fc6 printing issues

[AndrewtTheArt]

Version:

fc6

What I'm attempting to do:

Connect to a printer hooked up to a Windows XP box, over my network (using NAT, dynamic IP's, etc)

Problem 1:

I get this error message when starting the print manager in KDE:
Unable to retrieve the printer list. Error message received from manager:
Connection to CUPS server failed. Check that the CUPS server is correctly installed and running. Error: connection refused.
It was very strange too. I started the Printer manager initially, and everything went fine. No errors given. First off I selected the "Samba Windows printer" option, and then I searched for my printers across the network... and Fedora actually found both of them! However, I had some issues actually connecting to them. In fact, after selecting my printer model, and going through the next few dialogs (naming the printer, etc), I finally got this error.

Unable to create printer. Error message received from manager:
client-error-bad-request
I think this is because I don't have some critical CUPS printing processes running. Anyway, after this failure, I exited and restarted the KDE print manager, suddenly getting the nice error message above the previous message.

So what critical processes do I need to start up?

Problem 2:

Before, when everything was working in KDE Print manager, it Found my 2 printers, but KDE doesn't have a selection for it. (CANON MF 3100). What do I do?

Misc Stuff

This is the ONE thing that is keeping me chained to Windows XP. Not being able to print sucks big time. If I can can get this resolved, I will be a happy Fedora customer for the rest of my life (=

It seems like I got to the most important part, past even finding the printers, and Fedora pooped out. :(

Thanks!!!

[ppesci]

As far as I know, only cups service must be running.

check the output for:

/etc/init.d/cups status

and see if cups is running.

HTH

Pietro Pesci Feltri

[AndrewtTheArt]

This is extremely fustrating. I'm getting that exact same error now every time I load the print manager.

Unable to retrieve the printer list. Error message received from manager:
Connection to CUPS server failed. Check that the CUPS server is correctly installed and running. Error: the IPP request failed for an unknown reason.
The command "/etc/init.d/cups status" returns the following: "cupsd (pid 2475) is running..."

...which makes me even more fustrated. I hate cryptic error messages.

[ppesci]

Ok. May be is a proble of KDE. Lets try speak to cups directly.

Get Firefox and type this URL:

http://localhost:631

and good luck

HTH

Pietro Pesci Feltri

[AndrewtTheArt]

Hm.. well that definitley seemed to irradicate the error messages.
problem is, I don't know the address of my printers.

Can i specify a samba printer?

[AndrewtTheArt]

Basically, samba works like a charm. I can see all my WIndows metwork folders. However, I can't see the printers (only the KDE print manager did that...)

How is it that using the smb:// protocol, I can see all my Windows network drives, but no printers?

[ppesci]

You must know the names of your printers, are basicaly //machinename/printername
You set both when configured windows.

Of course, you can scan your lan and discover al least the shares in an easy way:

open konqueror and type:

smb://The_name_machine_to_scan

And shares will appear
1 more thing, is the problem is with KDE, can you disable SELinux and try again whith teh printer manager?. Yust to try :).

Pietro Pesci Feltri

[AndrewtTheArt]

That is the problem. Samba shows my network shares (Windows shared folders) when i do a lan scan with smb://workgroup, but it doesen't show the printers. However, the KDE Print Manager DID see the printers when it was scanning a particular computer (the computer that has the two printers attached to it). GRRR!!!!! lol

[AndrewtTheArt]

EDIT:

smb://workgroup/OEMCOMPUTER/CanonMF
smb://workgroup/OEMCOMPUTER/KonicaMI

These are the theoretical addresses of my two printers (as reported by the KDE print manager).
Yet, they dont show up in a "lan scan" (opening up smb://workgroup/OEMCOMPUTER in Konqueror)

I have a feeling I need to config Samba correctly to point to these printers, but I don;t have a clue how to do this.
Despite installing the SWAT module, I can't acess http://localhost:901

FYI: I'm back in windows. Lol. I needed to print something very badly.

[ppesci]

Ok, but you can add the printers in the cups administrator utilities, that is:

http://localhost:631

and clicking in "add printer"

Pietro Pesci Feltri

[AndrewtTheArt]

Yes, I did add the printers using http://localhost:631.
However, it wouldn't print to the printers that way.
The locations of the printers I used were ...

smb://workgroup/OEMCOMPUTER/CanonMF
smb://workgroup/OEMCOMPUTER/KonicaMI

However, this is a problem because Samba refuses to see my printers at all. Despite that, it CAN see the network shares. So strange.

[ppesci]

I think samba is not the problem, and if fact, is irrelevant if your printers are connected to a Windows machine. Samba is a server for cifs/smb, scanning function is a client software.

Myself had configured shared windows printers many times using cups administrator. The only problem I got is when I mispell the name or the name change. Print a test page with the cups admin, and see what output message you get.

Pietro Pesci Feltri

[AndrewtTheArt]

One error I am getting when printing a test page from the online interface is...
"/usr/lib/cups/filter/foomatic-rip failed"

[AndrewtTheArt]

Here's my printer setup by the way...

