YaST can be used to configure a local printer that is directly connected to your machine (normally with USB or parallel port) and to set up printing with network printers. It is also possible to share printers over the network and to add 3rd party “drivers” (PostScript Printer Description (PPD) files). Further information about printing (general information, technical details, and troubleshooting) is available in Chapter Printer Operation (↑Reference).
In YaST, click + to start the printer module. By default it opens in the view, displaying a list of all printers that are available and configured. This is especially useful when having access to a lot of printers via the network. From here you can also on the selected printer and configure local printers.
If an unconfigured local printer is detected, YaST starts automatically to configure it. YaST can configure the printer automatically if the parallel or USB port can be set up automatically and the connected printer can be detected. The printer model must also be listed in the database used during the automatic hardware detection.
If the printer model is unknown or cannot be automatically detected, configure it manually. There are two possible reasons why a printer is not automatically detected:
The printer does not identify itself correctly. This may apply to very old devices. Try to configure your printer as described in Section 2.3.1.1, “Configuring Manually”.
If the manual configuration does not work, communication between printer and computer is not possible. Check the cable and the plugs to make sure that the printer is properly connected. If this is the case, the problem may not be printer-related, but rather a USB or parallel port–related problem.
Configuring a printer is basically a three-step process. First specify the connection type, then choose a driver and name the printing queue for this setup.
For many printer models, several drivers are available. When configuring
the printer, YaST defaults to the one marked
recommended as a general rule. Normally it is
necessary to change the driver—the recommended
one should produce the best results. However, if you want a color
printer to print only in black and white, it is most convenient to use a
driver that does not support color printing, for example. If you
experience performance problems with a PostScript printer when printing
graphics, it may help to switch from a PostScript driver to a PCL driver
(provided your printer understands PCL).
If no driver for your printer is listed, you can try to select a generic driver with an appropriate standard language from the list. Refer to your printer's documentation to find out which language (the set of commands controlling the printer) your printer understands. If this does not work, refer to Section 2.3.1.2, “Adding Drivers with YaST” for another possible solution.
A printer is never used directly, but always through a print queue. This ensures that simultaneous jobs can be queued and processed one after the other. Each printer queue is assigned to a specific driver, and a printer can have multiple queues. This makes it possible to set up a second queue on a color printer that prints black and white only, for example. Refer to Section “The Workflow of the Printing System” (Chapter 11, Printer Operation, ↑Reference) for more information about print queues.
Procedure 2.1. Adding a New Local Printer
Start the YaST printer module with +
Click in the screen
If your printer is already listed under Determine
Connection, proceed with the next step. Otherwise, start the
and choose the connection type
(for example USB Port for a USB printer).
Enter the vendor name and/or the model name into the input box under
Assign Driver and click search.
Choose the driver marked as recommended that best matches your printer. If no suitable drivers is displayed
check your search term
broaden your search by clicking
add a driver as described in Section 2.3.1.2, “Adding Drivers with YaST”
Specify the Default paper size
Enter a unique name for the printer queue in the field.
The printer is now configured with the default settings and ready to use. Click to return to the view. The newly configured printer is now visible in the printers list.
If no suitable driver is available in the dialog when adding a new printer, no PPD (PostScript Printer Description, commonly referred to as “printer driver”) file for your model is available. For more information about PPD files, refer to Section “Installing the Software” (Chapter 11, Printer Operation, ↑Reference).
Get PPD files directly from your printer vendor or from the driver CD of the printer. For details, see Section “No Suitable PPD File Available for a PostScript Printer” (Chapter 11, Printer Operation, ↑Reference). Conversely, you can also find PPD files at http://www.linuxfoundation.org/en/OpenPrinting/, the “OpenPrinting.org printer database”. When downloading PPD files from OpenPrinting.org, keep in mind that it always shows the latest Linux support status, which is not necessarily met by openSUSE.
Procedure 2.2. Adding a PPD file
Start the YaST printer module with +
Click in the screen
Click in the Assign
Driver section
Enter the full path to the PPD file into the input box under
Make a Printer Description File Available or choose
the file from a dialog box by clicking on
Click to return to the Add New Printer
Configuration screen.
In order to directly use this PPD file, proceed as described in Procedure 2.1, “Adding a New Local Printer”. Otherwise, click .
By editing an existing configuration for a local printer you can not only change basic settings as connection type and driver, but also adjust the default settings for paper size, resolution, media source, etc. You can change the identifier of the printer by altering the printer descriptions.
Procedure 2.3. Editing a Local Printer
Start the YaST printer module with +
In the screen, choose a local printer from the list and click .
Change the connection type or the driver as described in Procedure 2.1, “Adding a New Local Printer”. This should only be necessary in case you have problems with the current configuration.
Make this printer the default by checking .
Adjust the default settings by clicking . To change a setting, expand the list of
options by clicking the relative + sign. Change the
default by clicking on an option. Apply your changes by clicking
Network printers are not detected automatically. They must be configured manually using the YaST printer module. Depending on your network setup, you can print to a print server (CUPS, LPD, SMB, or IPX) or directly to a network printer (preferably via TCP). Access the configuration view for network printing by choosing from the left pane in the YaST printer module.
In a Linux environment CUPS is usually used to print via the network. The simplest setup is to only print via a single CUPS server which can directly be accessed by all clients. Printing via more than one CUPS server requires a running local CUPS daemon that communicates with the remote CUPS servers.
Procedure 2.4. Printing via a Single CUPS server
Start the YaST printer module with +
Launch the screen from the left pane.
Check and specify the name or IP address of the server.
Click to make sure you have chosen the correct name/IP address.
Click OK to return to the screen. All printers available via the CUPS server are now listed.
Procedure 2.5. Printing via multiple CUPS servers
Start the YaST printer module with +
Launch the screen from the left pane.
Check
Specify which servers to use under General
Settings. You may accept connections from all networks
available, from the local network, or from specific hosts. If you
choose the latter option, you need to specify the hostnames or IP
addresses, as well.
Confirm by clicking and then when asked to start a local CUPS server. After the server has started you will return to the screen. All printers available are now listed.
If your network offers print services via print servers other than CUPS, start the YaST printer module with + and launch the screen from the left pane. Start the and choose the appropriate type. Ask your network administrator for details on configuring a network printer in your environment.
Printers managed by a local CUPS daemon can be shared over the network and so turn your machine into a CUPS server. Usually you share a printer by enabling CUPS' so-called “browsing mode”. If browsing is enabled, the local printer queues are made available on the network for listening to remote CUPS daemons. It is also possible to set up a dedicated CUPS server that manages all printing queues and can directly be accessed by remote clients. In this case it is not necessary to enable browsing.
Procedure 2.6. Sharing Printers
Start the YaST printer module with +
Launch the screen from the left pane.
Select
Check and enable browsing mode by also checking .
the network interface to be used by the CUPS server. If you want to share your printer(s) with all hosts on the network, also check .
In case you like to restrict access to your CUPS server to certain networks or IP addresses, specify these via the two input boxes.
Click OK to restart the CUPS server and return to the screen.
In case a firewall is used, make sure access via IPP to port 631 is allowed. When using SUSEFirewall2, allow the service CUPS (see Section “Configuring the Firewall with YaST” (Chapter 14, Masquerading and Firewalls, ↑Security Guide) for more information).