installing print drivers

Tue Sep 4 20:47:12 UTC 2007

This seems a good time to ask:  are you using a current version of Kubuntu, or 
something older?  If you return to Windows you'll definitely have to use a 
current version of everything to get it all to work together; you shouldn't 
expect less using a quality operating system.

Using Canon drivers for other models is usually fruitless; Canon doesn't use 
exactly the same language for all models.  What did linuxprinting.org say 
about your model?  You could purchase TurboPrint, which supports pretty much 
all the Canon models, if it's that important to you to have a color inkjet on 
Linux.  http://www.turboprint.info/

Have you tried the Generic PCL drivers for the Brother?  Check the manual for 
the language support for your model.  PCL is backward compatible though, so 
you might just start with PCL 5 and see what you get, even if your model 
supports 6.

Splix (for Samsungs) is definitely available through Adept, and that's where I 
got it from this time.  The first appearance of Splix is in Feisty Fawn 
(7.04), so if you're still using Edgy Eft you'll need to install it by hand.  
Full information on Splix is here:
http://packages.ubuntu.com/feisty/text/splix

also:
apt-cache show splix
Package: splix
Priority: optional
Section: text
Installed-Size: 816
Maintainer: Ubuntu MOTU Developers <ubuntu-motu at lists.ubuntu.com>
Original-Maintainer: Till Kamppeter <till.kamppeter at gmail.com>
Architecture: i386
Version: 1.0.1-0ubuntu1
Depends: libc6 (>= 2.5-0ubuntu1), libcupsimage2 (>= 1.2.5), libcupsys2 (>= 
1.2.7), libgcc1 (>= 1:4.1.1-31), libstdc++6 (>= 4.1.1-31)
Filename: pool/main/s/splix/splix_1.0.1-0ubuntu1_i386.deb
Size: 47674
MD5sum: 3bf60652e744874e049e62e10847ef85
SHA1: 86dd9c86727928f3778fe10e8bffdaebc0853c48
SHA256: 0512f47e86c13e196c968c63aeab934a65ac346e53cf45694caae41e92a46625
Description: Driver for Samsung's SPL2 (bw) and SPLc (color) laser printers
 Support for printing to SPL2- and SPLc-based printers. These are most
 of the cheaper Samsung laser printers which do not understand standard
 languages like PostScript or PCL. Both monochrome (ML-15xx, ML-16xx,
 ML-17xx, ML-2xxx) and color (CLP-5xx, CLP-6xx) models are supported.
 Also some rebranded Samsungs like the Xerox Phaser 6100 work with this
 driver.
 .
 Note that older SPL1-based models (ML-12xx, ML-14xx) do not work. Use
 these printers with the older "gdi" driver which is built into ESP
 GhostScript.
 .
 Home Page: http://splix.ap2c.org/
Bugs: mailto:ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
Origin: Ubuntu

In trying to get printers to work on Linux, I've only managed to utterly fail 
at two:  a Lexmark all-in-one inkjet that I didn't even bother with since 
it's a known doorstop (the owner didn't care because it was free, and worth 
exactly as much as he paid for it), and an IBM Network Printer 17, 
which "supports" PCL 5 but won't print using it, or even ESC/P2 or 
ProPrinter.  My Canon inkjet prints fine, albeit the color quality sucks 
unless I want to shell out for TurboPrint.  I'd rather just funnel that money 
toward somebody who seems to care, like Samsung or HP.

If you go back to Windows, I certainly feel for you.  My last adventure into 
Windows XP as a dual-boot option sent me screaming back to Kubuntu.  Windows 
is simply too slow and too difficult to use to get any real daily work done, 
and everything depends on updating something else.  It's a nightmare of a 
system, and every time I use it I remember why I switched in the first place 
(the front door of my computer must still be around here somewhere!).  My 
experience with Vista has thus far left me nonplussed.

_______________
Scott

On Tuesday 04 September 2007 12:43:48 am D T wrote:
> Thanks for the response.  I already tried that several times but could not
> make them work. I tried installing the Samsung ML-1610 driver too and no
> success.  I downloaded the Brother driver several times but could only get
> errors trying to install.  I tried the Canon drivers for other printers but
> that failed too.  Is splix available through adept?  I searched it and
> cannot find it.
>
> Thanks for the help but I have spent 4 days on this, over 30 hours just to
> get a printer to print, any 3 of the ones I have. I have not had good luck
> with Linux. I still have copies of red hat from '96, gentoo from '98,
> Caldera from '00, something from '02, 5 different ones in '04/'05 and now
> Ubuntu/Kubuntu from '07.  I'm going back to virus-prone, memory hogging,
> money-hungry Windows again. Thanks for your help again. I really do
> appreciate you trying to help me. Good luck to you.
>
> > From: Scott at scotttesterman.com
> > To: kubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
> > Subject: Re: installing print drivers
> > Date: Mon, 3 Sep 2007 05:36:15 -0400
> >
> > Printing on Linux seems to be the only area where Linux can't really
> > begin to compete with Windows.  This is entirely due to the manufacturers
> > and their support or lack thereof.
> >
> > Canon USA's consumer division has been a nightmare, in my experience,
> > with regards to Linux.  Even after parent company Canon Japan released
> > Linux driver packages, the USA division refused to even acknowledge their
> > existence.  This means that you could get your printer to work fine, as
> > long as you could read Japanese.  Interestingly, most of the Canon
> > commercial line have Linux drivers of one kind or another available. 
> > Keep the printer if you still want to use it in Windows (they're great
> > printers, btw) but otherwise you may as well sell it and cease to support
> > Canon until they support you.
> >
> > That Dell 1110 is a Samsung that they didn't even bother to disguise in a
> > Dell black tux, and Samsung printers work quite well, even having
> > official support from Samsung.  Linuxprinting.org reports that the
> > ML-1610 built-in driver works in 600x600 resolution, which IIRC is the
> > max for the 1110, so you'll probably get great output.  You won't get any
> > function out of the Dell toner management system, which means you'll have
> > to take the trouble of noticing of your toner has run out.  :-D 
> > Samsung's official drivers can break scanning on your Kubuntu system
> > unless you're using an all-in-one Samsung, so I can't recommend them
> > unless you're OK with that or willing to fix the permissions issues.
> >
> > Another excellent suggestion for your Dellsung is Splix, a set of open
> > source Samsung drivers.  (Splix is available in Adept, although it's a
> > slightly old version.)  Splix supports my Samsung ML-2250 better than the
> > official Samsung drivers, even enabling 1200dpi printing.  The only
> > caveat is that envelopes print with a bizarre barcode-like gibberish
> > around the outer edges, but this appears to be a per-printer problem, so
> > your model may work perfectly.  I have a second copy of my printer
> > installed using PCL6 that I use solely for envelopes and keep the Splix
> > copy for the bells and whistles.
> >
> > Brother is another manufacturer who seems to have seen the light and is
> > working hard to support Linux across their entire line.  I can report a
> > complete lack of success in trying to get the Brother driver installed on
> > a friend's Kubuntu system, but it was a very low-end laser, so a generic
> > PCL install worked quite well, albeit without any 1200dpi support.  If
> > you want to give Brother's official driver a shot, you can find it here:
> >
> > http://solutions.brother.com/linux/sol/printer/linux/cups_wrapper_install
> >2.html
> >
> > _______________
> > Scott
> >
> > --
> > kubuntu-users mailing list
> > kubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
> > Modify settings or unsubscribe at:
> > https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/kubuntu-users
>
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