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Durst Linux Integration

Network topology

The default setup of a Durst computer is to connect it in a private network with the supplied Caldera RIP computer. To enable access there are three options:    

  1. Move the printer in the main LAN
  2. Add a switch to the private network and a second network card in our RIP computer. This is the preferred method, as it doesn’t require IP changes on the originally installed Caldera RIP and the Durst printer.
  3. Route IP traffic through the Caldera RIP

Determine the connection

Many Durst printers have 2 Ethernet ports in use (1 is to the outside world and 1 to the internal print engine). So before you can connect from the RIP, you have to figure out the IP address.  

Open System > Administration > Network  

You likely see 2 devices “eth0” and “eth1” (there might also be backups of them, which you can ignore). Double-click and note the IP addresses.  

Eth0 might be 192.168.35.85 – and this will most likely be your external IP to which you can connect from your RIP.

Eth1 might be 192.0.30.30 and that’s the internal to the print engine with no outside connection (not relevant to connect from your RIP)  

On the RIP check that your 2nd network card is in the same IP range as Eth0, then open a Command Prompt (Windows) or Terminal (MacOS X) and enter ‘ping 192.168.35.85’ (or equivalent). You should get positive replies.  

If it fails and your Ethernet cable is verifiably connected to the same hub as the Durst printer, change the IP address of your network card to one unused in the range of Eth1 and repeat the PING test.  

Once PING is successful, follow the instructions below depending on the platform used.

MacOS X 10.7 and lower

MacOS X connects to the Durst printer using the NFS protocol. This is a UNIX protocol that is the default connection method for Durst printers. To setup the connection follow the instructions below.  

Start the Disk Utility (located in /Applications/Utilities) and select menu File > NFS Mounts.  

In the NFS Mounts list add a new entry and a dialog show below is displayed.

At ‘Remote NFS URL’ fill in the same URL is displayed but only change the IP address by the actual IP address or DNS name of the Durst printer.  

At ‘Mount location’ fill in a path on your local computer. The last part of the path (‘Durst’ in the example) may not exist. After the creation a folder with that name is created at that location.  

Make sure the ‘Advanced Mount Parameters’ are filled in as shown.  

After creating the NFS mount on the location ‘Mount location’ the content of the Durst printer is shown at that location.  

Select ‘Mount location’/Hotfolders/Hotfolder1 (or hot folder of the users choice) as output path for the RIP its Durst driver

MacOS X 10.8 and higher

MacOS 10.8 and higher dropped the above mentioned Disk Utility facilities. Instead a commercial tool like NFS Manager can be used to do the same. This tool currently doesn’t work stabile on 10.9. When using NFS Manager execute the following steps:

  • Create a folder that serves as mount location on the hard disk.
  • In NFS Manager navigate to NFS Client > Configuration
  • Click ‘Change options…’
  • Switch on ‘resvport’
  • In NFS Manager navigate to NFS Client > Active Mounts
  • Click ‘Manual mount…’
  • Fill in the IP address of the Durst
  • Click Select at Share and select /mnt/images
  • Fill in the folder path created at hard disk as last parameter

On MacOS 10.9 manual set-up via Terminal is still possible. This method we don’t actively support although it works.

Windows Pro 10

Windows 10 Pro has Windows NFS Client built in and just needs activating by going to Programes and Features, and adding the Windows Feature of NFS Client. This allows free access to shared drives on Linux platforms using the Network File System protocol.

Windows Prior to Pro 10

Windows connects to the Durst printer using the Samba protocol. This protocol is default installed at the Durst printer but not always completely setup. First test if Samba is already set-up:

  • Execute ‘\\<IP>\Durst’ at the Run command of the Windows computer
  • User: durst
  • Password: Digilarger

If this fails try the following combination:

  • User: /
  • No password

If this fails then setup Samba follow the instructions below:

 On the Durst computer (DFE) there are 2 ways to enable Samba:

  1. Replace configuration files
  2. Configure through the UI
 
 

Replace configuration files

In root/admin mode – copy the three enclosed files (see bottom of this topic: lmhosts, smb.conf and smbusers) to the /etc/samba directory and replace the existing ones. It is recommended to rename or back up the existing files just in case you need to go back to the Linux locked down state for some reason.
 
