Tips on CUPS + KDE + Debian Testing NOTE: long msg!
I recently decided to install CUPS on my main linux box with the
eventual goal of making it a print-server for the rest of my home LAN.
I was sucessful in getting it going on the single machine because of
questions asked by others on the Debian-KDE and Debian-Users mailing
lists. Getting it going on a single machine has been discussed in
previous messages, so I won't dwell on that aspect of it.... except to
make a few notes:
1. The cupsys-driver-gimpprint package is EXCELLENT. It supports a
wide variety of printers, and of all the printer drivers I have tried,
it far excels in the quality of printing on my HP 960c inkjet. Highly
recommeded! BEWARE! This package comes in several languages & ALL are
installed. The "en" is the second selection from the top, and is NOT
diferentiated as such during the KDE printer config. You can only see
the differences if you use the "localhost:631" method to configure your
printer.
2. If you are going to be in a "mixed" system that involves some lpr
systems, you might want to pay close attention during the install to the
question about setting cupsysd "suid root". My LAN is/will be straight
CUPS, so it didn't make much difference. You also want to install the
cupsys-bsd package.
3. A fully-functional CUPS + KDE install in Debian Testing will
require the following packages: cupsys, cupsys-client,
cupsys-pstorastor, libcupsys2, and kdelibs3-cups. If you want lpr/bsd
compatability with other printing systems, you should add cupsys-bsd.
4. The KDE "Control Center -> System -> Printing Manager" tool is
EXCELLENT. About all you have to do to get a running system is select
CUPS as your printing system at the bottom, and add your printer. This
will bring up a wizard that will lead you through all the steps. This
is the series of screens that will show you about 4 available gimpprint
drivers that all look the same. They are not... select the second one
from the top if you want English or check it with the http screens
available at "localhost:631".
After I got CUPS running on a single machine, I turned my attention to
getting it on my LAN as the LAN printer. I wandered around in the
desolate wilderness of the documentation for about a week without any
progress. I finally yelled for help on the Debian-Users mailing list,
and a kind soul guided me through a MANUAL config for the network.
After I got it going, I re-traced my steps, and again, the KDE Printing
Manager proved to be the BEST tool to set it up. Here are the steps:
1. Pull up the Printing Manager and click on the "Configure Server" Icon.
2 Accept the default settings EXCEPT for the below steps:
3. Check the "Enable Browsing" on the "Browsing" screen.
4. Go to the "Security" screen. In the "Resources" box, you should
find two entries already there.. one for "Root" and another for
"Administration". Click on "add" and select your printer's name (lp?)
from the pull-down resource menu. Click on the "Access" tab and put
your LAN IP number in the "Allow" box (i.e. 192.168.10.*) and "ALL" in
the "Deny" box The order should be "Deny, Allow". Click OK to save the
changes.
5. Restart the server... there is a button for it to the left of the
"Configure Server" icon.
At this point remote computers running CUPS will list your printer and
you can set it to be the "default" on the remote systems. Check out
everything by printing test pages.
I hope these ruminations will prevent others from the aimless wandering
and editing of various conf files that I did. I appologize to those who
think I have wasted their time.
Cheers,
-Don Spoon-
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