley]

I found that using the web interface from one of the client machines was quite easy ;

http://yourprintserverip:631

Then go through the Add Printer routine and
when it comes to ask you the filter type just
choose RAW.

You can still descibe it how you want though
and that how it will show up in your wingroup

HTH

[Robert]

Step-by-step instructions for adding a raw queue in CUPS are in http://mirror.contribs.org/smeserver/contribs/rvandenaker/beta/e-smith-cups/documentation/howtos/cups-add-printer.html .

Reloading cupsd is done by issuing the command "/etc/rc.d/init.d/cups reload" from the root prompt.

The most common problems with the combination of samba and CUPS appear to be:

1. An installation problem with the cups rpm that causes a number of SysV and BSD frontends like lp, lpr, lprm, etc. to be uninstalled. This is discussed in http://mirror.contribs.org/smeserver/contribs/rvandenaker/beta/e-smith-cups/documentation/howtos/howto-install-cups.html#note1 . I'm hoping this problem was fixed in my recent cups packages, but since noone has built x86 binaries of these yet this is untested.

2. People use a printer driver on Windows that produces output for which there are no conversion rules in /etc/cups/mime.convs in combination with a filtering queue in CUPS. That don't work. Solution is to either change the printer driver on Windows to a PostScript driver or change the queue type in CUPS to a raw queue. This is discussed in http://mirror.contribs.org/smeserver/contribs/rvandenaker/beta/e-smith-cups/documentation/howtos/cups-add-printer.html .

3. With the introduction of samba 3 in SME 6.5 beta and SME 7.0 alpha a new problem has surfaced due to the fact that CUPS support in samba 3 is partially broken. This is discussed here: http://forums.contribs.org/index.php?topic=25574.0 .
This thread contains a workaround for the problem and a link to an e-smith-cups package that has the workaround applied. I can only assume that the real problem has been reported to the samba team and is being worked on.

[gbentley]

http://mirror.contribs.org/smeserver/contribs/rvandenaker/beta/e-smith-cups/documentation/howtos/cups-add-printer.html

Hell, I wished I'd read that before spending 2 days goofing around with cups / SME etc !!!

I was wondering, is there any way to get raw to report back to the windows clients like the cups filtered queues do ?

I just get 'unable to connect' next to the printer icon in Printers / Faxes but printing actually works fine.

pps Anyone know how to do a factory reset of an Epson 3000 large format printer ?

[Robert]

I was wondering, is there any way to get raw to report back to the windows clients like the cups filtered queues do ?

I just get 'unable to connect' next to the printer icon in Printers / Faxes but printing actually works fine.

My experience with samba is very limited so I don't have any advice to offer in that department, but if you find the answer I sure am interested in learning what it is.

pps Anyone know how to do a factory reset of an Epson 3000 large format printer ?

Forgive the silly question, but have you checked the epson website for manuals?

[chrislaurie]

Thanx to all who replied. It now works. The links posted by gbentley proved most useful and informative.

What I did not understand (dunce that I am) was that I can set up the same printer twice on the same port. That is two printers in Cups pointing to the same physical printer and port - each with it's own queue config (raw and HP driver). Then in Windows I add the printer that is defined as raw and it works!

Now I also have the same problem that gbentley referred to: In WinXP it shows a status of "access denied, unable to connect", while the printing works fine. This will be confusing to normal Windoze users. Anybody have any idea on how to get Cups/Samba to report the raw queue printer status correctly?

Cheers

Chris

[gbentley]

Using plain SME printing (without the cups mods etc) I actually get a status msg - only thing is though it shows 1 doc waiting to print - which it has already. Subsequent print jobs work fine and show as job2 etc

Can anyone post the CLI to clear all the jobs out of the queue and restart the queue ?

Also, yes, the Epson site / manual dosnt have this info. I waited 45 mins on hold for TechSupp and when I got thru they didnt know and said it was no longer supported and to go to the live chat section of the support site. The guy there didnt know either...

[Robert]

Not sure if this is what you're looking for but http://files.support.epson.com/pdf/sc3k__/sc3k__u1.pdf , while it doesn't include a simple procedure for restoring all factory defaults in one go, does have a listing of all the factory default settings and how to change each of these settings individually in section B-8.