YaST can be used to configure a local printer that is directly connected to your machine (normally with USB or parallel port) or to set up printing over the network.
If an unconfigured local printer is detected, YaST starts automatically to configure it. YaST can configure the printer automatically if the parallel or USB port can be set up automatically and the connected printer can be detected. The printer model must also be listed in the database used during the automatic hardware detection.
If the printer model is unknown or cannot be automatically detected, configure it manually. There are two possible reasons why a printer is not automatically detected:
The printer does not identify itself correctly. This may apply to very old devices. Try to configure your printer as described in Configuring Manually.
If the manual configuration does not work, communication between printer and computer is not possible. Check the cable and the plugs to make sure that the printer is properly connected. If this is the case, the problem may not be printer-related, but rather a USB or parallel port–related problem.
To manually configure the printer, select in the YaST control center. This opens the printer configuration window in the view, where the detected devices are listed in the upper part. The lower part lists further details for a selected device. If no printer was detected, both parts of the configuration window are empty. Use to change the configuration of a listed printer or to set up a printer not automatically detected. Editing an existing configuration uses the same dialogs as in Adding a Local Printer Manually. You can also an existing entry.
HINT: YaST Print Test
To make sure that everything works correctly, the crucial configuration steps can be checked with the function of YaST. The test page also provides important information about the configuration tested. If the output is garbled, for example, with several pages almost empty, you can stop the printer by first removing all paper then stopping the test from YaST.
Start YaST and choose to open the dialog.
Click to open the window.
Choose .
Select the port to which the printer is connected (usually USB or parallel port) and choose the device in the next configuration screen. It is recommended to at this point. If problems occur, select the correct device or choose to return to the previous dialog.
In , set up a print queue. Specifying a is mandatory. It is recommended to choose a recognizable name—with this name, you can later identify the printer in the printing dialogs of applications. Use and to further describe the printer. This is optional, but useful if you have more than one printer connected to the machine or if you set up a print server. should be checked—it is needed for local printers. To enable network access to this printer, check .
The opens on the tab by default. Change to the tab to install a printer driver first. Click and specify the printer by and . If your printer is not listed, you can try from the manufacturer list and select an appropriate standard language (the set of commands controlling the printer) from the model list (refer to your printer's documentation to find out which language your printer understands).
Having chosen a printer model from the list, the drivers available are listed under . For many printer models, several drivers are available. When configuring the printer, YaST defaults to the one marked recommended as a general rule. Normally it should not be necessary to change the driver—the recommended one should produce the best results. However, if you want a color printer to print only in black and white, for example, it is most convenient to use a driver that does not support color printing. If you experience performance problems with a PostScript printer when printing graphics, it may help to switch from a PostScript driver to a PCL driver (provided your printer understands PCL). To change the driver, choose an entry from the list and click on it.
Switch back to the tab to configure the printer settings. If you have access to more than one printer, check to make the current one the default printer. and let you change entries made while following this procedure.
With specify the default paper size. lets you fine-tune the printer setup. Configure options like , , and others here. The set of options available depends on the driver you have chosen.
By default no banners are printed at the start and end of a print job. Change this by adjusting the settings under .
The also offers options to disable the printer and to configure the network access. Choose the tab to completely disable the printer by rejecting print jobs. If you want to temporarily disable the printout without losing jobs send to printer, choose . All arriving jobs will be queued and printed once you re-enable the printout. If you have enabled to share the printer over the network, configure which hosts and users may access the printer under the tab . You can also disable sharing the printer here.
Network printers are not detected automatically. They must be configured manually using the YaST printer module. Depending on your network setup, you can print to a print server (CUPS, LPD, SMB, or IPX) or directly to a network printer (preferably via TCP). Ask your network administrator for details on configuring a network printer in your environment.
By default, a which also is preconfigured. With this setup you can print to local printers and to any printer on the net, which are managed by a CUPS server. Change this settings on the view of the YaST printer module. To do all the printing via a single remote CUPS server (and so disable local printing) choose and configure and . To print to a network printer not managed by a CUPS server, proceed as described in Configuring a Network Printer with YaST
Start YaST and choose to open the dialog.
Click in the view to open the window.
Choose to open a dialog in which to specify further details that should be provided by your network administrator.