Description: KonicaMonolta
Location: KonicaMonolta
Make and Model: Minolta PagePro 1350W Foomatic/min12xxw (recommended)
Printer State: idle, accepting jobs, published.
Device URI: smb://workgroup/OEMCOMPUTER/KonicaMI

And oemcomputer IS the comuter that has printers attached.

[ppesci]

Can you chhose another driver for the printer and retry?

Generic PostScript by example.?
Did you disable SELinux?, if not, disable it.

Pietro Pesci Feltri

[AndrewtTheArt]

Hey ppesci, thanks for all your help by the way. This is exactly why I choose Linux - the awesome support and community around it.

Anyway, how do I disable SELinux? lol

[AndrewtTheArt]

Nevermind, I disabled SELinux and even shut off my firewall (just in case).
I also changed my printer to "Generic PCL 5c Printer Foomatic/gutenprint-ijs.5.0"

Still doesen't work. I no longer get that foomatic error above, but it doesen't actually print.

[AndrewtTheArt]

I've given up. Back to Windows.
Hopefully, in a year or so (maybe more) Linux will make it easier to set up printing. I mean in Windows it's a couple of clicks.

[fnmblot]

I am having the exact same problem with my FC6 installation. With FC5, I had no problems with printing. I think it may be my printer though, it is a Brother HL5150D. I also have the printer shared on my Windows machine.
I am with you, I will just wait until FC7 and see how that works.

[fnmblot]

Oh, I just found this forum entry. Says he just uninstalled CUPS, blew away the directory and reinstalled and it is working. I will try this when I get home tonight. Maybe you can try too and let us know.
http://forums.fedoraforum.org/forum/showthread.php?t=143047&highlight=cups

fnmblot

[ppesci]

fnmblot:

Put your findings here. Remember we need help FC 6 designer doing some research ourselves. This is the way Free Software works.

BTW: I yust installed FC 6 but don't configured my printers yet. Your experience may be helpful for me.

Pietro Pesci Feltri

[alehman]

I had the same problem after the initial FC6 install. Got it to work by first configuring a printer through the web interface http://localhost:631/ Once that was done, control center seemed to work correctly.

[AndrewtTheArt]

I'm going to give uninstalling the CUPS rpm a try. Any other suggestions before I dive back into Fedora? :P

[AndrewtTheArt]

Uninstalling CUPS and reinstalling broke the web interface. Great. Lol.

[ppesci]

Broken?. What problem you got?

[sid1950]

I think you need to not set a printer driver. When you get that window select RAW, and it should use the driver on the XP box.

I have an FC6 box with a lcoal printer, and can print to it using a windows laptop and a suse linux laptopover wireless, but had to set the linux laptop to RAWbefore it would work.

[AndrewtTheArt]

Well, basically the web interface wont reload :P I'll just reinstall Fedora. Call me lazy, but yea.

[AndrewtTheArt]

I resolved this issue!

It took many hours of work, but I essentially got around giving CUPS the real PPD files for my printers.

I followed this guide directly: http://justin.yackoski.name/winp/

Essentially it sets up a python script that watches a directory on your network. When you set up the Linux box to print to a PDF from any application, it sees this PDF and promptly prints it off on the default printer. Ingenious, really. Exactly what I've been wanting to do.

[smackey72]

I am having the same problem with CUPS, except I am not involded with Samba. I only need to connect to network printer via TCP/IP. I get the same error messages as Andrew when I use the KDE print manager. However, using http://localhost:631/ worked just fine for the installation and I can print a test print using this web interface. Now when I open the KDE print manager I can work with the printer in question, including a test print, but I still can't "Add" a printer using the KDE manager, the same error messages appear.

This may or may not matter but I noticed when I run a test print from the web interface http://localhost:631/ the print out states "Printed Using CUPS v1.2.x" and when I run a test print from the KDE print manager the print out states "Printed Using CUPS v1.1.x".

Thanks in advance,
Shannon

[AncientMariner]

This works just fine - no neet to hack both ends -although that looked like a fun exercse... :D

You just need to make sure the printer on XP is shared and that the shared name EXACTLY matches the name that you enter in the online CUPS printer manager (in add or modify mode). The network path does not have the work group in it and you NEED the double slashes after "smb" as in:

smb://WINXP-SERVER/ThePrinterName

If you look at the properties for a shared folder from XP in Samba, that is the syntax for the folder. For the printer it is evidently the same. Substiture "WINXP-SERVER" above with your server name (Exactly how it appears in the smb forlder properties mentioned previously), and "ThePrinterName" as the printer you set in the printer properties under sharing->shared name in WinXP. This name seems to also not like space characters in it - although I have not specifically tried that, since it works for the way I have it (ancient mariner saying: "if it ain't broke....") Finally, If you are able to select the drivers from the list in the CUPS web tool then you are good to go. Stop the printer if it exists and restart it following any changes at all to it, and submit a job.

I printed documents from both Open Office Word and Calc - the printer shows up in the dialog and spools up fine on the target HP printer (Photosmart 8250), via the XP box running the XP Media Center Edition.

