Manuals/DiscoverStation 5 Printing Guide

From Userful Support

DiscoverStation 5 Printing Guide

1 Introduction
2 Setting Up a Printer
- 2.1 Testing Your Printer
- 2.2 Print Cost Notifications
  - 2.2.1 v.0.7.6x (newer version)
  - 2.2.2 v.0.7.5x (older version)
3 Print Job Administration
4 Other Resources

Introduction

The configuration and management of printers in DiscoverStation 5 is somewhat different from DiscoverStation 4. This document presents detailed instructions that are specific to DiscoverStation 5.

For printer configuration in DiscoverStation 4, please see the DiscoverStation 4 Printer Guide.

Setting Up a Printer

Set up your printer and cables according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Make sure the printer is turned on, has paper, and is not giving any error messages.
Configure Printing icon on the desktop.
Go to any station on the computer that needs configuring and start a session.
Go into Administrator Mode.
From the desktop double-click on the Configure Printing icon. You should see the Printer Configuration Tool appear.
The Printer Configuration Tool.
Click on the New Printer icon in the top left corner. This should bring up the New Printer dialog.
Printer identification.
Set up the identity of the printer. This is the first page of your printer setup wizard that requires you to enter information. Enter the name you wish to assign to your printer; this is purely for recognition purposes and does not have to reflect the brand or model of the printer, although you may choose to name it this if you wish.
- Printer Name -- this is a short name for the printer, without spaces and other special characters. For example: "HPLaserJet", "ChildrensPrinter", etc.
- Description -- (optional) a longer, more meaningful description of the printer. This is useful if you have several printers that can all be accessed at your location. For example: "HP Color LaserJet 3600".
- Location -- (optional) a meaningful description of where the printer is located. This is especially useful if you have several printers set up in different locations around your establishment. For example: "Front desk", "Upstairs Lab", etc.
Click the Forward button on the bottom right of the window to proceed further.
Connection settings.
The Select Connection page of the wizard should appear, which asks for various connection parameters. Select the connection type from the Devices list. (For the purpose of this guide we will use the AppSocket/HP JetDirect example.)
- If you are unsure of your connection type please contact your network administrator. If you are using a locally networked printer via a USB print server, the connection you should choose is probably AppSocket/HP JetDirect. Each connection type will ask for different parameters.
Fill in the connection parameters on the right side of the page. For example, if you are using AppSocket/HP JetDirect you will be asked for these:
- Hostname -- this field is for entering the IP address of your printer. If you are setting up a network printer you must enter the IP address to continue. If you are unsure of your printer’s IP address contact the person who manages your network to find out.
- Port number -- this should default to port 9100. If you wish to use a different port you may enter it. However, please ensure that the printer's port is properly set up for this. Under most circumstances there is no reason to use a different port number.
Once you have entered your connection parameters, click on the Forward button on the bottom right to continue.
Printer make selection.
The next page of the wizard asks for the make of your printer. Select the manufacturer's name from the list of Makes and then click the Forward button on the bottom right.
- NOTE: Generally you do not have to provide a PPD file as DiscoverStation already provides a comprehensive list of drivers for most printers. If you do believe you need to provide a PPD file for your printer, please contact Userful Support for assistance with this.
Printer model and driver selection.
The next page of the wizard has two fields which require you to select the model number and driver for your printer.
- Models -- select the model description that most closely matches your printer.
- Drivers -- for most printers there will be one driver from the list with "(recommended)" next to it's name. Unless you are specifically instructed by Userful or your IT department to choose a different driver, the "recommended" driver is the one you should select.
Click the Forward button on the bottom right.
Confirmation page.
The last page of the wizard is the confirmation page. You should see a message that says, “Going to create a new printer PRINTER_NAME at socket://:SOCKET_NUMBER”. Verify that the PRINTER_NAME and SOCKET_NUMBER in the message are the same as those you entered earlier in the wizard.
- If the message is not correct, click on the Back button to return to the page that needs adjusting.
Click the Apply button to complete your set up. You should see your new printer listed in the Printer Configuration window under the Local Printers label (you may need to click on the arrow next to Local Printers to see it).

Testing Your Printer

After you have set up your printer, you may test it to see if everything is working properly.

Edit Printer Settings dialog.

Go to the printer you wish to test and make sure it is turned on, has paper, and is not giving any error messages.
Return to your DiscoverStation.
In the Printer Configuration window, click on your printer's name in the list on the left. (You may need to click on the arrow next to Local Printers to see it.)
In the Settings tab of the Edit Printer Settings dialog, click on the Print Test Page button near the middle of the window.
If all is well, a message window should appear saying that the test page was submitted. Click on OK.
Go back to the printer and verify that the "Printer Test Page" printed out.

