HP WLAN capable inkjet printers under Linux ?

English Hardware
1

I was curious if anyone has any experience with using Linux with HP printers that come with a WLAN ?

Now our old HP-5652 printer still works fine and refuses to fail. This is over a year after my wife attached a cardboard splint (with scotch tape) to repair a plastic control rod that had snapped to an essential function of that printer. I have the HP5652 connected to my openSUSE-11.1 PC, and using IPP printing every PC in our LAN/WLAN can print reasonably fine.

But we are now on our last cartridge for that printer, and with 6-months or less I anticipate the ink should be gone from that cartridge, at which time we will likely replace the printer for a new one. There is no point in keeping an old printer which is already being held together with scotch tape. :slight_smile:

Initially I had thought we would only purchase a replacement stand alone printer, but earlier today my wife raised the possibility of our getting a printer with a built in WLAN functionality (together with a scan and copy capability, in addition to print functionality).

There is a sale on at our local staples for the HP J4624 (all-in-one) and our local PC store also has good prices for the HP J4524 (all-in-one) and the HP J4624 (all-in-one) printers. All of these come with WLAN built in. They also use the HP350/351 print cartridges, which are less expensive than other HP print cartridges (albeit still relatively expensive compared to printer cartridges of other Printer manufacturers).

Now my research suggests “copy” will work in such an all-in-one printer as long as the printer does not need a PC for the copy (which is often the case now adays with all-in-one printers). From what I read, the printer’s WLAN scan function, after one pushes the scan button, asks what computer on the network to send the scanned file to. My research suggests that functionality only works with a Windows PC (and maybe a Mac), but not having Linux scan functionality is not an issue as we have a separate stand alone scanner that I can use.

I was curious if anyone has purchased such a WLAN capable printer and successfully used it with the WLAN functionality under Linux? There is no mention of these printers in the Linux openprinting page OpenPrinting - The Linux Foundation nor in the openSUSE printing HCL HCL/Printers - openSUSE … but that does not surprise me as unfortunately most Linux users do not take the time to update such pages.

I downloaded the user manuals for those printers, and noted only mention of Mac and Windows support. One has to set up the ssid/password in the printer for the printers WLAN. But what worried me is the manual only referred to setting up WEP encryption (as opposed to WPA), which would mean one would need to switch their WLAN to WEP. WEP is purportedly easily hackable, so even if those printers were Linux compatible, I would not purchase them if WPA was not an option.

Anyway, if any users have experience here that they could add to this thread, please do so. …

2

oldcpu wrote:

>
> I was curious if anyone has any experience with using Linux with HP
> printers that come with a WLAN ?
>
> Now our old HP-5652 printer still works fine and refuses to fail. This
> is over a year after my wife attached a cardboard splint (with scotch
> tape) to repair a plastic control rod that had snapped to an essential
> function of that printer. I have the HP5652 connected to my
> openSUSE-11.1 PC, and using IPP printing every PC in our LAN/WLAN can
> print reasonably fine.
>
> But we are now on our last cartridge for that printer, and with
> 6-months or less I anticipate the ink should be gone from that
> cartridge, at which time we will likely replace the printer for a new
> one. There is no point in keeping an old printer which is already being
> held together with scotch tape. :slight_smile:
>
> Initially I had thought we would only purchase a replacement stand
> alone printer, but earlier today my wife raised the possibility of our
> getting a printer with a built in WLAN functionality (together with a
> scan and copy capability, in addition to print functionality).
>
> There is a sale on at our local staples for the HP J4624 (all-in-one)
> and our local PC store also has good prices for the HP J4524
> (all-in-one) and the HP J4624 (all-in-one) printers. All of these come
> with WLAN built in. They also use the HP350/351 print cartridges, which
> are less expensive than other HP print cartridges (albeit still
> relatively expensive compared to printer cartridges of other Printer
> manufacturers).
>
> Now my research suggests “copy” will work in such an all-in-one printer
> as long as the printer does not need a PC for the copy (which is often
> the case now adays with all-in-one printers). From what I read, the
> printer’s WLAN scan function, after one pushes the scan button, asks
> what computer on the network to send the scanned file to. My research
> suggests that functionality only works with a Windows PC (and maybe a
> Mac), but not having Linux scan functionality is not an issue as we have
> a separate stand alone scanner that I can use.
>
> I was curious if anyone has purchased such a WLAN capable printer and
> successfully used it with the WLAN functionality under Linux? There
> is no mention of these printers in the Linux openprinting page
> ‘OpenPrinting - The Linux Foundation’
> (http://www.linuxfoundation.org/en/OpenPrinting) nor in the openSUSE
> printing HCL ‘HCL/Printers - openSUSE’
> (http://en.opensuse.org/HCL/Printers) … but that does not surprise me
> as unfortunately most Linux users do not take the time to update such
> pages.
>
> I downloaded the user manuals for those printers, and noted only
> mention of Mac and Windows support. One has to set up the ssid/password
> in the printer for the printers WLAN. But what worried me is the manual
> only referred to setting up WEP encryption (as opposed to WPA), which
> would mean one would need to switch their WLAN to WEP. WEP is
> purportedly easily hackable, so even if those printers were Linux
> compatible, I would not purchase them if WPA was not an option.
>
> Anyway, if any users have experience here that they could add to this
> thread, please do so. …
>
>

