Mint 16 and Lexmark S300/400 printers

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menhir
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Mint 16 and Lexmark S300/400 printers

Post by menhir »

I've solved the most important issues I had with Mint 16 and I've been using it at my business for a week now, but it's still side by side with another computer running XP until I resolve the important remaining one...Getting it to work with my Lexmark S300 printer.

For the record, if any of this helps:
I'm running the 32 bit version of Mint 16. The computer is a Compaq Presario C700. It's connected to the printer by a USB cable.
(Incidentally the printer has wireless capability, but it's physically right there so I never bothered setting it up to run that way)

If someone could point me to the correct driver (We* found one for Mint 13, but it didn't work) and a "Linux for Dummies" walk-through of the process, I'd sincerely appreciate it.

*"We" means me, standing there looking helplessly over the shoulders of any of my Linux-using clients who gets dragged into my office and can spare a few moments to work on the problem. :wink: I don't mind thrashing these things out myself, but I'm very new to Linux and when I'm at work, the first priority which takes up most of my time is (sigh) work. I need to get this done quickly. When I get this problem solved, I can attack the rest at leisure.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Reason: Topic automatically closed 6 months after creation. New replies are no longer allowed.
legowave440

Re: Mint 16 and Lexmark S300/400 printers

Post by legowave440 »

This guide may help:
http://www.lexmark.com/publications/pdf ... /en/ug.pdf


According to the guide:
Installing on Linspire, Debian, or Ubuntu Linux
1
Read “Before installing the printer drivers” on page 8.
2
Make sure you have enough hard disk drive space in /usr/local to install the printer driver. For more information about finding more space, see “Finding space to install the printer drivers package” on page 13.
3
Download the printer drivers package (print-drivers-linux-glibc2-x86.deb) from the Lexmark Web site at http://www.lexmark.com/drivers.
4
Install the package file.
# dpkg -i /tmp/print-drivers-linux-glibc2-x86.deb
5
Run the following setup script to complete the installation:
# /usr/local/lexmark/setup.lexprint
menhir
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Re: Mint 16 and Lexmark S300/400 printers

Post by menhir »

Thanks. As I mentioned in my original post, we can't find any drivers for anything above mint 13.
Tried it anyway...no luck.

Or am I missing something?
legowave440

Re: Mint 16 and Lexmark S300/400 printers

Post by legowave440 »

Try the generic Lexmark Postscript drivers (included with the OS).

As for directions, I need the desktop enviroment. Do you use MATE, XFCE, Cinnamon, or KDE?
menhir
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Re: Mint 16 and Lexmark S300/400 printers

Post by menhir »

Linux Mint 16 (Petra) Cinnamon...

...and thank you all for your help. I'm not really lazy (much :roll: ) and I don't mind the exploring and learning Linux, but I'm am overburdened at the moment as my business approaches one of the manic stages of it's work cycle. If I can't get this figured out soon, I'll have to set the whole thing aside for about the next three weeks which would sorta suck.
legowave440

Re: Mint 16 and Lexmark S300/400 printers

Post by legowave440 »

This thread may be helpful:
[link]https://www.linuxquestions.org/question ... nt-792224/[/link]

According to some of the posts, a package called "printconf" may prove useful. You can install it using the software manager, and you can run it through terminal.

-----

As an alternative, you may want to use your lan/wlan network instead (like I do) as it can be set up easily:
From "System Settings"
Printers => Add => Network Printer => [select printer] => Forward
Then, if it finds drivers to download, allow those to download.

If you need to select a printer from a database, try
Generic => Forward => Postscript => Forward

And continue through the GUI to finish the setup.
menhir
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Re: Mint 16 and Lexmark S300/400 printers

Post by menhir »

Thanks. I'll give these things a try on Monday and see what flies.

After moving from XP to Linux, I probably should have kept the computer home for another week to sort these things out.
As it was, I was able to get all the programs I needed up and running while at home and I wanted to get it to my office to try it out in a business-as-usual environment to see if I missed anything. So far, so good.

