Printing With CUPS (Linux)

 

This section provides information for printing or setting up the printer driver with CUPS (Common UNIX Printing System) on Red Hat 8/9 and SuSE 8.2/9.

  Operation on Red Hat 8/9

  Operation on SuSE 8.2/9

Operation on Red Hat 8/9

Setting Overview

If you use Red Hat 8, you need to first confirm that the printing system is set to CUPS on your workstation. But if you use Red Hat 9, you do not need to do this because the CUPS is preinstalled as the default printing system.

Red Hat 8:

  1. Confirm that the printing system is set to CUPS.

  2. Install CUPS if necessary.

  3. Install the printer driver.

  4. Set up the print queue.

  5. Specify the default queue.

  6. Specify the printing options.

Red Hat 9:

  1. Install the printer driver.

  2. Set up the print queue.

  3. Specify the default queue.

  4. Specify the printing options.

Confirming the Printing System (For Red Hat 8)

NOTE: If you use Red Hat 9, skip this section and go to "Installing the Printer Driver."

Make sure that the default printing system is set to CUPS on your operating system.

  1. Select GNOME Menu ® System Settings ®Printer System Switcher.

  2. Type the administrator's password.

  3. When CUPS is selected as Available Printing System, click OK. Go to "Installing the Printer Driver."
    When LPRng is selected as Available Printing System, select CUPS and click OK. If CUPS is not displayed, CUPS is not installed on your workstation. Go to "Installing CUPS (For Red Hat 8)."

  4. If you change the printing system in step 3, select GNOME Menu ® System Tools ® Terminal to activate the terminal window. Type as follows.
    su
    (Type the administrator's password)
    /etc/init.d/cups start
    /etc/init.d/lpd stop


Installing CUPS (For Red Hat 8)

NOTE: If you use Red Hat 9, skip this section and go to "Installing the Printer Driver."
  1. Select GNOME Menu ® System Settings ® Packages.

  2. Type the administrator's password.

  3. Scroll down to the bottom of the Add or Remove Packages window.

  4. Click Details in Printing Support.
    The Printing Support Package Details window appears.

  5. Select the CUPS check box in Extra Packages, and then click Close.

  6. Click Update in the Add or Remove Packages window.

  7. Click Continue in the Completed System Preparation window.
    Installation starts. When you are requested to insert the Red Hat 8 CD during installation, insert it into the CD-ROM disk drive.

  8. The message Update Complete appears, and the installation is complete. Click OK.

  9. Click Quit in the Add or Remove Packages window.

The installation is complete. Return to "Confirming the Printing System (For Red Hat 8)."

Installing the Printer Driver

  1. Double-click Dell-Laser-Printer-3100cn-x.x.x.noarch.rpm in the Drivers and Utilities CD.

  2. Type the administrator's password.

  3. Click Continue in the Completed System Preparation window.
    Installation starts. When the installation is complete, the window is automatically closed.

Setting Up the Queue

To execute printing, you must set up the print queue on your workstation.

  1. Select Main Menu ® Run Program. Type cupsconfig and click Run in the Run Program window.
    The browser is activated and the CUPS window appears.

NOTE: For Red Hat 8, select GNOME Menu ® System Tools ® CUPS Printer Configuration.
  1. Click Manage Printers.

  2. Click Add Printer at the bottom of the window.

  3. Type root as the user name, and type the administrator's password.

  4. Type the printer's name in the Name box in the Add New Printer window, and then click Continue.
    The Location and Description do not have to be specified.

  5. Select LPD/LPR Host or Printer from Device menu, and then click Continue.

  6. Type the printer's IP address in Device URI.
    Format: lpd://xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx (printer's IP address)

  7. Select Dell from the Make menu, and then click Continue.

  8. Select Dell Laser Printer 3100cn... from the Model menu, and then click Continue.
    The message Printer xxx has been added successfully. appears.

The set up is complete.

When you have finished setting up the queue you can print jobs from the software program. Start the print job from the software program, and then specify the queue in the print dialog box.

However, sometimes you can only print from the default queue depending on the software program (for example Mozilla). In these cases, before you start printing, set queue you want to print to as the default queue. For information on specifying the default queue, see "Setting the Default Queue."

Setting the Default Queue

  1. Select Main Menu ® System Tools ® Terminal.

  2. Type the following command in the terminal window.
    su
    (Type the administrator's password)
    lpadmin -d (The queue name)


Specifying the Printing Options

You can specify the printing options such as color mode or double-sided printing.

  1. Select Main Menu ® Run Program. Type cupsconfig and click Run in the Run Program window.
    The browser is activated and the CUPS window appears.

NOTE: For Red Hat 8, select GNOME Menu ® System Tools ® CUPS Printer Configuration.
  1. Click Manage Printers.

  2. Click Configure Printer of the queue for which you want to specify the printing options.

  3. Type root as the user name, and type the administrator's password.

  4. Specify the required settings, and then click Continue.
    The message Printer xxx has been configured successfully. appears.

The setting is complete. Execute printing from the software program.

Uninstalling the Printer Driver

  1. Select Main Menu ® System Tools ® Terminal.

  2. Type the following command in the terminal window.
    su
    (Type the administrator's password)
    rpm -e Dell-Laser-Printer-3100cn


The printer driver is uninstalled.

Operation on SuSE 8.2/9

Installing the Printer Driver

  1. Double-click Dell-Laser-Printer-3100cn-x.x-x.noarch.rpm in the Drivers and Utilities CD.

  2. Click Install package with YaST.

  3. Type the administrator's password.
    Installation starts. When the installation is complete, the window is automatically closed.

Setting Up the Queue

To execute printing, you must set up the print queue on your workstation.