Have a look at
http://h71028.www7.hp.com/enterprise/cache/321152-0-0-0-121.html?jumpid=go/linuxprinting

I have a HP Deskjet 6980. To install the software, you have to run a shell
(hplip-2.8.nn.run) in the Konsole. The problem I’ve had has been in finding
one that worked. Although the latest version is hplip-2.8.12.run, I still
use 2.8.6 as the the others all fail code 2 in “make”.

When I first got my printer, I couldn’t install it because of problems with
the shell. I got in touch with HP, told them the problems I was seeing, and
shortly afterwards, a new version was available which worked perfectly. I
think it’s time I told them about 2.8.12.

My previous printer was an Epson. At the moment I’m still on my first set of
HP cartridges where I think I’d have gone through many Epson cartridges in
the same period.

–
Graham P Davis, Bracknell, Berks., UK. E-mail: newsman not newsboy

3

I confess to have wasted 30 minutes previous, going thru those pages and finding NOTHING of value wrt my questions. Usually I pride myself in finding things quick, but those pages did not help me previous.

Is there something obvious that I missed?

4

oldcpu wrote:

>
> Graham P Davis;1937159 Wrote:
>> Have a look at
>> ‘HP Open Source and Linux - Platforms & servers’
>> (http://tinyurl.com/cyvoyv)
> I confess to have wasted 30 minutes previous, going thru those pages
> and finding NOTHING of value wrt my questions. Usually I pride myself
> in finding things quick, but those pages did not help me previous.
>
> Is there something obvious that I missed?
>
>

Did you try the support + drivers tab and search for the devices you were
thinking of? That should tell you whether there’s support.

–
Graham P Davis, Bracknell, Berks., UK. E-mail: newsman not newsboy

5

Yes, I did try that tab before. I did NOT want to end up writting an essay as to what I searched, as NO ONE would read my post if I did.

Previous, I ended up eventually, with links like this:
HP Linux Imaging and Printing - supported devices - deskjet
and this:
HP Linux Imaging and Printing - supported devices - officejet
with the latter having only VERY LIMITED information for the HP J4524 (and having no information for the HP J4210 and HP J6424 that I was also looking at as they are in stock at our local PC stores). That site notes printer initiated scans work for the HP J4524 and network/LAN printing or LAN via jDirect works, but does

  • NOT indicate if it works with either WLAN AND JDirect, or if it is only JDirect printing (I do NOT want jDirect); and
  • NOT indicate if such scans work over the WLAN for Linux, and
  • NOT indicate if WPA can be used over the WLAN instead of WEP, and
  • NOT indicate if stand alone copy works with the printer, and
  • NOT indicate if the HP J4210 nor J6424 are supported nor to what detail, and
  • NOT indicate the quality of printing supported

Simply put, if I thought that was all there was to these printers and Linux, I would immediately ignore them as potential purchases. … But over the years in using HP printers I have found there OFTEN is more to support / capability for HP printers than what is listed in the web sites, and the web sites often lag.

