Linux Format forums

Re: CUPS and remote printers

redcarpet — Sun Sep 09, 2012 4:14 pm

Author: redcarpet

Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 4:14 pm

ok brother and hp - thanks

Re: CUPS and remote printers

Dutch_Master — Sun Sep 09, 2012 4:13 pm

Author: Dutch_Master

Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 4:13 pm

Brother and HP have excellent Linux support, I'd suggest to have a look at their ranges.

Re: CUPS and remote printers

redcarpet — Sun Sep 09, 2012 3:34 pm

Author: redcarpet

Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 3:34 pm

Ah ha I see. That would answer a few questions I have about printers.
Interesting and informative piece on gdi printers - thanx.

OK - so now I need a cheap on-board-processor B&W A4 bog standard printer - anyone got any suggestions and experience with said items.

Thanx Wylie for your reply

TIA

pj

Re: CUPS and remote printers

wyliecoyoteuk — Sun Sep 09, 2012 9:38 am

Author: wyliecoyoteuk

Posted: Sun Sep 09, 2012 9:38 am

Just looked up the Epson rx520.
Unfortunately, it is a GDI printer, so it cannot handle raw text output.
GDI printers are low cost printers without a raster image processor, which rely on the Host OS to create the page images.
They require special drivers which use the Windows GDI API.
There is a Linux driver for it, but it will use GDI simulation.
More about GDI here:
http://www.wyliecoyoteuk.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/html/gdi.html

Re: CUPS and remote printers

redcarpet — Sat Sep 08, 2012 8:32 am

Author: redcarpet

Posted: Sat Sep 08, 2012 8:32 am

ah OK - thanks for that

Re: CUPS and remote printers

wyliecoyoteuk — Fri Sep 07, 2012 9:49 pm

Author: wyliecoyoteuk

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2012 9:49 pm

Not sure, but I think that you may need a script to redirect simple I/O

Quote:

4.3.9 Remote-controlled printing

A lot of VT100-compatible terminals support printing under control of the remote server. PuTTY supports this feature as well, but it is turned off by default.

To enable remote-controlled printing, choose a printer from the "Printer to send ANSI printer output to" drop-down list box. This should allow you to select from all the printers you have installed drivers for on your computer. Alternatively, you can type the network name of a networked printer (for example, \\printserver\printer1) even if you haven't already installed a driver for it on your own machine.

When the remote server attempts to print some data, PuTTY will send that data to the printer raw - without translating it, attempting to format it, or doing anything else to it. It is up to you to ensure your remote server knows what type of printer it is talking to.

Since PuTTY sends data to the printer raw, it cannot offer options such as portrait versus landscape, print quality, or paper tray selection. All these things would be done by your PC printer driver (which PuTTY bypasses); if you need them done, you will have to find a way to configure your remote server to do them.

To disable remote printing again, choose "None (printing disabled)" from the printer selection list. This is the default state.

Re: CUPS and remote printers

redcarpet — Fri Sep 07, 2012 1:27 pm

Author: redcarpet

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2012 1:27 pm

ok I have setup the printer name in the terminal setup and run a simple cat filename | lpr but nothing has happened. Sorry for this but I really dont know what to do next - thanx wylie - can you help

Re: CUPS and remote printers

redcarpet — Fri Sep 07, 2012 1:17 pm

Author: redcarpet

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2012 1:17 pm

Great - thanx wylie - i will give it a go

Re: CUPS and remote printers

wyliecoyoteuk — Fri Sep 07, 2012 1:15 pm

Author: wyliecoyoteuk

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2012 1:15 pm

no need for CUPS or Samba,
PuTTY has an option to redirect ANSI printing to a local printer, under the "Terminal" settings for remote printing.

Re: CUPS and remote printers

redcarpet — Fri Sep 07, 2012 10:14 am

Author: redcarpet

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2012 10:14 am

OK, thanx very much Dutch (and all).

You have given me good points to start off and I have taken on board what you say about Epsons and other makes.
I will now give this project a go and tell you how I get on. (even if it is more than a few days time)

Thanx every body for your help

pj

Re: CUPS and remote printers

Dutch_Master — Fri Sep 07, 2012 4:28 am

Author: Dutch_Master

Posted: Fri Sep 07, 2012 4:28 am

Work got in the way, so it took a little longer to get back to you

What you're doing with Samba is communicating between the Linux and Win-OS boxes in the protocol used by the Win-OS. It allows you to 'discover' the services the Win-print server offers (i.e. the printer) via the desktop. No need for ssh sessions!

Anyway, back to Cups: for a remote printer to function like a local one, you need to install the printer in Cups, as it were a local printer. But in the location field you enter the IP address (and printer spool) of the Win-OS box that acts as the printer server. I'm not sure your Epson is (properly) supported in Cups, IIRC Epson is one of the worst regarding Linux support. HP and Brother have much better Linux support (I have a Brother MFC and it's not the first one! ) so perhaps you can persuade the remote users to switch over to a better Linux supported brand.

Re: CUPS and remote printers

redcarpet — Thu Sep 06, 2012 6:30 pm

Author: redcarpet

Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2012 6:30 pm

Hi Nelz
Yep I get it - using putty's ssh connection does make it a local session doesnt it - yes of course - i forgot that. Print-to-file not an option I am afraid - however - on the good side - it is all text reporting - so I will retry passthrough on putty. Do I need to adhere to any special naming conventions (i.e. make the printer the same name on box boxes) or anything wierd like that?.

Thanx - getting to grip bit by bit

pj

Re: CUPS and remote printers

bobthebob1234 — Thu Sep 06, 2012 6:27 pm

Author: bobthebob1234

Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2012 6:27 pm

Hang on, you want users to be able to print locally reports that are on the server?
What format are the reports in? Could they just be downloaded to local computer using scp (WinSCP) then printed as a file locally?

Edit:Oops Nelz beat me to it...

Re: CUPS and remote printers

nelz — Thu Sep 06, 2012 6:23 pm

Author: nelz

Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2012 6:23 pm

Bear in mind that when you are logged into the remote server with SSH, that is effectively the local session. It sounds like you don't want every user to make their Windows printer available over the Internet, I think the simplest option may be to use whatever print-to-file option your software has, then copy this to the Windows box and print it locally.

If the reports are in text format, you could possibly use the passthrough option in PuTTY to print the entire session to the local printer.

Re: CUPS and remote printers

redcarpet — Thu Sep 06, 2012 5:23 pm

Author: redcarpet

Posted: Thu Sep 06, 2012 5:23 pm

thanx for that I will try it over the weekend.

So, can you just advise me here a bit please. You have to fool the linux server into thinking that it is printing locally on the windows server?
(Not that this is the case at the moment but) What happens if there are two windows clients using the same linux file server both with epson printers. Sorry I ask I am just trying to get to grip with the logic as well as the code.
THanx Dutch

pj