UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

hi there,
i am attempting to recognize a network printer on my red hat box. i know the IP, i have procured the correct driver, however, CUPS (nor the add printer utility) doesn't recognize the driver nor the printer type. i am assuming this has to do with the location of the driver. can anyone tell me how to update my printer drivers so i can finally print? thanks a million.

ps. driver: Samsung-ML-3051ND-Postscript.ppd
printer: samsung ML-3051ND

The gzipped .ppd file goes in /usr/share/cups/model, and you need to specify this model name when creating the print queue. I do it from the command-line using lpadmin ... -l modelname ....

cool, thanks. i'm almost there. the issue i now have is that i don't have the command "lpadmin" at my disposal. is it in a different directory than /usr/bin (where the other lp commands are)? thanks again...

/usr/sbin/lpadmin - you should find that it's in your PATH when you're logged in as root, which you need to be anyway to create print queues.

thanks again for all of your help. i found the lpadmin command and attempted to use the command line to install the printer and driver. after beating my head on it for a while (and trying to use CUPS) i have decided to come back to the forum and ask how one would do this correctly. i am (wrongly) attempting:

lpadmin -p Samsung-ML-3051ND -P Samsung-ML-3051ND-Postscript.ppd.gz

i can see the computer and the driver on CUPS, but still can't print a page. thanks again for all the help.

How is this printer connected to your system? Directly? Or is it a network printer? I presume you will need to specify the -v to specify how it is connected.

I misled you earlier when I said -l... the following syntax should work (note no .gz)

Code:

lpadmin -p Samsung-ML-3051ND -m Samsung-ML-3051ND-Postscript.ppd -v ... -E

-E enables the printer. You can do that separately with /usr/lib/enable Samsung-ML-3051ND if it is currently disabled, which you can check with lpstat -p.

thanks again for all your help. i really think we're getting somewhere. my computer (as well as cups) now recognizes the driver and the printer. the printer is a network printer attached to a static IP. so i'm guessing what i need to do now is configure the queue? again, i tried and failed. your help is greatly appreciated.