Often user experience is worth a LOT more …

… Hence my post looking for information on HP WLAN capable inkjet printers under Linux and experience of users. I think my “Title” was reasonably chosen.

I appreciate your input, and if you have any other links that you think might be of help, then I appreciate what you can provide. In addition to having previously/already spent 30 minute (on the URL you noted) I also spent a reasonable 2 hours googling those printers, so I have searched a bit already. … But one thing I know about searching, is if one uses the wrong keyword, then the search will often yield nothing.

6

I was looking at the specs for your HP 6980, and noted it supports both WEP and WPA for its WLAN interface. But I could not find the equivalent in the specs for the HP J4524, nor HP J4210, nor HP J6424. … I suspect I need to keep digging thru the specs.

One trouble I find is many sites take a subset of the specification, and post it, so one ends up with many dozens of subsets of the specification, which are called the specification, but in fact are incomplete.

7

For the record (for anyone following this thread), the best indications of support that I found for the 3 printers that I was looking at (available in our local stores - HP F4210, HP J4524, HP J6424) from here are:
HP Linux Imaging and Printing

For the HP F4210
HP Linux Imaging and Printing

For the HP J4524
HP Linux Imaging and Printing

And nothing for the HP J6424, although here is one typically (non Linux specific site):
HP Officejet J6424 All-in-One Printer series*-* HP Business Support Center
so if there is Linux support for the JP J6424, its not immediately obvious.

All of those sites are very sparse in terms of the level/quality of Linux support.

8

I’m getting my numbers mixed up (typing above and in searching).

The printer that I can purchase is the HP J4624 and not the J4524 (which is also a valid printer). The HP J4524 is listed as supported on the HP sites, but the J4624 is not listed as near as I can determine. …

Often I feel like I am going around in circles on these web sites. :slight_smile:

9

I did receive a reply on an HP site (by a volunteer) to some of my questions on WLAN printers. URL is here: WLAN multifunction printer functionality: HP-J4524, HP-J4624, HP-J6424 - Networking and wireless - HP Support Forums

reply is reposted here:

I have some answers for you:

  1. HP Inkjet printers use port 9100 for printing PCL data streams. This is often referred to as JetDirect. Unfortunately, HP Inkjet printers do not support IPP.
  2. Scanning does work over the network. For Linux, please see the compatibility selector here HP Linux Imaging and Printing to see the available feature for the printer you are interested.
  3. All HP wireless Inkjet printers support WPA-PSK, WPA2-PSK with both TKIP and AES encryption algorithms.
  4. All HP All-In-One Multi-Function Inkjet printers can make copies without the PC except for printers shipped into some European countries (something to do with country specific tariffs on copy machines).
  5. I think the print and scan quality of the C4580 is pretty good for a $100 printer. I installed the HPLIP driver for my Ubuntu 8.10 installation and it went very smoothly. One caveat: I’ve only been running the C4580 for a few days under Linux.
    I was mostly happy with the replies.
  • The information on the JetDirect was disappointing. It appears to work with Linux, but its not clear to me what Linux software is needed to work with what is a proprietary HP networking format. *]The WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK information (with TKIP and AES) was encouraging, as that was a potential blocker. *] The capability to make copies without the PC was also good, except for the European country comment (I live in Europe !! ). *] The scanning compatibility with Linux is very fuzzy. I had already checked out the web site indicated, and that did not provide any further answers to my question.

Still over all, it was a good response. I find replies on that HP site are generally fairly good (I’ve used the HP site before) albeit the replies sometimes take a week or so before one gets a good response.

10

Don’t know if your still interested in this thread oldcpu but may help someone.

Yesterday I successfully installed the HP J6424 Officejet on my wireless lan. I use mac addressing with my router and have the password security disabled. I added the printers mac to the router and installed the the software on my one windows PC, this automatically updated the SSID in the printer. It took two hours to install but worked perfectly. I then installed the printer on my two suse PC’s One a ethernet connected desktop running 11.0 and kde3.5 the other a wireless laptop running 10.3 and 3.5. The printer was installed as network printer using hp-setup, I had to manually type in the printer ip address as setup did not find printer but all went fine after that (printer address was given in report from windows install). Only had to ensure that I had hplip version 2.8.4 was installed. Installs took only a couple of minutes. Printing works fine from all printers have yet to test scanning ,faxing etc.

