packages needed for printing in Slack 10.2
 

I've installed 10.2 and want to set up printing. I looked on the Slack web site and found a listing in the FAQ about printing. It said make sure I have:

a1/lpr.tgz
ap1/apsfilt.tgz
ap1/ghostscr.tgz
ap1/gsfonts.tgz

I found that I didn't have some of these and went looking around. In my travels, I came across a reference to Slack 8.0 on the Slack ftp site, and found some of the packages in a1 directory there. There is no a1 directory in the Slack 10.2 directory and of course, the above packages are not under this directory at all. I am wondering if they have been superseded by other packages?

Not sure what to do at this point, because I don't want to install older code (from 8.0) and mess up the newer installation.

Thanks for any help.

If you've got kde you can set it up through that. Or do it directly through the CUPS web interface. Go to http://localhost:631, sign in as root, and follow the instructions. Make sure your printer is turned on so CUPS can see it. Which printer are you using?

Thanks. Found out a couple of things in the interim. I must have installed all (or most) of the required packages already when I installed Slack 10.2. I followed what must be dated instructions on the Slackware web site in the FAQs. I was able to set up my ancient HP DeskJet, but then I ran into trouble printing.

cupsd would generate a process ID but then abort seemingly immediately. I found that I could update cupsd.conf and change the LogLevel line from 'info' to 'debug' then found in the /var/log/cups/error_log:

/usr/bin/gs: error while loading shared libraries: libXt.so.6: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

I had installed only the non-graphical portion of Slack, no X packages. I went back and installed recommended X packages, and the print started flowing... Talk about unexpected dependencies! Is there a list or diagram somewhere of package dependencies?

Be well.

Further question on Slackware / CUPS
 

I'm a newbee.

Installed Slackware 10.2 (full install so assume all packages). I've checked out basic Unix commands, launched KDE, installed Firefox and Open Office etc. so networking is OK. Now I'm ready to start printing. Reading around, it is clear to me that I want CUPS. Now when I go to KDE and try to access localhost:631 (Konqueror or Firefox) I get the error message

could not connect to host localhost (port 631)

If my understanding is correct, the way I installed Slackware should have installed CUPS. However, I've read admonitions to not "double install" and also possible interference between CUPS and older printing methods. Therefore I'm nervous about trying to install CUPS from scratch.

I'm looking for a step-by-step clean description of how to determine what I have or do not have (CUPS installed or yet to be installed) and how to proceed. I'm happy to use KDE or command line if it is step by step. Assume I'm very tech-savvy but NOT Unix savvy.

Thanks in advancce for any help.:newbie:

Eureka
 

After posting this question (which in turn was posted after about three hours on-line trying to work this out), I found WindowMaker's shell script for post-Slackware installation (sorry i don't yet know how to embed a link to another post so use the search to find it in this forum).

For anyone who has experience of other systems but not UNIX/Linux, it is extremely useful and a quick study. I think it should be documented and included in the distro.

Anyway to complete the details:

log in to bash as root

then

chmod 755 /etc/rc.d/rc.cups
/etc/rc.d/rc.cups start

You now get a message letting you know it is running.

Now startx to get into KDE and the browser will connect to localhost:631 (my original problem)

:D

any time I get a "file not found" error, I plug it into the Slackware package site and use the "find by file name feature".

For instance: libXt.so returns x11-6.8.2-i486-3.

regards,
...drkstr

Wundermac, basically the problem for you was that although you had CUPS installed, it wasn't set as executeable. If you have a look at the directory /etc/rc.d, you will see in there a lot of services, including CUPS. The ones with an 'x' in the permissions listed at the start of the line are all set to run at boot time. To make something execute at boot, you type something like

chmod +x /etc/rc.d/rc.cups

or

chmod -x /etc/rc.d/rc.cups

if you want to remove executable permission and stop in running at boot. Or you can use the method you used, by typing the octal numbers to set permissions.

Thank you
 

Cool tip Simcox1. I'm very computer savvy just no UNIX background so the learning curve is very steep. I know what can be done in principle, just not the tool and syntax. This is probably more frustrating than being a computer newbee since I get frustrated much faster :-) I'm just getting tired making command chart "cheat sheets" and printing lots of on-line tutorials.

Keep up the good work of tolerating and helping those of us who are learning.

I had precisely the same frustrating experience with my dedicated slackware server. I knew the printer worked because I 'cat [textfile] > lp0' would print, but cups behaved as you explained. I found exactly the same line in the error log on debug level logging, so I installed the slackware base X package, which includes shared libraries, and it started working.

If your printer is hooked up to the parrallel port, you'll need to edit /etc/rc.d/rc.modules (whichever kernel your using). Uncomment the appropriate lines in the parrallel printer section.

A lot of program still have lpr as default printing system. The following works for me.

rm /usr/bin/lpr
ln -s /usr/bin/lpr-cups /usr/bin/lpr

If your printer is not listed in the localhost, then go to www.linuxprinting.org and read up on foomatic.