# how do i install my printer

## moneytree

i just in the last week have gone away from the dark side of windows and have turned to linux.....so i have a lot to learn...i have a DeskJet 920c how abouts do i install it in linux so that i can print stuff:D

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## Specialized

Check out this!!

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## loki99

I guess this is what you are looking for.  :Wink: 

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## StevenSeagal

I followed the how-to but do not work...

The "low-level testing" doesn't print anything, and so applications. Cups also doesn't print the test page.

I'm pretty sure Cups is well configured, my printer is in the database and so... pliz help!

(Epson Stylus Color 880 via USB)

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## Specialized

For the Stylus 880 you can use the turboprint drivers. you can find them here.

They are commercial (29,- Euro), but they are worth the money.You can test them for free, but in my case i got the turboprint-logo in my printings after one day, but i was absolutely pleased, so i bought them. I'm using them with an canon printer.

I just installed them emerged cups did the turbo-print-configure and then used the Kde-printing-manager to create an new printer and selected turbo-print as driver.

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## StevenSeagal

Thanks for these info, but well i don't believe it's a driver problem, i red the gimp-print drivers should work fine with my printer, and the "cat temp.txt > /dev/usb/lp0" trick should work before installing anything, doesn't it? "Usb printer support" is in my kernel, so... however i'll try those drivers tomorrow.

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## StevenSeagal

Nothing again :(

I also tried coldplug, but nothing. I don't get any error messages, just the printer do not print.

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## neonknight

There should also be a "demo"-version of turboprint which is free of charge. These drivers do not support highest resolutions, but for home-use it is enough. I used them with my crappy Epson Stylus Color 440 and it was OK. I also recommend using them instead of free and open drivers like gimp-print.

Also check out that cups uses the correct usblp-device! Sometimes it insists on using a wrong device which needs to be corrected manually in /etc/cups/printers.conf...

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## AaronPPC

Are you sure that your printer is being recognized?

Did you look at your dmesg?

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## bhav2007

You need to make sure that your usb is actually working, as it requires several kernel options to be enabled. My system has a command called lsusb which helps me (only shows up for root).

Also, cups has a web configuration tool which is installed automatically. You should be able to go to http://localhost:631/ and configure cups and your printers from there.

Cups doesnt show any popups or error messages when it doesnt work. You should check your logs, depending on your logging program they are somewhere in /var/. (metalog is /var/log/everything or /var/log/cups/*)

Gnome-cups-manager would give you a graphical display of your printers and jobs like windows does.

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## StevenSeagal

I don't have a logger, i'll emerge syslog-ng!

