Hi there --I've looked at this until I'm blue in the face --but I JUST can't seem to be able to use a remote (Linux) printer when logged on to a Linux laptop.

Printer on the remote desktop works fine when I'm directly (locally)logged on to that computer so I know the printer basically works.

If I run Windows on the laptop (either as a VM or boot into Native Windows) I can also access the remote printer.

What I can't seem to do is print anything when I boot up Linux on the laptop.

Any EASY way to set this up. I've looked at the CUPS web interface but it all seems gibberish to me.


Printing should be a relatively trivial task. I've done loads of much more complicated stuff and it all works --but for the life of me I just can't get this printer to work. (It's annoying switching into Windows even via a VM when all I want to do is just print something).

The machines are connected in a HOME LAN via a router. Nothing complicated or special there. All can ping each other and access the Internet so there aren't any inherent LAN / Networking problems either.

(192,168.2.2, 192.168.2.3)

I sometimes see on the remote machine an error message : Client-error-not-possible (whatever that means).

I'm sure a GURU could fix this in 10 secs flat but it just seems to be beyond me.

Cheers


-K

I fought with the smae thing for a while. The solution for me saw all in setting up the device URI, once I figured that out, the rest was brain dead simle.

O.K. since you have local printing working, and yoru network is working, ( these are pre-reqs ), I'll give you the short version of what to do.

On the remote system you need CUPS installed and running. My guess is you know how to get that far. Open a browser on the remote, and enter localhost:631 to access the web interface for Cups. Log as admin. Add a printer. Use the same print driver on the remote as works on the local machine. Basically, the remote machine processes the print file, and sends the formatted print file to the server. The only tricky part is the device URI. On my system it looks like this :

That is it. It works. The IP address is the IP of the server machine. The field 'printers' has to be there, exactly as I typed it ( no quotes). I spent a lot of time in the cups admin doc to find that. Last field is the name of the printer on the server. Look there if in dought to verify the name you gave it.

Now the only other fly in the ointment is your network. If you are using fixed IP's you are off to the races... If you use DHCP, the server becomes a moving target. DHCP by design you are not sure of the IP the system gets. It is pot luck at boot time. You can control in in some routers. You can tell the router, for a specific MAC address, assign a specific IP address. You can set that up to eliminate the problem; or go to fixed IP addresses. Your choice. If you have not already done it, you can set up /etc/hosts file to equate IP addresses to host names. In that case you can use the host name in place of the IP address.

That is about it. Let me know how you make out, or if you need more clarification.

Hi there thanks for the info .

Guess what --it was the ***kin* Dynamic IP address which changed (DHCP) when I booted up the machine.

I can live with this now I know what the prob is --but your URI was the Winner --I'd never have found out about adding the /printers directory to the URI.

Thanks again.

Cheers

-K

You don't want :631 ( port address ) on the IP address, just the IP of the server machine. As long as the name is exactly correct, then it should work. If not, then I'm at a loss also.

works fine --Cups inserts the other bit (631).

I modified the previous post since you first read it --the dynamic IP address was screwing me up --but also :

Thanks for the help --I'd have NEVER found out about the /printers/ directory in a zillion years.

I'll set up some type of DNS to get round the DHCP and IP addressing stuff but at least it works for now and I don't boot that server very often so I can live with a fixed IP address for now.

Cheers

-K