6. Configuring Printers with PrinterDrake

 This tool allows you to:

[Dica]Dica

If you just installed a printer that wasn't available when you installed Mandriva Linux, make sure it is correctly connected and powered on before launching the configuration tool.

6.1. Initial Configuration

When you first launch the PrinterDrake tool, it may be in one of these states:

6.1.1. There is no printer directly connected to the computer.

Figura 3.9. Activate Printing

Activate Printing

The tool did not detect any local printers. However you can print on network printers, or manually install printers which weren't detected by clicking on Yes.

Figura 3.10. Activating Network Printers

Activating Network Printers
  • Select the Local CUPS printing system option if you wish to configure your machine to act as a print server for either a local printer which was not detected, or a network printer connected to your local network.

    Any required software will be installed and then the main configuration interface (see Figura 3.11, “Managing Printers”) appears. Click on Add Printer to install the network printer.

  • Select the Remote server option if you wish to be able to print on printers served by another CUPS printing server on the network. Your applications will immediately have access to all public printers served by that server. You only need to provide the hostname or IP address of that server in the field below (ask your system administrator).

    When this is done, the main configuration interface (see Figura 3.11, “Managing Printers”) appears. The Configured on other machines tab will be filled with the available network printers.

6.1.2. New Printer Detected

The following window appears when PrinterDrake detects a new printer.

Simply confirm the automatic installation of the new printer. The main configuration interface (see Figura 3.11, “Managing Printers”) is then displayed. Make sure to check that the printer parameters fit your needs (see Seção 6.5, “Reconfiguring an Existing Printer”).

6.1.3. Printer Configured at System Installation Time

The main configuration interface (see Figura 3.11, “Managing Printers”) is shown. Make sure to check that the printer parameters fit your needs (see Seção 6.5, “Reconfiguring an Existing Printer”).

6.2. The Printer Management Interface

Use the printer configuration tool's first tab for locally connected printers (Configured on this machine), and the other tab for printers available on your local network (Configured on other machines).

[Atenção]Atenção

If your local printer was automatically added you should now verify its configuration. Select it in the list, click on Edit and check the Printer options.

Figura 3.11. Managing Printers

Managing Printers

The following buttons give you access to all available maintenance tasks:

  • Add Printer: launches the printer configuration wizard described in Seção 6.4, “The Printer Configuration Wizard”.

  • Set as default: sets the selected printer as the default printer when no specific printer is chosen at print time. A cross appears in the Def. column of that printer.

  • Edit: opens the printer configuration dialog described in Seção 6.5, “Reconfiguring an Existing Printer”.

  • Delete: removes the selected printer from the available printer pool.

  • Refresh: updates the list of printers with possible new or removed printers, especially true for networked printers.

  • Configure CUPS: by default, your system is totally open. PrinterDrake uses all of the network's available printers and shares all of its local printers with the local network. Click on this button if you don't want to access network printers, or if you want to restrict the access to your local printers. This dialog also lets you configure access to servers outside the local network.

[Nota]Nota

The OptionsExpert mode menu adds extra features to the tool. See Seção 6.6, “Expert Mode”.

6.3. Print Server General Configuration

The Configure CUPS button allows you to control the behavior of printers connected to your machine and to your network.

Figura 3.12. CUPS Printer Server Configuration

CUPS Printer Server Configuration

This dialog enables you to switch between the client and server printing modes through the Remote CUPS server and no local CUPS daemon button.

6.3.1. Client Mode

Figura 3.13. Client Mode Configuration

Client Mode Configuration

Select the On option to connect to another printer server. You then just need to specify the name or IP address of that server in the field below.

If you choose this mode, your printing configuration is now finished. Accept the options by clicking the OK buttons, and you will be able to check the list of available printers in the Configured on other machines tab of the main interface (see Figura 3.11, “Managing Printers”).

6.3.2. Server Mode

If you want your machine to access locally connected printers (through parallel or USB ports), or network printers not already configured on another server, you need to select the Off option. Click OK, and you will then be able to fine tune your printer server (see Figura 3.12, “CUPS Printer Server Configuration”).

A number of options are available to further secure and enhance your print server features:

The printers on this machine are available to other computers

Allows other computers to print on printers configured locally. Remember to restrict access by clicking on Printer sharing on hosts/networks (see below).

Automatically find available printers on remote machines

Tells your print server to automatically make available all printers found on other servers on the local network, as if they were locally connected to your print server. This way your system's users are able to print on any printer the print server “sees”. If the remote printers you intend to use are served by a server not on your local network, you can still tell the print server to use them with the Additional CUPS servers button (see below).

Printer sharing on hosts/networks

Allows you to specify from which networks the local printers are made available.

Additional CUPS servers

Allows you to specify one or more CUPS servers to which you can connect and access printers. Specify the IP address and port of the CUPS server in the dialog.

Japanese text printing mode

Replaces the original text filter for one more suited to Japanese texts, but with less features. Use it if you have to print Japanese text-only files.

6.4. The Printer Configuration Wizard

Click on Add printer and the configuration wizard comes up.

6.4.1. Detecting a Printer

This tools enables the auto-detection of locally connected printers, network printers, and finally printers served by SMB (Windows®) servers. First choose which type of printer you want to add (Local printer, Network printer, Printer on remote lpd server, etc.).