However, these are some outputs:

```
# lsusb

Bus 005 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

Bus 004 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

Bus 003 Device 002: ID 04b8:0005 Seiko Epson Corp. Stylus Printer

Bus 003 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

Bus 002 Device 003: ID 04b8:010c Seiko Epson Corp. Perfection 640

Bus 002 Device 002: ID 0925:8866 Wisegroup, Ltd MP-8866 Dual USB Joypad

Bus 002 Device 001: ID 0000:0000

Bus 001 Device 001: ID 0000:0000
```

```
# dmesg | grep printer -i

drivers/usb/class/usblp.c: v0.13: USB Printer Device Class driver

drivers/usb/class/usblp.c: usblp0: USB Bidirectional printer dev 2 if 0 alt 0 proto 2 vid 0x04B8 pid 0x0005

# dmesg | grep hub

usbcore: registered new driver hub

hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found

hub 1-0:1.0: 8 ports detected

hub 2-0:1.0: USB hub found

hub 2-0:1.0: 2 ports detected

hub 3-0:1.0: USB hub found

hub 3-0:1.0: 2 ports detected

hub 4-0:1.0: USB hub found

hub 4-0:1.0: 2 ports detected

hub 5-0:1.0: USB hub found

hub 5-0:1.0: 2 ports detected

# dmesg | grep usb-i

usbcore: registered new driver usbfs

usbcore: registered new driver hub

ehci_hcd 0000:00:10.4: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 1

ehci_hcd 0000:00:10.4: USB 2.0 initialized, EHCI 1.00, driver 10 Dec 2004

hub 1-0:1.0: USB hub found

ohci_hcd: 2004 Nov 08 USB 1.1 'Open' Host Controller (OHCI) Driver (PCI)

USB Universal Host Controller Interface driver v2.2

uhci_hcd 0000:00:10.0: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 2

hub 2-0:1.0: USB hub found

uhci_hcd 0000:00:10.1: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 3

hub 3-0:1.0: USB hub found

usb 2-1: new low speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 2

uhci_hcd 0000:00:10.2: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 4

hub 4-0:1.0: USB hub found

uhci_hcd 0000:00:10.3: new USB bus registered, assigned bus number 5

hub 5-0:1.0: USB hub found

usb 2-1: configuration #1 chosen from 2 choices

usbcore: registered new driver usblp

drivers/usb/class/usblp.c: v0.13: USB Printer Device Class driver

Initializing USB Mass Storage driver...

usbcore: registered new driver usb-storage

USB Mass Storage support registered.

usb 2-1: string descriptor 0 read error: -32

usb 2-1: string descriptor 0 read error: -32

usb 2-1: string descriptor 0 read error: -32

input: USB HID v1.00 Joystick [0925:8866] on usb-0000:00:10.0-1

usbcore: registered new driver usbhid

drivers/usb/input/hid-core.c: v2.0:USB HID core driver

PCI0 PS2K PS2M UAR1 AC97 USB1 USB2 USB3 USB4 EHCI PWRB SLPB

usb 2-1: string descriptor 0 read error: -32

usb 2-1: string descriptor 0 read error: -32

usb 2-1: string descriptor 0 read error: -32

usb 2-1: string descriptor 0 read error: -32

usb 2-1: string descriptor 0 read error: -32

usb 2-1: string descriptor 0 read error: -32

usb 2-1: string descriptor 0 read error: -32

usb 2-1: string descriptor 0 read error: -32

usb 2-1: string descriptor 0 read error: -32

usb 2-1: string descriptor 0 read error: -32

usb 2-1: string descriptor 0 read error: -32

usb 2-1: string descriptor 0 read error: -32

usb 3-2: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 2

drivers/usb/class/usblp.c: usblp0: USB Bidirectional printer dev 2 if 0 alt 0 proto 2 vid 0x04B8 pid 0x0005

usb 2-2: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 3
```

