Printer Installation: CUPS Shared Printer

So I've got the new Windows/Linux HP Pavilion, as mentioned in the last post. I also have a Brother HL2240 USB printer attached to my old Linux machine, Hal. How to hook that up?

First, you need the name of your printer on your old Linux (or Mac) box. In the browser window, enter http://localhost:631/printers/ Click on the printer you want to share. Now your browser address bar will be http://localhost:631/printers/Yourprintername. Remember Yourprintername — in my case it's HL2240.

For the Linux side of the machine, it's best to get the Brother printer driver for Linux. Then

• Install the thing, excepting the soul-destroying EULA
• It will ask for your device URI. Ignore that
• In the main menu, find System > Administration > Printers
• Select Add
• For the device URI, use ipp://address:631/printers/Yourprintername, where address is the URL of the computer with the printer attached to it (In this case Hal), as seen on your local network.
• When it asks for a printer driver, enter the location /usr/share/cups/model/HL2240.ppd , or whatever the model of your printer is.

For Windows, you can install the Brother Windows drivers, but they assume you have a USB printer connected to that printer. I ended up using the default Brother postscript driver. Then

• Go to Settings > Printers and Scanners
• When you see the option "The printer that I want isn't listed", click it
• Click Select a shared printer by name
• In the address box enter http://address:631/printers/Yourprintername . Note the http, not ipp
• Click next, find the correct driver, and install.

If that doesn't work, add a comment, let's see if we can fix it.