11

Thankyou. I am interested in learning more about HP all-in-one wireless printers. After setting up an USB HP all-in-one-printer (with no wireless) at my mother’s place in a different continent (in North America) in January, we were sufficiently impressed by the printer to change our own requirements for a new printer from a standalone printer, to an all-in-one printer, … except we want an all-in-one that connects via a wireless. Such a wireless printer is much easier to place in our small appartment.

Our time frame for the purchase is tied in to how long it takes us to use up our remaining ink cartridges in our current HP printer (HP5652). Currently we have one spare black and white (B&W) and one spare colour unopened cartridge for our old HP5652 [my wife just found those spare cartridges]. The B&W in the printer is almost empty, the colour in the printer has 25% left. Hence it could be as long as a few months before we empty those. So I’m thinking we will purchase a new printer in about two months time. (the cartridges are lasting longer than I expected).

I searched for the HP J6424 on the open printing site, and still could find no entry for it. The closest I could find was mention of the J6410:
OpenPrinting database - Printer: HP OfficeJet J6410

I also checked the HP compatibility site:
HP Linux Imaging and Printing - supported devices
which lead me here:
HP Linux Imaging and Printing - office jet j6400
… which notes (finally !! ) that openSUSE Linux is supported. It only lists openSUSE-11.0, but I’m reasonably confident that if it works in 11.0 it should work in 11.1 (although that confidence is no guarantee, and I could be wrong). …

My wife and I checked out some printers at our local computer warehouse shop a couple of weeks back (its a 45 minute bus ride away, so we only visit once per month - I no longer have a car, … but thats another story :slight_smile: ) . I think the J6424 was one of the printers there ( < not sure > ) . Its a bit big for us. But it is a possibility.

A key feature that we both want, is the capability to “copy” with all PC’s on the LAN switched OFF. Can the J6424 do that?

I’m curious also as to how the remote (LAN) scanning and fax will work. In particular the remote (LAN) scanning. I wonder if Samba is necessary for the remote (LAN) scanning? I believe when one scan’s, one will see on the printer LED, a list of network computers it can see. One can then select the computer, and the scanned file is then copied from the all-in-one-printer/scanner to the networked computer.

12

Our local PC store now has an HP J 6424 in stock. Unfortunately the German version they have in stock appears to have stand alone copying disabled, and that (stand alone copy with out interfacing to a PC) is a feature that I would like to get. In fact, not having that feature is currently a “blocking” item for my considering the printer (blocking, that is, until I change my mind).

I suspect this weekend (or next) I will need to go visit some computer stores a bit further afield, and see what they have in stock. If nothing else, my deliberations over the past 18 months (about replacing our ancient HP 5652 printer) has helped me solidify my requirements, where my requirements for the new inkjet printer are:

  • WLAN and USB (or ethernet) interface [including both WinXP & Linux WLAN compatibility]
  • printing (resolution TBD) via WLAN [for both WinXP & Linux]
  • scanning (resolution TBD) via WLAN [for both WinXP & Linux]
  • stand alone copy (ie with no PC direct nor WLAN connection).
  • fax via WLAN (fax capability is nice to have - not essential)

The stand alone copy feature that I really want is causing me the biggest difficulty in finding a suitable printer, as in Europe tarriffs have made such printers either difficult to find, or much more expensive. Often a North American version will have the feature enabled, and the European version have it disabled.

Some time back some users on IRC chat tried to convince me that I was better off going for a Colour Laser printer meeting the above requirements (instead of going for an inkjet). They claimed maintenance was cheaper !! for the Colour Laser, but upon research, it appears that comment if true is applicable to the USA but not applicable to Europe. My researach suggested that laser cartridges for home colour laser printers in Europe are signficantly more expensive than those in the USA - hence what might be true in the USA is not true in Europe wrt inkjet vs colour laser.