My kernel compiling options:

```
# cat /usr/src/linux/.config | grep USB

# USB support

CONFIG_USB=y

# CONFIG_USB_DEBUG is not set

# Miscellaneous USB options

CONFIG_USB_DEVICEFS=y

# CONFIG_USB_BANDWIDTH is not set

# CONFIG_USB_DYNAMIC_MINORS is not set

# CONFIG_USB_SUSPEND is not set

# CONFIG_USB_OTG is not set

CONFIG_USB_ARCH_HAS_HCD=y

CONFIG_USB_ARCH_HAS_OHCI=y

# USB Host Controller Drivers

CONFIG_USB_EHCI_HCD=y

# CONFIG_USB_EHCI_SPLIT_ISO is not set

# CONFIG_USB_EHCI_ROOT_HUB_TT is not set

CONFIG_USB_OHCI_HCD=y

CONFIG_USB_UHCI_HCD=y

# CONFIG_USB_SL811_HCD is not set

# USB Device Class drivers

# CONFIG_USB_AUDIO is not set

# CONFIG_USB_BLUETOOTH_TTY is not set

# CONFIG_USB_MIDI is not set

# CONFIG_USB_ACM is not set

CONFIG_USB_PRINTER=y

# NOTE: USB_STORAGE enables SCSI, and 'SCSI disk support' may also be needed; see USB_STORAGE Help for more information

CONFIG_USB_STORAGE=y

# CONFIG_USB_STORAGE_DEBUG is not set

# CONFIG_USB_STORAGE_RW_DETECT is not set

# CONFIG_USB_STORAGE_DATAFAB is not set

# CONFIG_USB_STORAGE_FREECOM is not set

# CONFIG_USB_STORAGE_ISD200 is not set

# CONFIG_USB_STORAGE_DPCM is not set

# CONFIG_USB_STORAGE_HP8200e is not set

# CONFIG_USB_STORAGE_SDDR09 is not set

# CONFIG_USB_STORAGE_SDDR55 is not set

# CONFIG_USB_STORAGE_JUMPSHOT is not set

# USB Input Devices

CONFIG_USB_HID=y

CONFIG_USB_HIDINPUT=y

# CONFIG_USB_HIDDEV is not set

# CONFIG_USB_AIPTEK is not set

# CONFIG_USB_WACOM is not set

# CONFIG_USB_KBTAB is not set

# CONFIG_USB_POWERMATE is not set

# CONFIG_USB_MTOUCH is not set

# CONFIG_USB_EGALAX is not set

# CONFIG_USB_XPAD is not set

# CONFIG_USB_ATI_REMOTE is not set

# USB Imaging devices

# CONFIG_USB_MDC800 is not set

# CONFIG_USB_MICROTEK is not set

# USB Multimedia devices

# CONFIG_USB_DABUSB is not set

# Video4Linux support is needed for USB Multimedia device support

# USB Network Adapters

# CONFIG_USB_CATC is not set

# CONFIG_USB_KAWETH is not set

# CONFIG_USB_PEGASUS is not set

# CONFIG_USB_RTL8150 is not set

# CONFIG_USB_USBNET is not set

# USB port drivers

# USB Serial Converter support

# CONFIG_USB_SERIAL is not set

# USB Miscellaneous drivers

# CONFIG_USB_EMI62 is not set

# CONFIG_USB_EMI26 is not set

# CONFIG_USB_AUERSWALD is not set

# CONFIG_USB_RIO500 is not set

# CONFIG_USB_LEGOTOWER is not set

# CONFIG_USB_LCD is not set

# CONFIG_USB_LED is not set

# CONFIG_USB_CYTHERM is not set

# CONFIG_USB_PHIDGETKIT is not set

# CONFIG_USB_PHIDGETSERVO is not set

# CONFIG_USB_IDMOUSE is not set

# CONFIG_USB_TEST is not set

# USB ATM/DSL drivers

# USB Gadget Support

# CONFIG_USB_GADGET is not set
```

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## StevenSeagal

 *bhav2007 wrote:*   

> Cups doesnt show any popups or error messages when it doesnt work. You should check your logs, depending on your logging program they are somewhere in /var/. (metalog is /var/log/everything or /var/log/cups/*)

 

