I've had a lot of luck connecting to printers using CUPS. If it is slaved to an XP box, you might want to make sure there is nothing blocking the packets going out of it. You mention that other MS-Windows boxes have no trouble sharing, but do they have issues connecting to that specific printer?
One really cool Linux utility that you may, or may not have running is Webmin. If you're having trouble connecting to a printer connected to a windows box, you might not be terribly familiar with Samba (no offense intended, I'm no Samba guru either). The Webmin interface helps you to connect to samba shares.
"One really cool Linux utility that you may, or may not have running is Webmin. If you're having trouble connecting to a printer connected to a windows box, you might not be terribly familiar with Samba (no offense intended, I'm no Samba guru either). The Webmin interface helps you to connect to samba shares."
The printer works fine from every Windows box I have. It even shares over the VPN from home.
The 120 hours I have into it includes a great deal of time with Samba. Samba just can't recognize that there is a printer there. It sees the computer but not the shared printer.
I have not tried Webmin. This is the first I have heard of it.
One thing I have learned while trying to solve this problem is that 100,000 pages of help files makes finding answers impossible in some cases. The Internet help forums haven't been much help either. Most times somebody calls you too stupid to have a computer. The rest of the time they say to use Samba.
I've decided it's a domain problem, not a printer problem. Since I don't have domain administrator priveliges and the Linux dweebs on campus are baffles, I'm up the creek.
I finally installed a cheap laser printer on the Linux box. I should have done that the first day and saved myself a whole lot of trouble.
My main observation here is that Linux isn't for dummies just yet. There isn't enough support. When things don't work on your Windows box you can ask a local nerd like me. When they don't work on your Linux box, you are pretty much lost. I'm four years into the Linux box trial computer in my office. It's better than it was, but still not ready for the average desktop user.
Besides, it won't run Doom like my SLI box with XP and a fast Athlon.
I won't mention how often I turn the MacIntosh on. It looks cute on the desk.