path: root/docs/docs/stable/mcc-help/en/system-config-printer.xml

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  <!--  Language proof JohnR 2012/08/28 -->

  <!-- 2012-09-03 marja: made the link to Complete the installation process work (I hope) 
 Lebarhon : added All in one devices in the chapter "Hewlett-Packard printers" 12/13-->

  <info>
    <title xml:id="system-config-printer-ti1">Install and configure a
    printer</title>

    <subtitle>system-config-printer</subtitle>
  </info>

  <mediaobject>
    <imageobject>
      <imagedata revision="1" align="center" xml:id="system-config-printer-im1" format="PNG" fileref="system-config-printer.png"/>
    </imageobject>
  </mediaobject>

  <section xml:id="introduction">
    <title xml:id="introduction-ti1">Introduction</title>

    <para>Printing is managed on Mageia by a server named CUPS. It has its own
    <link ns2:title="CUPS" ns2:href="http://localhost:631">configuration
    interface</link> which is accessible via an Internet browser, but Mageia
    offers its own tool for installing printers called system-config-printer
    which is shared with other distributions such as Fedora, Mandriva, Ubuntu
    and openSUSE.</para>

    <para>You should enable the non-free repository before proceeding with the
    installation, because some drivers may only be available in this
    way.</para>

    <para>Printer installation is carried out in the
    <guilabel>Hardware</guilabel> section of the Mageia Control Centre. Select
    the <guilabel>Configure printing and scanning</guilabel> tool<footnote>
        <para>You can start this tool from the command line, by typing
        <emphasis>system-config-printer</emphasis>. The root password will be
        asked for.</para>
      </footnote>.</para>

    <para>MCC will ask for the installation two packages:</para>

    <blockquote>
      <para>task-printing-server</para>

      <para>task-printing-hp</para>
    </blockquote>

    <para>It is necessary to accept this installation to continue. Up to 230MB
    of dependencies are needed.</para>

    <para>To add a printer, choose the "Add" printer button. The system will
    try to detect any printers and the ports available. The screenshot
    displays a printer connected to a parallel port. If a printer is detected,
    such as a printer on a USB port, it will be displayed on the first line.
    The window will also attempt to configure a network printer.</para>
  </section>

  <section xml:id="automatic">
    <title>Automatically detected printer</title>

    <para>This usually refers to USB printers. The utility automatically finds
    the name of the printer and displays it. Select the printer and then click
    "Next". If there is a known driver associated for the printer, it will be
    automatically installed. If there is more than one driver or no known
    drivers, a window will ask you to select or furnish one, as explained in
    the next paragraph. Continue with <xref linkend="terminate"/></para>
  </section>

  <section xml:id="non_automatic">
    <title>No automatically detected printer</title>

    <mediaobject>
      <imageobject>
        <imagedata fileref="printer3.png"/>
      </imageobject>
    </mediaobject>

    <para>When you select a port, the system loads a driver list and displays
    a window to select a driver. The choice can be made through one of the
    following options.</para>

    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
        <para>Select printer from database</para>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>

    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
        <para>provide PPD file</para>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>

    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
        <para>search for a driver to download</para>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>

    <para>By selecting from the database, the window suggests a printer
    manufacturer first, and then a device and a driver associated with it. If
    more than one driver is suggested, select one which is recommended, unless
    you have encountered some problems with that one before, in this case
    select the one which know to work.</para>
  </section>

  <section xml:id="terminate">
    <title>Complete the installation process</title>

    <para>After the driver selection, a window requests some information which
    will allow the system to designate and discover the printer. The first
    line is the name under which the device will appear in applications in the
    list of available printers. The installer then suggests printing a test
    page. After this step, the printer is added and appears in the list of
    available printers.</para>
  </section>

  <section xml:id="network_printer">
    <title>Network printer</title>

    <para>Network printers are printers that are attached directly to a wired
    or wireless network, that are attached to a printserver or that are
    attached to another workstation that serves as printserver.</para>