There is a second directory /etc/samba4. Copy the same files into this directory as well.
 
Reboot the Durst controller back in to Durst Operator mode:
  • User : durst
  • Password : Digilarger

Configure through the UI

The Durst computer runs Red Hat Linux with a graphical KDE shell, which makes editing the configuration file easy. To get access to the KDE shell click the (-) button in the Durst application if it is in full-screen mode.
 
Add a Samba share:
In the main menu, click on System settings > Server settings > Samba, which shows the menu on the right.  
Click ‘Add’ and enter /mnt/images. Name it ‘Durst’ and enable Read/Write on it.
On the tab ‘Access’, choose the radio button ‘Allow access to everyone’.
Check Samba configuration:
Using an explorer, browse to /etc/samba/smb.conf and edit the file.

Make sure the following content is present:

path = /mnt/images
public = yes
writeable = yes
browseable = yes
guest ok = yes
create mask = 777
force create mode = 777
security mask = 777
force security mode = 777              
directory mask = 777
force directory mode = 777
directory security mask = 777
force directory security mode = 777
comment = Hotfolder Share
  
 
 
On the Windows computer:
 
To mount the share at the Durst computer execute ‘\\<IP>\Durst’ at the Run command of the Windows computer.
 
It is recommended to make a reconnecting share to a drive like Z:, this enables to restore the connection after restart and store the password.

Route IP traffic

 

As suggested above it is recommended to build a small network between the Durst printer, Caldera RIP and our RIP or to bring the printer into the main network.

In case both of these options is not viable or desirable it is also possible to route the traffic through the Caldera RIP to the Durst printer. Below is explained how this can be achieved.
 
In order to route traffic through to a printer connected to Caldera on a private network:
  1. Determine the address of the private NIC in the Caldera RIP that communicates with the Durst printer. Usually this is 192.168.35.80
  2. Determine the address of the public NIC in Caldera. For example 10.0.0.4
  3. In the network settings on the Durst controller (the Linux box in the printer), set the default gateway to the IP address or the Caldera private NIC (Determined in step 1).
  4. On the Caldera RIP, edit /etc/sysctl.conf and uncomment or add a line that says:
    net.ipv4.ip_forward=1
  5. Reboot Caldera
There is one more thing that has to be done. The other machines on the network need to be able to find the Durst printer.  You can do this one of two ways:

The easy way

This method will ONLY allow traffic between the Durst and our RIP. If traffic ONLY has to flow between our RIP and the Durst, you should be able to add a static route in Windows or MacOS X on the RIP computer.
Note that you need to use the correct address for the private Durst network, and the Caldera RIP. Using the most common Durst IP 192.168.35.90 for this example.

Windows

Open CMD as administrator and type the following command:
 

route -p add 192.168.35.0 mask 255.255.255.0 10.0.0.4

 

MacOS X

Start Terminal and execute the following steps:
 
$ sudo mkdir /Library/StartupItems/AddRoute
$ cd /Library/StartupItems/AddRoute
$ echo “{
        Description     = \”Add static routing tables\”;
        Provides        = (\”AddRoutes\”);
        Requires        = (\”Network\”);
        OrderPreference = \”None\”;
}” > StartupParameters.plist
$ echo “#!/bin/sh
 
. /etc/rc.common
 
StartService ()
{
    ConsoleMessage “Adding Static Routing Tables”
    sudo route add 192.168.35.0/24 10.0.0.4
}
 
StopService ()
{
    return 0
}
 
RestartService ()
{
    return 0
}
 
RunService “$1″” > AddRoutes
$ sudo chmod 755 AddRoutes
 
The hard way
Add a static route to the local gateway/router on the LAN for the sub-net between the Caldera RIP and Durst printer.
 
Add and entry to the table with the following parameters:
  • Destination : 192.168.35.0/24
  • Gateway : 10.0.0.4
  • Distance/Metric : 1
How this is done is different for every router. On many cheap home/small business routers it is not even possible.
Updated on May 19, 2022

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