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