No subject

It shows the print queue with zero items.  The title bar says
    "HP970C on FAFNIR" which is the "comment" in the section for that
    printer in /etc/samba/smb.conf, as well as being the icon label in
    "Printers and Faxes".  (If the logged-in user were not listed
    under "printer admin" or in a listed group, the title bar would say
    "access denied".)
Print something moderately long, like a web page with graphics.  It prints.
In the queue display, hit view - refresh.  Titlebar has appended "Failed to
    open, retrying", and no print jobs are shown.  After printing finishes,
    eventually it retries yet again, and since there are zero items in the
    queue, the "failed"  message vanishes.  With "disable spoolss = yes",
    it would show what it calls a downgraded print request.

On the Samba server, neither /var/log/samba/log.smbd nor syslog (at debug
level) nor the CUPS log files show anything unusual.  The print request
appears, plus the CUPS logs show the queue display requests.  As far as
UNIX is concerned, it delivered what was asked for.  WinXP is less than
informative about just what it failed to open.

If anyone has any idea what's going on here, and what is the "right" way to
fix it, preferably using SPOOLSS MS-RPCs, I would appreciate some
pointers.

On a different topic, this could be considered as a request for an
enhancement.  To display the print queue, the user (by name on Windows) has
to have a UNIX account on the Samba server which must be listed in
/etc/samba/smb.conf [global] printer admin = (comma separated list of users
and UNIX groups).  Example: printer admin = root, at smbusers (with me in that
UNIX group).  It took me a while to figure that one out.  It would seem
logical for the person who enqueued the job to be able to see it.  In other
words, when a queue display request comes in, do the same authentication as
for a request to print.

If there are privacy issues, jobs for other users could be described in
innocuously generic terms, e.g. the user is identified as "someone else"
and the job title is blanked out.  But do include the file size.

James F. Carter          Voice 310 825 2897    FAX 310 206 6673
UCLA-Mathnet;  6115 MSA; 405 Hilgard Ave.; Los Angeles, CA, USA 90095-1555
Email: jimc at math.ucla.edu  http://www.math.ucla.edu/~jimc (q.v. for PGP key)

==== /etc/samba/smb.conf ====

# Global parameters
[global]
	log file = /var/log/samba/log.smbd
	workgroup = CFT
	server string = CFT Gateway
	security = SHARE
	encrypt passwords = yes
	hosts allow = 192.9.200.193 192.9.200.194 192.9.200.195 192.9.200.196 192.9.200.197 127.0.0.1
#		Interfaces: specify full IP address of interface / mask bits
	interfaces = 192.9.200.193/26 127.0.0.1/8
	bind interfaces only = True
	browseable = Yes
	guest account = nobody
	printer admin = root, at smbadmin
	printing = cups
	printcap name = cups

# This disables support of the SPOOLSS set of MS-RPC commands.  Clients will
# downgrade to LANMAN-style commands.  This prevents showing the printer
# properties, or downloading drivers via the Add Printer Wizard.  But the
# "list queue" function works for LANMAN; doesn't for SPOOLSS.
#	disable spoolss = yes

[HP970C]
	comment = HP 970c on Fafnir
	printer name = lp
	path = /tmp
	guest account = ftp
	guest ok = Yes
	printable = Yes
	read only = Yes
#               lpr args: -r = remove after print, -s = symbolic link to file
#		(prevents -r; CUPS can't do this), -P = choose queue, -l =
#		binary data, %s = file. Local hack: -v = REALLY binary data.
	print command = /usr/bin/lpr -P%p -r -l %s
	lpq command = /usr/bin/lpq -P%p
	lprm command = /usr/bin/lprm -P%p %j
#		This is deprecated after version 2.2.
#	printer driver = hp deskjet 970c series
#	printer driver location = c:\dj970\2kxpinf\enu\drivers\win2k_xp
#	printer driver location = \\fafnir\drivers\hp970c_xp\hpz970b.inf

[homes]
	writeable = yes
#		Don't show the "homes" section explicitly, just the homedirs
	browseable = No
	create mode = 0755