problems configuring HP printer

[Felipe Figueiredo]

On Tuesday 04 July 2006 15:35, Dotan Cohen wrote:
> On 04/07/06, Felipe Figueiredo <philsf at ufrj.br> wrote:
[snip]
> > My (3-)color ink has almost died on testings, and I just got a brand new
> > (original hp) black cartrigde, but it onlye prints in faint (almost
> > vanishing) yellow.
> >
> > This same thing happened to me previously to installing kubuntu, both
> > with Debian Sarge, and Etch (both up to date). I still have an (up to
> > date) Etch, and a Windows XP for testings on a separate PC. Printing is
> > fine on windows, which probably excludes hardware problems.
> >
> > Facts: in this kubuntu I firstly tried the traditional way of configuring
> > the printer with the main tool (which I supose to be a front-end to
> > kprint), with HPLIP from kubuntu dapper. The PC correctly finds the USB
> > printer, and creates the hp:// CUPS backend. HPs tool programs seems to
> > work just fine, showing ink levels and managing queues and jobs. It's
> > just the black ink that don't come out... I then tried purging all hplip
> > packages, and compiling the last version (1.6.6), following step by step
> > the instructions. Same result.
> >
> > On linuxprinting.org, this model (actually 4200) reports as working
> > "mostly", but it should mean IMHO that it could print with basic color
> > cartridge. I don't need photo quality. On that site there is a report
> > that it worked out of the box on a Mandriva linux, so it should work
> > somehow. I just can't find out how.
> >
> > Any suggestions?
> >
> > regards
> > FF


Thank you for answering. I just found out what the problem was. See below. 

But first, answers to your points.

> I've got an HP 4255, and it prints fine. Are you sure that your black
> cartridge is good? Is it an HP branded cartridge? On a different
> (non-HP) printer I have had bad experiences with remanufactured
> cartridges. However, refilling the original myself was not a problem
> (but potentially messy).

As I said, I had just bought the cartrige, sealed and original. I also worked 
fine on Windows. Anyway, the problem was really configuration.

> Note that I'm using Kprint, as I've installed the KDE desktop. I think
> that you can install Kprint and use it under Gnome. Might be worth a
> shot.

I too am using KDE. I posted it here anyway since it seemed non-KDE related 
(in fact, it looked was non-distribution related, as I compiled the whole 
driver package to its last version). 

So, the "problem" is, IMHO a bug in the driver: The Printout config only has 
options for "Color" and "Black" cartridge, but doesn't have the option to use 
both (does it make any sense?)

If I choose not to use printout mode, and define quality, resolution and 
color-mode, I can choose to use both cartridges, which solves the "problem".

The bug, as I would like to point out, is that this is not the default config 
(to use both cartridges). I really fail to see any sense in this.  I tested 
this both on the 1.6.6 version I compiled, and then back to the 0.9.7 from 
the repository, and both worked out perfectly.

Maybe this is not distribution-related, but also maybe it could be 
distribution-corrected.

regards
FF