Printer Installation Under KDE

From the Internet:
"My machine is a {BRAND NAME WHOOZIE-WHATZIT} with a partioned hardrive dual bootable with Windows XP and Linux. Does the fact that it is partioned with dual operating systems (dual boot) mean that if it is configured to print with Windows XP that it can not also be configured to print when in Linux?"

People really don't understand printing, beyond the desire for a piece of ink or toner graced paper to pop out of a mysterious box connected to their computer; when they click on some sort of graphics screen element promising 'printing magic' as soon as they release the left mouse button. Even something as trivial as Operating System configuration for printing is regarded with an inappropriate sense of awe, or even feelings of inadequacy. Frequently, particularly where an Operating System other than windoze is involved, people throw their hands in the air and say that it's all too complicated.

Usually the problem boils down to a substandard printer. We call those "windoze printers" because, even though they're cheap, such hardware isn't even worth one-fourth the price paid for it. Also because, they force your computer to do the work that is usually done inside of good printing hardware. A program has to do that, and it is usually written to run only on windoze. That's not the fault of the Linux community, it's the fault of the printer manufacturer. They skimp on the electronics inside the printer, and use your computer to do most of the work--just to sell you a printer at a lower price than their competitors.

Windoze printers are junk, lots of people buy them; yet complain that their proprietary hunk of plastic won't work with a real Operating System--like Linux. They get angry when you break it to them that they wasted their money.

It doesn't have to be that way.

Firstly, if you're in the market for a new printer for Linux or windoze. Don't buy a piece of junk. Take a look at some of the information that is available to you at LinuxPrinting.org: Printer Information. There is no such thing as a Linux-only printer (at least as far as I've ever been able to determine).

There are good printers: They work on Linux and windoze, and even macintoshes. HP is my favorite in the laser printing category, along with the PhotoSmart line of ink jet printers. Epson has some awesome photo printers on the market. Do your research.

There are bad printers: They usually work only on windoze; and are slower and generally of poorer quality than good printers. Lexmark x5270's and x1190's seem to be particularly popular garbage multifunction machines; and, as much as I think Canon rules in area of photoreprographics, it pains me to tell you that they make some supremely-bad ink jet printers.

Decide which printer is best for you (HP or Epson, if you ask me) and confirm that it's in the "Works Perfectly" column of the manufacturer listings at LinuxPrinting.org.

Shop around for only that specific printer, or a select few "Works Perfectly" alternates, and get your best price. Don't settle for a substitute. You will also notice that good printers usually cost more than bad printers. That's ok. They usually last far longer, print faster without freezing your machine at print time, and cost less to operate.

Got your printer? Good. Let's plug it into a Linux-based computer, and start using it; but we'll need a few things, first.

Materials:

A functioning Debian-based GNU/Linux installation, sporting the ever-so-enjoyable KDE.
We'll use SimplyMEPIS 6.0.
I'm using a repaired HP PhotoSmart 7350, color inkjet printer.
All the printer parts: AC adapter, paper trays, covers, full ink cartridges and a USB cable.
Uh...well...you don't need the HP driver CD, so that's it.
Oh yes! I almost forgot the paper! Get a few sheets of paper.

As mentioned, I'm using an HP PhotoSmart 7350, color inkjet printer. This particular piece of equipment became problematic a bit more than a year ago, refusing to complete print jobs and losing its connection to the host system often enough to be very irritating to me--because I'm the one who has to attempt to convince electronic devices that they should behave for us. It has been languishing on top of a bookshelf, for almost a year since it gave up the ghost. Today, it took me around 4 hours of quality time with a soldering iron, muttering techno-blue incantations, to revive it from the dead.

As I seem to recall from having installed this thing to a number of windoze systems, in the past, HP tells you not to plug the printer into the host system until the installation program indicates that you should do so. Must be something limiting about windoze itself, as far as I can figure; because there is no technical reason that you should not be able to plug a peripheral device, like a printer, into the computer and busy yourself about setting up a print queue for it.

Make sure your computer is booted-up and you're logged-in as a regular user.
Connect the USB cable to the printer, and turn on the power.
Open up a console session and do the following:

allan@example.host[~]$ su
Password:
root@example.host[root]# tail -f /var/log/messages
Nov 4 10:36:12 localhost -- MARK --
Nov 4 10:56:12 localhost -- MARK --

If you have something like the above, or even a little bit more, things are fine. You just want to see some entries.