I tried to print a test page from cups (http://localhost:631/printers...):

```
# cat /var/log/cups/error_log

I [28/Jun/2005:15:13:06 +0200] Scheduler shutting down normally.

I [28/Jun/2005:15:13:52 +0200] Listening to 7f000001:631

I [28/Jun/2005:15:13:52 +0200] Loaded configuration file "/etc/cups/cupsd.conf"

I [28/Jun/2005:15:13:52 +0200] Configured for up to 100 clients.

I [28/Jun/2005:15:13:52 +0200] Allowing up to 100 client connections per host.

I [28/Jun/2005:15:13:52 +0200] Full reload is required.

I [28/Jun/2005:15:13:52 +0200] LoadPPDs: Read "/etc/cups/ppds.dat", 1877 PPDs...

I [28/Jun/2005:15:13:53 +0200] LoadPPDs: No new or changed PPDs...

I [28/Jun/2005:15:13:53 +0200] Full reload complete.

I [28/Jun/2005:15:14:51 +0200] Started "/usr/lib/cups/cgi-bin/jobs.cgi" (pid=6300)

I [28/Jun/2005:15:14:59 +0200] Started "/usr/lib/cups/cgi-bin/printers.cgi" (pid=6327)

I [28/Jun/2005:15:15:16 +0200] Started "/usr/lib/cups/cgi-bin/printers.cgi" (pid=6328)

I [28/Jun/2005:15:15:16 +0200] Adding start banner page "none" to job 1.

I [28/Jun/2005:15:15:16 +0200] Adding end banner page "none" to job 1.

I [28/Jun/2005:15:15:16 +0200] Job 1 queued on 'Epson' by ''.

I [28/Jun/2005:15:15:16 +0200] Started filter /usr/lib/cups/filter/pstops (PID 6329) for job 1.

I [28/Jun/2005:15:15:16 +0200] Started filter /usr/lib/cups/filter/foomatic-rip (PID 6330) for job 1.

I [28/Jun/2005:15:15:16 +0200] Started backend /usr/lib/cups/backend/usb (PID 6331) for job 1.

E [28/Jun/2005:15:15:17 +0200] PID 6330 stopped with status 3!

I [28/Jun/2005:15:15:17 +0200] Hint: Try setting the LogLevel to "debug" to find out more.
```

So what's foomatic status 3?

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## Specialized

Have you tried writing an udev-rule for your Printer?

Here is a good Guide with an usb-printer as example.

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## StevenSeagal

 *Specialized wrote:*   

> Have you tried writing an udev-rule for your Printer?
> 
> Here is a good Guide with an usb-printer as example.

 

I don't know what an "udev" is :) but i'll read that stuff, when time permits. Thanx.

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## Specialized

udev makes all your device-nodes for example /dev/usb/lp0. It has mostly replaced devfs. So if there is a Problem with an device it could be possible that there is no rule to create the device-node or it is incorrect. The greatest advantage of udev is that it makes the device-nodes dynamicly, only when the device is plugged.

But if your still using devfs this is no solution.

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## Specialized

What is listed when you're doing

```
cat /proc/bus/usb/devices
```

with plugged Printer?

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## StevenSeagal

 *Specialized wrote:*   

> What is listed when you're doing
> 
> ```
> cat /proc/bus/usb/devices
> ```
> ...

 

Here you are:

 *Quote:*   

> # cat /proc/bus/usb/devices
> 
> T:  Bus=05 Lev=00 Prnt=00 Port=00 Cnt=00 Dev#=  1 Spd=12  MxCh= 2
> 
> B:  Alloc=  0/900 us ( 0%), #Int=  0, #Iso=  0
> ...

 

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## Specialized

I think your Printer is recognized correctly.

I've tried cat temp.txt > /dev/usb/lp0 at my computer and it didn't work too. :Wink: 

Maybe you should go on with your installation with the kde-printing-manager. (if you're using kde)

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## tuxdaemon

Btw, stay away from the Canon S300!

Nothing but trouble.

Is right in the middle where there is no support.  S400 and S200 are supported, not mine.

Guides don't help, no postscript files (PPD's) work with this stupid USB thing.

I don't need a printer anyways, but anywho just stay away from buying one if you can.

I heard with lots of effort they can be made to work, but have yet to suceed in any of the guides.

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## StevenSeagal

 *Specialized wrote:*   

> I think your Printer is recognized correctly.
> 
> I've tried cat temp.txt > /dev/usb/lp0 at my computer and it didn't work too.:wink: 
> 
> Maybe you should go on with your installation with the kde-printing-manager. (if you're using kde)

 

After some driver-changing-rebooting-kicks-on-the-printer now works, using the kde control center.

Also the "cat foo.txt > /dev/usb/lp0" trick now works (quite useless, but... :) . Thank you guys.

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