Printing from windows problems

evilmonkey · 10-25-2006, 05:42 PM

Hello All,

I set up a server in my house, and one of the functions I want it to server is that of a printserver. I installed CUPS, Samba, and Webmin. Samba and CUPS were installed and configured manually, while the printer was added to CUPS using webmin. The printer is a Samsung CLP-500, which has a very deficient Linux driver (that cannot be installed on a server, and GTK to function), so I chose to install the printer as 'raw' and use windows drivers.

The problem is two-fold: when I try to print a test page from within webmin, my printer just says 'wasting data' (obviously, the printer doesn't understand the 'raw' data being passed; but there is communication which is good). However, when I added the printer to my XP machine as a network printer (it found it with no problems), and tried to print a test page, nothing happenned, not even 'wasting data'. To add to that, windows said that the printer status is 'access denied, unable to connect'.

So I started poking around Webmin to see what's wrong, and found that the 'printing enabled' option is set to 'no'. So I changed it...but it jumped right back. I thought I'd log into the CUPS web interface directly, so I did, but when I tried to change something, it said I needed to log on through https://, and then it refused to load (how do I disable the damn SSL requirement for CUPS?)

So yeah, those are my problems. Some solutions would be nice, starting with how to use the CUPS web interface because while webmin is a very nice program, I would rather deal with CUPS directly than through an intermediary.

Thanks.

slackhack · 10-25-2006, 05:53 PM

i think you're on the right track with dumping webmin and using the cups interface. as long as you have permissions granted in the server's /etc/cups/cupsd.conf file you should be able to access the cups web pages. i think the default is to use SSL if the server requests it, but i don't remember the parameter name that you have to change (something to do with "authentication" most likely).

to grant access and more, you should go into and edit the config file directly, it's pretty self-explanatory and explains pretty much everything in comments as it goes along (something GUIs don't ordinarily do, though people think they're "easier" for some reason

). otherwise, post the file along with your network information and maybe someone will be able to help you more specifically.

evilmonkey · 10-25-2006, 06:04 PM

cupsd.conf:

Code:

#
#
#   Sample configuration file for the Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS)
#   scheduler.  See "man cupsd.conf" for a complete description of this
#   file.
#

# Log general information in error_log - change "info" to "debug" for
# troubleshooting...
LogLevel warning

# Administrator user group...
SystemGroup lpadmin
AuthGroupName shadow

# Only listen for connections from the local machine.
# These settings are configured in /etc/cups/cups.d/ports.conf so that
# changing them does not require to change this file.
# Listen localhost:631
# Listen /var/run/cups/cups.sock
Listen 127.0.0.1:631
Listen 192.168.123.105:631

# Show shared printers on the local network.
# The 'Browsing' setting is configured in /etc/cups/cups.d/browse.conf
# so that changing it does not require to change this file.
# Browsing Off
BrowseOrder allow,deny
BrowseAllow @LOCAL
BrowseAddress @LOCAL

# Default authentication type, when authentication is required...
DefaultAuthType Basic

# Restrict access to the server...
<Location />
  Order allow,deny
  Allow localhost
  Allow @LOCAL
</Location>

# Set the default printer/job policies...
<Policy default>
  # Job-related operations must be done by the owner or an adminstrator...
  <Limit Send-Document Send-URI Hold-Job Release-Job Restart-Job Purge-Jobs Set-Job-Attributes Create-Job-Subscription Renew-Subscription Cancel-Subscription Get-Notifications Reprocess-Job Cancel-Current-Job Suspend-Current-Job Resume-Job CUPS-Move-Job>
    Require user @OWNER @SYSTEM
    Order deny,allow
  </Limit>

  # All administration operations require an adminstrator to authenticate...
  <Limit Pause-Printer Resume-Printer Set-Printer-Attributes Enable-Printer Disable-Printer Pause-Printer-After-Current-Job Hold-New-Jobs Release-Held-New-Jobs Deactivate-Printer Activate-Printer Restart-Printer Shutdown-Printer Startup-Printer Promote-Job Schedule-Job-After CUPS-Add-Printer CUPS-Delete-Printer CUPS-Add-Class CUPS-Delete-Class CUPS-Accept-Jobs CUPS-Reject-Jobs CUPS-Set-Default>
    AuthType Basic
    Require user @SYSTEM
    Order deny,allow
  </Limit>

  # Only the owner or an administrator can cancel or authenticate a job...
  <Limit Cancel-Job CUPS-Authenticate-Job>
    Require user @OWNER @SYSTEM
    Order deny,allow
  </Limit>

  <Limit All>
    Order deny,allow
  </Limit>
</Policy>

# Include files in /etc/cups/conf.d
Include /etc/cups/cups.d/ports.conf
Include /etc/cups/cups.d/browse.conf

#
#

I've always been more on the Apache/PHP/MySQL side of things when it came to Linux, so things like this are all new to me.

Thank for the help.

slackhack · 10-25-2006, 06:53 PM

add the IP of your windows box to the server access section:

Code:

# Restrict access to the server...
<Location />
  Order allow,deny
  Allow localhost
  Allow @LOCAL
  Allow [Add your IP here]
</Location>

see if that works (don't forget to restart cups after making changes to the config file).

you could also set your log level from "warning" to "debug" until it's fixed, checking the messages in /var/log/cups/error_log for more clues, and then change it to back to warning (or info) when it's working.

evilmonkey · 10-25-2006, 09:56 PM

Nope, that didn't do anything. I actually had to format my server (due to unrelated problems), so I'm starting fresh. I still have a feeling I'll run into this problem though because CUPS was an out of the box setup. :? Suggestions (or a well made cupsd.conf) are appreacited.

Thanks!