I can print!

[chip_s_ahoy]

I have tried both cups and pdq. I have recompiled the kernel, and I think that I have enabled the right options. Users are in the lp group.

Tests with cups and pdq both fail. I have tried:
cat test.txt > /dev/lp0
,but that didn't work either.

My devices don't look right, but MAKEDEV complained when I tried to recreate them.

here is a listing of devices:
chip@avila chip $ ls -l /dev/lp*
lr-xr-xr-x 1 root root 10 Apr 19 00:40 /dev/lp0 -> printers/0
crw-rw---- 1 root lp 6, 0 Apr 19 00:40 /dev/lp0-
crw-rw---- 1 root lp 6, 1 Apr 19 00:40 /dev/lp1-
crw-rw---- 1 root lp 6, 2 Apr 19 00:40 /dev/lp2-
Note the "-" on the end of each device.

Here is what MAKEDEV returns:
root@avila dev # ./MAKEDEV lp
mv: cannot move `lp0-' to `lp0': Operation not permitted
mv: cannot move `lp1-' to `lp1': Operation not permitted
mv: cannot move `lp2-' to `lp2': Operation not permitted

I do realize that I probably caused my own problems when attempting to fix printing. Can someone tell me, or give a resource that will give me step-by-step instructions to set up for printing?

Thanks,
Chip

[klieber]

Printing was a pain to set up for me as well. I used the following as a guide, which helped me to get things up and running:

http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Printing-HOWTO/index.html

This doc might be helpful as well:

http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/Printing-Usage-HOWTO.html

hth

--kurt
_________________
The problem with political jokes is that they get elected

[chip_s_ahoy]

Thank you, I've tried those.

I have the idea that the actual print management system may be ok, but the devices not. I think that

cat test.txt > /dev/lp0
or
cat test.txt > /dev/parport0

should elicit some response from the printer.

dmesg complains that:

plip: parport0 has no IRQ. Using IRQ-less mode,which is fairly inefficient!
NET3 PLIP version 2.4-parport gniibe@mri.co.jp
plip0: Parallel port at 0x3bc, not using IRQ.

when the bios says that the parallel port is using IRQ 7.

Thanks, Chip

[fghellar]

See if your parallel port is set to ECP mode in the BIOS. If not, set it to ECP.
http://www.hlug.org/presentations/cups/printing.html
_________________
| www.gentoo.org | www.tldp.org | www.google.com |

[chip_s_ahoy]

OK, I've worked through the how-to files. No success. Googling hasn't helped yet.

I tried each setting in the bios. No joy.

The printer does not respond to cat or lp or cups gui tools.

dmesg says (currently, I did try ECP) :
parport0: PC-style at 0x378 [PCSPP,TRISTATE,EPP]
parport0: faking semi-colon
parport0: Printer, HEWLETT-PACKARD DESKJET 720C
parport_pc: Via 686A parallel port: io=0x378
lp0: using parport0 (polling).

So it isn't seeing the port using interrupt 7, like the bios says it is.

[Guest]

Try emerging ghostscript. For some reason it isnt compiled along with cups and such also for cups you should do an rc-update cupsd default i think. The description is in the desktop manual. Maybe the simplest explanation is the best. Cups works but I could never get pdq to work dont ask me why

[dArkMaGE]

check to make sure you enabled all the options you need (or the right ones) in your kernel
its kinda confusing, you have to enabled the parallel port in one section, and in another section (maybe character devices) you have to enabled printers specifically...
maybe you got one and not the other

[chip_s_ahoy]

Ok, I have tried all these things. Maybe gentoo isn't for me. Windows will print

[fghellar]

Looks like the HP DeskJet 720C is some sort of "winprinter"... You'll need a special driver for it:

http://www.linuxprinting.org/show_printer.cgi?recnum=61504
http://www.linuxprinting.org/show_driver.cgi?driver=pnm2ppa
_________________
| www.gentoo.org | www.tldp.org | www.google.com |

[chip_s_ahoy]

Yes, I have been trying to use the pnm2ppa driver.

Thanks, Chip

[chip_s_ahoy]

OK, now I can print. Thank you for all the kind suggestions.

The problem was not difficult installation and setup. The problem was conflicting and confusing instructions. Well...they were for me!

HP's web site was very misleading. It indicated that the hp722c will print with the hpijs driver http://hpinkjet.sourceforge.net/. This isn't so. However, if hpijs is the software you need, a Gentoo ebuild is available. Many HP printers are supported.

Another web site that gave me hope was http://hpoj.sourceforge.net/index.shtml. Many hp printers, and some scanners and all-in-one devices are supported. No joy there for me.

The answer was the simple-to-use PPD-O-Matic at http://www.linuxprinting.org/show_driver.cgi?driver=pnm2ppa.

Pick your make and model of printer from the PPD-O-Matic, press the "Generate PPD file" button, and a text file is displayed. Save that file to /usr/share/cups/model/. I named the file hp722cpnm2ppa.ppd.