Setting Up the Queue on SuSE 8.2

  1. Select SuSE work menu ® Administration ® YaST2 modules ® Hardware ® Printer.
    or select SuSE work menu ® System ® YaST2 and then type the password, and select Hardware ® Printer.

  2. Type the administrator's password.

  3. Printer setup: Autodetected printers is activated.
    For USB connections:

    1. Select Dell Inc. Dell Laser Printer 3100cn on USB (//Dell/Laser%20Printer%203100cn?serial=xxxxxxxxxx) as Available are, and then click Configure.

For parallel connections:

    1. Select Other (not detected) as Available are in Printers to configure, and then click Configure.

    1. Select Parallel printer as Connection for printer, and then click Next.

    2. Click Next.

For network connections:

    1. Select Other (not detected) as Available are in Printers to configure, and then click Configure.

    1. Select Show more connection types as Connection for printer, and then click Next.

    2. Select LPD filtering and forwarding queue, and then click Next.

    3. Type the printer's IP address in Host name of the printer server, and type the name of the printer queue in Name of the remote queue (for example, lp). Click Next.

  1. Select DELL in Select manufacturer. Select Laser Printer 3100cn as Select Model, and then click Next.

  2. Confirm the settings in Printer overview, and then click OK.

  3. Click Finish.

  4. Click Continue.

Setting Up the Queue on SuSE 9

  1. Select Start Applications ® System ® YaST.

  2. Type the administrator's password.
    YaST Control Center is activated.

  3. Select Hardware from Printer.

  4. Printer setup: Autodetected printers is activated.
    For USB connections:

    1. Select Dell Inc. Dell Laser Printer 3100cn on USB (//Dell/Laser%20Printer%203100cn?serial=xxxxxxxxxx) as Available are, and then click Configure.

    1. Confirm the settings in Edit configuration, and then click OK.

For parallel connections:

    1. Select Other (not detected) as Available are in Printers to configure, and then click Configure.

    1. Select Parallel printer as Printer Type, and then click Next.

    2. Click Next.

    3. Set the name of the printer queue in Queue name, and type the queue name for printing in Name for printing.
      The Description of Printer and Location of Printer do not have to be specified.

    4. Select the Do Local Filtering check box, and then click Next.

    5. Select DELL in Select manufacturer. Select Laser Printer 3100cn in Select Model, and then click Next.

    6. Confirm the settings in Edit configuration, and then click OK.

For network connections:

    1. Select Other (not detected) as Available are in Printers to configure, and then click Configure.

    1. Select the Print via LPD-Style Network Server as Printer Type, and then click Next.

    2. Type the printer's IP address in Host name of the printer server. And type the name of the printer queue in Name of the remote queue, and then click Next.

    3. Set the name of the printer queue in Queue name, and type the queue name for printing in Name for printing.
      The Description of Printer and Location of Printer do not have to be specified.

    4. Select the Do Local Filtering check box, and then click Next.

    5. Select DELL as Select manufacturer. Select Laser Printer 3100cn as Select Model, and then click Next.

    6. Confirm the settings in Edit configuration, and then click OK.

  1. Click Finish.

Printing From the Application Program

When you have finished setting up the queue you can print jobs from the application program. Start the print job from the application program, and then specify the queue in the print dialog box.

However, sometimes you can only print from the default queue depending on the application program (for example Mozilla). In these cases, before you start printing, set queue you want to print to as the default queue. For information on specifying the default queue, see "Setting the Default Queue."

Setting the Default Queue

  1. To activate the Printer setup: Autodetected printers, do the following.

For SuSE 9:

    1. Select Start Applications ® System ® YaST.

    1. Type the administrator's password.
      YaST Control Center is activated.

    2. Select Hardware from Printer.

For SuSE 8.2:

    1. Select SuSE work menu ® Administration ® YaST2 modules ® Hardware ® Printer.

    1. Type the administrator's password.

  1. Printer setup: Autodetected printers is activated.

  2. Click Change.

  3. Select the printer you wan to set to default, and then click Set as default.

  4. Click Finish.

NOTE: For SuSE 8.2, also click Continue.

Specifying the Printing Options

You can specify the printing options such as color mode or double-sided printing.

  1. Select Start Applications ® Internet ® Web Browser.
    The browser is activated.

NOTE: For SuSE 8.2, select Start Applications ® Internet ® WWW ® Konqueror Web Browser.
  1. Type http://localhost:631/admin in Location, and then press the <Enter> key.

  2. Type root as the user name, and type the administrator's password.
    The CUPS window appears.

NOTE: If you use SuSE 9, set the password for authority as the printer administrator before setting the printer queue. If you have not set it, go to "Setting the Password for Authority as the Printer Administrator (For SuSE 9)."
  1. Click Manage Printers.

  2. Specify the required settings, and then click Continue.
    The message Printer xxx has been configured successfully. appears.

The setting is complete. Execute printing from the application program.

Setting the Password for Authority as the Printer Administrator (For SuSE 9)

If you use SuSE 9, you must set the password for authority as the printer administrator to do operations as the printer administrator. If you use SuSE 8.2, you do not need to do this.

  1. Select Start Applications ® System ® Terminal ® Konsole.

  2. Type the following command on the terminal window.
    su
    (Type the administrator's password.)
    lppasswd -g sys -a root
    (Type the password for authority as the printer administrator after the Enter password prompt.)
    (Retype the password for authority as the printer administrator after the Enter password again prompt.)


Uninstalling the Printer Driver

  1. Select Start Applications ® System ® Terminal ® Konsole.

  2. Type the following command on the terminal window.
    su
    (Type the administrator's password)
    rpm -e Dell-Laser-Printer-3100cn


The printer driver is uninstalled.