houndhen

I have two computers, one is:
HP Pavilion 06
2.67 gigahertz Intel Pentium 4
Board: MICRO-STAR INTERNATIONAL CO., LTD MS-6577 020
Bus Clock: 133 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 3.14 02/14/2003
80.01 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity
512 Megabytes Installed Memory
OS- XP Home SP2

The other is:
3.00 gigahertz Intel Core2 Duo
64 kilobyte primary memory cache
4096 kilobyte secondary memory cache
Board: ConRoe1333-D667
Bus Clock: 333 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. P1.20 06/28/2007
250 Gigabytes Hard Drive
2.0 GB Ram
OS- Fedora 8

They are not networked. I have DSL and router/modem that I bought when my ISP installed the DSL. Both systems get to the internet with no problem through a linksys hub.

I would like to be able to print to the printer attached to the xp system from the linux system. I have googled and found information that indicated that I would need a static IP address. I have ran ipconfig /all and determined that my ip address is dynamic. My ISP will charge for a static ip address (not sure what the charge will be). If a static ip address is necessary then I may have to get one. I am not very knowledgeable in networking and things related to that. So I would like to know:
1. If I indeed need a static ip address.
2. Do I need to network the two units to share the printer?

thanks,
houndhen

cmnorton

I have DSL and a wireless Linksys router between the DSL modem and the two systems at home. I can configure my router anyway I want. (Ed. Verizon does not own or control the router. I am expected to configure it, especially if I needed a static address.)

My router is set to serve up DHCP addresses. If I needed one of my systems to have a permanant address, I would go into my router and grant a permanant DHCP address to my Windows XP system (I have one with a HP printer).

Your router, like mine, probably has a web interface, so you can do all this stuff.

Unless you are relying on a property of DHCP, in which your router might continue to grant the same IP address to each system (you cannot count on this behavior), then your XP system will need either a permanant (static) IP address that you would just take in the high end of your router's subnet, or a permanant reservation. They amount to the same thing in the end.

At work, my Windows workstation hosts the printer in my office. My Linux system uses that printer, and I had to go into W2K Servers' DHCP applet, and grant a permanant reservation to my workstation.

Now sharing it from Linux to Windows is more grief and perhaps the subject of a separate post.

lensman3

My cups printer setup has an option to setup a printer via Samba. You select the connection type which in the XP/vista/2000 case is Samba (smb).

It is of the form:
smb://[workgroup/]server[.port.]printer

Use exactly the same name(s) as in the XP printer screens.

I have found that over the years it is much better to buy a postscript printer with an Ethernet port or a JetDirect interface. The printer becomes another "appliance" and when they are a stand-alone appliance they are "smart" and make connections easily. Most of them now have interfaces exactly like a Linksys router. All setup is done via a browser. Postscript is a smart a very widely available printer language. PDF's are nothing more compressed postscript.

houndhen

cmnorton,
I will have to check on how to get into my router. I don't remember anyone telling me about how to do this. They just came and set it up and it works. Not good on my part in allowing them to do that. But I will find out.

lensman3,
I have been seriously looking at Linux for only a few months. I have seen a lot of discussion about Samba but didn't know how to use it so I haven't delved into it as yet. Been looking at updates, yum, apt, and configuration files and the command line.

Not sure what you mean by a postscript printer. I have at present a hp5550 on the xp system and a hp4100 on the linux system. The 5550 connects by parallel port and the 4100 is has a usb connection.

What I know about computers is self taught - no formal instruction. Us older folks don't catch on sometimes as quickly as younger people do. I thought that computers was something that I was too old to fool with but got bit by the bug when I was introduced to them at around 40. I enjoy it and it keeps me in a learning mode.

cmnorton

A lot of HP printers do not support postscript, but have HP's native PCL language. A postscript capable printer usually costs a little more.

lensman3

Most routers can be access by starting your browser and entering "http://192.168.1.1". Your router may vary but my son's Linksys and my Linksys access point use the 192.168.1.1 IP number.

The login screen will ask for a user and password displayed from a browser. The user is left blank usually, but you will have to find the password. Your manual will have the default one and your installers should have left you one.

Take a look through it. You can't hurt anything if you don't save the results. If you get stuck just turn it off and back on and start over.

Enjoy.

lensman3

Not sure what you mean by a postscript printer. I have at present a hp5550 on the xp system and a hp4100 on the linux system. The 5550 connects by parallel port and the 4100 is has a usb connection.


Postscript is the language the printer uses to print with. Adobe owns it, but leases it to the printer companies. Postscript is nothing more than a dialect of the Forth language (I think). The hp5550 is a Postscript printer so you have one and don't know it. It is also network ready so it has a browser built into it.

So start the cups, start a new printer, pick the JetDirect Interface (That is the HP Browser Interface), pick you printer. My printer does both postscript and PCL, so you can pick either printing language. If nothing works pick the HP1220 printer and Postscript and you should at least get a black and white printer.

ncsu1983

Type 192.168.1.1 to access the log-in screen of your Linksys router. Leave the user name blank and try typing "admin" (without quotations) to gain access to the web-based control panel. If the two machines are networked (whether wired or wireless), then the CUPS/Samba suggestion should work.