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Hi,

Can anyone help me to get printing set up with VB (2.2.2) on a XP Prof (SP 2) host with a Linux Guest (Ubuntu 9.04)?

The printer is a HP LasterJet 1018 and shared under XP successfully accessed by my other PCs (which are running XP too).

USB support is disabled and I am using a Bridged adapter network setup in my Ubuntu setting. XP uses advanced file sharing (which I what I prefer)

When I try to locate the printer with the SMB browers it doesn't show up. I think with version 2.2.0 I was able to specify the printer by giving the host IP of the XP machine in place of the Workgroup/Server information - but this is less than ideal since this may change from time to time. Now when I try this, it won't accept my windows password when I click on verify. (FWIW, I use the same username and id for both my XP host and Linux guest -- I don't think I have a password on my shared printer, how can I check this?). Navigating there via Network places results in the same behavior.

I have tried all sorts of things w/o luck. The lack of printing is the one major problem I have had with VB, otherwise I'm very happy with it. If anyone can provide some detailed instructions I'd be very grateful. If I need to provide additional information, please ask, I'll be happy to do so.

Thanks,
Esmail

ps: When I click verify for the SMB Printer setup, it asks about a domain, is that the same as my workgroup? I don't believe so .. but I have tried with that info in there and w/o but no luck.

pps: Temporarily disabling the XP firewall didn't seem to have helped either.

On your XP host, go to control panel and add remove programs.

• Click on add remove Windows components
• Click other network and print services.
• Click enable Print services for Unix.

Perryg wrote:On your XP host, go to control panel and add remove programs.

• Click on add remove Windows components
• Click other network and print services.
• Click enable Print services for Unix.

hi Perry,

I should have mentioned that I tried this too (as a result of searching the fora before I posted). This seemed to imply that I should select lpd/lpr (?? I'm doing this from memory) during the printer setup, but I also tried with the smb selection. Neither worked. I am assuming that I'm doing something wrong at some step because I would expect printing to be a somewhat common functionality.

Can you provide more information what I need to on the Linux side once this is set up?

Also, is there a way to find out if my shared printer is password protected under XP beyond the userid/password required to log on (both the same for XP and Linux).

Thanks,
Esmail

On the Ubuntu side it is just as simple as going to printers and adding a network printer (Windows printer via SAMBA). I find this works the easiest for most people.
The issue you probably have is a permission issue in Windows. Share the printer to everyone. Once you have it working you can adjust the settings to be more secure.

Perryg wrote:On the Ubuntu side it is just as simple as going to printers and adding a network printer (Windows printer via SAMBA). I find this works the easiest for most people.
The issue you probably have is a permission issue in Windows. Share the printer to everyone. Once you have it working you can adjust the settings to be more secure.

Hi,

First of all, thank you for your willingness to help.

I tried a number of things, deleting the XP printer and reinstalling/sharing it again and also repairing the VB 2.2.2 install. I made some progress in that I can print, but I am still puzzled.

My host is named T61 (it's a ThinkPad T61), the workgroup ZIPPYNET and the printer share name is T61Printer. The HP LasterJet 1018 is connected to this system. And this should work:

smb://ZIPPYNET/T61/T61Printer

Oddly enough this works on another XP machine running VB 2.2.2 and Ubuntu 9.04 and connected via a linksys router/switch to this network. I can print nicely that way. However, on my main machine (T61), I can't specify ZIPPYNET/T61 and my string has to be

smb://192.168.1.114/T61Printer

Also, when I browse with the SMB brower on my T61, the print share name (T61) doesn't come up, but rather the XP non-share name of HP LaserJet 1018.

Well, I suppose I should be happy to be able to print (I am) but it's a bit puzzling why this not working quite right, and of course if my IP address changes, I'll have to muck around with the setup again ...

Esmail