Print Cost Notifications

Generally, public computing establishments will want to charge users for using their printers. DiscoverStation can be set up to help manage this service. Here are the steps involved:

Make sure your printer is configured and printing properly from DiscoverStation.
Go into your Userful Manager account and create a Print Payment Policy.
Save this policy, apply the configuration and update it on your computer.
Start a session on the DiscoverStation.
Go into Administrator Mode using Ctrl-Alt-A and the password.
Configure Printing icon on the desktop.
Double-click on the Configure Printing icon on the desktop. The Printer Configuration tool should appear.
In the list of printers on the left, select your printer. You may need to click on the small triangle next to Local Printers to see all of the available printers.
Click on the Job Options tab. Your next steps will depend on which version of the Printer Configuration tool you are using. Have a look at the images below and see which one matches your Job Options page. A very simple Job Options page, with "Specify default job options" at the top, is a slightly older version (approx. 0.7.5x), whereas a more complex list of many different settings on the page would identify a newer version (approx. 0.7.6x). Please refer to the appropriate version below to continue.

v.0.7.6x (newer version)

The "newer" Job Options page.
In the Job Options page, find the subheading Common Options and click on the More item below it.
The "newer" Job Options page.
Scroll down and find the Hold until option.
Click on the list box next to it and select indefinite.
Click on the Apply button at the bottom.
You can test printing out a page from OpenOffice.org or some other application to verify that your Print Payment Policy is working. You should see a message pop up telling you how much the print job will cost.

v.0.7.5x (older version)

The "older" Job Options page.
Click on the list box below "Specify default job options" and select job-hold-until.
Adding the job-hold-until option.
Click on the Add button next to it. You should see job-hold-until added to the box below.
Setting the option value to "indefinite".
Click on the list box next to the new job-hold-until and select indefinite.
Click on the Apply button at the bottom.
You can test printing out a page from OpenOffice.org or some other application to verify that your Print Payment Policy is working. You should see a message pop up telling you how much the print job will cost.

Print Job Administration

DiscoverStation includes a Web-based printer management tool known as CUPS (Common UNIX Printing System), which is accessible via any Web browser on any computer sharing the same local network as DiscoverStation. Below, we will look at using CUPS right from DiscoverStation itself.

The Web-based CUPS printing interface allows you to quickly troubleshoot printing issues. To access the interface:

At a DiscoverStation station, start a session. This can be any station that is on the same computer system unit as a station that is having printing problems.
The Print Queue Management icon on the administrator's desktop.
Get into Administrator Mode with Ctrl-Alt-A and the administrator password.
Double-click on the Print Queue Management icon. This will start CUPS in a Web browser.
CUPS authentication prompt.
When working with CUPS, it will occasionally ask you for your password to verify that you have authority to perform some action. When this happens, simply type in admin, for the User Name, and the administrator password.
CUPS Start Page.
The print queue may be clogged up by a single failed print job. To see what is going on with print jobs, either click on the Jobs tab near the top, or click on the Manage Jobs button. This switches you to the Jobs page.
The list of jobs for this computer.
Examine the list of print jobs. These are all active jobs for all stations connected to this computer. Here are some specific columns to consider in the table:
- ID -- this is the printer's ID. Is this the printer that was intended?
- User -- this will tell you which station was printing the job. For example, stn_2 means "Station 2".
- State -- this tells you the status of the individual print job.
- Control -- this gives you some actions you can perform on the print job. Use these as appropriate to your situation. For example, if you have several copies of a print job and the user only wants one, you can click on Cancel Job for all unwanted jobs.
If a print job has been sitting with a "Processing" state for too long a time (e.g. several minutes for one page), it may be a bad print job blocking the queue. You can cancel it by simply clicking the Cancel Job button to the right of the appropriate job.
Printer status page.
If the print job in question is listed, perhaps the problem is on the printer side. Click on the name of the printer in the list of jobs (in the ID column).
Printer status page.
Check the Printer State information.
- If CUPS believes the printer is healthy, it will say something like, "idle, accepting jobs, published". There should also be a red Stop Printer button.
- If the printer is down for some reason, and CUPS knows about it, the printer name will usually have "Paused" next to it, and there will be a green Start Printer button. The Printer State will often say, "stopped, ..."
- If the Printer State says something like "Network host unreachable", this means that the printer can no longer be found on the network. This could be caused by:
  - ...the printer being turned off if it is a network printer. Try turning the printer back on and making sure it goes online without error messages/lights.
  - ...the network printer having changed its IP address. This may be the case if it is using dynamic IP addresses. Have your IT person assign it a static IP address, after which, make sure DiscoverStation's printer configuration is updated with the new IP address.
  - ...the print server attached to the printer being turned off or having a problem with its network connection. Have your IT person check the status of the print server.
If the printer is stopped, click on Start Printer.
Return to the list of print jobs by clicking on the Jobs tab, and scroll down to see if the print jobs are being processed. You may need to occasionally click on the refresh button in the Web browser to update the list.
Log out of the session to make sure the station gets out of Administrator Mode.
If you are still unsure of the status of the printer or print jobs, it is best to walk over to the physical printer and see if it is turned on, online, and full of paper.
Contact Userful Support if you require further assistance.