Printing with CUPS: Almost here ! (Finally HERE!)

[Eastern Counties]

I am using Puppy 1.0.7 from a live CD on a Toshiba laptop with a Canon i250 USB printer. I'm a newbie both to Linux and Puppy, and cannot get Puppy to connect with my printer.

I found the forum thread about installing CUPS and since this works so well in my Red Hat 9, I gave the process a try. Thanks to rarsa and dewdrop for their patience in sorting it out.

I installed the Canon drivers (from Canon NZ) that I use on my RH9 partition. This provides a ppd file (i250.ppd). Everything went smoothly, but when the test page was sent, there was nothing from the printer (it was connected and turned on, by the way!). I worked my way back through the discussion, tinkered around, but still no luck.

Response to the command 'perl -h' produces a long list of command options, so presumably it is installed OK.

Response to 'ls -la /usr/lib/cups/filter' is exactly the same as dewdrop's, although I had to create a link to 'usr/bin/foomatic-rip'.

One query is that /var/log/cups/error_log includes:

'LoadPPDs: Read "/etc/cups/ppds.dat", 17 PPDs...
LoadPPDs: No new or changed PPDs...'

My 'i250.ppd' file is in the /etc/cups/ppd folder and 'etc/cups/ppds.dat' simply contains the word 'Canon'. So is CUPS not finding 'i250.ppd'? Just guessing, I altered 'etc/cups/ppds.dat' so that it was a symlink to 'i250.ppd', and restarted CUPS, but got the message:
'PPD file for i250 cannot be loaded!
Line longer than the maximum allowed (255 characters) on line 1.'

So how do I get CUPS to pick up 'i250.ppd'?

One other thing. I did wonder if it is my version of Perl that is the problem. Being on a slow dial-up connection, downloading 'usr_devx.sfs' was out of the question. Instead, I copied Perl 5.8.0-88 across from Red Hat (I have pup001 on the RH partition). Is it incompatible with the later kernel?

Any ideas would be welcome.

John

[dewdrop]

I am using Puppy 1.0.7 from a live CD on a Toshiba laptop with a Canon i250 USB printer. I'm a newbie both to Linux and Puppy, and cannot get Puppy to connect with my printer.


One other thing. I did wonder if it is my version of Perl that is the problem. Being on a slow dial-up connection, downloading 'usr_devx.sfs' was out of the question. Instead, I copied Perl 5.8.0-88 across from Red Hat (I have pup001 on the RH partition). Is it incompatible with the later kernel?

Any ideas would be welcome.

John

Hi John,

This is dewdrop. Welcome to the wonder-filled world of Puppy and Linux and Printing.

The thing I used to forget to do all the time was either - 1...run the restart cups command or, - 2... reboot the computer, after everything is said and done. Please be sure you have done both of those parts of the test.

The perl script that is noted by Rarsa to download on page one of this thread is absolutely necessary for all versions from Puppy 1.0.5 and following, I know that the perl that is downloadable as a pupget will not work. If you cannot or don't want to download the 'usr_devx.sfs' file as you indicated, you must download the one on page 1 of this thread, and use that.

Since I participated in the original work on this thread, I have purchased a Canon PIXMA iP1500, and still cannot get that to print. I too am using Puppy 1.0.7 at the moment. I know that Canon is "in-famous" for ignoring Linux, and the work-around that I use is something called TurboPrint for Linux. It prints a banner on each page you print out, but for what I need of printing at the moment, I work around the banner...the banner free version is about $40..

Keep us informed of your progress, and if you get it solved, maybe your solution will help me too. I hope so.

dewdrop

[Eastern Counties]

Dewdrop

Thanks for your reply. Have you tried the Canon NZ website for drivers for your new printer? They have quite a lot of Linux drivers there. I had been restarting and rebooting, so perhaps the Perl version is the problem.

Having got my USB to serial external modem working in Puppy through the help of forum members, I am determined to sort out the printing.

John

[Guest]

Hi Dewdrop

Well I can't even get TurboPrint to work, even with a new pup001. I am beginning to wonder if it is a laptop issue. I tried to get Puppy to recognise a parallell port Epson Stylus printer, but without success even though it was listed.

The weird thing is that it all so easy with Red Hat 9, even though it is a pretty old distro. RH9 recognised the Canon i250 immediately and prints instantly and faultlessly, although not with full photprint quality.

