I've inherited an old HP LaserJet 1020 and I'm trying to get it to run as a network printer connected to a Fritz!Box via USB. Here's what I've done and/or found out so far:
I have HPLIP v 3.20.3 installed, which satisfies the printer's minimum version needs. However, it also requires one of HP's silly binary proprietary plugins, which is probably the thing that makes this such a pain.
The printer is plugged into the USB port of the Fritz!Box, which has remote USB connection disabled.
I have installed the printer via Mint's Printer tool using the network printer search function (url/ip: fritz.box). The printer is found and I've tried both available drivers - hpcups (requires proprietary plugin) and Foomatic/foo2zjs - but neither will work. The printer says it's printing, but it doesn't do anything.
What I've also tried:
Install the printer through 'hp-setup'. I select "network" and set manual discovery to search under "fritz.box", but it just returns with a "No devices found" error. I suppose it cannot handle the "fritz.box" part, but I don't know what the hell else I should enter. Blank network searches return nothing either.
Install the proprietary plugin manually via 'hp-plugin' and these instructions. It appears to work (the plugin is installed), but I still can't address the printer via the network.
Install the printer as a USB printer via 'hp-setup'. This works, but... I need it as a network printer.
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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To get help, always post your system configuration. Open a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T), type the following command and copy its output: inxi -Fxxxrz. To preserve formatting, please make sure to post it inside [ code] [/ code] blocks.
thanks for trying to help, but nope, that's not a typo. As you can see from the link, "USB remote connection" requires additional (Windows-based) software on your machine. Also it isn't necessary. The "normal" USB connection (i.e. non-"USB remote") of the Fritz!Box has worked with my previous printer, and so it should also work with this one. The only thing you get from a "USB remote connection" is ink levels and remote scanning capacities, neither of which I need.
To get help, always post your system configuration. Open a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T), type the following command and copy its output: inxi -Fxxxrz. To preserve formatting, please make sure to post it inside [ code] [/ code] blocks.
The 1020 is a "host based" printer with no real PCL or Postscript interpreter nor processor on board.
It's "smarts" are provided by the host machine it is connected to via a USB connection.
You cannot print to the 1020 directly over a network as you can with printers that do their own command language interpretation and page image assembly.
I don't know a lot about printers, so thanks a lot for bringing up this issue of whether a printer is "host based" or not.
Could you tell me how I can find out whether a printer has its own interpreter / processor on board? What kind of description am I looking for in the manufacturer's data sheets so that, if I have to buy a printer in the future, I will pick the right one?
Also, doesn't my FritzBox serve as a kind of host? After all, it is the device the printer connects to, the device that handles the printing command as the last instance, and it does have its own processor on board.
To get help, always post your system configuration. Open a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T), type the following command and copy its output: inxi -Fxxxrz. To preserve formatting, please make sure to post it inside [ code] [/ code] blocks.
Non host based printers will have enough memory (512mb) listed to handle at least a half page of graphics and will list a native interpreter language or two. Some will list processor speeds.
Manufacturers don't like to reveal that their cheaper printers have no intelligence... but the good news is that due to cheaper component prices and the issues with host based printers, they are less common than when the 1020 was produced.
As a general rule the under $200.00 USD HP printers tended to be host based.
I've never used a Fritzbox but it is likely used like a printer server that merely de-spools the commands to the printer's interpreter... and the 1020 lacks it's own interpreter to "build" an image of the page and buffer it in memory then control the printer's rudimentary electronics....
I have a long term hate of the 1xxx series HP's due to all of the issues I have seen hundreds of them have.
I have a long term hate of the 1xxx series HP's due to all of the issues I have seen hundreds of them have.
You've recruited one new member to the hate club.
Many thanks for your detailed info on printers and their handling of print jobs. I think I've got an idea what to steer clear of now.
To get help, always post your system configuration. Open a terminal (Ctrl + Alt + T), type the following command and copy its output: inxi -Fxxxrz. To preserve formatting, please make sure to post it inside [ code] [/ code] blocks.
