Problems printing to remote (LPR) printer

[Helge Blischke]

Tom Watson wrote:

>> Tom Watson wrote:
>>
>> >> Tom Watson wrote:
>> >>
>> >> >> Tom Watson wrote:
>> >> >>
>> >> >> >> Tom Watson wrote:
>> >> >> >>
>> >> >> >> > I have a remote printer attached to my nice router.  It has a
>> >> >> >> > nice print queue, and I have been able to print to it
>> >> >> >> > successfully using an older
>> >> >> >> > version of CPUP (v1.1.x it says on the test page).  The
>> >> >> >> > printer is a
>> >> >> >> > Cannon ip1600, and the URI that I use is
>> >> >> >> > "lpr://router/lpUSB0". I have done a bit of investigation, and
>> >> >> >> > using TCPDUMP I was able to see that the "good" instance (the
>> >> >> >> > actual system is a Fedora 8 Linux box) emits about
>> >> >> >> > 1.9 Mbytes of data to the printer.  The "not working" instance
>> >> >> >> > (CUPS 1.5 from Fedora 16) emits around 176kbytes, and the
>> >> >> >> > printer swallows the data in about 1 second or so, with no
>> >> >> >> > output to the printer.
>> >> >> >> >
>> >> >> >> > Something is not right in my neighborhood, as this DOES work
>> >> >> >> > with an
>> >> >> >> > earlier instance of CUPS.  The only thing that I think that is
>> >> >> >> > happening is that somehow the driver doesn't go through the
>> >> >> >> > Postscript (Ghostscript) interpreter to get the raster data
>> >> >> >> > for the printer.
>> >> >> >> >
>> >> >> >> > Thanks for the assistance.
>> >> >> >>
>> >> >> >> Can you please supply an error_log (log level debug) for a test
>> >> >> >> print of both the cups 1.1.x and cups 1.5.0 system?
>> >> >> >>
>> >> >> >> Helge
>> >> >> >>
>> >> >> >
>> >> >> >
>> >>
>> >> Thanks for the log file. I saw that your cups 1.5.0 installation uses
>> >> gutenprint 5.2.7 for this printer. The ip1600 is supported for the
>> >> first time in this version but still marked as "EXPERIMENTAL" which
>> >> means essentially untested.
>> >>
>> >> Yout working configuration uses a canon proprietary filter named
>> >> pstocanonij.
>> >>
>> >> Before digging deeper into the gutenprint issue, I'd suggest to
>> >> re-install the pstocanonij filter. I found installable packages for
>> >> this printer (ip1600) at
>> >> http://software.canon-europe.com .
>> >>
>> >> As I do not know which system you are on, I cannot give more detailed
>> >> information.
>> >>
>> >> Helge
>> >>
>> > I did a lookup both on canon-europe and usa.canon and there was no
>> > Linux
>> > driver listed (maybe I missed it?).  On the cups 1.3.9 system, I use
>> > the
>> > iP2200 driver on that system, and it uses gutenprint 5.0.2.  The F16
>> > system uses cups 1.5.0 and Gutenprint 5.2.7
>> >
>> > I located a version of 'pstocanonij' on the CUPS 1.3.9 system, but I am
>> > a bit puzzled where the printer database (given a printer, what filters
>> > to
>> > work, and which '.ppd' file to use).  It IS out there somewhere, and I
>> > really do want to use 'pstocanonij' but my question is how do I make it
>> > link up.  Maybe you can give me a clue.
>> >
>> > Of course, a URL for canon's latest 'pstocanonij' might help as well,
>> > providing it works on Linux.
>> >
>> > I suspect that once I understand just how it connects together, I'll
>> > make it work out (one way or another!).
>> >
>> > Again, thanks for the help.
>>
>> If both of your systems are Linux systems provided by the same
>> distributor, you may have a chance that the pstocanonij filter from the
>> "old" system runs an the "new" s<ystem as well. You need to transfer the
>> filter executable, the PPD from the old system, and, on the new system,
>> execute ldd pstocanonij
>> to see if any libraries are missing. At best you can solve missing
>> libraries by setting up symbolic links.
>> Just try.
>>
>> Helge
>>
>> PS: when googling for pstocanonij I found some hints pointing to
>> canon-asia.com for source code, but wothout details.
>>
> I've got the pstocanonij moved over, and it seems that all the libraries
> are there.  That's the good news.  My big question, is how do I get CUPS
> to use the program with my printer.  Somewhere there is a descriptor that
> tells which filter to use.  I'm sure it is there somewhere, I'm just a a
> loss as to where it is specified.  I've looked at the documentation, but
> it isn't clear to me what files I need to modify.  I don't believe that if
> I put the file in '/usr/lib/cups/filter' it will magically use this nice
> file, and it looks from my attempts at re-establishing the printer
> description, that this is the case.
> 
> So, what is the next step?
> 
> Thanks again for the help so far.

First, put the pstocanonij into /usr/lib/cps/filter and make sure it gets 
the same permissions as the other filters in this directory.
Second, edit the printer's PPD ( /etc/cus/ppd/printername.ppd, where 
printername is the name of the cups queue associated with the printer) and 
insert the line

*cupsFilter: "applocation/vnd.cups-postscript 0 pstocanonij"

near the beginning of the PPD, say, just before the first *OpenUI line.
Third, restart cups.

Helge