The last thing to try is to get my neighbour (who has Broadband) to download the usr_devx.sfs file onto his USB pen drive and then dump that into my pup001 and see if that fixes it. I've been spending a bit too much time on this, so if the usr_devx.sfs file doesn't sort it out, I will have to abandon and stick with rebooting into Red Hat whenever I need to print. It all seems so slow after Puppy, though.

I'll let you know how I get on

John

[dewdrop]

Hi Dewdrop

Well I can't even get TurboPrint to work, even with a new pup001. I am beginning to wonder if it is a laptop issue. I tried to get Puppy to recognise a parallell port Epson Stylus printer, but without success even though it was listed.

The weird thing is that it all so easy with Red Hat 9, even though it is a pretty old distro. RH9 recognised the Canon i250 immediately and prints instantly and faultlessly, although not with full photprint quality.

The last thing to try is to get my neighbour (who has Broadband) to download the usr_devx.sfs file onto his USB pen drive and then dump that into my pup001 and see if that fixes it. I've been spending a bit too much time on this, so if the usr_devx.sfs file doesn't sort it out, I will have to abandon and stick with rebooting into Red Hat whenever I need to print. It all seems so slow after Puppy, though.

I'll let you know how I get on

John

Hi John,

Thanks for your reply. The usr_devx.sfs file must be in the same area as the pup001 file - if you are using Windows, it would be C: drive. I guess if you have RedHat 9, it would be on the / drive area...wherever you see the pup001 file.

Another idea to try to get Turboprint to work - Download the cups-install.tar.gz file from page one on this thread, untar it, and do the following steps from page one of this thread. I do have the usr_devx.sfs file on my machine, so the lack of it might be what is stopping you from even getting Turboprint to work.

All I did was the #4 below then went to the localhost page added the printer hit print a test page and it came to life...albeit with the Turboprint banner.

Keep us advised of your progress.

Dewey

4. From the console execute "sh cups-install.sh"
5. If you are printing to a remote CUPS server go to step 9, otherwise continue with step 6.
6. If your print drivers require ESP Ghost script, execute ""sh espgs-install.sh". (the hpijs driver needs it).
7. Install the CUPS drivers for the printers connected to your puppy computer according to your driver's instructions. Check in www.linuxprinting.org to find out the drivers required by your printer. These instructions include the hpijs, if your printer is suported just execute "sh hpijs-install.sh".
8. If your driver requires foomatic, you also need to install Perl. Don't use the Perl PupGet as it is a stripped down version. If you are using puppy 1.0.5 or newer download the usr_devx.sfs file. If you are using a puppy version prior to 1.0.5 downlad the attached perl installer, untar it and instal with "sh perl-5.8.6-install.sh"
9. Restart cups with "sh /etc/rc.d/rc.cups restart"
10. Open your browser and go to the following address http://localhost:631
11. Add your printer following the links on that page. If you already have a CUPS server that allow browsing you will see the shared printers there.
12. Print the test page

[baysoor]

I could not get anything working from pre-complied packages. The SIP package on linux packages.net is old. Is there a way to install RPM package in to Puppy?

So now I am trying to install hplip from source.
Problem 1. SIP fails to compile. I am getting bunch of errors. Can somebody try to compile this package. I am using default configure options.

http://www.riverbankcomputing.co.uk/sip/download.php

[dewdrop]

Hi Baysoor,

I'm afraid your problem is beyong my ability to help. Hopefully MU will see your current post and try and lead you onward. You might send him a PM if he does not respond within a couple of days to your current question.

dewdrop

[baysoor]

I give up. Not really but I did spend some serious time working on this and could not get it work within my abilities.

I was reading puppy main page and saw Barry talk about vectorlinux. So I ventured over to their forum and saw that they had more success.

I had some experience with slackware and they also supported my SCSI controller so I jumped ship, installed vector base and now the printer started working. (They had the same problem with serial mouse in Xwindow, but I had learned my lesson with puppy so no problem for me). Performance wise, I feel puppy was still fast on this machine even with IDE drive, and has better UI but my experience with vectorlinux is also approx. 23 hours. I hope that I will learn more to tweak it.

The scanner still does not work but for now I am ok. For those who are looking for solutions, vectorlinux has a compiled package that does not need snmp. With my limited puppy knowledge I could not get it working but I sure somebody here can import the package and puppyfy it.

Thanks again for all the support.

