Re: [Lpr-discuss] Care to review the u-HOWTO?

[Ben W. <be...@va...>]

First of all, break this up into several different pages. As it is, it
takes forever to load.

> INSTALLATION OVERVIEW
> Installation of the enhanced printing system software is fairly
> straightforward, but may be different for each Linux
> distribution. To smooth these differences, an installation script
> can be used to install on the following (growing list of) distros:
>     RedHat 6.2, 7.0
>     Mandrake 7.2
> 

I would make this:

RedHat 6.0, 6.1, & 6.2
RedHat 7.0
Mandrake 7.2

> This installation script will use either FTP or HTTP to download the appropriate RPM's and HP PPD files, uninstall existing RPM's where necessary (prompting before acting) and install the enhanced printing system RPM's. The script is available at::
> 
>     http://lpr.sourceforge.net/install-binaries.sh

You want to mention that the way it works is to run it directly from the web:

# lynx -source http://lpr.sourceforge.net/install-binaries.sh | sh

> FIREWALL ISSUES BEFORE INSTALLING
> The script will attempt to install the wget package with rpm via HTTP if it is not already installed. If you are behind a firewall, you'll need to install the package manually. First, download the package from:
> 
>     http://lpr.sourceforge.net/extras/<distro>/wget.rpm
> 

Nick -- I thought that you fixed this so that it used ftp so that
there was no problem with firewalls.

> Then, as root, install the package with rpm:
> 
>     # rpm -Uvh wget.rpm
> 
> Wget is then used to download the enhanced printing system packages. To go through your firewall, specify a proxy server or use socks. To specify a proxy server, set the http_proxy or ftp_proxy environment variables:
> 
>     # export http_proxy=http://<server name><:port number>
> AUTO INSTALL VIA SCRIPT
> Execute the script as root:
> 
>     # sh install-binaries.sh
> 
> The script may prompt you to accept system modifications regarding your current spooler installation. Assuming no problems, your system will be ready to use the enhanced print system once the script has completed.
> MANUAL INSTALL
> A manual install is NOT RECOMMENDED. If you must, retrieve the install-binaries.sh script and examine it to determine any special operations required for your distro. Then, retrieve all of the rpm's for your distro from:
> 
>     ftp://lpr.sourceforge.net/pub/lpr/<distro>/RPMS/<arch>/*
> 

This is strictly not correct. There are packages are found in two
places:

ftp://lpr.sourceforge.net/pub/lpr/<distro>/RPMS/noarch/*
ftp://lpr.sourceforge.net/pub/lpr/<distro>/RPMS/<arch>/*

> If you have performed any needed special operations properly, you should be able to:
> 
>     # rpm -Uvh *.rpm
> 
> Then:
> 
>     # /etc/rc.d/init.d/lpd restart
> 
> This should enable your system to use the enhanced printing system.
> HP PPD FILE LOCATIONS
> The HP PPD files can be retrieved individually from:
> 
>     http://hp.sourceforge.net
> 
> or as an rpm package from:
> 
>     ftp://lpr.sourceforge.net/pub/lpr/<distro>/RPMS/noarch/hp-ppd-<version>.noarch.rpm
> USING THE ENHANCED PRINT SYSTEM
> To create a print queue using the enhanced printing system, you must be root when you invoke printtool. printtool provides a GUI for managing print queues (creation, modification and removal).
> 
> <printtool.jpg>
> 
> To create a print queue, an autodetect feature is available. Press the "AutoDetect" button and a pop-up appears.
> 
> <autodetect.jpg>
> <autonet1.jpg>
> 
> Now you can choose to detect a parallel-connected printer or a network printer. Another pop-up appears, listing the printers that have been detected.
> 
> <parport.jpg> <add1.jpg>
> 
> Choose one of them and select "Add Printer". Another pop-up appears, allowing you to set a name for the print queue among other things.
> 
> <add.jpg>
> 
> Pushing the "Select" button allows you to change the Input Filter settings.
> 
> <filter.jpg>
> 
> When you press "OK", the Input Filter settings are saved and this pop-up will disappear. The print queue is installed when you press "OK" on the "Edit Local Printer Entry" pop-up. A pop-up may appear indicating the need for a PPD file. If you are installing an HP LaserJet printer, the PPD file has probably already been installed as part of the automatic installation process. Your installed PPD files may not include your HP printer if you have an old version of the hp-ppd package or your printer has recently been introduced. If so, get the PPD file from hp.sourceforge.net.
> 
> Repeat the above process to install additional print queues.
> 
> To print to one of your new print queues, you can use gpr instead of lpr. lpr will work as before, while gpr will present you with a GUI allowing you to select the print queue and then select features specific to the printer connected to that print queue.
> 
> <gpr.jpg>
> 
> For example, on the "Advanced Features" tab, you can select watermarks, paper trays, duplexing and other things that your printer supports.
> 
> <gpradvanced.jpg>
> 
> Once you've selected all appropriate options, click on the "Print" button to print the job. gpr constructs an lpr command line from the selected items and invokes the command line. To see what gpr constructs, invoke gpr with the "-n" option. This will result in the lpr command line being output, but no print job.

> HISTORY OF ENHANCED PRINTING SYSTEM
> Many people have discussed the difficulties of printing from Linux. When HP evaluated the printing systems in fall 1999, it was clear that significant improvements could be made with a relatively small investment. HP's goal through these investments was to increase the usability of printers from the Linux desktop. This includes access to paper handling devices such as paper trays, printing on both sides of paper, staplers and more. Other printing features that were difficult or impossible to access include watermarks and n-up. Creating print queues is another area which influences the usability of printers.
> 
> HP partnered with VA Linux to jointly design and implement the printing system software. A premise for the effort was to NOT reinvent the infrastructure used for printing. Therefore, utilizing the existing PostScript imaging model and the spooling systems was in order. In fact, these infrastructures fit well with our vision for printing. What needed to change was the mechanism for specifying printer-specific settings on a print-job basis and much easier installation and management of print queues.
> 

These can be found in my caveats page: 

http://lpr.sourceforge.net/caveats.html

> micro-FAQ
> Q:
> When I print to my parallel-port connected HP LaserJet printer, my job prints but the printer indicates that it still has data to print and eventually prints a PostScript error page.  Why and what should I do? A:
> The configuration for this printer results in non-terminated PostScript jobs being sent to the printer. Until the printer times-out on the I/O port for the print job, it is expecting more data. When the time-out occurs, the PostScript job is forced to terminate, resulting in the error page. Change your configuration to properly terminate jobs by using printtool to modify the printer's Input Filter settings. If you select the "Send EOF after job to eject page?" button, your jobs will be properly terminated.
> 
> 
> Q:
> On my LPRng spooling system, network-connected printers are not printing what I expect.  What's wrong? A:
> When network-connected printers are configured as "REMOTE" printers on the "Detected Printers" pop-up with printtool, the LPD support in the printer is being utilized. The LPRng spooler can send a print-job control file with a very long line, overflowing some printer's internal LPD system. This can cause unexpected pages to print. Change the printer's configuration to be "DIRECT" printers. This can be done by using printtool to "Remove" the print queue and then add it again, this time selecting the "DIRECT" button on the Detected Printers pop-up.
> Another option is to use the "Add" button on the printtool GUI, selecting "DIRECT" and filling in the resulting form.
>