Print Server on ol PC?

[hotwired007]

I have a P2 400mhz 64mb 6gb HDD, Compaq Deskpro that i want to use as a print server - i've tried using XP but i want to be able to display the current jobs on screen for the teacher to see and approve and cancel if necessary...

when i was at college there was an old PC sat in the corner doing this and i would like to emulate it - anyone got any ideas what it could have been? it looked like a DOS or Linux/Unix system but not sure - it was blue and red with white text

Thanks in advance...

[crc-ict]

I remember a similar sort of thing... Sadly, I don't know what it was either.

Only thing I can remember was that it was some sort of Novell network - maybe it was a NetWare feature?

[hotwired007]

yes that seems to ring a bell, we had a novell network too... I don't remember anything about it being novell though... was convinced it was a dos program - i was very into programming then and had a look at the hard disk to find out what it was on it - i'm pretty convinced it was DOS based now i think about it!

I've found a linux variant thru google but cant get it to work atm...

[kesomir]

I've found a linux variant thru google but cant get it to work atm...

There are a couple of linux 'appliances' (think install, turn on - work out of the box) installers - try googling 'linux smb server'.

I would use a custom debian build, but that's purely my preference - any distro can do it.

All said though - for smaller (non enterprise) networks, it may be easier just going with server2k3/2k8, although the licencing is a pain if you don't already have a domain.

I have had issues with some printers when running a linux cups+pykota and drivers - some work fine and some cause problems (such as panasonic photocopier and konica minolta). It can be troubleshooted, but as ever it's a time thing.

It isn't quite where lamp is yet - 4tw.

[p858snake]

its not free but you could look at this Virtual Release Station

[7andY]

We used to use Win98 PCs (yeah,really) as Print Servers. To get the display up, create a shortcut for the printer from 'Printers and Faxes', and pop it into the Startup folder. Make sure you set the shortcut properties to Maximise the window on startup.

7&Y