Wednesday 7 October 2009
Wednesday 9 September 2009
HowTo: Add a network printer
And here my how-to summary guideline of the previous post.
This is the scenario: the network printer (a Samsung CLP-510N) is connected to the WiFi router with IP 192.168.1.200
https://help.ubuntu.com/8.04/printing/C/printing.html#network
a. Choose System → Administration → Printing
b. Now choose New Printer
c. Select the protocol your printer uses to communicate: "LDP/LDR Host or Printer",
Host: the printer's IP address (in my case 192.168.1.200), Queue: blank, Click Forward
Select Make and Model
Choose a unique printer name and (optional) a description and location and click apply
In the printer configuration the network printer is now listed,
with the description, location (both the optional values), and the Device URI which in my case is "lpd://192.168.1.200"
Print the test page - and that was it!
Question: how to add a network printer?
Here I am, with a document ready to print, but no printer installed.
This is my scenario: the network printer (a Samsung CLP-510N) is connected to a consumer WiFi router with IP 192.168.1.200.
With Windows, my first step was to point my trusty browser to www.samsung.co.uk, go to support, downloads, enter the printer, and download the driver. Pleasant surprise: Samsung provides a "unified Linux driver", click on it, and the file is now in the "Download" folder. So far so good.
With Windows, the next step is to go to "Printers & faxes", click on "Add a printer", select "Local printer", create a new port with the IP address, then select the printer make & model, print the test page, done.
Let's try this with Linux:
Ping the printer just to make sure I can reach it --> no problems (note to self: Ctrl+C to stop pinging)
https://help.ubuntu.com/8.04/printing/C/printing.html#network
1. Obtain the model name of your printer. --> done
2. Ensure the printer is turned on. --> check
3. Choose System → Administration → Printing --> this is easy :-)
4. Now choose New Printer --> right
5. If your printer is directly connected to a Windows machine on your network, choose Windows Printer via SAMBA. Otherwise, select the protocol your printer uses to communicate.
--> umm. I'm a newbie, remember? I have no idea what protocol this printer uses. I do not know any printer protocols. I have no where to look for the protocol.
It is not connected via a Windows machine, that was the easy bit.
"Print into PDF file"? Nope
"AppSocket/HP JetDirect"? I'll take the easy route, it's not an HP, and so I guess not
"Internet Printing Protocol"? Two text fields called Host and Queue, but all I know is the IP, so lets enter the IP under host: "192.168.1.200" and leave the default value "/printers/" for Queue, click on the button "Find Queue", and an error message: "It is not possible to obtain a list of queues from this host". Kind of makes sense as there is no host (unless the printer acts like one? I have no idea).
"LDP/LDR Host or Printer"? Host: select "Local host" from the drop down box; Queue: enter the IP address, click "Forward"
Select printer make and model from the list, give the printer a unique name, a description, and a location, click "Apply", and done!
The proof is in the pudding, so I select the printer in the configuration and click on "Test page", and unfortunately I receive an error message "Not connected"!
However, the Device URI is "ldp://localhost/192.168.1.200" which does not look right. Change this to "ldp://192.168.1.200" and there it is: my first test page printed from Ubuntu.
To recap, I have to say this:
The instructions were a bit intimidating: "Otherwise, select the protocol your printer uses to communicate." As a newbie, I have no clue what these are.
However, going through the options and finding the one that works was quite straightforward. With home networks and network printers becoming more and more common, this might be something were people like me will stumble.
Downloading the driver was not necessary after all.
In the end, the entire process was fairly quick & painless, and I am entirely pleased with the test page lying in front of me.
Tuesday 8 September 2009
What do I want this blog to be?
Right now I am facing Linux with hardly an idea how to use it, and I guess my questions have been asked by many people who are doing exactly what I am doing now.
I hope this will evolve into a collection of "how-to's" and "why's" that will serve me as a repository, but which at the same time is open to everybody else (at their own risk ;-) in line with the open and co-operative spirit of Linux.
This will not be a heated "Windows vs. Linux" blog, I have my computer at work as well as my main computer at home running Windows without any issues since Win95, and I doubt that this will change any time soon.
On the other hand I am intrigued by Linux, curious to try it, and very excited by the possibilities!
The start, and the next steps
Just a short overview of where I am right now:
About two weeks ago I finally made the decision to buy a Dell Mini 10V,
with the Intel Atom N270, 1GB Ram, 160 GB HDD, 10" display, and Ubuntu Hardy Heron installed.
(On a side note, I really wanted it to be smaller and have more Ram, and of course the next day Dell had the Mini 9 with 2GB Ram and a 16 GB SSD on its website, but unfortunately that was too late).
The system arrived about a week later, everything working right out of the box, WiFi setup was a breeze. The only strange thing was that Dell included a little note stating to set the resolution to 1024x576, but Ubuntu only offered 1024x600 as an option.
I have to say I really like the netbook form factor :-)
Did nothing over the weekend due to family obligations other than run the automatic update and download the latest Java release, Eclipse (both Java and C/C++), the latest version of Firefox and the latest version of Open Office as I knew the internet connection would be dodgy in the hotel.
The next steps from here are:
- get my way around Ubuntu to begin with;
- find out how to format a USB stick (does not seem trivial);
- find out how to install programs (and what exactly is RPM?);
- google ressources on the internet that shall guide me along;
- try "hello, world" with Eclipse.
And all of this with 'asynchronuos internet', that is try something at night, google the next step the next day in the office.
How to - blog from the BlackBerry
Second post, and really just a test to see if I can indeed blog via eMail.
The dreaded first post
Right. How to start. This is a blog which should accompany my journey into the Land Of Linux, Ubuntu flavour.
To ease the transition the first step was to buy a Dell Mini 10V with Ubuntu (Hardy Heron) pre-installed. It arrived, and low and behold, everything works, the MP3 and MP4 codecs are installed, and the first step was as easy and painless as it could be.
On to the next steps. Figure out how this blogging thing works. Play around with the base settings on the trusty netbook. Then on to more adventurous steps. I also want to learn Java, so Eclipse needs to be installed. Later on I want to upgrade to Karmic Koala. And from there, the world.
The fact that I am away from home every school night and the hotel's WiFi does not work most of the time will make things a bit slow.
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