Problems setting up network printer in Fedora Core 8

[jkrell]

First off, let me say I am not looking for a how-to on connecting to a printer that is connected to an XP or Vista machine, which seems quite easy but is not practical for me. Unfortunately when I try to Google my problem, all the results pertain to that and not to my setup.

I have an HP 3030 Laserjet hooked up to a Linksys print server. I know the IP address of the printer, and I can go to it in a browser and access the print server firmware. I can also print flawlessly from my Vista laptop. However, since updating from Fedora Core 5 or 6 (I can't remember) to Fedora 8, I can not figure out how to set up the printer. This was a snap to set up on the old OS, however Fedora 8 has presented a problem.

I have tried virtually everything in system-config-printers to no avail. The farthest I get is that I manage to print a test page but then trying to print an actual document yields no result (printer does not respond in any way and the job just sits in the print queue).

Any ideas? I will try anything. This is my wife's computer and she is very annoyed that she cannot print. I have toyed with buying a better print server, but want to be sure that is the problem before dropping the $$$.

[o.meyer]

Hi,

please have a look at http://www.howtoforge.com/installati...ra8-desktop-p7 - step 12.1.2 .

Best regards,

Olli

[jkrell]

Olli-

That is what I used my first try (I love the Perfect Desktop/Perfect Server How-Tos). It results in me being able to print a test page, but nothing else. When it scans the network, it does not find the printer. I enter in the IP address and all seems to go OK, but then when I try to print, nothing happens.

Thanks,
Jason

[o.meyer]

Hi jkrell,

have you installed the dependences (step 12.1) and opened the needed ports (port 161 (tcp+udp) for snmp and port 9100 (tcp) for jetdirect)?

I have two HP network printers (K550DTN & L7680) running without any problems.

Best regards,

Olli

[jkrell]

Olli:

I should not need to worry about ports, as I have no firewalls enabled on any of my machines (except my server), as they are all behind a router. So, unless I am missing something, this cannot be a problem for me.

I thought about getting a Jetdirect print server, thinking then I could use the actual HP printer software you highlight in the how-to, but they are so overpriced.

I think this may be a problem with my print server. Can you think of anything else I might try before biting the bullet and paying the $$$ for the Jetdirect?

[o.meyer]

Hi jkrell,

Please paste the output of...

hp-info

Have you installed the recommended .ppd-file? (step 12.1.2 screenshot 4)

And please check again if you have installed all dependences from step 12.1 - you can do this with

rpm -q %package%

or

yum list installed | grep %package%

.

Best regards,

Olli

[jkrell]

Thanks. I'll run this stuff tonight and post the output.

[jkrell]

First off, I should clarify that the furthest I get (being able to print a test page but nothing else) is by setting up a network printer using CUPS (Step 12.2 in your Howto), not by doing what is described in Step 12.1.2. I do not get past the first part of Step 12.1.2, because the HP GUI will not detect my printer, even if I click on "Find Manually". I honestly think this is because I am not using an HP-branded print server. I know third party print servers do not "play nice" with HP printers and software.

Originally Posted by o.meyer

Please paste the output of... hp-info

HP Linux Imaging and Printing System (ver. 2.8.2)
Device Information Utility ver. 3.4

Copyright (c) 2001-7 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, LP
This software comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
This is free software, and you are welcome to distribute it
under certain conditions. See COPYING file for more details.

error: No devices found.
error: Error occured during interactive mode. Exiting.

Originally Posted by o.meyer

Have you installed the recommended .ppd-file? (step 12.1.2 screenshot 4)

No, I do not get this far in Step 12.1.2.

Originally Posted by o.meyer

And please check again if you have installed all dependences from step 12.1

The only one that Yum does not recognize (and therefore that I cannot install) is pyqt/pyqt4.

[jkrell]

Originally Posted by o.meyer

I have two HP network printers (K550DTN & L7680) running without any problems.

Do you use a print server or are the printers directly connected to your network? The reason I ask is that Jetdirect servers are quite expensive so if there is one that is confirmed to work I might consider getting that instead.

[o.meyer]

Hi jkrell,

yes, my printers are directly connected to the network. And yes, I also think the problem is your print server. Maybe you should look out for a new printer (network-compatible / RJ45) instead a jetdirect server - this could be cheaper

PS: pyqt & pyqt are both available in the repository.

[olli@server1 ~]$ yum search pyqt
Loading "fastestmirror" plugin
Loading "skip-broken" plugin
Loading "fedorakmod" plugin
Loading "kernel-module" plugin
Loading mirror speeds from cached hostfile
 * livna: ftp-stud.fht-esslingen.de
 * skype: download.skype.com
 * fedora: ftp.uni-kl.de
 * adobe-linux-i386: linuxdownload.adobe.com
 * updates: ftp.uni-kl.de
PyQt-qscintilla-devel.i386 : Libraries and header files for PyQt-qscintilla development
PyQt-qscintilla.i386 : PyQt qscintilla extentions
PyQt-qscintilla.i386 : PyQt qscintilla extentions
luma.noarch : A graphical tool for managing LDAP servers
PyQt-devel.i386 : Files needed to build other bindings based on Qt
PyQt4-devel.i386 : Files needed to build other bindings based on Qt4
PyQt.i386 : Python bindings for Qt
PyQt-examples.i386 : Examples for PyQt
PyQt4.i386 : Python bindings for Qt4
PyQt-examples.i386 : Examples for PyQt
PyQt.i386 : Python bindings for Qt
PyQt4.i386 : Python bindings for Qt4
luma.noarch : A graphical tool for managing LDAP servers
PyQt.i386 : Python bindings for Qt
PyQt4.i386 : Python bindings for Qt4
PyQt4-devel.i386 : Files needed to build other bindings based on Qt4
PyQt-devel.i386 : Files needed to build other bindings based on Qt
PyQt-qscintilla-devel.i386 : Libraries and header files for PyQt development

Best regards,

Olli