Printing with CUPS in the most basic smb.conf setup in Samba-3.0 (as was true for 2.2.x) requires just two parameters: printing = cups and printcap = cups. CUPS does not need a printcap file. However, the cupsd.conf configuration file knows of two related directives that control how such a file will be automatically created and maintained by CUPS for the convenience of third-party applications (example: Printcap /etc/printcap and PrintcapFormat BSD ). Legacy programs often require the existence of a printcap file containing printer names or they will refuse to print. Make sure CUPS is set to generate and maintain a printcap file. For details, see man cupsd.conf and other CUPS-related documentation, like the wealth of documents regarding the CUPS server itself available from the CUPS web site.