Complex Printer Sharing in OS X using CUPS?

October 8, 2006 9:58 AM

CUPS/MacOSXFilter: I can't seem to figure out how to get my new MacBook Pro to recognize and assign the right driver to a RAW printer feed on another OS X computer. Help!

(While I'm not a total *nix n00b, I'm not the most well versed about commands - in your explaination, please assume I don't know what I'm doing.)

Back when I actually owned a Windows lappy, I was successful in setting up a raw feed under CUPS on my OS X Desktop so I could print using my Window's driver. It worked beautifly, allowing me to access all the options on my printer that I wanted to use.

However, now that I'm an all Mac household, I'm having trouble doing the same thing with my new Mac lappy. While basic printing is easy enough, the problem I'm trying to fix with this solution is having access to all the options available on my printer. My desktop is now a server of sorts, and it has my printer and a fax line hooked up. I want to be able to print, but not only just print - I want to be able to use things like double-sided printing, an auto-sheet feeder, tell the printer to print slower (for envelopes), etc. These options are available on my desktop when I go to print, but when I go to the laptop, the options are not there.

I know why this is happening - the 'true' driver (the one installed from the CD or website) isn't being used, so it doesn't know to give me those options. I still have the RAW feed setup in CUPS, and the laptop sees that, but:
1) The MacBook Pro won't assign the right driver by itself in the printer browser, I assume, because the RAW feed doesn't tell it what printer it is, and
2) I can't select the right driver, possibly because I can't find where it's installed. Spotlight is no help finding the driver, as is opening the driver installation package. I can't find it in any of the archives under there, either.

So, in summary - is what I'm trying to do just not possible in OS X? My Google-fu has come up with nothing, and I'm frustrated that I could do this really easy with Windows and can't get a damn thing in OS X. I do a lot of printing that uses these options, and without them, I'm doing a lot of running back and forth between computers and it just sucks.

Thanks in advance. The specifics, if you need them, is a 17" MBP and a G4 Tower, printer is a Canon iP3000.

posted by plaidrabbit to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

Try connecting the printer to your laptop, setting everything up, and *then* sharing it over the network. And use the GUI tools to do it -- it's best to pretend you don't know CUPS is running on the Mac.
posted by bonaldi at 1:15 PM on October 8, 2006

Absolutely perfect, bonaldi. Thank you so very very much - I thought I was losing my mind, when in fact I was just really overthinking it.

Thanks again!
posted by plaidrabbit at 3:04 PM on October 9, 2006

Glad it worked! It's the best advice for new Mac types: try not to overthink things. Dragging's another good example -- "how do I export X from Y??" "Drag it to the desktop".
posted by bonaldi at 3:12 PM on October 9, 2006