Hi all (hope your there too, Till) After an LM 7.2 install/print struggle, I'd like to pass on a few printer related 'gotcha's' that I believe are problematic. I'll try and be as terse as I can (I have trouble being terse). Comments are most welcome. #1: /dev/lp0 vs /dev/lp1 When I upgraded from redhat 5.2 to 6.2 there was a big deal about how *now* the first parallel port is lp0, in lieu of lp1. I seem to remember the reason being kernel related, but it may have been my own redhat == linux subconscious. During my install of LM 7.2 I automatically chose lp0 as the parallel printer port and the install did *not* see the printer. Moreover, the CUPS documentation suggests that, in general, parallel printers are on lp1. Also, the "add printer" wizard from the kups tool still tells me I don't have a printer (it's on lp0 and working great now), and the wizard's parallel port list only shows "parallel port #1". I suspect both the LM 7.2 install routine and the kups wizard are broken in this respect, and if this is the case, then the many people fleeing from the redhat 7.0 mess to Mandrake might have some serious headaches. #2: CUPS http://localhost:631/adm Although this tool does see lp0, I suspect it will work if and only if you have a good /etc/cups/cupsd.conf file. At the moment, this http://localhost:631/adm does *not* work here, although I managed to get it to work very briefly during a blitz 'trial & error" session. I think it has to do with the "broadcasting" entries in the cupsd.conf file (see below). Nonetheless, this tool, which can configure your cupsd.conf file, will be useless unless you have a working cupsd.conf file to begin with. If I'm mistaken here, please let me know, because my default cupsd.conf file from the LM 7.0 install had all the important entries remmed out. #3: The /etc/cups/cupsd.conf file / I think this file could use a few more comments, or be fully docummented elsewhere. CUPS is new, and a 'man cupsd.conf' assumes a degree of knowledge (as it should) that was not needed with the admittedly 'brain-dead' LPD. After 4 years of battling with redhat, I like to think that I'm no longer a total Linux newbie. But, like many Linux users, I don't administer a multi-machine network, and the occasional comment relating to a single loopback system would be very helpfull. "Should broadcasting be on? Should I be broadcasting to 127.0.0.1? The comments certainly do not have to be comprehensive; a *single* sentence aimed at the home user who is not on a LAN, nor a LAN administrator, would be appropriate, I think, since a whole lot of mandrake/CUPS users are one home machine. Of course, that is what the wizards are for. But if the wizard is broken, or if it assumes underlying knowledge of the system, then that wizard is worse than useless. I think the kups "add printer" wizard is both broken and dangerous: you need to be lucky for it to work. Dave. (and aren't you glad I wasn't verbose?)
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