Need Help Finding a Printer

I am looking to replace my printer. I have never printed in Linux before so I don't know how. HP printers have worked really well for us. We have had a 900 series all in one for 6+ years that still works perfectly. I am replacing a crappy free Dell all in one.

My situation is this. I have an old Dell desktop my mom uses running Ubuntu then my laptop that I have XP and Ubuntu on, both behind a WRT54G running DD-WRT. Both computers need to print to this unknown new printer.

Based on the little reading I have done, there are a few different things I could do.
1. Get a networkable printer with built in wi-fi and connect it USB to the olddell then print wirelessly from my own computer.
2. Get a networkable printer with an ethernet port, plug it into the router.
3. Get a printer then plug it USB into the olddell, then run CUPS and print from my computer through it.

Which of these would be best/easiest? Am I missing any possible methods? Would it be possible to print wirelessly to it through Ubuntu? Would #2 work at all? #3 isn't preferred because it would require that computer to run 24/7. After a method is decided on, what connectivity features should I look for in the new HP printer.

 

#2 will definitely work, and is your best/least expensive option. You don't need the wi-fi on the printer. You can connect the printer to a cable to the WRT54G, and when you connect wirelessly to the Linksys, the printer will also be on the same network.

What kind of printing do you want to do? Print pictures? Print black and white? A good laser printer that supports either PCL6 or PS (PostScript) is generally your best option, which will usually require research online, as most big box store employees have no clue about what's going on.

These guys will have your best list of hardware to look at and all:

http://www.linux-foundation.org/en/OpenPrinting/Database/SuggestedPrinters

 

Do you know of any guides to getting #2 to work? I would have my laptop wireless into the router and the olddell plugged into the router.

I'm looking for an all in one mainly copy, scan, print. This one looks the best so far. Officejet 6310

 

Newegg has networked printers from Lexmark with a huge mail in rebate right now. The C534N is something like $250 after a rebate, or $200 if you get the newsletter. It's normally $650. They have a similar B&W model with the same rebate. They both work well in Linux, in fact Lexmark supports them under some distributions.

edit: whoops, they're not all in ones, though, just printers

 

I went out to Staples and bought the Officejet 6310. Setup was really easy.

I plugged it into the router. Then, I installed the software onto my Windows partition. (A lot of bloatware on the CD that you are forced to install but I uninstalled after.) Windows saw the printer and I was able to print wirelessly to it. Next, I went to my mom's computer and went to Printing. Enabled the Detect LAN Printers selection and it found it and installed. Next, I did the same thing to my own Ubuntu install.

Everything works great now except for one minor thing. On the printer, there is an option to Scan To a computer over the network. The only one that I can select for that is my Windows install, not the Ubuntu installs. I don't think I will be able to get this working unless anyone here can figure it out.

 

It's possible it's just sending to an SMB share or FTP that the install CD established. On the other hand, it might not be, in which case you'll have to rely on SANE, which unfortunately I can't help you with.

 

If your printer is listed here as one that "Mostly" or "Perfectly" works

http://www.openprinting.org/printer_list.cgi

Then uou are pretty much good to go....

 

Can you explain that at all?

 

Scanning over the network usually requires special driver support. It would probably show up as separate devices over USB if you plugged it into the USB port of your Linux machine.

If you want to hack at it, I just googled SANE network officejet and it looked like there might be some promising posts there as far as getting it working. Good luck!

 

Hello,

Go here;

http://hplip.sourceforge.net

Your new 6310 is supported in this package no need to "hack" anything.
The only thing you will not be able to do over your network is copy.
No loss since you have to take your copy to the machine anyhow.
Install this on both machines and you'll be set, just read the
"docs" first to save yourself some trouble.

Another good source for other info is;

http://www.linuxprinting.org

Hope that helps, don

 

How do I open that file? It is a .run? Never heard of that. When I double click it, Archive Manager opens and tells me "Archive Type Not Supported." hplip-1.7.4a.run

 

What you need to do with a .run file is typically set the file type to executable. If you're in a terminal:

Code:

chmod +x hplip-1.7.4a.run

 

I'm still getting the same error message of "Archive Type Not Supported" after running that.

 

mfmbcpman,

If you went to the site and downloaded the file you may have noticed
the "installation instuctions" and :release notes".
I'm not trying to be curt, they are simply more thourgh than I can put
into a few lines.
There are two methods; hence two different downloads; automatic
and manual, the latter being the compile your own with options.
You don't need that one.
Delete any installed printers/faxes/scanners from whatever device
manager you use.
Next open up a terminal and execute the command and your on your way.

su
pswd
then; sh hplip-1.7.4a.run

or

sudo hplip-1.7.4a.run

BTW, the file is executable from the cmd line or term.

You are still going to have to read the instructions my friend, you'll
be glad you did, otherwise you're probably going to have a wee bit of
trouble when you go to add the printer back in at your device manager.

Regards, don ;post back if you have trouble.