Linux Print Server to Windows Client

woody3000 · n00b Joined: 27 Jun 2006 Posts: 6

I have an old POS computer I'm trying to setup as a print server (Gentoo) for my home LAN. I can print a test page fine from the 'nix box, and I can see the printer from the windows clients in Network Neighborhood, so I know the printer is setup correctly and shared correctly. The problem I'm having is in the drivers. The printer is a USB connected HP PSC1310xi. At first, pointing the winxp machines at the printer would result in a "driver not found" type of error. I tried installing it with a generic driver (adobe postscript), and it would not print (just kinda disappears). The correct drivers have been installed on that machine in the past, so I could change the driver to those and still it would not work. Then I tried the Samba guide, and now windows installs the printer ok, but I cannot print to it (freezes the application), and if I try and go to printer properties, I get errors saying something like "parts of configuration will be inaccessible."

How can I share a printer attached to a linux box with windows machines. I also want the "Point and print" functionality as with a windows printer share.

This has been giving me a headache for weeks, and any help is greatly appreciated.

celestialwizard · Posted: Wed Jun 28, 2006 4:21 am Post subject:

As a local admin, delete your printers from your Printers and Faxes folder
reboot
as a local admin, run regedit and goto HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Printers and ensure that it has no child keys

under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Print\Environments\Windows NT x86\Drivers ensure that both Version-2 and Version-3 are also empty.

restart samba on your gentoo box. ensure that you can print locally (cups?) successfully.

then on your xp machine (again, as a local admin), add your printer via your samba interface.

if that still continues to fails, try adding the driver manually via Printers and Faxes, File menu, Server Properties, Drivers tab. then configure your gentoo print server (cups, LPRng, etc...) to expose your printer via LPR and set that up on your windows xp machine.

you will need to install unix printing support from your installation CD. configure a tcp/ip printer on your windows xp machine (add printer, local printer, port type - tcp/ip). point to your gentoo IP (or hostname, IPs are BAD!(tm)) and set the port to 515 (LPR). set the queue name to be the printer queue you set in Cups (or LPRng) and enable byte-counting.

that should work.