Now, plug the printers USB cable into one of your USB ports, and you should see something like:

Nov 4 11:15:32 localhost kernel: [17195124.936000] usb 3-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 3
Nov 4 11:15:32 localhost kernel: [17195125.084000] drivers/usb/class/usblp.c: usblp0: USB Bidirectional printer dev 3 if 0 alt 1 proto 2 vid 0x03F0 pid 0x3C02

If you do, the Operating System is seeing the printer alright. If you don't, try another USB port, or exchange the USB cable with one known to be good; and try it again.

Now, let's check to see if the printer is identifying itself to Linux. If you do the following:

root@example.host[root]# lsusb -v

You should see more than something along the lines of the text below. I've excerpted just the output that pertains to the printer I'm working with at the moment.

Bus 003 Device 003: ID 03f0:3c02 Hewlett-Packard PhotoSmart 7350
Device Descriptor:
  bLength                18
  bDescriptorType         1
  bcdUSB               2.00
  bDeviceClass            0 (Defined at Interface level)
  bDeviceSubClass         0
  bDeviceProtocol         0
  bMaxPacketSize0         8
  idVendor           0x03f0 Hewlett-Packard
  idProduct          0x3c02 PhotoSmart 7350
  bcdDevice           1.00
  iManufacturer           1 hp
  iProduct                2 photosmart 7350
  iSerial                 3 {SERIAL NUMBER MASKED}
  bNumConfigurations      1
  Configuration Descriptor:
    bLength                 9
    bDescriptorType         2
    wTotalLength           55
    bNumInterfaces          1
    bConfigurationValue     1
    iConfiguration          0
    bmAttributes         0xc0
      Self Powered
    MaxPower                2mA
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       0
      bNumEndpoints           2
      bInterfaceClass         7 Printer
      bInterfaceSubClass      1 Printer
      bInterfaceProtocol      3 IEEE 1284.4 compatible bidirectional
      iInterface              0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x01  EP 1 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               0
    Interface Descriptor:
      bLength                 9
      bDescriptorType         4
      bInterfaceNumber        0
      bAlternateSetting       1
      bNumEndpoints           2
      bInterfaceClass         7 Printer
      bInterfaceSubClass      1 Printer
      bInterfaceProtocol      2 Bidirectional
      iInterface              0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x01  EP 1 OUT
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               0
      Endpoint Descriptor:
        bLength                 7
        bDescriptorType         5
        bEndpointAddress     0x81  EP 1 IN
        bmAttributes            2
          Transfer Type            Bulk
          Synch Type               None
          Usage Type               Data
        wMaxPacketSize     0x0040  1x 64 bytes
        bInterval               0
Device Status:     0x0000
  (Bus Powered)

root@example.host[root]#

In most cases, provided you have a "Works Perfectly" column printer, you will see something that approximates the above.

Assuming this to be the case, do:

root@example.host[root]# exit
exit
allan@example.host[~]$ exit

You've seen that the Operating System is capable of detecting the sudden appearance of devices on the USB bus; and the general way in which devices enumerate and identify themselves to Linux. None of this was actually necessary for you to do, except in satisfying your curiosity.

Let's say that we've had enough USB exploration, and move on to the KDE Print Manager.
Leave the printer connected and click on the K Menu:

Select 'System', then highlight 'Settings' (System Configuration).

Click on 'Settings' (System Configuration). Yes, there are short cuts to this, but you should accustom yourself to the settings:/ panel.

Here's a very brief example:

I don't like the waste of screen real estate that the current KMenu panel imposes on me, by including program descriptions. That's fine for somebody unfamiliar with KDE components, but not for me.

I want my menu panel to look like this:

...and this is where one can do exactly that:

OK. You've clicked on 'Settings' (System Configuration).

Click on the '+' in front of Peripherals, to expand that branch of the settings:/ tree, and select Printers.

The printer configuration application will now launch.

I'd like you to take notice of a few differences between the setup on my system, versus that which you probably see on your system.

Firstly, my internal IP address are masked.

Secondly, I have a server-based network printer already configured for remote use (HPLJ2100).

Thirdly, I'm not using CUPS for printing. I'm using the Berkeley-compatible, LPR/LPRng spooler types.