Figura 3.14. Printer Type

Printer Type

Select the printer you want to add from the list. If the detected printer isn't the correct one check the Manual configuration box and proceed with the printer model step (see Figura 3.16, “Choosing a Name for your Printer”). If autodetection fails, remove the check mark from all check boxes, click on Next and follow the instructions below.

If you own a multi-function device like those of HP or Sony, an information window pops up and gives you information about your scanner and scanner software (Seção 7.1.1, “ScannerDrake”). Additional packages are also installed.

PrinterDrake displays your printer's model name. Choose Select model manually if it's incorrect. Select the printer you have or a compatible one (see Figura 3.15, “Choosing the Printer Model”) if yours is not specifically listed.

Figura 3.15. Choosing the Printer Model

Choosing the Printer Model

If you want to install the driver supplied by your printer manufacturer, click on the Install a manufacturer-supplied PPD file button and select the medium containing the PPD file and browse to it. Accept subsequent dialogs to use your chosen PPD file.

Figura 3.16. Choosing a Name for your Printer

Choosing a Name for your Printer

Provide a name for your printer. The printer name must contain only letters, numbers and the underscore (“_”) character. It's better to limit its length to 12 characters maximum so that Windows® clients don't have problems when accessing it through Samba.

[Nota]Nota

If you have one or more configured printers, you are asked whether the printer you are configuring is to be the default printer. If you say No, the previous default printer will be retained.

Finally we strongly recommend that you print a test page in order to make sure everythin works as expected.

6.4.2. Printing Options

Once the configuration is done, the options associated with the chosen printer are shown (see Figura 3.17, “Configuring the Printer's Options”). It's important you choose the proper settings (such as paper size, media source, etc.) currently installed on the printer. If the settings you choose are incorrect, printing may fail.

Figura 3.17. Configuring the Printer's Options

Configuring the Printer's Options
[Nota]Nota

For settings referring to printout quality, bear in mind that higher quality levels may make the printing operation slower and may consume more ink.

6.4.3. Printer Test

A few test pages are available (see Figura 3.18, “Testing the Printer”). We recommend you print at least one test page so you can immediately correct the parameters if something goes wrong. The printer should begin to print almost immediately.

Figura 3.18. Testing the Printer

Testing the Printer

6.4.4. It's Done

If you're not satisfied with your test page, answer the appropriate question with No and you will be led to the printer configuration menu (see Figura 3.19, “Modifying an Existing Printer”) where you can correct the settings. See Seção 6.5, “Reconfiguring an Existing Printer”.

Your printer will now appear in the list of available printers in the main window (see Figura 3.11, “Managing Printers”).

6.5. Reconfiguring an Existing Printer

Double-clicking on a printer's name in the list, or clicking on the Edit button, displays a menu where you can choose actions to take on the selected printer (Figura 3.19, “Modifying an Existing Printer”). Each option gives access to a particular step of the wizard we described above (see Seção 6.4, “The Printer Configuration Wizard”). One difference is that the current settings are predefined in all fields, and you may update them where required.

Figura 3.19. Modifying an Existing Printer

Modifying an Existing Printer

There are a few additional options:

  1. Disable Printer. Use this option to remove that printer from the printers available to the system's users. You might need to temporarily disable a printer under maintenance so that users don't try to use it in the meantime. When a printer is disabled, that option changes to Enable printer.

  2. Learn how to use this printer. Displays information on how to use a particular printer model. In the case of a multi-function device from HP, information about scanning and photo memory card access is also displayed.

  3. Remove printer. Deletes that printer's configuration from the system.

Select an action in the dialog and then click on the Do it! button to perform it.

6.6. Expert Mode

The expert mode has three additional features:

  • Choose a Different Driver to the Default One for a Printer. Different drivers are available for the same printer. In expert mode, a third level appears in the printer model selection list (see Figura 3.15, “Choosing the Printer Model”). It allows you to change each printer's driver.

  • Install Many Kinds of Remote Printers. This feature enables you to print on remote printers using the LPD protocol, printers on Windows® servers which require authorization, or other arbitrary printer types.

[Nota]Nota

If PrinterDrake is in expert mode, it doesn't automatically configure new local printers on start-up. Use the Add printer button to configure the printer. However you can choose to Configure Auto Administration from the Options menu to override that behavior.

If you start the new printer wizard in expert mode, there is an additional step at the beginning.

Figura 3.20. Configuring a Remote Printer

Configuring a Remote Printer

Different connection types are available:

  • Local printer. A printer directly connected to a parallel or USB port on your computer. In most cases, the printer model will be auto-detected.

  • Printer on remote lpd server. A printer already served by another machine on a lpd server.

  • Network printer (TCP/socket). A printer directly connected to your local network. The network can be scanned and printer models automatically detected provided the Printer auto-detection box is checked.

  • Printer on SMB/Windows 95/98/NT server. Relevant for printers already connected to a computer running an OS which serves printers with the SMB protocol, including Samba printers (the necessary Samba components will be automatically installed in this case). The network can be scanned provided the Printer auto-detection box is checked.

  • Enter a printer device URI. This option allows you to directly enter the printer's Universal Resource Identifier (URI) on your network. It can be used for any of the above remote connections, and more. This is useful when your system administrator provides you directly with the printer's URI.

Click on the Modify timeout for network printer auto-detection button to change the default timeout (4000 milliseconds, or 4 seconds) for detection of networked printers. Please bear in mind that the bigger the timeout, the better the chances of detecting remote printers. However the auto-detection process will also take more time.