(old)Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

Afternoon, everybody.

Sorry for asking this, but as not only a newbie to Puppy, but Linux in general, I would very much like to know, and understand, the way that Puppy appears to handle print requests.

I'm running Precise Puppy 5.7.1 on a 32 Gb SanDisk CruzerBlade flashdrive.

My main machine is an elderly (though 'hi-spec'....at least, when new) Compaq Presario desktop; AMD Athlon 64, 3 Gb RAM, WD 160 Gb HDD. I have Ubuntu 14.04 LTS installed, along with Linux Mint 17 Cinnamon, in a dual-boot config.

When you set the printer up on both of these, you go to Settings>Printers>Add Printer. The system searches for a printer driver, asks if you want to accept and install, etc., and then installs it, and after you've added your printer to the system using the installed driver, you can then configure the settings.

All pretty straight-forward.

When I try to do the same in 'Puppy', it sends me to the CUPS website; and having arrived there, I gotta confess, I don't really understand what I'm supposed to do..!

Can anybody help a confused old codger, please?

Thanks.

Mike.

It's not the CUPS website. It's the built-in CUPS web interface for installing a printer.

For information about installing a printer in Puppy, read here.. Part way down are some instructions for using the web interface, i.e. click on the Administration tab.

After reading what was suggested, if something goes wrong, you can search here for the brand and model of your printer to see if someone has succeded.
http://puppylinux.org/wikka/PuppyLinuxSearchEngine

No reply?

Sorry, guys...been one of those weeks, and family stuff got in the way!

Thanks, both of you, for replying. I've literally just this moment got 'in the saddle' (!), and checking posts & messages is the first port of call.

I'll have a look at what you've both suggested, and see how I get on.

I've got the driver for my printer (had it for a while, in fact), which was obtained from Epson's download page. I've used this same driver on both of the other installs, and it works faultlessly. Having the driver already, surely, must make things easier...yes?

Mike.

Okey-dokey!

rcrsn51, have followed your instructions (nicely clear!), and the printer is up and running. I installed my existing driver, which the system seems to have accepted quite happily.....followed the procedure, and printed a test page; working!

I've never known a printer driver install so fast. Under Windows XP, the install for this same printer, took over 25 minutes; mind you, it was installing shed-loads of Epson 'extras' & 'goodies', none of which, apart from the scanner stuff, ever DID get used. I seem to remember looking through the various packages, and promptly uninstalling most of them again. Fair enough, Epson included the stuff they did, for complete beginners, who'd probably never used a PC before!

Even under Ubuntu, the install procedure takes 60-90 seconds; this is like 5 seconds... Is this because the whole thing is running in RAM?

Explain to me, please (if you will) how this works. As I understand it, normally your PC sends the info to your printer via the serial connection, and through the driver. Do I understand that Puppy sends the info to CUPS, which processes it, SENDS it back to me again...and THEN out to the printer?

Seems a slightly long way round...

Mike.

Don't be confused by the CUPS setup screens that look like web pages. Your print job is not being "sent to CUPS" out of your computer.

In fact, Puppy handles a print job exactly the same way as Ubuntu, once the printer is installed. Ubuntu is also using CUPS - they just hide it from you.

When a print job leaves an application like your word processor, it takes a rather complicated path before it reaches the printer. It is the job of CUPS to manage this process.

Okay; thanks for that...I DID wonder!

I take it then, that most (if not all) of the UNIX-based systems - Apple included - use this same setup?

Apple, from what I can make out (I've probably got my wires crossed, as usual!) were instrumental in helping to set up CUPS in the first place...am I right?

Mike.

ps I take it then, if I've got this right, that CUPS is used for setting your printer up initially; or do you also access your configuration setting through CUPS as well? There doesn't appear to be anywhere to access the printer directly...but I'm guessing this is what helps to keep Puppy so compact.

Mike Walsh wrote:I take it then, that most (if not all) of the UNIX-based systems - Apple included - use this same setup?

There are other legacy Unix printing systems, but I believe that CUPS is now the standard.

Apple, from what I can make out (I've probably got my wires crossed, as usual!) were instrumental in helping to set up CUPS in the first place...am I right?

Apple now owns CUPS technology, but I believe that its creation pre-dates Apple.

I take it then, if I've got this right, that CUPS is used for setting your printer up initially; or do you also access your configuration setting through CUPS as well? There doesn't appear to be anywhere to access the printer directly

To modify your printer configuration, run the CUPS setup program again. Open the Printers tab and select your Epson.

but I'm guessing this is what helps to keep Puppy so compact.

To hide the user from CUPS, Ubuntu has its own printer setup programs. Puppy uses the built-in CUPS web interface because it's smaller, simpler and faster. It just takes some more work on the part of the user. But that's the Puppy way.

Hi again.

Just thought I'd let you know;

I also wanted an ink level monitoring utility. Following the advice in a couple of your other threads, I've installed the escputil-1.1.pet utility, and also the MTInk utility (v 1.0.16) from the xw-tools download page.

Both are working very nicely.

Thanks VERY much for your advice and help. Nice to have people like yourself on these forums; I'll probably use the MTInk utility on Ubuntu & Mint as well, now that I've found it...cheers!

I'll mark this thread as solved, since I've sorted out everything at one fell swoop!

Mike.

ps If that's the Puppy way, that's fine by me.....I normally have quite a bit of spare time to play with, so a bit more work is NEVER a problem!

rcrsn51 wrote: To hide the user from CUPS, Ubuntu has its own printer setup programs. Puppy uses the built-in CUPS web interface because it's smaller, simpler and faster. It just takes some more work on the part of the user. But that's the Puppy way.

Setting up printers on a network in the newer Linux distros such as Mint 17 and Lubuntu 14.04 is really a doddle, even those connected to Windows machines.
Would it be possible to construct a decent front end to Samba/CUPS, as an sfs, which could be loaded as and when required on the fly?

wimpy wrote:doddle

We need a North American English translation on that word.

Would it be possible to construct a decent front end to Samba/CUPS, as an sfs, which could be loaded as and when required on the fly?

I really don't understand what you are looking for. What problems are you having with the current printer setup procedure?

No problems. Just wondering whether it could be made easier for the "host behind".

wimpy wrote:

rcrsn51 wrote: To hide the user from CUPS, Ubuntu has its own printer setup programs. Puppy uses the built-in CUPS web interface because it's smaller, simpler and faster. It just takes some more work on the part of the user. But that's the Puppy way.

Setting up printers on a network in the newer Linux distros such as Mint 17 and Lubuntu 14.04 is really a doddle, even those connected to Windows machines.
Would it be possible to construct a decent front end to Samba/CUPS, as an sfs, which could be loaded as and when required on the fly?

Enough with the 'hijacking' already..! (lol)

Start your own thread, please.

rcrsn51, I AM sorry to ask something so trivial, but.....how do I access the thread tools ? CPU-World uses exactly the same forum provider as Puppy forums...but I can't for the life of me remember how you do it..!! * oh dear...*

@wimpy: Again, I have absolutely no idea what you are talking about.

@Mike: Ask Flash. He is the forum moderator.

Will do.

Cheers!

@rcrsn51 Forget about it. I shouldn't be using regional colloquialisms (especially those only understood this side of the pond), and wandering off-topic.
@Mike Walsh You're absolutely right. I'll see myself out