On Thu, 26 Aug 2010 02:24:01 +0000, notbob wrote:
> On 2010-08-23, Geico Caveman <spammers-go-h
...@spam.invalid> wrote:
>> Any solutions to this ?
> Certainly! ;)
> You need to load LPrng on one of your mac or linux machines, then read
> this book, free online:
> http://oreilly.com/catalog/samba/chapter/book/
> Then, when you get samba configured and a linux or mac box operating as
> a print server on your network, you can use whatever native XP drivers
> and printer software your printer and XP are happy with. Samba and LPrng
> will be transparent between the XP box and the printer. I know this is
> so, cuz I've done it and it's not really that difficult. Jes one
> chapter in the book covers it and even dummy me pulled it off between a
> Brother laser jet and an ancient W98se box. The book is ancient, too,
> but the info is still valid for LPrng and samba.
> Good luck.
> nb
I don't know exactly* how Windows printing is supposed to work, but I'll
take a WAG at this. IMO, the OP is going to run into problems printing
anything beyond simple text using this method. However, I agree that this
looks like the only possibility if the OP's printer is "windows only." In
other words, it could be true that only Windows knows how to send the
magic incantations to the printer to be able to properly format WYSIWYG
documents. Simple documents may work with the method (using default font
and margins of printer).
BTW, as advice to the OP, Windows XP SP3 has more security turned on by
default. These were changes for the better, IMO. For any printer that you
want to use, you need to share the printer _and_ enable the exception on
the firewall.
*AIUI, Windows idea of printer sharing is a bit weak. Instead of exposing
a "neutral" device which expects postscript**, pcl, or some other
arbitrary printer esperanto, the print share expects input in the
printers native tongue. That is why the Samba book you referenced
explains installing the native windows drivers for other /* Windows */
computers to download. Once the printer is installed on a /* Windows */
computer, it gains the ability to speak the native printer language. GNU/
Linux can also use the printer share, subject to the same restriction.
That is, if an appropriate print filter exists for the device, then it
will work fine. If not, then I think you're SOL. That is how I think it
works, but I could be wrong.
**If you want to print to postscript on the Windows only printer, you can
probably do it- albeit in a two step process. The first step is to setup
pdfcreator on the Windows computer where the _Windows only_ hardware
printer exists.
You can get PDFCreator here:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/
Setup PDFCreator as a shared printer. This "printer" accepts postscript
and collects them into jobs for conversion to pdf files. The resulting
pdf files can be printed on any printer, including the Windows only
printer. Setup your linux box to send jobs to pdfcreator using a generic
postscript driver. For example, CUPS has a printer manufacturer "generic"
which has several drivers, including "generic postscript printer." This
is a kludge and a multistep process, but I think it does work- either for
Linux or Mac clients and from any desktop linux app.
One more thing, and going slightly off-topic, the latest Windows printer
bug to bite me was using remote desktop. I learned (after a few hours
trying to fix this) that any "local" printer which you want to use in
your "remote" session, must be installed at the remote location first.
This is for the exact same reason as above- the printer communications
will take place in the native printer language. If this the remote
computer does not know how to communicate with the printer, then it won't
be listed among the available printers.
--
Douglas Mayne
