[CLUE-Tech] Xerox printer config suggestions?

[Jed S. Baer]

Jeffery Cann wrote:
> 
> I have a Xerox WorkCenter printer that is from my wife's former
> employer.  Currently, it is hooked up to my wife's NT machine, but we
> find it annoying that NT will not print unless you remember to turn on
> the printer before you log in.

Yuck, yuck! <G>

> I am not sure what I need in terms of hardware.  My Linux box has a
> single parallel port.  Should I get another parallel card?  How about
> one of those 'parallel printer A/B switches'.  What about a printer
> server?

Having never tried to configure one, I always figured the network
printserver box was the cool way to go. Dunno who makes them besides
Intel, but there must be several other choices. Last I looked, they were
sorta pricey though. I think the advantage would be you don't need to do
the Samba thing, and you could print from either computer without the
other being boote.

Adding another parallel port is pretty easy. I might even have an extra
ISA card laying about somewhere. Other than that, you could get a USB
print server box. I think they're not too expensive. However, USB
support is, well, maybe not quite mature. Check here:
http://www.linux-usb.org/  The usb-users mailing list has a nice mix of
success stories and gotchas. I don't remember the gory details on how it
works with the parport driver, but I think it generally does. The
usb-users list it at
http://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/linux-usb-users. Both of
these approaches would require Samba, but that doesn't sound like a
biggie to you. My only objection to either would be the server machine
must be booted in order to print. Well, my linux box is up all the time
anyway, maybe yours is too?

Good luck. I'll hunt for the parallel card. I might have trashed it
already though.
jed
-- 
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've made a
 difference. Free Software developers don't have that problem."