Printing Problem with qcad 2.2

[vladilinsky]

I currently have both Qcad 2.1.6.4 and 2.2 installed, 2.1.6.4 shows all printers and prints fine, while 2.2 does not even show any printers under its print menu.

I am printing over a network, from Ubuntu 8.04 to a print server running 7.10

[apjjr]

I currently have both Qcad 2.1.6.4 and 2.2 installed, 2.1.6.4 shows all printers and prints fine, while 2.2 does not even show any printers under its print menu.

I am printing over a network, from Ubuntu 8.04 to a print server running 7.10

I seem to have the same problem with QCAD 2.2.1 on Ubuntu 8.04 printing to CUPS printer on another Ubuntu 8.04. I can print to a PDF then print from the PDF reader to the print server, but QCAD should show the network printers. Other Linux apps do. I don't have a printer connected to my laptop. Is this a setting in QCAD or a bug?

[The Punisher]

ln -sf /var/run/cups/printcap /etc/printcap

that's the magic num... line!

[vladilinsky]

Thanks that works great

[apjjr]

ln -sf /var/run/cups/printcap /etc/printcap

Thanks for the tip. Any idea why restarting cupsd doesn't regenerate this file? The header in this file says that's the way it is created. I'll pass this on to the CUPS maintainers. Maybe they'll fix it.

[apjjr]

The reply from the CUPS mail list:
I am going to guess that the version of CUPS that you are running was
built with '--with-printcap=/var/run/cups/printcap'. I don't know why
you would have an /etc/printcap that is older, unless you had upgraded
from an older version that was built '--with-printcap=/etc/printcap'.
Since I took a look at a system that I have running Ubuntu and it has
both /etc/printcap and /var/run/cups/printcap, with the /var/run version
being newer, it appears that might be the case for me. I didn't see
anything else on my system that looked to be generating /etc/printcap.
If you want /etc/printcap to reflect the current set of queues in CUPS,
you can symlink /etc/printcap to /var/run/cups/printcap or change your
cups config (in /etc/cups/cupsd.conf) to include a Printcap
/etc/printcap entry. Ideally, you would simply remove /etc/printcap,
identify applications that are parsing /etc/printcap, and work to fix
them to use the CUPS API for print queue enumeration.

-Norm

So I would guess that QCAD needs to be updated to work with the newest CUPS API.
-Alex

[ichido]

My cupsd.conf does not contain "Printcap".
I did not understand most of your post about

"If you want /etc/printcap to reflect the current set of queues in CUPS,
you can symlink /etc/printcap to /var/run/cups/printcap or change your
cups config (in /etc/cups/cupsd.conf) to include a Printcap
/etc/printcap entry. Ideally, you would simply remove /etc/printcap,
identify applications that are parsing /etc/printcap, and work to fix
them to use the CUPS API for print queue enumeration. "

Can you help me?

[apjjr]

See the doc at http://localhost:631/help/man-cupsd.con ... ges&QUERY=

From that doc page:
Printcap filename
Specifies the filename for a printcap file that is updated automatically with a list of available printers (needed for legacy applications); specifying Printcap with no filename disables printcap generation.

So, make an entry ...
Printcap /etc/printcap
in your cupsd.conf.

That will tell CUPS to update the file in /etc

or you can just do as the previous poster said, run the command ...
ln -sf /var/run/cups/printcap /etc/printcap

That command will create a link to the newly updated printcap file in /etc where QCAD expects to see it.

This problem came up as an upgrade to the newest CUPS was just installed.

[nepomux]

I'm also still facing this problem.

QCad 2.2.1.0 is able to print on my printer when I

Code: Select all

ln -sf /var/run/cups/printcap /etc/printcap

, but I can't set the options for my printer. Even if start QCad as root.
In QCad 2.1.6.4 setting the options works.

Greez, Claus

[mzee]

Greetings. I assume I'm having the same problem as those above. I've been using qcad 2.2 for several months, but haven't needed to print anything till now. When I try to print using the same commands that worked in my earlier version of qcad, I get to a print dialog box in which there is no printer to choose. The O.S. is ubuntu 8.04, and it has had no trouble finding my printer and giving access to it from Open Office or Firefox when I give a "print" command in those applications. Why can't qcad 2.2 find my printer? If this is a bug in Qcad 2.2, how can I go back to the earlier Qcad without risking losing all my drawings ? Please help in non-techie as I am a draftsman, not a computer person. Thanks, mzee.

[andrew]

mzee, please read the posts above for possible solutions.

[mzee]

Greetings.
Andrew, thanks for your response. With the help of a local self-help group I have managed to apply one of the fixes above, and thanks to those who posted them.
I remain confused at the approach. If qcad 2.2 is looking for something it needs and can't find it, because it's looking in the wrong place, then why no effort to fix qcad, but instead, making a change to a file in the operating system? I don't mean that as a rhetorical question. I would really appreciate knowing the reason.
Anyway, for those with a computer skill level closer to mine than the contributors above, here is what I did:
Go to Applications> Accessories>Terminal
Type sudo gedit /etc/cups/cupsd.conf press Enter
Type in your root password press Enter
You have indicated that you want to edit a particular file, and ubuntu has opened an editor called “gedit”,and brought into it the file you asked for.
Put the cursor at the end of any line above a # line. press Enter
This creates an empty line. A line starting with # is ignored by the system, but allows you to identify the change you are about to make to help any future trouble-shooting. So type, for example,
# yourname date fix qcad press Enter
Printcap /etc/printcap do NOT press Enter. At the top of the screen press Save.
Close this screen. Close the Terminal screen. Reboot the machine. You're done.
To Andrew or those above who know what they're doing: If there is anything wrong or particularly clumsy about the sequence I've described, please let me know. Thanks, mzee.

[andrew]

If qcad 2.2 is looking for something it needs and can't find it, because it's looking in the wrong place, then why no effort to fix qcad, but instead, making a change to a file in the operating system?

This is a fair question. The reason is that the problem is not with QCAD, but with Qt, a toolkit that QCAD uses. I agree that the problem should be fixed by the Qt guys, but they seem to have other priorities.

[mzee]

Thanks again andrew, It is reassuring to know there is a rational explanation to something that seemed, on the surface a mistaken approach. mzee