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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...
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
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.
I very much appreciate your thought-out reply and your time.
I am using Raspbian and writing a simple Raspberry app for some animation on a train layout.
I have several Windows devices in the family that connect to the printer via the USB port. So for a few printouts I will do with the application I am planning on the Raspberry, “Sneakernet” will be easier than reconfiguring all of them. I could climb up to the router and take the printer off the network for a quick printout, then climb up and reconnect it, but the thumb drive is still easier.
I installed CUPS on the Raspberry and started to see if I could get the printer, but realized I could not find the printer on the network. So, I pulled out my phone and could see other devices, but not the printer. In researching this, there was a suggestion to try the Netgear app for the phone, but, as you noted, there was no provision. So regardless of the device I am using, there is no way to get the USB printer, even with the needed drivers, without the equivalent to the Netgear USB control center.
For me, it is not a big deal, I'll print a few listings and I am done. I am just surprised that Netgear hasn’t addressed it, at least for phones.
Thanks for your help,
Clark
> I have several Windows devices in the family that connect to the
> printer via the USB port. [...]Do you mean via the router's printer sharing?
Knowing approximately nothing about it, I can't vouch for your
printer, but, without evidence, I wouldn't rule out the possibility that
it could deal with both its USB interface and its Ethernet interface.
You might need to take some care about trying to use both
simultaneously, but even that might work.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