Or in this case, Windows and Linux. If you plan to install Linux on at least one machine on your local network and you plan to share printers or directories, then you will need to configure Samba on your Linux machine. Details can be found here. Excerpt:

Samba can be used to allow connectivity between Linux and Windows(95,98,NT,2000). Samba can be used to share printers, share directories, connect to an NT domain, and many other useful features. However, this tutorial explains the steps involved in basic configuring Samba for file and print sharing. For more complex topics, visit the Samba website or type the command man smb.conf on a Linux machine with Samba installed. Configuring Samba is done by editing the configuration file /etc/smb.conf that is usually located under the /etc directory. Everytime you modify this file, Samba must be restarted for the changes to take effect.
...

Samba Log Files

All Samba actions such as login attempts and file transfers can be logged in the /var/log/samba directory. Under this directory the actions are logged by machine name. For example, all actions from the machine named "Morpheus" are logged in the file /var/log/samba/log.morpheus. User actions can also be logged under two files named /var/log/log.smb and /var/log/log.nmb. This is configured in the smb.conf file using the option log file. For example, to log actions by machine name use the following line:

log file = /var/log/samba/log.%m
...

Print Sharing from Linux to Windows

The following section is usually included in the sample smb.conf that allows printers defined in the /etc/printcap file to be shared. If not add/uncomment the following lines in smb.conf:
[printers]
comment = All Printers
path = /var/spool/samba
browseable = no

Then, just restart Samba and add the Linux printer to a Windows machine as you would any other Window's shared printer. The printer name will be the same name specified in the /etc/printcap file such as lp.

For the record, I've been working through these details using the Live CD versions of Puppy Linux and Damn Small Linux. My success has been mixed so far, but that's due to in part to my inexperience with Samba and the security running on my home wireless network. Despite my current issues, I've had pretty good success running both Linux distros on my old over-amped 486 machine. In fact, once I work out the bugs, I'll probably install the miniature Linux directly onto the hard drive.

Notes: DSL already has Samba available, which isn't surprising since it's really a stripped down version of Knoppix. Puppy has it available as a download, although it wasn't intuitively obvious how to find the download request. It was one of those right-click/button-select options/*.info lists that allowed you to select the desired software. Again, not intuitive, but I'm not an RHCE. Yet.

If I wanted to take the simplest approach and create an actual print server, rather than installing a shared printer, I'm opt for FREESCO. It boots from a !floppy! and
plenty of documentation/bug fixes can be found at the FREESCO Faq. More up-to-date documentation may be found at the FREESCO DokuWiki.

Update: Read some more of the DokuWiki and found this information: Quick Win2000 + FREESCO Printserver how-to. Excerpt:

IÂ’ve read alot of different methods for setting up printing from freesco with windows. Most include installing 3rd party software and other(imho) unnecessary things. I found setting up the freesco printserver to work with win2k is very easy:

1. enable printserver (lp1) with port 515 in advanced options on your freesco box.
   
2. goto your printer setup in win2k and Add Printer.
   
3. Choose Local Printer (not network printer) and disable auto-detect
   
4. Select “create a new port” and choose “standard TCP/IP port”
   
5. In add port, Printer name should be your FreescoÂ’s IP address (in my case 192.168.0.1) your port name will will itself in.
   
6. In Port Configurations you will want to set your protocol to “LPR”, your “raw settings, port number” to “515”(your freesco printer port), “LPT Settings, Queue Name” should be “lpr” and “SNMP Status Enabled” should be checked “community name”. “Public” and “SNMP Device Index” should be “1”
   

My guess is that this'll take about 10 minutes. Knock yourself out.

Posted by: Physics Geek at 12:30 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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