CUPS sucks!

ncoesel ncoesel at dealogic.nl
Tue Aug 25 00:34:23 PDT 2009


> On Aug 24, 2009, at 2:59 AM, ncoesel wrote:
> >> On Aug 21, 2009, at 12:23 AM, ncoesel wrote:
> >>> I've spend the last two days trying to get cups to work on an
> >>> embedded platform.
> >>
> >> Um, CUPS is currently not supported on any embedded platforms,
> >> although I do know of several people playing with it there.
> >
> > Huh??? Linux is linux. No matter what the platform is! You're
> > probably referring to Linux distributions. The difference between
> > distributions (paths & users) is usually covered by the automake/
> > autoconf settings.
>
> *Embedded* platforms have different hardware, resources, and
> capabilities than desktop or server systems.

Wrong. Embedded platforms are just a few years behind. My old Linux server (retired last year after 12 years of service) had a 90MHz cpu and 32MB of ram and that machine ran X, SMB server, webserver, printing, etc. The 'embedded' platform I'm working with has a 300MHz cpu and 64MB of ram. It also runs X, SMB server, etc, etc. If it had a bigger flash drive I could simply install Debian Linux on it (and use it like a desktop system when I attach a keyboard and mouse to the USB port).

> >>> Now I still need to solve an 'Unsupported format' problem.
> >>
> >> Sounds like you may want to enable raw printing - look at the
> >> mime.types and mime.convs files included with CUPS.
> >
> > Sorry to be rude but 'Sounds like' isn't good enough for me. I want
> > to know exactly why CUPS is giving me 'unsupported format'. Which
> > programs it is trying to run (including paths and arguments), where
> > parsing of a config file goes wrong, etc. According to internet
> > forums there are several possible causes for the 'Unsupport format'
> > error. The logfile should contain crystal clear information on what
> > is causing the problem.
>
> Well, if you don't provide us with enough information about what you
> are doing, how can you possibly expect an exact answer?!?

See my answer to Helge. I'm just trying to print the test page. Besides, my issue is not with the fact Cups doesn't print; I already switched to LPRng which works like a charm. My issue is that Cups cannot be diagnosed!

> Right now if we don't know what kind of file you are trying to print,
> you'll get an error about cupsd not knowing what kind of file you are
> trying to print. If the problem is that the queue has no filter to
> convert the file type to a printable format, you'll get that error
> instead. I don't see how we can change this to be any more meaningful,
> other than to log a complete manual on the operation of the CUPS
> filter chain for every error (which we *won't* do for what I hope
> would be an obvious reason...)

This is a big mistake! Every step should be logged when the log level is set to maximum! Being able to trace the steps a piece of software takes is essential to help system administrators solve problems. I have a feeling that message is not getting thru. You should work as a system administrator for a few months. I'm sure it will change your perspective on how to write software that is easy to maintain from a system administrator's point of view.

>From what I've read on the forums most people solve Cups problems by either reinstalling Cups or moving to another printing system. That almost sounds like the way people deal with Windows.





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