diff --git a/config.toml b/config.toml index 8702128..99a912b 100644 --- a/config.toml +++ b/config.toml @@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ defaultContentLanguage = "en" [languages] [languages.en] - title = "Lambwire" + title = "[:: LAMBWIRE ::] " languageName = "en-US 🇺🇸" LanguageCode = "en-US" contentDir = "content" @@ -22,4 +22,4 @@ defaultContentLanguage = "en" [params.author] name = "John Lamb" - email = "me@example.com" \ No newline at end of file + email = "johnlamb@lambwire.net" \ No newline at end of file diff --git a/content/blog/CUPS.md b/content/blog/CUPS.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..adf2cd8 --- /dev/null +++ b/content/blog/CUPS.md @@ -0,0 +1,25 @@ +--- +title: 'Workbench: Taming a Home Print Server for a Brother HL2240D' +date: 2025-04-13 +draft: false +--- +It turns out printers are their usual wily selves on Linux too. + +I’ve been experimenting with turning my Ubuntu‑based home server (running on a Raspberry Pi) into a network print server for my aging, but reliable Brother HL2240D. This isn’t a polished how‑to guide—it’s a work log of the messy, unexpected challenges of building something real. There’s a lot to be learned from the wild detours in DIY server projects, and if you’re curious about what happens when things don’t go exactly as planned, read on. + +## The Auth Adventure + +Getting CUPS (the Common Unix Printing System) to share the printer over the network turned out to be an adventure. I wrestled with accessing the admin interface over HTTPS versus HTTP, and even encountered some browser cache quirks that made authentication seem inconsistent. After a few refreshes (and the occasional incognito window), I finally got into the CUPS admin pages and configured my printer correctly. + +## The Driver Debacle + +Everything looked promising until I tried printing—CUPS reported that the job was completed, yet no paper came out. Classic! A look at the logs revealed that the Brother proprietary driver was built for i386, which isn’t compatible with my ARM64 (aarch64) Raspberry Pi. I briefly toyed with QEMU emulation, only to find that mixing architectures led to missing libraries and a host of awkward workarounds. + +Then I discovered the open‑source brlaser driver—a native solution that does away with emulation entirely. Unfortunately, there was no clear match for my HL2240D in the drivers offered by brlaser: HL2220, HL2140, and HL2270DW. HL2220 *sounded* closest but community feedback steered me toward the HL2140 option. Once I switched to the native driver, printing actually worked, turning a frustrating mismatch into a practical fix. + +--- + +In short, what began as a straightforward print server project evolved into a wild ride through browser caches, authentication quirks, and architectural mismatches. This was a classic case where one route (emulation) seemed promising and could've worked but would've required immense complexity to implement all the needed workarounds. Taking a step back revealed the simplest solution and one I hadn't considered initially: an open source driver. + + +Happy tinkering! diff --git a/content/blog/first.md b/content/blog/first.md deleted file mode 100644 index 5b70e58..0000000 --- a/content/blog/first.md +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6 +0,0 @@ ---- -title: 'Hello World' -date: 2025-03-09 -draft: false ---- -This is a test post. \ No newline at end of file