What kind of all-in-one printer works with 2008.1?

[banjo]

I am looking for an inexpensive all-in-one printer to put on my new computer. I have just installed Mandy 2008.1 and I need to find a printer-scanner that will work with it. I want a cheap printer because it will get only occasional use, so I don't want to sink a lot of money into it.

 

I have been looking at the HP line because they claim that HPLIP makes their printers work with Linux. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find a simple way to install a compatible HPLIP on this brand new computer. So I am turning the question inside out and asking what kind of printers will work with this box.

 

Thanks in advance

Banjo

(_)=='=~

Edited November 2, 2008 by banjo

[mindwave]

thats a darn good question

 

my wife has the kodak 5500 which everyone says is a NO WAY, but my question is this.

 

if instead of attacking it AS an all in one, and instead started the approach as several individual components, would THAT work?

 

You know, figure a way to PRINT, then with another setup/configuration work on a way to SCAN

 

then work on the USB card readers.

 

seems to me as though it WOULD be complicated. it shouldnt be im[possible.

 

unfortuinately i'm still several weeks from trying to work on it

 

j

[ianw1974]

Check the version of HPLIP and then cross-reference this with the release notes for that particular HPLIP version on the HPLIP website. Then, you should see from this list which printers are supported for that particular version of HPLIP. You could then see if the particular printer from HP is in that list before you buy it.

[RVDowning]

I have an HP all-in-one color laser printer, the CM1017. Only problem is that I have never been able to get the scanner to work. I heard a rumor that HP was going to support Linux for scanning at some point, but I guess it hasn't come to pass. The rest works fine and was easy to set up.

[David Batson]

I use a Canon PIXMA MP600 successfully on 2008.1. I found the drivers on Canon's Austrailia's site. Not all Canon's have linux drivers. I also got a Brother MFC4800 working successfully with 2007.1 (haven't tried it with 2008.1). I got the Brother drivers from the Brother website.

 

I would look at these sites for any prospective printers you are considering. Note that Turboprint drivers have to be purchased.

 

http://www.linuxfoundation.org/en/OpenPrinting

 

http://www.cups.org/

 

http://www.turboprint.info/

 

http://sourceforge.net/project/shownotes.p...lease_id=582342

 

And for the scanner part: http://www.sane-project.org/

[banjo]

I have been around the block a few times on this and I always end up back in the same place.

 

It seems that printing is a weak point in Linux since I see lots of complaints online and few answers.

 

HP supports their printers on Linux with their HPLIP drivers. However, the Mandriva repositories seem to be one step out of date with the printers that are still available for purchase. For example, Mandriva 2008.1 comes with HPLIP 2.8.2. That will support the HP 4180, which is no longer available, but will not support the HP 4280, which requires HPLIP 2.8.5. As far as I can tell, the only way to get a later version of HPLIP out of the Mandriva repositories is to upgrade the entire OS up to 2009.0.

 

Well I do not want to jump into KDE 4 and all of that stuff right now, not to mention the time it would take me to do the upgrade (three weeks after I installed Mandy 2008.1) ... so I am stuck.

 

My options seem to be to build HPLIP from source and see if I can get it to work, or try a different brand of printer that is known to work with my distro (and is actually available for purchase). The problem with building the driver from source is that I have to actually go and purchase the printer and try it in order to find out if it will work. The problem with finding a printer that will work is that I have not heard of any so far.

 

If anybody knows of an all-in-one printer/scanner that is known to work with Mandy 2008.1 out of the box, I would like to hear of it.

 

If anybody has been able to build HPLIP from source and make it work, I would like to hear about that as well.

 

Thanks to all for the support and suggestions.

Banjo

(_)=='=~

Edited October 22, 2008 by banjo

[AussieJohn]

I notice no one mentions Epson. I have used Epson for years and have never been disappointed or unable to easily install them, Scanners, Printers or All-in-One.

 

I use both individual Scanners and Printers but have installed AIOs on two different familys PCs, both using Mandriva. No drama and no problems. You would be better off using separate Scanner and Printer in light of you mentioning that you will use the printer only rarely. This is because of the fact that rare use actually contributes to early failure due to the fact that the print heads rapidly clog up due to the ink drying out in them. The built in head cleaning facility does not overcome this problem unless it is done on a regular basis as if one actually printed on a regular base. Printers that are used regularly actually do last a very long time contrary to popular belief. Scanners generally have an even longer life due to less critical parts and little use over time but are not at a disadvantage for being little used.

 

 

Cheers. John.

[banjo]

John,

 

Thanks for the pointer to the Epson. I still have a bad taste in my mouth over Epsons. I had two Epson C-84's for about a year. They installed and worked OK for a while, but then the black ink heads died on both of them within weeks of each other. I spent more time and ink and paper just trying to keep them printing than I acutally used printing.

 

I don't print much in color and I don't scan much either. The spit printers are bad for my situation for the reasons you state, but I don't think anything else is available at a reasonable cost for my occasional need for color or scanning.

 

My computing area here is so crowded already that I don't have space for separate printers and scanners. Maybe what I really need is a new house.

 

Banjo

(_)=='=~

[ianw1974]

Are we still covering this HPLIP is out of date in Mandriva 2008.1? It's up-to-date in Mandriva 2009.0!!!!!!!!

