[NCSA-discuss] CUPS / Solaris questions

[Dan Singer]

Hello.  I've been tinkering with setting up CUPS for some time now,
and keep running into problems.

Background:  Our system is a mix of Solaris, Linux, and Windows.
Servers are for the most part Solaris.  Desktops are mostly Linux and
Windows.  We've been running LPRng on a Solaris server for a long
time, but LPRng seems to be at end-of-life: it's limping along, but
support/development seem to have vanished.  We're trying to transition
to CUPS, also running on Solaris.

In fact, we do have an instance of a CUPS server configured, compiled,
and running on Solaris.  (some specs below)  It sorta works, but some
problems continue to be elusive.

1) With LPRng, certain features could be accessed pretty easily with
lpr -Z options and some other methods.  With CUPS, it is often unclear
how to access these same options, even though they seem to be listed
in the PPD files.  Sometimes trying to use them (eg, "-o
media=MultiPurpose") locks up the printer, which must be manually
powercycled.

2) It's unclear what are the best PPDs to use, and where/how to get
them.  I recently tried a newer PPD for our HP-4350s, and it was
unusable (nothing would print).  Also, extracting the PPDs from funky
archives intended for Windows and Mac installation can be a hassle.
(Why can't the printer manufacturer web sites provide raw PPD files?)

Are these CUPS problems?  Solaris problems?  Documentation problems?
Configuration problems?  Admin problems?  Is CUPS hopeless unless
running the server on either Linux or MacOS-X?

Any recommendations on- or off-list appreciated.

Specs:
  CUPS version:  cups-1.1.23
  Server platform:  Solaris 10 on a SunFire-V120
  Clients:  Solaris 9 & 10; Centos-4; Windows XP; ...
  Printers:  HP-4350N, HP-4350DTN, HP-4650DTN, HP-4050N, ...
	also, some Canon copier/printers: ImageRunner3300,
	ImageRunner600, ImageRunner5020

-Dan

-- 
Daniel E. Singer, System Administrator
Dept. of Computer Science, Duke University, Durham NC 27708 USA