I just didn't think I'd have any problems getting the printer going. :oops:
legowave440

Re: Mint 16 and Lexmark S300/400 printers

Post by legowave440 »

Glad to hear that the switch was (for the most part) rather smooth!

Let me know how it turns out! :D
menhir
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Re: Mint 16 and Lexmark S300/400 printers

Post by menhir »

Sadly, not as well as I had hoped.

After today, I decided to put the whole Linux thing on the back burner for now. It became apparent to me that the time it was taking to get it to work properly was interfering with the business at hand...which waits for no OS. :wink:

I decided to take the computers I installed Linux on out of the office and back home. Sad to say, it's just not business-ready as it stands...at least not for my business.

But I sincerely appreciate the help. When I have some spare time, I'll play around with it more, and ask some more questions then. :D
pdc_2
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Re: Mint 16 and Lexmark S300/400 printers

Post by pdc_2 »

I have just read your thread; a couple of links to store away till you feel you have the time

lexmark driver from here

http://support.lexmark.com/index?page=c ... &locale=en

and an edit to make it all work: post 2 on this page

http://archbird.blogspot.co.nz/
menhir
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Re: Mint 16 and Lexmark S300/400 printers

Post by menhir »

Thanks.

I'm not going away, I'm just going a bit slower.

Anyway, I want revenge against MS for Windows 8.
I'm highly motivated. :twisted:
pdc_2
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Re: Mint 16 and Lexmark S300/400 printers

Post by pdc_2 »

great; let's see how the above goes for you; I remember assembling this driver a while ago as a test; and it seemed reasonably straightforward to take out what they recommend; save the new file etc ...................

to open gedit with powers, the command would be
gksudo gedit control
menhir
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Re: Mint 16 and Lexmark S300/400 printers

Post by menhir »

pdc_2 wrote:I have just read your thread; a couple of links to store away till you feel you have the time

lexmark driver from here

http://support.lexmark.com/index?page=c ... &locale=en

and an edit to make it all work: post 2 on this page

http://archbird.blogspot.co.nz/

Back at it again.

I tried to download the driver above, but received this message:
We're sorry for the inconvenience. There was an error with the application.

Not complaining...just a note for others who may be veiwing. Still forging ahead.
menhir
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Re: Mint 16 and Lexmark S300/400 printers

Post by menhir »

Ugh. Never mind. I concede defeat for now. Windows wins. (I still won't use Windows 8, though. :evil: )

Linux is now shelved. After several weeks of playing around with it, it's not ready to meet the demands of my business, which does not involve playing with computers.
Actually, I'm mostly there...I've been able to get most things running to my satisfaction. I still had admit to myself that I've lost FAR too much productivity time trying to get some basic but necessary things done...like getting it to work with the office printers. The ability to do some high-level stuff means nothing if I have too keep a second computer on the desk just to print out a contract. :lol:

Sad to say, because I really wanted this to work, I'm putting the Linux computers on the toy shelf running Seti@home.

Once again, thanks for all the help. Unlike a lot of other forums I've researched, you've been great.

(Additional-after I read this post this morning after posting red-eyed last night - it didn't read like exactly like I wanted it too :oops: )

Oops, I should add: I'm still committed. Don't get me wrong. I've shelved it for my business only...It's just not ready as is, not necessarily because it can't be made capable, but because the time it's taking to make it capable. With the daily pressure off away from the workplace, I'm more free to tinker with this until drivers get caught up with the demands of the workplace and desktop environment. Also, I won't have to worry about experimenting with Linux when I don't have to actually depend on it.

Still...I could use a drink. :P
pdc_2
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Re: Mint 16 and Lexmark S300/400 printers

Post by pdc_2 »

for the price of a couple of drinks!!

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-MG2120-Prin ... 20+printer

this works well

unfortunately Lexmark have stopped making inkjet printers
legowave440

Re: Mint 16 and Lexmark S300/400 printers

Post by legowave440 »

pdc_2 wrote:for the price of a couple of drinks!!

http://www.amazon.com/Canon-MG2120-Prin ... 20+printer

this works well

unfortunately Lexmark have stopped making inkjet printers

But their Lasers work well! Interestingly, I was able to print via USB :shock:
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