[SOLVED] Connection to Printer via CUPS fails

Starfish · 2015-10-21 16:47:38

Hello there,

I am working at a university and have been trying to connect to the printer(s) in our workgroup from my private Arch - Notebook. Despite surfing through the web and several threads here on archlinux.org, my attempts were unsuccessful.

Here is some input:
- On http://localhost:631, there are no printers listed when hitting "find new printers" under "administration"
- When hitting "add printer", I am asked for a username and a password. both my normal user- and root accounts do not work
- I have pacman-ed the latest versions of avahi, samba and cups and enabled the according daemons
- "lpstat -p -d" gives me (run as root): "lpstat: Not Found \n no system default destination"
- I have tried all that stuff with my "/etc/cups/client.conf" with the predetermined "ServerName /run/cups/cups.sock", as well as the IP address I found stuck on one of the printers
- my supervisor says that the printers are not locked by any password and available for everyone who is in the university's local web, what i am

I would be happy to hear suggestions from non-noobs.

Last edited by Starfish (2015-10-22 11:55:40)

Aliverix · 2015-10-21 18:13:34

Just a silly question, have you added your user to the 'sys' group as it says here? https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/CUPS#Configuration
If you didn't, this should at least let you configure CUPS through the web interface.

Try also the changes described here:
https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Av … resolution
This should allow you to resolve .local if that's the problem.

Then you should try and see if avahi finds the printer, with "avahi-discover". (Remember to install its dependencies)

Last edited by Aliverix (2015-10-21 18:23:39)

Starfish · 2015-10-21 19:07:30

@Aliverix:

Thx for the fast response!
I will try your recommendations as soon as I'm back at work, which is in about 15h.

Last edited by Starfish (2015-10-21 19:13:13)

paulkerry · 2015-10-21 20:46:11

Hi Starfish

I think that you are getting confused with some of the cups setup.

You mentioned that you have the IP address of the printer: you do not put that IP address into /etc/cups/client.conf

/etc/cups/client.conf is used when there is a pre-existing cups server on the network which can be used to give local access to remote cups printer queues. All local jobs are then routed automatically through the remote server. If you have made any changes to /etc/cups/client.conf then revert them.

When you access the cups web interface via http://localhost:631 and click "Administration" and then "Add Printer", at the dialog box which appears you have to put "root" for the username and the root password. If this doesn't work, then something is wrong with your setup and you will have to fix it.

After you have got into the cups web interface, you need to know which protocols the printer accepts.

The nmap command which is easily installed via pacman can help you find this out.

Lets say for examples sake here that the IP address of the printer is 1.2.3.4, in a terminal type...

nmap 1.2.3.4

which will show you the open ports on the printer.

Most networked printers have port 9100 (JetDirect) open and/or port 515 (lpd) open. It doesn't usually matter which you choose.

If you want to use port 9100, when using the cups web interface select "AppSocket/HP JetDirect" and then at the next screen, you should end up with this...

socket://1.2.3.4:9100

If you want to use port 515, when using the cups web interface select "LPD/LPR Host or Printer" and then at the next screen, you should end up with this...

lpd://1.2.3.4/queuename

you have to enter a queuename when adding a lpd printer. Most networked HP printers use "auto". For some printers, it doesn't matter what name you choose.

Then you should be onto selecting the make and model - you haven't mentioned what this is.

After the printer is added, you can click on it's name in the cups web interface and change the default settings for things like media size, duplex, etc. and then in a terminal you can use

lpstat -t

Hope this helps!
Cheers Paul

Last edited by paulkerry (2015-10-21 20:52:37)

Starfish · 2015-10-22 10:34:35

It works!
I followed your (Paul) instructions step by step and now the connection is established, thanks!

The printer I am using is from Dell, which was not shown in the "make" list. I simply chose "generic".

Cheers,
Starfish

Arch Linux

#1 2015-10-21 16:47:38

[SOLVED] Connection to Printer via CUPS fails

#2 2015-10-21 18:13:34

Re: [SOLVED] Connection to Printer via CUPS fails

#3 2015-10-21 19:07:30

Re: [SOLVED] Connection to Printer via CUPS fails

#4 2015-10-21 20:46:11

Re: [SOLVED] Connection to Printer via CUPS fails

#5 2015-10-22 10:34:35

Re: [SOLVED] Connection to Printer via CUPS fails

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