ReadyNAS Ultra 2 - printing in Ubuntu doesn't work

I don't have any help in Ubuntu, but I do know that not all printers will work using an NAS as a print server on Windows. One of the things that at times works is to connect it to the PC and install the drivers before connecting it to the NAS, but it seems you have already done that.

The only thing I can point out is that in the future, when you buy a printer, make sure it is network capable either wired or wireless or both. In the meantime, you may have to connect it to the PC and use it that way.

You might be missing the point of my question, I'm afraid. ;-)
The printer is working fine in Windows, it's not in Ubuntu.
The question is how to make it work, as the printer seems to be supported by Netgear. http://www.readynas.com/index.php?s=ml-2010. Maybe it's not supported in Linux, only in Widows and Mac?
This is why I planned to use my NAS as print server as well. What sense would that make in small environment having network-enabled printer already?

Thanks anyway!

If the printer works in Ubuntu when direct connected, but not when on the network, then it may be the driver has problems in that area. I do know that when installing a local printer in Windows and a networked printer (either stand alone or connected to another computer) is a different procedure.

piotrek212 wrote:
You might be missing the point of my question, I'm afraid. ;-) The printer is working fine in Windows, it's not in Ubuntu.

No, I understand that fully. My point was that it worked with Windows, so it's not the printer or the NAS or the PC.

piotrek212 wrote:
This is why I planned to use my NAS as print server as well. What sense would that make in small environment having network-enabled printer already? Thanks anyway!

I am in a home environment using only Windows machines (3). Yet, all of the active printers (2) and one in a closet are network capable printers, just so I don't have to use the NAS as a print server. When I first started my Network, I didn't have any network capable printers, in fact my main printer, an HP Laserjet, was connected via parallel port. Even before I added the NAS, I made the decision to buy only network capable printers. They are not that much more expensive than non-network capable printers, and then you don't have to use a print server. My point was not to go out and buy one, my point was that when you replace the printer, get one that is network capable.

Have you tried connecting the printer to the Windows machine as a local printer and then installing it on the Ubuntu machine as a networked printer? Or the reverse? Just curious.

Hi

Thanks for posting.

Have you tried connecting the printer to the Windows machine as a local printer and then installing it on the Ubuntu machine as a networked printer? Or the reverse? Just curious.

Maybe I'll share the story in a short version. ;-)
We have 3 PCs in home network. 2 are actually browsing and printing machines running Win XP and Win 7. On my own I run Ubuntu (and Win7 sometimes).
Sometimes we just need to print something. Attaching the printer to a laptop every time you need to print something works, but it's quite annoying. Sharing the printer works, but then the "server" needs to be up and running, which is annoying as well.
That's why, because the NAS is always up and every machine uses it, we thought of using it as "print server". Whatever OS you have, you add a network printer, and use it instead of attaching it locally. That works, but not in Ubuntu.
I'm not much into printing in Linux and I'm just wondering why it's not working... Looks like I need to "plug and pray" in home usage again :-D

You are using your NAS as I do mine as a central file server for all the machines. By the time I added my NAS, I had to replace my original Laserjet and added a color one, and made sure they were network capable when I bought them. I have done tests for using the NAS as a print server (using my ancient inkjet that is retired) to help members with setups. I have set up print shareing in Win2K, XP and Vista, but have never tried it in Ubuntu. (Actually the time I experimented with Ubuntu, I couldn't even get to talk to the NAS. That the the inability to get it to use the wireless card in my older HP laptop, caused me to wipe the disk and put the live CD in the archive box.

I agree that uplugging and plugging a printer every time you want to use it is a PITA. That was the reason I installed my network in the first place (but at that point I was using a PC as a print server, and all my machines had XP on them (pre-NAS as well).

Hang in there and maybe someone who has a lot of experience in Ubuntu will see this discussion.

This is for archiving and people who might see this in future.
Looks like the guilty man is CUPS 1.5.something in Ubuntu 11.10 at the moment. I've found a similar issue here: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1865869 and I was able to print in Ubuntu 11.04. That closes the issue here, I guess.

If I understand correctly, the problem does NOT appear when running Ubuntu 11.04, but does in 11.10.

Thanks for the feedback. I guess the issue then is resolved unless there is something in 11.10 that you need.

I've finally managed to get my printer working in Ubuntu 11.10 as I planned.

The idea is to print via Samba as described https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cups/+bug/883585 and http://planetlotus.org/profiles/ben-poole_94582.

In short:
1. Find out the name of your printer as it appears in your NAS (go to http://your-nas-ip:631 and copy), it was ML-2010 in my case
2. as Device URI in ubuntu use smb://your-nas-ip/printer-name, it was smb://readynas/ML-2010.

Hope that helps.

Thank you for the feedback.