Trying to get my usb printer going

[wbrokow1]

I have followed most howtos on this subject, but still no success.
2.6.10 kernel
hplaserjet 1000 printer.
I believe the printer is not being recognized,
There is no /dev/usb/lp0.
When i use http://localhost:631, I get:
"Unable to open USB device "usb:/dev/usb/lp0": Is a directory"
How do I make sure that the device is recognized?
If it's not recognized, what do I do to make sure it gets recognized?
usb printing is built into the kernel, I checked.
I am using the foo2zjs driver.

Any help is appreciated.

[diastelo]

I'd check dmesg to see if your printer shows up. If you can't find it, try unplugging your printer and try plugging it in again. If you have hotplug working, it should pop right back up and show up in dmesg. /dev/usb/lp0 is not a guaranteed location, just the traditional place these days. I'd dig around /dev and see if anything looks likely.
_________________
"No question is so difficult to answer as that to which the answer is obvious" -- George Bernard Shaw

[wbrokow1]

Tell me about hotplug.
Should I be using it?
What are my alternatives?
If I need to, I will.
Thanks Very much for your response!!

[diastelo]

Hotplug and coldplug provide a way for the kernel to detect when new devices are added. Coldplug runs at boot while hotplug takes care of devices you plug in after booting. Both will automatically load the correct kernel modules for any device they recognize, provided you have compiled in the support or created a module. You probably already have support for it. Both are commonly used with udev, the successor to devfs.

You don't strictly need to use either hotplug or coldplug, but you probably should use them. The tried and true alternative to hotplug is to reboot every time you add a new device. Obviously, this could get old very quickly.

To get hotplug to work, you will need either devfs or udev support (and if you followed the Gentoo Handbook, you'll have at least one of these), support built into the kernel, and an emerged copy of hotplug (and perhaps coldplug). How do you tell if hotplug is running? For starters, I'd check in /etc/init.d and look for hotplug or coldplug. Another easy way to check is to plug in a device and immediately run dmesg. You should see some messages about detecting a new device.

Did you see your printer come up in dmesg or in the log that scrolls past when you boot? If not, you might be missing some kernel options. I'd try building the usb printer support as a module. It makes it easier to debug.
_________________
"No question is so difficult to answer as that to which the answer is obvious" -- George Bernard Shaw