I should also mention:

I have a win 7 laptop (a different computer) with an HP printer attached, and shared, which Vista sees, Slackware does not see it....so, there must be something Slackware or Samba is doing or not doing. My next trick is to connect my Vista Printer to a Centos 6.3 Server, share the printer and see if Slackware sees that : )

Another Update

I setup a workstation running Centos 6.3, guess what, it can't see any of the Windows printer shares either, although Centos can see a folder called print$, while Slackware can not. I ran hp-setup on the Centos machine and it can't find ANY windows shared printers. Centos & Slackware can see shared folders no problem, and can access them, do whatever they want.

I have a Win 7 laptop sharing a printer, and a Vista computer sharing a printer...not one Linux machine can see them!!!

No that's interesting isn't it???

Okay let's focus on the Vista/7 machines for now...

Do you have Internet Information Services (IIS) installed on your Vista/7 boxes as well as UNIX Printing Support Services (LDP Printing and LDR Monitoring)?

I do not have IIS running at all, I do have LPD/LPR & Monitoring running on the Vista machine, not on the Win 7 Laptop. There is no option on the Vista machine to add UNIX Printing Support Services.

Not sure where your going, but along for the ride : )

Troubleshooting often meaning learning as you go.

Okay LPD/LPR should give Samba the ability to see the Windows Public Network Shares and configure a printer using at minimum CUPS. If Samba still can't configure it, try disabling DHCP on your Windows Vista box and use a Static IP address, open the printer port, and try using HPLIP Toolbox to scan the IP address of the printer machine and port rather than the actual printer itself.

If that fails:

Try installing IIS on the Vista machine and follow this website's suggestion for using IIS to print.

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/art...ows-Vista.html



Just a sideways suggestion but have you considered investing in a Network Print Server like this one as an example:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833139028

Nothin!

I find weird that smbclient -L //server works on the Linux machines but HPLIP fails, network places does not show printers either. I went to MS looking for some deep dark registry hack, those failed too :

I guess if I want to printer, I have to setup a Print server, or connect the printer to the Linux Machine that needs to print.

I appreciate your efforts more than you can imagine...thank you very, very much. I thought a clean install of Centos with the appropriate firewall changes would work...but alas I was wrong : (

Not sure what to do about this, maybe do nothing : )

Print servers can be inexpensive and they will free up the Vista and other machines so you don't have to run a full workstation constantly. Great for saving on your electricity bill.

The problem could be this and I did dig this up from some old CompTIA Linux+ books I shuffled through earlier today (this was, mind you, a book from 2004 so don't take it literally):

Using a Windows Client OS is a server isn't always a sound idea because realistically it doesn't have all the necessary server systems to effectively manage services the same as a true server OS does. While you can "share" a resource with others in a client based workgroup, usually only similar machines in those workgroups with similar share systems can effectively share those same resources.

Even a Linux based OS distribution with Samba-client isn't the same as a true Windows workstation. Because Linux can be setup to run both as a server and a workstation equally, it can manage services the same as a server can as well as perform the same as a client workstation it it's own style of workgroups. However Windows is different. Windows comes in two flavors, and as a client can perform workgroup and minor resource management, but it can not operate as a true server system, likewise a Windows Server system often does not have the same capabilities as that of the Windows client OS.

Ya I'm with ya on all that, there's a reason why Linux can do both and Microsoft chooses to rip us off by selling different products to do what Linux does all day long! I haven't tried hooking the printer up to the Centos 6.3 box yet, just to see if that changes anything. I should also tell you that I disabled SELinux on Centos as well : )

Talk to you soon I'm sure : )

Best of luck, and yes you are right. Windows is a real rip off of an OS when you look at it correctly.

Ya it's me again : 0

I tried a nifty thing:

Did a clean install of Slackware on one machine, connected the printer to my laptop Slackware machine, the new Slack machine could not find it either...windows machines find it, see it, and can print to it. But Linux machines, a Slackware machine can not see another Slackware machines printer. The hell!

Samba is setup with a minimal script, a couple of shared folders and a shared printer on the laptop slack machine. A stock script from the clean install with just the workgroup name changed. I am baffled : )