Printer problems

chichibabin · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 24 Jul 2004 Posts: 133

HI,
I have an Epson Stylus color 900 which I am trying to get working with a 2.6.7 kernel via its USB port. I followed the Gentoo documentation, realised I did not have USB printer support and recompiled the kernel. This is now the output from lsmod:

Module Size Used by
usblp 11008 0
hidp 26624 1
ieee80211_crypt_wep 5248 1
ohci_hcd 19204 0
hci_usb 11904 3
ipw2100 146544 0
ieee80211 20484 1 ipw2100
ieee80211_crypt 5380 3 ieee80211_crypt_wep,ipw2100,ieee80211
8139cp 16256 0
uhci_hcd 29584 0
ehci_hcd 26628 0
usbcore 99040 7 usblp,ohci_hcd,hci_usb,uhci_hcd,ehci_hcd

When I connect the printer it is recognised as the output from dmesg suggests so. However, I cannot print to the device when I try:

cat ./test.txt > /dev/usb/lp0

/dev/usb/lp0 exists but nothing happens.
I have tried using gnome-cups-manager but the printer is not recognised. I tried manually adding it and it still does not work. Does anyone have any suggestions?
Cheers,
Sat

blendmaster · Apprentice Joined: 02 May 2004 Posts: 196

is there anything wierd in /var/log/messages or anything? does the alt+f12 console thingy show anything when you plug the printer in?
_________________
shuttle sn25p
2.6.12-gentoo-r10 in 64bit
amd64 3500+
geforce 6600gt

chichibabin · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 24 Jul 2004 Posts: 133

Nothing seems to be wierd in the /var/log/ files (there is no /var/log/messages though. Not sure what the alt+12 console thing is.
Cheers,
Sat

blendmaster · Apprentice Joined: 02 May 2004 Posts: 196

push alt+f12 if youre in the console or push control+alt+f12 if youre in graphical. it shows a bunch of messages. when you plug the printer in you should see somthing about a new usb device. if not, somthing's wrong with the usb port or driver. if it does show up, its somthing wrong with cups or foomatic.
_________________
shuttle sn25p
2.6.12-gentoo-r10 in 64bit
amd64 3500+
geforce 6600gt

chichibabin · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 24 Jul 2004 Posts: 133

HI,
The printer is recognised cos when I plug it in I get the following output from dmesg:

th1: Associated with 'wirefree' at 11Mbps, channel 11 (BSSID=00:00:00:00:00:00)Bluetooth: HIDP (Human Interface Emulation) ver 1.0-mh1
usb 2-2: new full speed USB device using address 2
drivers/usb/class/usblp.c: usblp0: USB Bidirectional printer dev 2 if 0 alt 0 proto 2 vid 0x04B8 pid 0x0001
usbcore: registered new driver usblp
drivers/usb/class/usblp.c: v0.13: USB Printer Device Class driver

I've just reemerged cups and foomatic and dtill no luck??
Cheers,
Sat

blendmaster · Apprentice Joined: 02 May 2004 Posts: 196

have you tried setting up cups through this page? (its the local cups page)
_________________
shuttle sn25p
2.6.12-gentoo-r10 in 64bit
amd64 3500+
geforce 6600gt

jse86 · n00b Joined: 13 Aug 2004 Posts: 51 Location: Longview, TX

i think your in luck. I had this same problem for two months and I totally pulled out my hair over it...its pretty frustrating.

The bad part is, I don't remember what I emerged that solved the problem. Your problem is that you are missing a key component of the printing system. I have an Epson CX5400 and low level testing does not work on it either.

Here is what you should do...search with re-emerge gimp and any other printing program that the docs suggested. Also check for some other programs...I remember emerging gimp-(some word) and it solved my problem.

What word, i dont know. Sorry for the vagueness. Hope this helps. You just need to find the software you are missing!

blendmaster · Apprentice Joined: 02 May 2004 Posts: 196

maybe gimp-print? gimp-freetype?
_________________
shuttle sn25p
2.6.12-gentoo-r10 in 64bit
amd64 3500+
geforce 6600gt

chichibabin · Tux's lil' helper Joined: 24 Jul 2004 Posts: 133

I remerged gimp-print and gimp-freetype. The printer is recognized now but it still won't respond. I'm starting to think the USB unterface on the printer might be faulty, i've never used it before. I'll see if I can get it working i windows.
sat