13

I was comparing the datasheet for the HP OfficeJet J6410 to the J6424, and the J6410 makes specific mention: “* … Enjoy the convenience of walk-up copying - no need to power up your PC *” . That is a feature that I would like, as I see it saving time at home.

My research suggests the J6410 is also reasonably supported in Linux, although I am going to research this some more to see if I can find any credible horror stories. :stuck_out_tongue: … Our local PC shop does not carry this printer, so my options are to either

  • have the our local PC shop custom order the J6410 for me (checking 1st to confirm the stand-alone copy feature has not been disabled in the model they order
  • go a bit further afield to some other PC shops to see if they have the J6410 printer (again checking 1st to confirm the stand-alone copy feature has not been disabled in the model they have in stock);
    *]order the J6410 by mail order (again checking 1st to confirm the stand-alone copy feature has not been disabled in the model they have in stock)
    But I finally feel I may be narrowing down my search (although I need to convince the wife next that this is the model printer we need … :\ ) .
14

Wow ! Now that was interesting.

I started searching on the HP J6410 multifunction printer, and I read both love at first site stories, and hate stories. The comments were all over the spectrum. One user who could not get the network scan to work posted (and his review was copied all over the web) that the network scan does not work on that printer, and he even claimed HP told him such on a support thread. Then I read other reviews of users who got the network scan to work and stated it was pretty neat. … duhhhhh … nothing like consistency. Are there different variants of the HP J6410 hardware, or (more likely) are we refering to different user expertise?

Another user claimed for the HP 6410 network printing to work, that one must keep powered (whenever one wants to print) the original computer in which the setup software was run. Another user debunked that statement as nonsence. What is one to believe? Anyway, I downloaded the user manual to see if they would help me determine the truth.

Thus far the truth appears to be network scanning, printing, copying and faxing all work. In scanning one can select an IP to send the print job, or send the print job to a memory card. Copying can be stand alone.

There were complaints on printer jaming (but I notice a firmware update to adjust print ability to grab paper) and wireless dropping (which could be related to individual LANs and not generic). Complaints about ink being outrageously expensive (but then I read an article by a user noting while costly, it is cheaper than the old HP 56xx printer series, of which I have a printer, and its not THAT expensive). … Complaints about the printer and scanner being too noisy. … and then another user commented that the printer was quiet !! There was a complaint that the scanning was too slow. … another expressed satisfaction with the scanning speed.

Anyway, in the process of researching the HP J6410, I also stumbled across some reviews of the HP J6480. … Now the problem I have is telling the printers apart. :stuck_out_tongue: Their spec’s look very similar … and they all appear to have some degree of Linux support.

Lots more to think of. :\

15

My wife dug out an extra print cartridge for our old HP-5652 (where was that buried ?? ) so it appears the new printing purchase may be delayed for another two to three months as we want to use up that cartridge before a new printer purchase.

In the meantime, I may add to my consideration list the

  • HP office Jet J4680 , or
  • HP Photo Smart Premium (C309) AIO, or
  • HP Photosmart C6380 AIO
    I saw all of these PCs in a PC shop downtown and I managed to get a reasonably close look at them (where “AIO” stands for “All In One” ).

As near as I can determine from some web surfing, they are all Linux compatible, so my selection considerations are wide open again.

The one thing I need to be careful of is the “standalone (without PC) copy” feature, as this feature may be disabled in some European countries (such as Germany). In the downtown store, both the J4680 and the C6380 I looked at had big “Kopieren Ohn PC” labels (indicating they could print without PC) , but I’m not so certain about the Photo Smart Premium C309.

… anyway, with another print cartridge being available for our old printer, there is no hurry to buy the new printer.

16

As Murphy’s Law would have it, the printer that interests me the most now (the Photo Smart Premium) is also the printer that I have not yet been able to confirm has the “Kopieren Ohn PC” feature enabled in Germany.

URL on the printer here:
HP Photosmart Premium Fax All-in-One Printer series - C309 overview - HP Small & Medium Business products

I have read of Linux users successfully using this printer.

One thing I prefer about this HP printer over the HP Office Jets is it has multiple cartridges (different ones for each colour). This is pretty much standard in most non-HP printers, but inexplicably HP were slow to adopt this feature. But finally the recent Photosmart series are now adopting this practise.