 

If you want to use an old distro, and Mandriva isn't making you a package for HPLIP to the latest version. If you use something like RH5 or CentOS5, then HPLIP is even older!! Stability versus new packages. Also, when 2009.1 is released, no further updates will be released to 2008.1. So suggest you contact Mandriva or open a bug and ask that you cannot get your printer working and see if they'll sort out a HPLIP update for you. Or, download and install HPLIP from their website and remove the Mandriva HPLIP packages. Then I'm sure you'll get it working. But, just because you don't seem to want to do this manually, you slate Linux for having bad printing support :huh:

 

Or maybe enable the backports and testing repos in 2008.1 and see if there is a newer version in there. Just don't expect support from Mandriva if something from there borks your system as they don't support backports or testing repos.

 

New printers and old distros won't go if newer drivers or packages are required for the system. Simple fact, and this happens in Windows.

 

Printing is not a weak point in Linux. The weak point is the multi-function printers that might not scan etc. I have a HP Deskjet F380 which luckily uses an older scanning engine going back to the Deskjet 500 series, so my printing isn't a problem. However, I've not tested with any other version of HPLIP other than what I have on that particular system with CentOS 5. So maybe if I connect to my Mandriva 2009.0 system, then all will be fine and dandy, or maybe it will still just be printing.

[David Batson]

I already looked in Backports and Testing for 2008.1 and did not see any version above 2.8.2.2.

[arctic]

Another option: Samsung SCX4200 - bw/laser printer, scanner, and copy-station. Not big, not expensive but it works well in 2008.1 - if you install the driver from the Samsung web-site.

[banjo]

Are we still covering this HPLIP is out of date in Mandriva 2008.1? It's up-to-date in Mandriva 2009.0!!!!!!!!

 

Mandriva 2009.0 carries with it a bunch of baggage that I do not want to step into, such as KDE4. I have heard nothing good about KDE4 yet.

 

If you want to use an old distro

 

An old distro? :huh: . Until a couple of weeks ago 2008.1 was the latest version they had short of the experimental releases. That makes it old? Wow! Things move fast these days! :blink:

 

I am not asking for "support from mandriva". I am trying to find a device driver for a printer so that I can install one on my system. When did getting a device driver constitute support from the OS vendor?

 

Device drivers were invented for the purpose of allowing hardware to be plugged into existing operating systems without having to rewrite the operating system. It seems odd to me that Linux now has the drivers so intimately coupled with the OS release that the only way to get a device driver is to update the entire OS. Welcome back to 1968! :o

 

I am not trying to be argumentative, but I keep getting slammed against the wall for being hesitant to toss out my entire OS just to hook up a printer. I understand how it works, but I don't necessarily agree with it. It makes no sense to me. A device driver comes with the device on a CD/DVD/Web Page from the vendor of the device. You install the device and the driver goes in and it all works. At least, that is the way it used to work.

 

When did device drivers become part of the OS? I am so confused.

 

Banjo

(_)=='=~

[ianw1974]

If Mandriva don't release an rpm for HPLIP in 2008.1 you have to manually install it yourself. As I mentioned above.

 

It's not intimately coupled with the OS, you just assume the latest version should be available to you and compiled for you without you doing anything more. The assumption is arrogance in my eyes for all the people that assist you with your problems and give you an operating system which you didn't have to even pay for.

[banjo]

Wow. I'm trying to have a technical discussion here and I'm being called arrogant. Maybe I have not put enough smiley's in here. :) :)

 

Let me explain my technical issue here.

 

1) I go to the store and buy a printer

2) In the box is a CD

3) I plug the printer into a fnWindoze box and it says "I see it. You have a CD?"

4) I say, "Yep. Here she is" and I put it into the cup holder.

5) fnWindows either says BLUESCREEN or "There ya go" and it works.

 

I never have to compile anything.

 

This will happen on Win98, WinNT, Win2000, WinXP and Vista. That's about10 years of fnWindoze versions.

Same printer. Same CD. You see, the driver comes with the printer, not with the OS.

 

I am trying to do the same thing with my new Mandy 2008.1 and it isn't working out so smoothly. I have a Lexmark laser printer that currently works with Win98SE, Mandy 2006, and Mandy 2008.1. I have owned this printer since September 10, 2001 (ask me how I can remember that date). I would like to do that with a little color printer/scanner.

 

BTW, I bought Powerpacks for both 9.1 and 2006, so I did pay for it, and it was worth every cent because I didn't have to pay for any fnVirusScan or fnAdwareScan or fnMalwareScan or any fnCrappletScan....etc....if you get my point.

 

And, no..... I will not go back fnWindopes because this is just a bump in the road on my way to Linux bliss.

 

Geez you are hittin' me hard for this one. :sad: I just want to get a color printer working.

 

Maybe I will just steal my Son's F380 and stick it on here. Can you still get ink for those things?

 

Linux Rocks!

 

Banjo

(_)=='=~

 

BTW, I have managed to compile HPLIP on this computer, but I need to have a printer before I can take that effort any farther.

Edited October 24, 2008 by banjo

[arctic]

Wow. I'm trying to have a technical discussion here and I'm being called arrogant.

Just for the record: You are not arrogant. I can fully understand your arguments. It is disgusting that a printer will work with one release and not with another one. The easy solution: Stick to a release that supports your printer. The complex solution: Try to solve the problem by compiling and bugfixing. :wacko: