Creating a print server for an XP client (Non SAMBA based)

[NJed]

I'm looking for some advice/tips on setting up a really simple print server for my small home network. I've had a look at

http://www.linuxprinting.org/

but haven't really been able to find a solution for what I want to do.

Set-up is this:

- Linux Server running Fedora Core 4 with a Lexmark Z11 bubblejet printer attached to LPT1.
- Windows XP SP2 workstation connected to same network.
- Both machines assigned IP via DHCP from ISP and online (although firewalled off from unwanted incoming internet connections) although given IP's are fairly static (only seem to change once every 6 months).

What I want to do is have some sort of daemon running on the linux box so that anything I print in XP just gets routed to the linux box via TCP/IP and spat out the parallel port e.g.

WinXP --TCP--> Linux --LPT1--> Printer.

I have no need for Linux to print anything and dont really need any fancy spooling, etc. as I'll just use the default Windows print queue. In short, I dont have enough room on my desk for the printer and want to put it in the other room with the noisy server!

I'm not running and have no need/desire for Samba and having read the docs for CUPS, it seems like overkill for what I'm trying to do.

Can anyone point me in the direction of a simple solution that doesnt require a bunch of extra stuff like Ghostscript, PPD files, etc? I just want to route what would normaly go out of my Workstations LPT1 port out across TCP to the server and spit it out of its LPT1 port.

- Jed

 

[rzs0502]

I have not tried this myself but I hope it helps

http://www.owlfish.com/thoughts/winipp-cups-2003-07-20.html

"If you always do what you've always done, you will always be where you've always been."

 

[pcnetgeek]

Wunderboy,

I can understand you dont want to use CUPS, but in a flavor like Fedora; it would be the most effective and very very easy to setup .. i guess if all else fails give it a shot? easy to add the package to the enviroment also.

sorry i couldnt help directly with your problem though

Lenny::.
IT Guy::.
I dont know it all, but I make it my business to learn it all.

 

[NJed]

Hmmm thanks for both those replies.

I'm not anti-CUPS at all, I did look at it briefly but I found the documentation on their homepage a bit hard to find and a solution to what I wanted didn't really jump out at me.

I started to install it but when it started going on about needing postscript drivers and all that malarky I kind of got the impression is wasnt going to do what I want so I abandoned it.

Saying that, the first link seems to cover what I was trying to do and I'll give it a read through and see how I get on.

Thanks for the help!

- Jed

 

[rzs0502]

I did manange to test it by following the document.
Works fine except it prints an extra page of 'garbage'
Might just be my driver selection on Windows.


"If you always do what you've always done, you will always be where you've always been."

 

[BitFuzzy]

alternatly you can always buy a print server (30.00 - 60.00 USD) attach it to your printer, and plug it directly into your hub, and set both your linux box and windows PC's to use it as clients.

 

[NJed]

Nice idea - unfortunately I dont havr $10, let alone $30 - $60

 

[cyoung]

LPR is your friend. Setup the printer under lpr, and then print to it using the standard tcp/ip (lpr) printing facility under WinXP.

 

[NJed]

I was thinking LPR actually but I used yum and couldn't actually find a version of it pre-compiled for FC4 and googling didnt turn up a site for the latest verion + docs.

 

[NJed]

OK success! Thanks for all the pointers!

Heres a short summary of how I set it up.

- Install CUPS via yum

- Edit /etc/cups/cups.config and allow connections from my workstation address.

- Edit /etc/cups/mime.types and uncomment the application/ocet-stream mime type.

- Start the cups daemon.

- From the web control panel, added a printer called "lexmarkz11" connected to LPT1 with a RAW queue type.

- In XP, added a printer saying it was a network printer, selected a printer connected to the internet and used the url "

http://myhost:631/printers/lexmarkz11"

and selected the Lexmark Z11 driver.

That pretty much sums it up. I had to look in /var/log/cups/access_log to confirm that the data from my workstation was reaching the server and /var/log/cups/error_log revealed the need to uncomment the mime type for raw queues.

Apart from all that, the only admin I did was to deny access to the printer to everyone but a couple of user accounts (you set the login under the printers Ports->Configure Port... option in XP), and open up port 631 on my server to my clients IP address.

Thanks again, the only thing thats not working now is my crappy print cartridge!