Restart cupsd with /etc/init.d/cupsd restart. Configure the printer with the cups configuration tool. http://localhost:631/printers. Select your new driver.

Print. Be happy. Not cranky anymore.

[newfloat]

Hey since you finally got yours working do you think you could help some of us less fortunate souls still having the same problem out???? I know I'd greatly appreciate it. Kinda a little personal how-to from you??? Thanks either way, i fell like im already closer.

[klieber]

[chip_s_ahoy]

Thanks, but the above post was really all that I did.

The problem wasn't with a difficult install, just finding the right thing _to_ install. Cups install and configuration was just a matter of following the Gentoo Desktop Configuration Guide.

The hard part is, if your printer isn't directly supported by Cups, finding the right driver.

Cups has some drivers, HP has some drivers, the HPOJ project has some drivers, and Linuxprint.org finally had the one that I needed to drive a WinPrinter.

Scratch that, now it's my LinPrinter

If you have a specific question, I would be happy to try to answer. But I'm not an expert, just someone who kept trying...

[newfloat]

The thing that im still having problems with is the devices. I get teh same listing you did when i did the 'MAKEDEV lp'. And when i try to add a printer it gets added to device '/dev/unknown-parallel0'. When i print it still won't work cause it can't find the device. How did you get around the device problem you were having? That's more what i wanted than a real how-to. Sorry if I was unclear. Thanks for any help again.

[chip_s_ahoy]

Well, that's just it. I did think that I was having a device problem. But that turned out not to be the case. I didn't understand why I couldn't use MAKEDEV to just re-create the devices. Well, I'm still unclear on why MAKEDEV didn't do what I wanted, but now I know that print drivers were the problem, not devices.

With these models of HP printers, using the wrong driver has pretty much the same effect as sending a file to /dev/null. The printer does not do any formatting or processing of a document. It needs to get machine-specific commands from the PC to respond at all. Most printers will at least produce some response to any input - lights blinking, printing garbage, whatever. These HP "WinPrinters" will just sit there, dumb and dumber.

If you have one of these printers, carefully select the right driver from www.linuxprinting.org. Mine was http://www.linuxprinting.org/ppd-o-matic.cgi?driver=pnm2ppa&printer=61536&.submit=Generate+PPD+file

Use Save As to put the file on your machine
su to root
Copy the file to the directory /usr/share/cups/model/, I used the filename hp722cpnm2ppa.ppd. I think that the ".ppd" is necessary.
Re-start cupsd with "/etc/init.d/cupsd restart".
Aim your browser at localhost:631 and step through the Cups configuration, selecting the parallel port connection, and your new driver.

[FINITE]

chip_s_ahoy:

You have just made my day! I just got my printer working using the instructions you posted here in the post above mine. OMG! I was freaking out with all of the options there are. Thinking I was going to have to go command line or something just to print a simple document, let alone a picture. I have an usb canon s630 and used this driver (incase someone else needs it)

[Technetium]

Great. This thread worked for my HP 695c. Chip_s_ thanks for posting your solution.

[Guest]

Ah! Excellent--this is exactly the thread that I had in mind when as I'm looking for help to set up my printer in linux (since this is the first time that I've done it). Thanks

[chip_s_ahoy]

After an emerge updated CUPS, I had a printing problem again.

No problem, thought I, I'll just go to the Gentoo Forum, follow the steps recorded back when, and be in business.

Did that, I still couldn't print.

I had the right driver for my winprinter, had CUPS configured through the web interface, etc, so this was a different problem.

So I did this:

Opened /etc/cups/cupsd.conf in vi
and changed: "LogLevel info" to "LogLevel debug". Saved that, opened a text file and printed. Nothing happened.

OK, now I'll have an error log to read, so: "less /var/log/cups/error_log", scroll to the bottom and look around. Ahh! Here is a complaint:
"libgimpprint.so.1: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory".

So I look in /usr/lib and find "libgimpprint.so", but no "libgimpprint.so.1". Let's try creating a link:
"ln -s libgimpprint.so libgimpprint.so.1"

And that works.

Chip

[rapskat]

First, I've got to thank chips for supplying that excellent resource on printing. I was beating my head against a wall trying to get this thing to work...I was almost to the point that I was going ot go back to Redhat! (yes, I was that desperate)

Anyway, followed your suggestions, and auto-generated a ppd file and replaced the one i already had that wasn't working.

Ok, now when printing a test page from the CUPS webadmin interface, my printer (HPDJ870Cse) initializes, then the amber light starts blinking. When I hit that, it spits out a page with one line of text on it:

Unknown device: stp

I tried doing a search for this error, but nothing I found seemed related. Anyone have a clue for me here?

Thanks!
_________________
--
...if I only had a clue.

[pjp]

[rapskat]

[rapskat]

[rapskat]