[CentOS] The scariest set up of all: Printer Support
Craig White
craigwhite at azapple.com
Fri Aug 19 05:36:13 UTC 2005
On Fri, 2005-08-19 at 14:08 +0900, Dave Gutteridge wrote:
> My experience with printers is that of all the peripherals, regardless
> of OS, they are the trickiest to install, configure, and use. So I'm
> expecting a battle here.
>
> What I have is a Canon Pixus iP3100. It's a Japanese model, but it's the
> same model as the US Canon Pixma iP3000, just a different name.
>
> First, I plugged in the USB cable. CentOS seemed to detect it, and gave
> me a list of options. Neither the US model number nor Japanese model
> number was there, so I selected "Canon (unknown)". It spent a while
> installing, and then finished without any message to say for sure if it
> had installed successfully. I tried to print from a number of
> application, but nothing happened. Just nothing. No error messages, no
> printer noises, nothing.
>
> So, I figured the driver didn't take hold.
>
> I looked around the net, and first I cam across "Turboprint for Linux".
> At first it seemed promising. But my first snag was that after
> installing the RPM, I didn't seem to have any printer configuration
> dialogues or anything. I went on the net to see about a manual, and
> *then* I discovered that in the free, consumer use version, they stamp a
> logo onto whatever you print. I was a little annoyed that they didn't
> make that really clear up front, they just tell you that commercial
> users must pay and consumers can use for free.
>
> Anyway, I decided to look for different alternatives. I came across a
> web site that said that my printer model could work under a different
> Canon driver:
> http://www.linuxprinting.org/pipermail/canon-list/2004q4/001797.html
>
> But, and here's the heart of my question, I can't find any place to make
> changes to my printer configuration. According to some web sites I
> looked at, I should have a printer configuration application in my menu,
> under "Preferences". But all I have is a "printer settings" application
> which, despite the promising name, doesn't have any menu options at all
> for configuring the printer or it's drivers. It looks more like a print
> spool manager for when you have print jobs lined up.
>
> Where/how do I configure my printer and try alternate drivers?
----
linuxprinting.org shows nothing (not surprising)
HP is working hard developing linux drivers for their stuff so I am not
sure of the wisdom of buying a Canon that is largely unsupported. If you
are to have any luck, it would seem that Turbo Print would be your best
option.
Suggest that if you intend to buy a printer to use on Linux, you consult
the resources before you buy a printer
Craig
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