    <note>
      <para>Often, it is better to configure the DHCP server to always
      associate a fixed IP address with the printer's MAC-address. Of course
      that should be the same as the IP address the printer of printserver is
      set to, if it has a fixed one.</para>
    </note>

    <para>The printer's Mac-address is a serial number given to the printer or
    printserver or computer it is attached to, that can be obtained from a
    configuration page printed by the printer or which may be written on a
    label on the printer or printserver. If your shared printer is attached to
    a Mageia system, you can run <emphasis><code>ifconfig</code></emphasis> on
    it as root to find the MAC-address. It is the sequence of numbers and
    letters after "HWaddr".</para>

    <para>You can add your network printer by choosing the protocol it uses to
    talk to your computer over the network. If you don't know which protocol
    to choose, you can try the <guilabel>Network Printer</guilabel> -
    <guilabel>Find Network Printer</guilabel> option in the
    <guilabel>Devices</guilabel> menu and give the IP address of the printer
    in the box on the right, where it says "host".</para>

    <para>If the tool recognises your printer or printserver, it will propose
    a protocol and a queue, but you can choose a more appropriate one from the
    list below it or give the correct queue name if it isn't in the
    list.</para>

    <para>Look in the documentation that came with your printer or printserver
    to find which protocol(s) it supports and for possible specific queue
    names.</para>
  </section>

  <section xml:id="network_printing_protocols">
    <title>Network printing protocols</title>

    <para>One current technique is one developed by Hewlett-Packard and known
    as JetDirect. It allows access to a printer directly connected to the
    network via an Ethernet port. You must know the IP-address at which the
    printer is known on the network. This technique is also used inside some
    ADSL-routers which contain an USB port to connect the printer. In this
    case, the IP-address is that of the router. Note that the tool "Hp Device
    manager" can manage dynamically configured IP-adress, setting an URI like
    <emphasis>hp:/net/&lt;name-of-the-printer></emphasis> . In this case,
    fixed IP-adress is not required.</para>

    <para>Choose the option <guilabel>AppSocket/HP JetDirect</guilabel> as the
    protocol and set the address in <guilabel>Host:</guilabel>, do not change
    the <guilabel>Port Number</guilabel>, unless you know that it needs to be
    changed. After the selection of the protocol, the selection of the driver
    is the same as above.</para>

    <mediaobject>
      <imageobject>
        <imagedata fileref="printer5.png"/>
      </imageobject>
    </mediaobject>

    <para>The other protocols are:</para>

    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
        <para><emphasis>Internet Printing Protocol (ipp)</emphasis>: a printer
        which can be accessed on a TCP/IP network via the IPP protocol, for
        example a printer connected to a station using CUPS. This protocol may
        also be used also by some ADSL-routers.</para>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>

    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
        <para><emphasis>Internet Printing Protocol (https): </emphasis>the
        same as ipp, but using http transport and with TLS secured protocol.
        The port has to be defined. By default, the port 631 is used.</para>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>

    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
        <para><emphasis>Internet Printing Protocol (ipps): </emphasis>the same
        as ipp, but with TLS secured protocol.</para>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>

    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
        <para><emphasis>LPD/LPR host or Printer</emphasis>: a printer which
        can be accessed on a TCP/IP network via the LPD protocol, for example
        a printer connected to a station using LPD.</para>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>

    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
        <para><emphasis>Windows printer via SAMBA</emphasis>: a printer
        connected to a station running Windows or a SMB server and
        shared.</para>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>

    <para>The URI can also be added directly. Here are some examples on how to
    form the URI:</para>

    <itemizedlist>
      <listitem>
        <para>Appsocket</para>

        <para><uri>socket://ip-address-or-hostname:port </uri></para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <para>Internet Printing Protocol (IPP)</para>

        <para><uri>ipp://ip-address-or-hostname:port-number/resource</uri></para>

        <para><uri>http://ip-address-or-hostname:port-number/resource</uri></para>
      </listitem>

      <listitem>
        <para>Line Printer Daemon (LPD) Protocol</para>

        <para><uri>lpd://username@ip-address-or-hostname/queue</uri></para>
      </listitem>
    </itemizedlist>