Of course, as noted previous, I prefer HP printers because of the effort that HP make to provide Linux support, where IMHO all other printer manufacturers fall short in this regard. … Thats not to say HP printers are superior, but rather to say I prefer to purchase hardware from manufacturers who support Linux.

17

Before I forget - here is a link to an HP page on the Linux compatibility of this printer: HP Photosmart Premium Fax All-in-one Printer - c309a

18

So I finally ordered earlier this evening the HP Photosmart Premium C309a:
HP Photosmart Premium Fax All-in-One - C309a - HP Customer Care (United States - English)
… but I ordered it from amazon.de.

It is supposed to be reasonably Linux compatible. I guess we will see.

I had considered the C309g, but the C309g does not provide a capability to print on CDs/DVDs, and I dearly want that capability. The C309a provides the capability to print on CD/DVDs. I’m curious to see how painful it will be under openSUSE Linux to get working on the C309a:

  • configuring the wireless (from Linux)
  • wireless printing of regular paper (from Linux)
  • wireless printing on CDs/DVDs (from Linux)
  • wireless scanning (from Linux)

I’m not really interested in the fax capability (we already have a fax machine in our apartment).

19

The HP Photosmart Premium C309a printer arrived today, only a couple of days after we ordered it from amazon.de. I’m stunned it arrived so quick.

After unpacking, we setup the wireless (skipping usb/ethernet setups). All we had to do was press configure on the printer (Einrichtung - good for me learning German) and follow the printer’s small setup screen for wireless, entering our LAN ssid and passphrase. We then went to my wife’s winXP PC and installed the HP software. That was a pain. It wanted to install all sorts of different software, which my wife did NOT want. So we had to customize the WinXP install. Then we had firewall hiccups. So eventually, after just over an hour, we had printing working on my wife’s winXP PC.

Then it was back to my openSUSE-11.2 Linux PCs to see if I could get printing. I confess after reading web horror stories, I had a lot of trepidation.

I note I have hplip-3.9.8-3.4.1 and hplip-hpijs-3.9.8-3.4.1 installed.

I went to YaST > Hardware > Priner > Print Configuration … puzzled for a few seconds, and then pressed > add > connection wizard > Access Network Printer or Print Server Box (I selected that as I saw JetDirect as a submenu and I recall HP wireless printers use that) > TCP/IP (App Socket / Jet Direct) > IP Address or Host Name … I tried the “lookup” but it did not work … so then under “IP Address or Host Name” I added the new HP C309a printer’s IP address (which one can get from the printer, or get from one’s router) which in our case was 192.168.2.112 (for example), … > TCP Port Number > 9100 (that was already entered) > Select The Printer Manufacturer > selected “HP” > pressed “Test Connection” and got OK :slight_smile: Then pressed OK (twice) and in the dialog box noted an entry “HP-socket//192.168.2.112 created by connection wizard”.

Then “assign driver” > and in the massive list I searched for and found "HP Photosmart C309a Series hpcups 3.98 (manufacturer-PPDs/hp-hphotosmart_C309a_series.ppd.gz) " . The other alternative has an hpijs selection for this printer, which I did not select.

I selected a4 default print size and named the printer hp_c309a, pressed OK.

It brought me to a menu of Printer Configurations, and under that I saw "remote hp_c309a ready " … I pressed on a test print and it worked.

It took me 10 minutes.

I then went to my other two openSUSE-11.2 PCs on my desk (all connected via hardware KVM) and using my experience from above, I connected both of them to the printer in less than 5 minutes.

I’m a bit stunned. About 15 minutes to connect 3 Linux PCs (having never done it before) and over 1 hour to connect one MS-Windows PC.

Very nice!!

Now to puzzle over scanning over the network.

20

Yep, I agree. Setting up my HP Offiejet J6410 multi function printer was easy in 11.1 & 11.2. I remember for XP I had to install a 150MB+ bloat ware suite of useless software.

If you do Alt-F2 and type hp-toolbox it’ll open up a nice printer and fax configuration applet.

Don’t know if yours also has a scanner but that is easy to set up too. Just do it through the scanner icon under hardware in yast.