Smba + CUPS + more... (Lin-Win complex issue)

[kaymastah]

Hi Everybody,

Again I turn to Gentoo Forums as in the past YOU guys were always the most resourceful and helpful. Once more I hope to find here some answers.

I have been dealing with a fairly complex situation for more than a month. First I had to find a way to install a Linux server (debian sarge) in a windows environment (replacing a Novell server - imagine how old that was...). Later making various apps work with the server, adding backup solutions, etc. Lastly I'm trying to create a page accounting system that will create monthly reports on printer usage per user. The two printers that are in use have so far been th1a bane of my existence; Canon ImageRunner 400s and Minolta Magicolor 2200 DeskLaser (especially the latter). To get the system up and running I followed this guide:

https://forums.gentoo.org/viewtopic-t-456501-highlight-samba+cups+windows+howto.html

The setup is as follows:
- Samba 3.0.22
- Cups 1.2.2

Both printers work with LPD; no luck with IPP. The IR400 employs Gutenprint v.5.0 and a PPD for model 330. The magicolor works with Foomatic/foo2zjs. Samba setup is OK with $print working as it is designed to and printers install via a share on the server just fine. I used "cupsaddsmb" and had no major issues with it.

OK, here's where it's getting harder...

Problem 1:
Minolta doesn't report back the number of pages for a job, so my page log has only IR400 entries. I'm happy it's not the other way around since the Minolta
is used rarely. Anyway, any suggestions on getting the page count of Minolta?

Problem 2:
I have some users who need support for PDFs that cannot be saved to a local machine. They actually edit them via web browsers and send them to the printers
as streams. I installed Adobe Post Script drivers and it made things work. Now I'm not sure how cups handles this issue. When they send a job, I understand
it's put to /var/spool/cups as a file and then dispatched to the printer. What happens with streams? Anyway, the clients with the Adobe PS installed can print those pesky pdfs but now they lost support for Duplex printing (arrrggh!).

Problem 3:
How can I automatically move invalid jobs, I mean jobs that get stuck in the queue and block all other jobs. The IR400 has built in 3 queues (print, hold
and direct), the Minolta has just the crownnet port.

I would appreciate any help, as I am at my wits with this thing. Is pykota worth playing with? Any other accounting systems worth considering? What's the best way of dealing with PDFs, and particularly those that cannot be saved locally?


Many thanx,
kay