Parallel Port Printer Configuration Problem on SuSE 11.2 64-

English Hardware
1

Hi,

I installed SuSE 11.2 64-bit on a new computer without any printer attached.
When I read the manual for the mainboard, I discovered to my delight that it actually has a parallel port, it’s just not connected. I moved the cable from an old desktop and put it into my new desktop. After enabling the port in the BIOS setup, the Hardware Information dialog in yast correctly shows that I have a HP LaserJet 1100 (/dev/lp2).
How do I configure the printer? “Printer” in yast tells me “There is no print queue”. When I click “Add” yast tries to detect a printer and gives up with the message “No connection selected”.
I can’t add a selection, however. “More connections” gives me the exact same error message. The “Connection Wizard” allows me to select “Parallel Port”, but then complains about missing connections again.
The cups demon is running. I don’t have /dev/lp2, is that the problem?

Any hints appreciated!

Thanks, Stephan

2

Hi,

According to the help section in yast hardware printer

Device URIs for Directly Connected Devices
Devices which are connected via the parallel port or via USB are autodetected and the appropriate device URI is autogenerated. For example:
parallel:/dev/lp0
usb://ACME/FunPrinter
hp:/usb/HP_LaserJet?serial=1234
Usually only the autogenerated device URIs work. When the device is not autodetected, there is usually no communication with the device possible and no data can be sent to the device.
To access a HP printer or all-in-one device via the backend 'hp', the RPM package hplip must be installed. The package provides HP's printing and scanning software HPLIP.
In contrast devices which are connected via serial port, bluetooth, or SCSI are usually not autodetected so that the device URI must be manually specified

You are using a HP printer, in this case there is hope that it will work.
To add to this, In my pc here the auto detection didn’t work for me when their is an existing printer setup and I am only adding another printer. I have to delete the existing printer to make the auto-detection possible.

3

Instead of using Yast, can you just try hp-setup?

hp-setup
4

Thanks for the hint. I did that, selected LPT, and then ‘Next’. I then get “error: No devices found on bus:par”. Same with root privileges.
The same printer works fine on my old computer running SuSE 9.3.

5

The same printer works on my old computer running SuSE 9.3. It’s using /dev/lp0 there. When the ‘hardware information’ can detect it, why is the device not auto-detected?
Do the settings in the BIOS matter? I set it to 378/IRQ7.

6

Can you check in the BIOS about your parallel port mode?
Just see you selected not EPP. Best is to try the ECP mode.

7

Hi, I don’t think the BIOS gave me a choice between EPP and ECP. I’ll check.

Thanks, Stephan

8

Hi,
you were right, I do have a choice between EPP and ECP.
I have now tried the standard configuration (SPP, I believe),
ECP, and “ECP and EPP”. Always the same: my computer detects the printer (correctly shown in “Hardware Information”), but can’t configure it, not
with yast, not with hp-setup.
It’s not the printer, I have been using it for years on a different computer running SuSE 9.3.
“Hardware Information” lists /dev/lp0 and /dev/char/6:0 as “Device Names” for the printer. I have /dev/char/, but not 6:0, and I don’t have /dev/lp0. The connection wizard allows me to select “Parallel Port”, but there is nothing on the right side under “Connection Settings”.

Any additional hints?

Thanks, Stephan

9

Are you sure that you have the parallel port drivers loaded (if they are not compiled in the kernel itself)?

modprobe parport_pc && modprobe ppdev
10

Just an FYI. I ran into just about the exact same problem when I upgraded from Suse 10.1 to Suse 11.2 just recently. The printer which had been working fine with the old distro could not be configured and it was just about the exact same symptoms. The hardware inventory showed that it recognized the printer, it located it on /dev/lp2 rather than /dev/lp0, and I kept getting the “No connection selected” window when I tried to configure it.

It turned out to be the BIOS setting. Setting the BIOS mode to ECP made the whole thing work right (except that the red ink jet seems to be dead, but that could be another problem, the printer is a few years old, black printing is fine and that’s all I need). Funny thing is, I am pretty sure I had done this BIOS setting a five years ago when I first installed Suse 9.1 on this machine, but in the intervening time, the battery in the computer went bad and I had to replace it. I suppose that caused the BIOS to go back to it’s original “Normal” printer port setting, but printing worked fine after that.

I guess the BIOS setting has to be ECP for the setup and configuration to work, but once that’s done, it doesn’t matter much as this hadn’t effected me until I did the upgrade.

Note it was an Epson Stylus C88 printer.

Now if I could just figure out why my ISP (Comcast cable) that I’ve had for 12 years now keeps dropping my connection since I did the upgrade, but that too is another problem.

Jeff