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Forum Discussion
Msoft
Jan 04, 2020Aspirant
Android connection to USB Readyshare USB printer
I have an OKIdata B439dn connected to my router USB port on back. Works fine with Win 10 computers, but I cannot get to it from my Android phones. The printer is not wireless, It does have Ethernet, but my Ethernet ports on the router are all tied up to other computers. I guess I need a Netgear control center equivalent for Android.
I downloaded the Nighthawk app from Google play, but could not find anything on printers.
Thanks,
Clark
I got it to print from the Raspberry Pi by setting the printer to shared in Windows on the big computer, then on the Raspberry used CUPS (a utility on the Raspberry) to find it and point to it (windows as a print server). It requires the Windows computer to be turned on, but I access the Raspberry via VNC (remote desktop) from that computer anyway, so that solves the problem.
I appreciate everyone’s help and suggestions,
Clark
6 Replies
- michaelkenwardGuru - Experienced User
Msoft wrote:
I downloaded the Nighthawk app from Google play, but could not find anything on printers.
That is not what it is for.
Msoft wrote:
It does have Ethernet, but my Ethernet ports on the router are all tied up to other computers.
An Ethernet switch costs very little these days.
SOHO Ethernet Switches | Switches | Networking | Home | NETGEAR
Does OKIdata have an Android app? I can get at my network printers with a Canon app.
- MsoftAspirant
I very much appreciate the replies and suggestions.
The Okidata is functionally a laser printer and can look like an HP laser. So, I don’t need an Oki driver for what I need to print. Basically, what I really want is to print program code text files from a Raspberry pi, but I cannot see the printer listed as a network device, so I started with my phone thinking there are far more users and S/W to see if I can get there with anything other than windows. If Netgear would show it as a network device (assign an IP addr), then any device should be able to get there.
If this cannot be done, for me, it will be easier to copy the files to my big machine and print than reconfiguring my windows computers to use the Ethernet printer. So, I can get around it, but with the growing use of phones and other devices, I am surprised it hasn’t been addressed.
Many thanks,
Clark
> [...] what I really want is to print program code text files from a
> Raspberry pi, [...]Running what? Raspbian, or something else?
Generally, beginning a discussion with "what I really want" will work
better than doing so with some unrelated topic.> [...] but I cannot see the printer listed as a network device, [...]
"see"? "network device"? At what are you looking?
> [...] If Netgear would show it as a network device (assign an IP
> addr), then any device should be able to get there.The IP address of a printer which is USB-connected to the router is
the LAN IP address of the router. You don't talk to the printer itself;
you talk to the print-server software on the router.
The real mystery may be how to configure a network printer on a
Debian/Raspbian system. Sadly, I do very little printing these days,
and none (so far) from either Debian or Raspbian, so I know nothing, but
that's what I'd be investigating if I were in (what I think is) your
situation. A quick Web search for, say:debian network printer
might find many things. Like, for example:
https://wiki.debian.org/Printing
> [...] it will be easier to copy the files to my big machine and print
> than reconfiguring my windows computers to use the Ethernet printer.
> [...]This must be some new meaning for the word "easier".
Adding a network-connected printer to Windows would seem to me to be
simpler and easier than dealing with the Netgear router and its
printer-sharing software. And, I'd expect any odd-ball OS to have a
better chance if it could talk directly to the printer. Especially if
that printer can emulate an HP laser printer.If I had any printer with built-in network capability, then I'd
certainly expect to use that capability, and not tie it to anything with
USB.> [...] I am surprised it hasn't been addressed.
I'm not sure exactly what you want "addressed".
> An Ethernet switch costs very little these days.And a non-Netgear unit may be still cheaper.