    <para>Additional information can be found in the <link ns2:href="http://www.cups.org/documentation.php/doc-1.5/network.html">CUPS
    documentation.</link></para>
  </section>

  <section xml:id="properties">
    <title>Device Properties</title>

    <para>You can access the properties of the device. The menu allows access
    to parameters for the CUPS server. By default a CUPS server is launched on
    your system, but you can specify a different one with the
    <guimenu>Server</guimenu> | <guimenuitem>Connect...</guimenuitem> menu,
    another window which gives access to the tuning of other specific
    parameters of the server, following <guimenu>Server</guimenu> |
    <guimenuitem>Settings.</guimenuitem></para>
  </section>

  <section>
    <title xml:id="troubleshoot">Troubleshoot</title>

    <para>You can find some information on occurring errors during printing by
    inspecting <filename>/var/log/cups/error_log</filename></para>

    <para>You can also access to a tool to diagnose problems using the
    <guimenu>Help</guimenu> | <guilabel>Troubleshoot</guilabel> menu.</para>
  </section>

  <section xml:id="specificities">
    <title>Specifics</title>

    <para>It is possible that some drivers for specific printers are not
    available in Mageia or are not functional. In this case, have a look at
    the <link ns2:href="http://openprinting.org/printers/">openprinting</link>
    site to check if a driver for your device is available. If yes, check if
    the package is already present in Mageia and in this case install it
    manually. Then, redo the installation process to configure the printer. In
    all cases, report the problem in bugzilla or on the forum if you are
    comfortable with this tool and furnish the model and driver information
    and whether the printer works or not after installation. Here are some
    sources to find other up-to-date drivers or for more recent
    devices.</para>

    <para><emphasis role="bold">Brother printers</emphasis></para>

    <para><link ns2:href="http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/bsc/public_s/id/linux/en/download_prn.html">This
    page</link> give a list of drivers provided by Brother. Search the driver
    for your device, download the rpm(s) and install.</para>

    <para>You should install Brother drivers before running the configuration
    utility.</para>

    <para><emphasis role="bold">Hewlett-Packard printers and All in one
    devices</emphasis></para>

    <para>These devices use the hplip tool. It is installed automatically
    after the detection or the selection of the printer. You can find other
    information <link ns2:href="http://hplipopensource.com/hplip-web/index.html">here</link>.
    The tool "HP Device Manager" is available in the
    <guilabel>System</guilabel> menu. Also view <link ns2:href="http://hplipopensource.com/hplip-web/install/manual/hp_setup.html">configuration</link>
    for the management of the printer.</para>

    <para>A HP All in one device must be installed as a printer and the
    scanner features will be added. Note that sometimes, the Xsane interface
    doesn't allow to scan films or slides (the lighting slid can't operate).
    In this case, it is possible to scan, using the standalone mode, and save
    the picture on a memory card or USB stick inserted in the device.
    Afterwards, open your favourite imaging software and load your picture
    from the memory card which is appeared in the /media folder.</para>

    <para><emphasis role="bold">Samsung colour printer</emphasis></para>

    <para>For specific Samsung and Xerox colour printers, <link ns2:href="http://foo2qpdl.rkkda.com/">this site provides drivers</link>
    for the QPDL protocol.</para>

    <para><emphasis role="bold">Epson printers and scanners</emphasis></para>

    <para>Drivers for Epson printers are available from <link ns2:href="http://download.ebz.epson.net/dsc/search/01/search/?OSC=LX">this
    search page</link>. For the scanner part, you must install the
    "iscan-data" package first, then "iscan" (in this order). A iscan-plugin
    package can also be available and is to install. Choose the
    <emphasis>rpm</emphasis> packages according to your architecture. </para>

    <para> It is possible that the iscan package will generate a warning about
    a conflict with sane. Users have reported that this warning can be
    ignored.</para>

    <para><emphasis role="bold">Canon printers</emphasis></para>

    <para>For Canon printers, it may be advisable to install a tool named
    turboprint <link ns2:href="http://www.turboprint.info/">available here
    </link>.</para>
  </section>
</section>