1. There are two steps to installing a printer in CUPS - detecting the hardware device and supplying a valid driver package. Just because CUPS detected your printer does not guarantee that it will work. Picking a printer model similar to your own may or may not be successful.
2. Unlike Windows, you should start the install procedure with the printer turned ON.
3. Despite what you may have read, a PPD file by itself is rarely sufficient to install a printer in Puppy. In most cases, you need an additional driver package.
4. Some printer drivers use the /tmp folder, which must have a full set of write permissions. Right-click on the /tmp folder and select Properties. All the "Write" boxes must be checked. This is also true for /dev/null and /var/tmp. Check that /dev/random is all-readable.
5. CUPS will auto-detect some, but not all, networked printers. If yours is not detected, use the following manual install procedure:
a. Run PeasyPort and scan your network for Port 9100. Get the IP address of the printer.
b. Start the CUPS wizard and open the Add Printer page.
c. Select the protocol AppSocket/JetDirect
d. Enter the Connection URI as: socket://aaa.bbb.cc.dd:9100
6. The Puppy Firewall will block access to networked printers. If you want to run the firewall, use a custom install that gives full access to the printer's IP address . Read here.
7. After a scanning session, some HP all-in-one units need to be rebooted before printing will work again.
8. Here are some handy commands for working with CUPS:
Code: Select all
/etc/init.d/cups status | start | stop
cancel -a (to cancel all print jobs)
10. To save a document as a PDF, use your application's Print > Print to File option instead of CUPS-PDF.
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Installing a Printer:
You don't need to use the Puppy Printer Wizard to install a printer. Just launch your web browser and go to the CUPS interface at:
Code: Select all
http://localhost:631
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For a little program that checks the ink levels of your printer, look at InkGUI.
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Printing Digital Photos:
A good program for printing digital photos is PeasyPrint. To print on 4x6 photo paper, you will need to change some settings in CUPS. Look under Set Default Options for items like Media Size, Media Type and Print Quality.
To resize JPEG image files, look at PeasyScale.
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Scanner Drivers:
Some useful command line tools are:
Code: Select all
sane-find-scanner (this command is broken in some new Puppies like Tahrpup)
scanimage -L
scanimage --help
Peasyscan is a light-weight alternative to Xsane. It uses the same backend tools as Xsane, but with a simpler user interface. Read about it here. Peasyscan is included with newer Puppies.
To share a scanner across a network, read here.
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Networked Printers:
In Windows, a network printer is identified by its MAC address or NETBIOS name. So a Windows client can always find the printer even if the printer's IP address changes. However, CUPS configures its printers by IP address. If you reset your network and the printer's address changes, you must reinstall it on Puppy client machines.
If it's a standalone printer, give it a static IP address. Or see the procedure here. Use it on Puppy client machines to associate the print server name with its IP address.
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Sharing your Puppy Printer with Other Windows or Linux Machines:
Update: In recent versions of CUPS, printer sharing has become problematic. A much simpler method is discussed here.
Update: Read here for info about connecting an XP machine to a Puppy shared printer via CUPS.
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Connecting to a Linux Shared Printer
Linux machines share their printers through CUPS with the Internet Printing Protocol. Depending on the version of CUPS running on the remote computer, there are several choices:
1. The remote printer may be auto-detected by Puppy's CUPS so no installation is required. The shared printer will automatically appear in an application's Print dialog.
2. If this doesn't happen, try a manual install on the client machine. In Puppy, run the CUPS wizard and select Add Printer > Internet Printing Protocol. Use a URI like:
Code: Select all
ipp://aaa.bbb.cc.dd:631/printers/printer_name
3. The shared printer still is not visible. Consider running a p910nd server on the remote computer as discussed above.
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