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Printing problems

Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2011 10:25 am
by keithp
I have been trying Mint Debian out, and can't get it to print.

My printer is an HP all-in-one B109a-m.

Out of the box, it shows that the printer has been found and set up as the default one. Try to print - nothing happens. hpijs and libhpmud0 had been automatically installed.

Also, scanning did not work.

So I installed hplip, which also installed hplip-cups, hplip-data, libsane-hpaio and xsane. Scanning using xsane then worked, but not using simple scan. However, it still did not print. It showed that there were jobs waiting in the print queue.

Everything works out-of-the-box with Mint10.

Looking at Mint10, I can't find what packages or libraries are still missing in Mint Debian.

Please will someone give me some guidance as to what may be missing?

Many thanks.

Keith

Re: Printing problems

Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2011 12:33 pm
by CiaW
It's possible that it found the printer description from the usb id info, but didn't load the correct driver. Did you use the gui to add printer and select your actual printer? You may need to install the foomatic ppd database package too. I actually just got a Kodak all-in-one (ESP 5250) that I should have researched first for linux compatibility but since, it said it also ran on Mac I got it. I finally found a driver on sourceforge and now it prints. Before I added that driver, it appeared to recognize the printer but didn't print.

My second idea would be that if you've enabled the firewall, you'll want to open port 631 which is used for printing. And the third idea is whether you're using USB connection or wireless, since I know some of them are wireless. You might have issues with configuring the wireless also. I'm using USB on mine though wireless is an option.

Re: Printing problems

Posted: Mon Jan 17, 2011 4:59 pm
by sgosnell
When you install the printer, and it is initially found, there may be more than one option to choose. Choosing the wrong one can give the results you describe. Reinstall the printer, and select a different option. The cups or hplip option is usually safe, but you might try others.

Re: Printing problems

Posted: Tue Jan 18, 2011 4:46 am
by keithp
Many thanks to CiaW and sgosnell for your replies and suggestions.

It turned out to be as simple as a driver not being installed. After installing hplip, as in my original posting, I installed a driver and it now prints.

Many thanks again.

Keith

Re: Printing problems

Posted: Tue Jan 25, 2011 10:54 am
by devinehelles
I think you should check this :-
a. Ensure that the cable that connects your printer to your computer is securely plugged in.
b. If your printer is plugged into a USB hub, then unplug the printer cable from the hub.
Plug the printer cable directly in to a USB port on your computer.
c. Ensure that your printer is turned on.