If the printer is connected directly to the computer's USB port, it should be visible in the list next to "Choose port".
Note: the printer must be connected and switched on before the TurboPrint configuration program is started.
There may be several entries for your printer if there are serveral port drivers for this printer port – e.g. a USB printers is listed once with TurboPrint's "TUSB" port driver and once with the standard "USB" driver of the CUPS printing system.
Choose the entry that contains "TUSB" so that the printer status can be displayed in the TurboPrint status monitor even while printing.
For printers connected to the computer's parallel port, choose the entry "Parallel Port 1“.
If your printer and printer port is not visible in the list, try to set up your printer using the choice "other printer".
The following "Connection" types can be chosen:
Network printer - LPD
Windows network printer - SMB
Network printer – Socket / Jetdirect
Linux network printer - IPP
File
other (CUPS URI)
First you have to determine which connection type is suitable.
Network printer – which connection type is correct?
a) Network printer / printer server box
For most printers that have a built-in network interface or that are to the network using a printer server box the "LPD" or "Socket / Jetdirect" network protocol can be chosen. Most network printers and printer servers support several protocols, often also the IPP procotol is supported. If you don't have information on the network protocols supported by your printer or server, you can try all three protocols.
b) Printer attached to other computer in network
If the printer is connected to another computer in the network, choose either "Windows network printer" or "Linux network printer" depending on the computer. Current Apple computers also support the IPP protocol.
Of course the printer must be "shared" so that it accepts print jobs from other users in the network.
Note: Printers that have been shared for network use from Linux and Apple servers are automatically visible on other Linux clients, provided that "printer browsing" is enabled on the server & client. If you print to such a shared network printer the print job is processed on the server – this means that TurboPrint's printer status monitor cannot show a print preview or control print jobs on the server.
It often makes sense to set up a print queue also on the client computer - print jobs are processed locally and print preview is possible. In this case the server will pass through all print data directly to the printer port.
c) other printer port on local computer
If your printer is not connected via network but to a local port that is not listed under "Standard printer", choose "Other (CUPS URI)".
a) Network printer (LPD / Socket / IPP / Windows)
Most network printers accept the "Socket" procotol, so in most cases you can choose this setting. If the printer doesn't respond, you can also try the "LPD" protocol.
To reach a network printer you need its IP address and the name of the print queue or printer port.
Server Address
In the field „Server“ enter the IP address (e.g. "192.168.17.23") or symbolic name of the server the printer is connected to.
If you don't know the IP address, please read the manual of the printer or printer server. In most cases the IP address can be changed in the printer's or server's configuration menu.
Printer / Port
In the field "Printer" the name of a print queue on the server has to be specified. Depending on the protocol different names are used:
- With the LPD protocol you can enter "lp0" or "lp" for the first printer, "lp1" for the second printer etc.
- For IPP printers enter the name of the print queue on the server – often the prefix „printers/“ has to be added before the name, e.g. „printers/myprinter“.
- For Windows printers the "share name" must be entered (the share name is specified under Windows when a printer is shared for network access).
The entry "Port" is used for the Socket / Jetdirect protocol. In most cases the value "9100" is used for the first printer attached to the server, "9101" for the second printer etc. If you don't specify a "Port" number, the default value "9100" will be used.
Workgroup and User / Password
(only for Windows printers)
It is only necessary to enter the "Workgroup" name if your computer belongs to a different workgroup than the printer server.
Depending on how the printer is shared on the Windows computer you may have to specify a user name and password.
Important: The password is stored without encryption so for security reasons it should be different from any login passwords!
b) File (only for expert users)
With this connection type print data are written into a file instead of being sent to a printer. This can be used for test purposes or to send printer data directly to the printer later.
In the field "Filename" you have to enter the complete path including the file name, e.g. "/tmp/printdata". Make sure that the print system (lp daemon) has access to the specified directory.
Note: Printing to files may have to be enabled in the configuration file of the CUPS printing system. Edit the file "/etc/cups/cupsd.conf" and add the line "FileDevice Yes" (or remove the comment "#" in front of this line if it is already present).
c) other (CUPS URI)
With this connection type the CUPS device address ("URI" - Universal Ressource Identifier ) can be specified directly. This can be used to choose a printer connection that is not offered in TurboPrint's printer setup dialog.
An example for a CUPS URI is:
ipp://servername/printers/printername
This would connect to a printer named "printername" on a server named "servername" using the "IPP" protocol.
For details see the documentation of the CUPS printing system
After choosing the connection type and specifying the network parameters click on "Continue".
In the window "Choose driver" you should first select the manufacturer of your printer, then select the model name of your printer in the list below.
The next step is to enter a "configuration name" and a "short name" for the printer queue. In most application programs you can choose your printer using the short name.
Finally click on "OK".
Completing printer setup - Authorization
Setting up the printer in Linux requires administration privileges, so you will be asked for your administrator password.
Depending on the Linux distribution this is either your user password (you must be a user with administrative rights) or the "root" password.
After entering the password a dialog will offer to print a test page – thus you can test if all settings are correct. You can also print the test page later from the TurboPrint printer "Toolbox".
If you have chosen to print a test page the printer should start printing a page that looks like this:
If the printer doesn't print (or doesn't print correctly) read the chapter " 14. Problems and solutions".