SuSE Linux: Version 7.1
This article refers to an older version of SuSE Linux.
Therefore some of the informations given in this article may
be outdated or the article may contain stale links.
Print queue names
Photo printing with the stp driver
Settings in /etc/apsfilterrc...
files
Incorrect access permissions of the file /etc/printcap
Parallel port and kernel version 2.4.0
Some USB printers require kernel 2.4
Additional parallel ports
The plp print spooler does not start automatically when the system is booted
Some Kyocera printers do not work properly
Following an update, YaST2 is not able to modify the printer configuration
When printers are set up with YaST2, the print queue names uniformly adhere to the following format:
QUEUENAME
QUEUENAME-ascii
QUEUENAME-raw
The QUEUENAME for the default print queue is lp
or the name that was
assigned for an additional print queue. Thus, the default print queues are now called
lp
, lp-ascii
, and lp-raw
, and no longer
lp
, ascii
, and raw
.
lpc status
displays the existing print queues.
The Ghostscript driver stp, which is especially suitable for photo printing, does not produce acceptable results for all file types.
When using the Ghostscript driver stp, the preconfigured dithering
algorithm "Adaptive Hybrid" does not work for files such as
/usr/share/ghostscript/5.50/examples/colorcir.ps
or when printing ASCII text files or the YaST2 test pages.
Since the dithering algorithm "Ordered" also works for these files,
please append the following line in the respective
/etc/apsfilterrc...
file:
GS_FEATURES="-sDither=Ordered"(See "
man gs-stp
".)
The corresponding /etc/apsfilterrc...
file is
/etc/apsfilterrc.y2prn_QUEUENAME.upp
The QUEUENAME
for the default print queue is lp or the name that was assigned to
an additional print queue - e.g. "photo" for a special photo print
queue. See the Support Database article on installing printers.
/etc/apsfilterrc...
files
You had added entries in a /etc/apsfilterrc...
file (e.g. according
to the above section "Photo printing with the stp Driver"). However, after using
YaST2 to make changes in the printer configuration, the entries in the
/etc/apsfilterrc...
file are gone.
Whenever the print system is modified, YaST2 overwrites all
/etc/apsfilterrc...
files with the settings preconfigured in
YaST2.
The former state is saved under /etc/apsfilterrc.y2prn_QUEUENAME.upp.y2save
and simply needs to be copied back.
/etc/printcap
When you try to print something, you get the following error message:
lpr: cannot open printer description file
The YaST2 printer configuration does not determine the permissions of the file /etc/printcap
independently from the umask of the user who started the YaST2 printer configuration. For example, if the umask
is set in such a way that only the owner can read a file, the above-mentioned error message will appear.
Use the root identity to set the correct access permissions with
chmod u=rw,g=r,o=r /etc/printcap
You use the SuSE default kernel version 2.4.0; YaST2 is not able to detect any parallel port or any printer connected to the parallel port automatically. (USB printers are not affected.)
Kernel version 2.4 does not include a kernel module called
parport_probe
. Therefore, a command such as
cat /proc/parport/0/autoprobe
would only produce the message file or directory not found
.
However,
grep parport /var/log/messages
produces sufficient information. For example,
parport0: PC-style at 0x278 [PCSPP(,...)]
lp0: using parport0 (polling).
implies that the I/O port 278 (hexadecimal) is being used
together with the unproblematic polling mode (i.e. no interrupt).
The I/O port must match the parallel port setting in the BIOS.
In the YaST2 printer configuration, select
"Parallel printer
", ignore the
error message indicating that no parallel ports
were found, and select
"First parallel port (/dev/lp0)
".
When you press Test
, the word Hello
should be printed, provided your printer is able to print
ASCII text directly. Proceed as usual with the subsequent steps of
the YaST2 printer configuration; make sure the test pages are printed properly.
Some USB printers require kernel 2.4 or above to operate properly.
This applies especially to HP DeskJet 8xx printers, e.g. HP DeskJet 895Cxi.
HP DeskJet 9xx printers should also work with kernel 2.2.
For more information, check the Support Database article on
known problems and specific issues in SuSE Linux 7.1
regarding difficulties with kernel 2.4 and the Support Database article on
setting up USB printers, which presents
general information on USB printers.
You have configured additional parallel ports according to the instructions in the manual chapter dealing with printers or the Support Database article on setting up additional parallel ports. However, YaST2 does not recognize the additional parallel ports, and YaST2 only allows you to select the first parallel port.
Starting with SuSE Linux 7.1, YaST2 automatically detects the first parallel port at the default I/O ports 378, 278, and 2bc (hexadecimal), but this mechanism is not yet able to handle additional parallel ports. Furthermore, YaST2 loads the kernel modules of the parallel port in such a way that only the first parallel port is functional.
To configure printers connected to additional parallel ports, use lprsetup
instead of YaST2. If you have already launched YaST2, you need to reboot the system or
reload the kernel modules for the parallel ports. For more information, check the
manual chapter dealing with printers or the Support Database article on
setting up additional parallel ports.
When the package plp is installed, the links required for starting the plp print spooler are not created.
As the user root, use
/sbin/insserv /etc/init.d/lpd
to create suitable links after the installation of plp.
The printer prints meaningless character strings.
Error in the YaST2 printer database.
Background information:
In SuSE Linux 7.1, the Ghostscript drivers for Kyocera printers
were entered according to the information provided directly by
Kyocera. Thus, the Ghostscript driver lj5gray was assigned to the
PCL5e models FS-600, FS-680, and FS-800, but at least model FS-600 only
works with the Ghostscript driver ljet4.
When configuring with YaST2, directly select the Ghostscript driver ljet4:
Configure the printer manually; under "Select manufacturer", select Ghostscript devices
, and
under "Select model", select ljet4
.
If you have already attempted to configure the printer, you should first move
the file /etc/printcap
away by entering the following command as root:
mv /etc/printcap /etc/printcap.save
Now configure the printer once more.
Following an update from SuSE Linux 7.0 to SuSE Linux 7.1, you try to modify an existing printer
configuration, but YaST2 stops with an error message such as the following:
I have no information on how to manage your printer. Broken database?
YaST2 is not able to retrieve the old YaST2 configuration data from the directory
/etc/gs.upp/
correctly.
You can't modify the previous configuration; instead, delete it and create a new configuration.
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