[Eastern Counties]

Progress report with CUPS!
My neighbour downloaded the usr_devx.sfs file and I copied it into /mnt/home - my Red Hat 9 partition, which is where pup001 sits. I rebooted and restarted CUPS, but still no output from my Canon i250 printer - just a single blink from the green light when I sent the test page. I know that the drivers I downloaded from the Canon NZ site work because I use them on my RH9 partition and I assume they have installed OK because they show up as an option on localhost:631.

I then went through the whole proceedure again with a pristine pup002 (also in /mnt/home), but still no luck. I tried the Canon with various other drivers and got as far as getting the green printer lights to blink on and off as if going to print, but then nothing. The blinking lights suggest that the USB connection is OK, and Puppy lists the i250 as a USB device.

I had already tried each of the drivers in the Puppy PDQ print wizard and had also tried the PDQ-O-Matic install from linuxprinting.org, but without success. So it seems that maybe there is something that Puppy doesn't like about the Canon i250 and/or the drivers. The strange thing is that I have absolutely no problem with this printer and these drivers with my clunky old RH9 setup, and indeed, I reboot into RH9 to print (I keep all my data files in separate folders, not in pupxxx).

However, still keen to print in Puppy, I re-connected an old parallel port Epson Stylus Colour 400 printer and added it to my Puppy CUPS via localhost:631. As far as I can tell, instant success! The Epson has seriously blocked print heads, even though I have tried cleaning them, so it didn't actually print, but it looked and sounded as if it would have done if the ink could have got through.

So some progress after all. I'll try re-cleaning/replacing the print heads or see if I can find a secondhand Epson that works, and then I may have the luxury of direct Puppy printing!

Incidentally, does anybody know of other printers than the Epson Stylus that work with Puppy?

John

[dewdrop]

Progress report with CUPS!
My neighbour downloaded the usr_devx.sfs file and I copied it into /mnt/home - my Red Hat 9 partition, which is where pup001 sits. I rebooted and restarted CUPS, but still no output from my Canon i250 printer - just a single blink from the green light when I sent the test page.

However, still keen to print in Puppy, I re-connected an old parallel port Epson Stylus Colour 400 printer and added it to my Puppy CUPS via localhost:631. As far as I can tell, instant success! The Epson has seriously blocked print heads, even though I have tried cleaning them, so it didn't actually print, but it looked and sounded as if it would have done if the ink could have got through.

So some progress after all. I'll try re-cleaning/replacing the print heads or see if I can find a secondhand Epson that works, and then I may have the luxury of direct Puppy printing!

Incidentally, does anybody know of other printers than the Epson Stylus that work with Puppy?

John

Hey John,

Hurrah for you with the Epson....and too bad with the Canon.

However, I have been reading the LinuxPrint.org information about printers, and they basically claim that Canon doesn't work - aka (also known as) not Linux friendly, but a whole bunch of Epson's do. Go to this page, and select Epson for a listing of printers they believe will work with Linux in general.

http://www.linuxprinting.org/printer_list.cgi

I guess if you could get the clogged printheads cleaned, you would have the best of both worlds. One printer for your RH9, and a "resurrected" Epson for your Puppy needs.

I think if you look around the linuxprinting website, you might even find some info about how to clean the heads.

Thanks for keeping us updated, I'm sure your success is "sweet indeed" after all your efforts.

dewdrop

[Eastern Counties]

However, I have been reading the LinuxPrint.org information about printers, and they basically claim that Canon doesn't work - aka (also known as) not Linux friendly

But to be fair, Canon New Zealand do provide Linux drivers and if the i250 works so well with Red Hat, presumably it does with other 'full size' distros as well.

Now, where is that big bottle of printhead cleaner?

John

[GeoffS]

Just a warning about CUPS that I have not found mentioned anywhere else - it maybe there, I just didn't find it. When you go into printer admin in CUPS it will find ALL the printers on the network. This will include any CUPS printers on other computers. This will include the very printer you are trying the configure. It should be ignored but it does look messy and it is very easy to get confused.
Geoff

[Eastern Counties]

Just for the record, my Canon i250 is now working usning CUPS and TurboPrint. I re-installed TurboPrint but used the tar.gz file this time, whereas I had used the rpm download before. It worked straight away.

John

[dewdrop]

Hi Puppys,

I read the following quote from Rarsa a few minutes ago, and thought it strange that he should call this thread a dormant project. I just checked the number of "views" that this thread has had and it is more than 10,500. I would say that any thread that has more than 10,000 views should be made a "sticky" so that it is permanently at the top of the topic area where it is located.