FC6 is an excellent release - and all the answers TRULY ARE right here in this forum! A far, far cry from when all we had were manuals and "man" pages... :eek:

Good Luck!

[AndrewtTheArt]

My problem lied in the lack of drivers for the CanonMF and the Konica Minolta I had... apparantly

[ppesci]

Probably you still have the drivers, check it, but if you don't, go to canon and konica web sites and get them.

You can try a generic postscript printer. Some times it works.

[AndrewtTheArt]

Canon only lists Windows drivers on their website, and my model of the Konica WAS listed in the foomatic database... yet it still didn't work. http://www.linuxprinting.com confirmed that the CanonMF was theoretically incomparable with Linux unless you used a workaround, which I did.

My method of choice involves a generic Adobe driver that simply converts the printed output to a .pdf and uses smbclient to shoot it over the network to be printed locally from the Windows box.

I'm glad that some printers already have nice and happy drivers available for them, but for the ones that don't, the guide I mentioned is invaluable (=

[dnblack]

I had the same problem after the initial FC6 install. Got it to work by first configuring a printer through the web interface http://localhost:631/ Once that was done, control center seemed to work correctly.

My sentiments exactly. I was getting the error first mentioned in this thread and when i went to the localhost:631 and configured CUPS through that, it worked a gem. The Control Centre seemed to work, too. Dunno what's going on. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling CUPS before that as well, but no joy. Don't know if it's a problem with FC6, KDE or CUPS. But when using the non- KDE printer config, it still didn't work.

In FC5 it worked no problem.

[ppesci]

I suppose you are speaking about using the http://localhost:631 to add and configure your printer.

The question is: what exactly is not working using http?

[smackey72]

For my situation, everything works using http://localhost:631

But when I try to use the KDE Print Manager via "settings/printers" I get this message:

Unable to retrieve the printer list. Error message received from manager:
Connection to CUPS server failed. Check that the CUPS server is correctly installed and running. Error: the IPP request failed for an unknown reason.

[ppesci]

As someone put in this thread before (check it), i think the problem is because the supported KDE version for CUPS is older than the installed CUPS in FC 6 (1.x vs. 2.x).

[AndrewtTheArt]

If that doesn't work and you're printing over a netowork, PLEASE use that guide posted :P

[spidna]

I'm getting cupsd is dead but the pid file exist. cupsd does not exist when i execute /etc/init.d/cups status any idea.

[ppesci]

check the file /var/log/messages for any clues about what happened to cups.

less /var/log/messages

[usmanchouhan]

Version:

fc6

What I'm attempting to do:

Connect to a printer hooked up to a Windows XP box, over my network (using NAT, dynamic IP's, etc)

Problem 1:

I get this error message when starting the print manager in KDE:
Unable to retrieve the printer list. Error message received from manager:
Connection to CUPS server failed. Check that the CUPS server is correctly installed and running. Error: connection refused.
It was very strange too. I started the Printer manager initially, and everything went fine. No errors given. First off I selected the "Samba Windows printer" option, and then I searched for my printers across the network... and Fedora actually found both of them! However, I had some issues actually connecting to them. In fact, after selecting my printer model, and going through the next few dialogs (naming the printer, etc), I finally got this error.

Unable to create printer. Error message received from manager:
client-error-bad-request
I think this is because I don't have some critical CUPS printing processes running. Anyway, after this failure, I exited and restarted the KDE print manager, suddenly getting the nice error message above the previous message.

So what critical processes do I need to start up?

Problem 2:

Before, when everything was working in KDE Print manager, it Found my 2 printers, but KDE doesn't have a selection for it. (CANON MF 3100). What do I do?

Misc Stuff

This is the ONE thing that is keeping me chained to Windows XP. Not being able to print sucks big time. If I can can get this resolved, I will be a happy Fedora customer for the rest of my life (=

It seems like I got to the most important part, past even finding the printers, and Fedora pooped out. :(

Thanks!!!
I am also facing the same problem and tried the usage of Cups Server but still unable to resolve the issue, if you find any solution for it please tell me

Thanks
Chouhan
usmanchouhan@gmail.com

[AndrewtTheArt]

Check to see if your printer is listed on the Linuxprinting database http://www.linuxprinting.org/printer_list.cgi.
Follow all instructions there.

[fnmblot]

Well, I finally got cups going on my FC6 installation. I had to go to http://localhost:631/admin and configure it there. The KDE Control Center now is not receiving the error anymore. WooHoo!!

fnmblot

[Duli]

Ok. May be is a proble of KDE. Lets try speak to cups directly.

Get Firefox and type this URL:

http://localhost:631

and good luck

HTH

Pietro Pesci Feltri

Hello, when I type the address in the browser i get nowhere: firefox could not stablish a connection with the server etc....

cupsd is running.

Help?! :confused:

Thanks a lot
Duli

[ppesci]

Check your /etc/hosts file. There must be a line containing:

127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost

If not, change it and start again

HTH

[Duli]

Check your /etc/hosts file. There must be a line containing:

127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain localhost

If not, change it and start again

HTH
Thanks. After that and a service cups restart it has worked.
Duli