I recently installed a used Epson NX420 via an USB cable to my desktop running Suse 13.1. I downloaded the drivers from the Epson website, and everything seems to work fine. I am even able to use the scanner with the acquire images application. The problem is that the printer needs new ink cartridges and I am unable to get it to do anything (except scan) at this point. I expected to use the Epson Status Monitor to override the error and at least print a test page. Is the Epson Status Monitor available for Suse 13.1? I installed all of the rpm’s with zypper for the NX420, such as
Just last week I loaded openSuSE 13.1 64 bit on to a laptop and set up an Epson wf3540 and the ink levels are detected and appear in a graphic image similar to what is shown on the printer’s display. The printer is on a local network (with static ip address) and not directly connected to my laptop.
I did not down load any drivers but installed the printer by using either YaST > Hardware > Printer, or
All Applications > System > Configuration > Print Settings > Add > Find Network Printer. (sorry I forget which method I used). After choosing the printer openSuSE took over and set up the printer and had me create a CUPS account.
I’m curious as to how the ink level info is being provided. The ‘gutenprint’ package supplies an Epson CLI utility called ‘escputil’ that supports some Epson inkjet printers, including providing ink levels.
man escptil
Perhaps that is in use …
I did not down load any drivers but installed the printer by using either YaST > Hardware > Printer, or
All Applications > System > Configuration > Print Settings > Add > Find Network Printer. (sorry I forget which method I used). After choosing the printer openSuSE took over and set up the printer and had me create a CUPS account.
I hope the above is of some use.
Yes, many printers are supported by open source drivers (eg gutenprint drivers), and perhaps your printer is supported by one of them. I note that the following driver is suggested by OpenPrinting:
Thank you for all of the info. escputil is installed on my system. It wasn’t after I installed the first driver, but it must have installed with some of the later ones. I was suprised to find it there. Anyway, it won’t display the ink levels. Can anyone tell me what to do?
adam@linux-gb27:/> sudo escputil -r /dev/usb/lp0 -i
root's password:
Escputil version 5.2.9, Copyright (C) 2000-2006 Robert Krawitz
Escputil comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY; for details type 'escputil -l'
This is free software, and you are welcome to redistribute it
under certain conditions; type 'escputil -l' for details.
It hangs, and I have to press ctrl-C to get it to quit.
Also, here is
^Cadam@linux-gb27:/lpstat -t
scheduler is running
no system default destination
device for Epson_Stylus_NX420: usb://EPSON/Stylus%20NX420
device for hp1600series: hp:/usb/PSC_1600_series?serial=MY56HD30CKL0
Epson_Stylus_NX420 accepting requests since Thu 06 Feb 2014 07:56:53 AM CST
hp1600series accepting requests since Mon 20 Jan 2014 09:45:16 PM CST
printer Epson_Stylus_NX420 is idle. enabled since Thu 06 Feb 2014 07:56:53 AM CST
printer hp1600series disabled since Mon 20 Jan 2014 09:45:16 PM CST -
Unplugged or turned off
Epson_Stylus_NX420-6 unknown 1024 Tue 28 Jan 2014 11:46:33 PM CST
Epson_Stylus_NX420-7 adam 1024 Tue 04 Feb 2014 04:07:20 PM CST
adam@linux-gb27:/>
Following J_Andrew’s advice, I went into Yast > Hardware > Printers. I selected my printer and went into the edit screen and here it is. http://www.hokenstreeservice.com/imgs/inklevel2.png There are several drivers available. I changed from the Seiko Epson inkjet 1.0.0 to
Epson Stylus NX420 - CUPS+Gutenprint v5.2.9
and restarted cups with
adam@linux-gb27:/> sudo /etc/init.d/cups restart
redirecting to systemctl restart cups
adam@linux-gb27:/>
I still can’t see the ink levels, either graphically in the printer settings menu, or in the command line with escputil.
I did boot into windows last night and I installed the printer there. It looks like only the Magenta is empty, so it may be worth buying ink for this.
There are several drivers available. I changed from the Seiko Epson inkjet 1.0.0 to
Epson Stylus NX420 - CUPS+Gutenprint v5.2.9
and restarted cups with
adam@linux-gb27:/> sudo /etc/init.d/cups restart
redirecting to systemctl restart cups
adam@linux-gb27:/>
I still can’t see the ink levels, either graphically in the printer settings menu, or in the command line with escputil.
It is likely to be down to the driver concerned, and most don’t report this kind of info AFAIK. The escputil utility only supports a limited number of Epson Stylus inkjet printers, so perhaps yours is not one of them? (It also requires direct device access via the usblp module, which can conflict with libusb communication required for printing.) Anyway, it would be best for the manufacturers to provide this kind of functionality with their drivers, as otherwise the communication protocols have to be reverse-engineered.
I’m using openSuse 12.3, and have an Epson Stylus Photo R260, and mtInk that I compiled from a tarball (mtink-1.0.16.tar.gz). If my printer has an empty ink cartridge, this will not show the ink levels. In that case, I have to press the “ink” button on the printer (or hold it, I forget). This causes the printer to move the print head until the offending cartridge lines up with an arrow. Maybe you can try that, the printer manual might mention that. Hope that’s some help…
Your model indeed is not listed in the supported device list of escputil, but I wouldn’t overrate that. I’d say escputil just like ttink / mtink can only display the information provided by the printer, i.e. the driver.
I am using Epson since many years and find their Linux support i.e. proprietary drivers not too bad. With my system (WF-3540 - sorry, not NX420 on 12.2 via network) I can display the ink level with the tool you are using (system-config-printer 1.3.9). But it it wouldn’t show with escputil which requires a raw device.
However, in the picture with the YaST dialogue you have chosen the gutenprint driver i.e. the opensource driver. Have you actually tried installing the Epson drivers via YaST (“epson-inkjet-printer-1.0.0-1lsb3.2” or "epson-inkjet-printer-escpr-1.3.1-1lsb3.2)? I’d first try both of them and see if it helps. If not, it may rather be an Epson issue with your specific model. (I hate to say that. My much beloved and recently passed-away dinosaur StylusColor680 had the same issue but it didn’t matter too much.)
BTW, no need to restart cups after settiing up the printer in YaST - that has already been taken care of by YaST.