CUPS is a dormant project as it actually does not seem fit for puppy and I haven't had time to dig deeper into ghostscript to add more drivers.

I have always been very proud of my association with this thread, and even with my limited knowledge, I hope my contribution to the world of Puppy has helped many people get "just the answer they need" when they needed it. When I started working on getting my printers to work with Rarsa's help, I had no idea it would lead to this.

I believe that Rarsa thinks that Cups is too big for the Puppy concept - small, fast, agile, etc., I just beg to differ and believe that a whole bunch of people are still using Puppy today because of the work we did. I know I am.

One point that Rarsa makes in the quoted passage is about adding more drivers into the ghostscript. That just might be where I need to add the driver for my Canon Printer to get it to work.....now, if I can just figure out how to do what Rarsa was talking about with ghostscript.....

dewdrop

[GeoffS]

As 'dewdrop' says 'this is important'. Without CUPS I would not have stayed with puppy. My printers hang off a stand-alone print server and cups is the only way I can use them. I had very little problem with getting cups going thanks to all the advice here. I had more problem with turboprint which I needed for the Canon but even that was not too bad - however the printer has now died!!! Win one - lose one. Learnt quite a lot in the process though.
Please, keep the CUPS thread alive.
Geoff

[rarsa]

I read the following quote from Rarsa a few minutes ago, and thought it strange that he should call this thread a dormant project...

Oops. I am sorry if I didn't express correctly what I meant. I didn't mean that people were not using it. Actually I use it my self. I meant that after the work that we did we haven't done more than helping people with their particular drivers and try to point them to the right direction.

I have always been very proud of my association with this thread, and even with my limited knowledge

And rightly so. This was the perfect example of how good will can take you quite far. I didn't know anything about CUPS when we started. It is also a living example that every one can have a big impact in puppy even when they think that they have limited knowledge. I am sure that many people (specially me) are thankfull for all the time you spent testing and sugesting improvements and the time that you now spend helping them to print.

I believe that Rarsa thinks that Cups is too big for the Puppy concept - small, fast, agile, etc.

You are correct. It is too heavy to include it on the liveCD and quite cumbersome to set up. I think that it would be worth exploring expanding the simpler queue manager included with Puppy. It may lead somewhere, it may not.

One point that Rarsa makes in the quoted passage is about adding more drivers into the ghostscript. That just might be where I need to add the driver for my Canon Printer to get it to work.....now, if I can just figure out how to do what Rarsa was talking about with ghostscript.....

I wish I knew how to do it. I started trying to understand how it works but got sidetracked. For one reason or another I haven't been able to concentrate on Puppy recently.

I am sure that Barry has some notes somewhere, I've seen them but I don't remember it they are burried in an old thread.

Well, I hope you now know what I meant.

Sorry for the confusion.

[weffy]

After many hours of searching and several attempts, I finally succeeded in installing Cups and now my printer works! It is a HP officejet v40, a multifunction printer. I am running Puppy 1.0.8. It is very satisfying to have a fully functional computer and I really like Puppy.

However, I would like to suggest that the instructions for installing CUPS be more explicit in where to find the usr_devx.sfs file and how to download it. That isn

[dewdrop]

[quote="weffy"]
However, I would like to suggest that the instructions for installing CUPS be more explicit in where to find the usr_devx.sfs file and how to download it. That isn

[rarsa]

One of the things that I've been hoping to accomplish is review this entire thread and put together a "complete" how-to in my first posting.... it's the way the Forum is set up... you can only edit your own entries...and I would only be able to put it where my first post occured.

This would be awsome. I've meant to do that but never found the time. I agree. Instructions should not be on this thread.

Another thing I've wanted to do is to turn the scripts into a pupget and post it somewhere reliable. There werent any repositories when we did this but now I think there are several.

I think that a 'install wizard' for CUPS could help here. once you clean up the instructions I could use it as the 'spec' for the wizard. Unless... you want to write the wizard yourself

Thank you!

[cobelloy]

Good Work!!

my printer works great in puppy 108, it is one of the few things that has stopped me using puppy as my main OS (also got ubuntu/winxp)

so much has improved since I first tried it, video, KDE, now printing!!

I think puppy will graduate into a big time main stream distro in the near future, if I were still a pristine noob and I could put in a disk and have kde boot straight up with open office, gimp, firefox/thunderbird, gaim and skype available, and a Xorg/printer/scanner/internet connection wizard available easily thats all I'd need - I have it all there now, but it took some (really easy) configuring to get it

puppy really hits the spot!!