LPR/LPRng.png

Your machine is probably configured to use CUPS already.

Fourthly, a casual inspection of the settings for my default printer might lead some to believe that printing does not work properly. Nothing to worry about--it works just fine.

Click on...

admin.mode.png

...and enter your root password...

print.root.png

...to get here.

Click on the selection arrow...

...to select the CUPS printing system.

print.system.select.cups.png

You will notice some differences under the CUPS printing system; namely, additional descriptor field contents which relate to the CUPS way of doing things, and bolding to indicate default printer status.

Now, click on the Add Printer button...

...and select "Add Printer/Class..."...

...to launch the Guided Printer Setup application.

No. It is not a wizard. It is a Guided Setup application, in this case, a "Guided Printer Setup" application.

This is a Wizard:

He lives in the back of your television set, and shows you pictures.
He also lives in your Linux filesystem and makes wonderous, graphical-things happen with animation and image processing.
You'll also discover that he's got the job of turning your refrigerator light on, when you open the door; and off, when you close it again.

Don't ask how he does all that stuff (more, actually, I'm holding back on you), he just does. He's a Wizard, after all!
BTW: The introduction of microwave ovens almost killed the little guy.

The folks from KDE are merely using the word "Wizard", instead of the phrase "Guided Printer Setup"; so windoze users don't freak-out in the middle of doing something simple--like adding a printer.

Anyway...

Select the radio button: "Local printer (parallel, serial, USB)".

Don't rush-ahead now. Look this one over before you go clicking on stuff.

There's my printer listed under, of all things: "USB".

We don't want that listing.

For my printer, I need to select
Others --> hp:/usb/photosmart_7350?serial={REMOVED} --> HP photosmart_7350

I don't care what kind of printer you have, make your selection under "Others"; the way I'm demonstrating for you here.

Wait anywhere from almost no time at all, to a few seconds. The driver database is being loaded.

On the left, I select my printer manufacturer.

On the right, I select my printer model.

Please notice that I did not select the "PhotoSmart 7350 hpijs" model entry.

For my printer, I select the "HP PhotoSmart 7350 (Foomatic + hpijs) [recommended]" driver listing.

In general, you will do best if you go with the recommended driver for your printer make and model. There are exceptions to this rule of thumb, but they are few and far between.

Fun time!

I don't need to tell you...just click...

Test

...as soon as you get to this point.

We have a successful test print.

Ink jet printers are slow. Be patient, though; and do not be tempted to jump the gun when this pops-up:

Only after the page has finished printing, should you click...

...otherwise, the test print process will be stopped, and you'll be left with a page hanging half-way out of your printer.

No banners for me...it's not a network printer, and banners eat-up expensive ink jet ink.

It's my printer, connected to my machine; so I have unlimited use of it.

Nobody can access my machine over the wire, so this isn't needed.

Give the printer a spiffy name; and, to keep track of all the printers around here, I'll leave myself a reminder of where that printer is located--just in case I forget that it's at my left elbow. (My right elbow is 'e2'.)

Check over everything listed here. If anything is incorrect, go back and resolve it now.

Once everything is verified as correct...

Finish

Notice that we have a new printer entry in the panel (hpps7350).

At this point, you can probably click...

...and you are done.

I, on the other hand, can't bail-out that fast. I need to return to my original spooler selection.

print.system.select.lpr-lprng.png

Make a brief inspection of settings.

test.prn.png

Make another test print under the LPR/LPRng selection, so I can stare at this...

...for a few seconds; while waiting for this...

...to clear the paper path.

Outside of "Administrator Mode", things look and work fine.

As you can see, functionally speaking, installing a printer is just as easy and directed as it is in windoze. Procedurally speaking, it's far easier, as one is relieved of the need to reference driver and application CDs to accomplish the task.

In the case of the specific printer that I installed today, it took me far less time to do (a couple of minutes, actually) in Linux, than the 10 or 15 minutes that is typical for a perfect printer installation under windoze. A perfect installation is not always the case, under windoze, as there are conflicts between mass storage drivers and printing apps, which must be resolved before the windoze installation can be successfully completed.

If you're going to install the HP PhotoSmart 7350, or similar model, printer to a non-fresh windoze installation, you should probably block-out 30 to 45 minutes of your time to do so.

Bank on 2 to 5 minutes to do it under Linux--less time than it took you to read this article.