Buffalo NAS-Central Forums

A host-based print server replacement for CUPS, LPD, LPRNG

http://hvkls.dyndns.org/downloads/docum ... 910nd.html

Thanks, andre.

I saw this : http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Pr ... tion_setup

I'm not sure if it was from this thread you had spoken in - Getting a Printer to Work w/ LSPro [Fixed] - where the user decided to forego the heavier needs of CUPS and instead opt for the p910nd package that is more suited to embedded systems.

If enough of us use it and see that it works well, and that it fulfills our needs on our boxes, then maybe an Article page would be useful (yes, I'm volunteering, if it seems like a useful app). An alternative to CUPS that is quick, flexible, minimum in footprint, and sidesteps any authentication issues would be nice.

I've committed p910nd to foonas git, and will test it out here at home w/ a USB printer we have.

Have you tried it on your printer?

_________________
LS1 (foonas, nfs, Tranmission & p910nd print server, Firefly for my Roku)
LS-HG500 (Lenny)
Various LS-Pros v1,v2 (unbricked w/ serial & jtag)
KuroPro, LS2 & KuroHG (foonas)
Working on davysweather.dyndns.org lately...

=> wooohooo!
wooohooo!
Unknown command 'wooohooo!' - try 'help'

"An alternative to CUPS" it is, technically speaking, a most stripped-down one.

A forwarder of that sort can sure be useful in certain environments (easy to install, minimal requirements, minimal configuration, very small size (21 KB), also in RAM (< 2 MB); perfect for inetd, maybe I should rather have supplied a configuration for it than a SysV start/stop mechanism). I appreciate the fact it comes TCP wrappers-enabled (/etc/hosts.{allow,deny}).

On the other hand, there a no queues, so input control is left to the user, which is only good for home use where you know who's printing or intending to print right now.

Haven't tried it myself as a print server, just made sure it starts. Do you know whether multi-function devices work as well?

EDIT: Have updated my docs

just thinking out loud here : used NMAPfe to scan the LS2 that I have it running on and got this:

Starting Nmap 4.53 ( http://insecure.org ) at 2008-09-29 21:12 CDT
Interesting ports on 192.168.11.107:
Not shown: 1707 closed ports
PORT     STATE SERVICE
21/tcp   open  ftp
22/tcp   open  ssh
80/tcp   open  http
111/tcp  open  rpcbind
698/tcp  open  unknown
2049/tcp open  nfs
9100/tcp open  jetdirect                          <<--------------------- looks good here at least
MAC Address: 00:07:40:++:++:++ (Melco)
Device type: general purpose
Running: Linux 2.6.X
OS details: Linux 2.6.13 - 2.6.20
Uptime: 0.001 days (since Mon Sep 29 21:12:16 2008)
Network Distance: 1 hop

OS detection performed. Please report any incorrect results at http://insecure.org/nmap/submit/ .
Nmap done: 1 IP address (1 host up) scanned in 2.071 seconds

... which is what one would expect... and which would be a first, easy thing for a user to look for when troubleshooting...


I use Windows printing only a few times a year... so I'm unfamiliar w/ that end of things. But for Mac OS X and Linux, we can already control things very well at the desktop/laptop end w/ CUPS.

I get the feeling this would be a lot like printing through a AirPort BaseStation Extreme.

_________________
LS1 (foonas, nfs, Tranmission & p910nd print server, Firefly for my Roku)
LS-HG500 (Lenny)
Various LS-Pros v1,v2 (unbricked w/ serial & jtag)
KuroPro, LS2 & KuroHG (foonas)
Working on davysweather.dyndns.org lately...

=> wooohooo!
wooohooo!
Unknown command 'wooohooo!' - try 'help'

I think it's not bad to have this round, although many will prefer a more powerful print server.

This topic already came up in June .

viewtopic.php?f=50&t=8926&hilit=p910nd

But an easy-to-install package surely is very useful for beginners.

I know. Last time I opted against it b/c I thought it was too limited. Today I'm wiser and let your wisdom decide.

stjopa, thanks - I missed that as I was away for part of the summer. Are you using it just w/ Windows XP driver? or also w/ Mac OS X or Linux/Unix? Satisfied? Any downsides that you've seen?

If you don't mind, I've put a pointer in your post from the thread you mention to reference this particular thread. (just so folks can find their way to this thread where the binaries are posted... if they search and find your June mention of it)

For my part, I thought you hit the nail on the head squarely when you said : CUPS is very capable, but may be overkill in some situations if the printer drivers are already installed on one's Linux/Windows/BSD box.

_________________
LS1 (foonas, nfs, Tranmission & p910nd print server, Firefly for my Roku)
LS-HG500 (Lenny)
Various LS-Pros v1,v2 (unbricked w/ serial & jtag)
KuroPro, LS2 & KuroHG (foonas)
Working on davysweather.dyndns.org lately...

=> wooohooo!
wooohooo!
Unknown command 'wooohooo!' - try 'help'

Comparing CUPS to p910nd is like comparing a battleship to a dinghy

That's both true and hilarious.
I'd like to provide my own analogy, but must scurry off to work, alas. Will give it some more thought today. hehehe ...

_________________
LS1 (foonas, nfs, Tranmission & p910nd print server, Firefly for my Roku)
LS-HG500 (Lenny)
Various LS-Pros v1,v2 (unbricked w/ serial & jtag)
KuroPro, LS2 & KuroHG (foonas)
Working on davysweather.dyndns.org lately...

=> wooohooo!
wooohooo!
Unknown command 'wooohooo!' - try 'help'

OK, thought about it a bit, and I guess a dinghy is a bit more maneuverable, costs a lot less to power, and can work great as long as you aren't out on the high seas, or in a war. It will fit in the garage, too. Not sure that's what you meant, but that's just my 2 cents.

Anyway, thank you to both of you and to smartagc. I have it running on my lsmipsel test box right now and it works fine.

So far, it seems like a really nice no-fuss-no-mess arrangement if you already have printing set up on your laptop or desktop. Works well from any of our Macs or from my Ubuntu box.

A basic init script wasn't too hard to put together so that the daemon starts at boot w/ other services like firefly, and it seems to handle it OK whether the printer is plugged in before or after the LS is booted. It just works.

_________________
LS1 (foonas, nfs, Tranmission & p910nd print server, Firefly for my Roku)
LS-HG500 (Lenny)
Various LS-Pros v1,v2 (unbricked w/ serial & jtag)
KuroPro, LS2 & KuroHG (foonas)
Working on davysweather.dyndns.org lately...

=> wooohooo!
wooohooo!
Unknown command 'wooohooo!' - try 'help'

I originally provided a sysV start/stop script as well. But I think one should use inetd instead of wasting 2 megs of RAM permanently, so I changed my tarball and instructions.