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Old 06-30-2009   #1 (permalink)
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Printing over a network to a unsupported printer

I have a Lexmark printer that is not compatible with Linux, but it is connected to a Windows machine. I was wondering if there is a program I can run on the Windows machine that would share the printer as a printer that Linux understands. Like if I could share it as a virtual HP printer and then just use it in HPLIP.

Or I heard of LPR/LPD, could I get that setup on my computers so I can print to the damned thing?
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Old 06-30-2009   #2 (permalink)
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If your Windows machine shares the printer, then your Linux system should be able to print to it. The issue is one of printer command language support. What does your printer support? Postscript, HP?
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Old 06-30-2009   #3 (permalink)
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When you share a printer over SMB/Samba don't you still need drivers on the client side? I need a way to "share" it where I can use a Linux driver on the other end...
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Old 06-30-2009   #4 (permalink)
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The Linux CUPS print system writes everything to Postscript, and then translates that to the printer-specific language if it doesn't support postscript. The Windows system needs to get the appropriate printer control language sent to it in order to work properly, so yes, your Linux system will need to know how to translate the postscript into a language the remote printer understands. Most Lexmark printers are Postscript-compatible.
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