Install Problem - Lexmark Z43

[Tom Clydesdale]

I'm attempting to add a contributed Lexmark Z43 printer to my Ubunto
5.10-GNOME system but can't get it to print. Background information:

1. The printer works properly on an WindowsXP system (different computer).
2. Linux thinks it is printing i.e. queued messages appear to be going to
the printer - no error indications & no activity in the printer.
3. Connection is via USB but, I had similar problems with a parallel cable
connection.
4. When going to System | Administration |Printing the Z43 is shown as
"Ready".
5. When I first connected the printer linux recognized it immediately and
seemed to install it properly. (I previously installed an H-P Laserjet
with the indications and it has worked properly.)

The one clue I may have, but don't understand, is an error message when
loading the driver - "Install PPD file?". I've tried various combinations
of specifications without success.

Can some kind soul give me some pointers for the next problem-solving try?

TIA - Tom

[Tom Clydesdale]

On Fri, 21 Apr 2006 15:45:32 -0600, Tom Clydesdale wrote:

> I'm attempting to add a contributed Lexmark Z43 printer to my Ubunto
> 5.10-GNOME system but can't get it to print. Background information:
>
> 1. The printer works properly on an WindowsXP system (different computer).
> 2. Linux thinks it is printing i.e. queued messages appear to be going to
> the printer - no error indications & no activity in the printer.
> 3. Connection is via USB but, I had similar problems with a parallel cable
> connection.
> 4. When going to System | Administration |Printing the Z43 is shown as
> "Ready".
> 5. When I first connected the printer linux recognized it immediately and
> seemed to install it properly. (I previously installed an H-P Laserjet
> with the indications and it has worked properly.)
>
> The one clue I may have, but don't understand, is an error message when
> loading the driver - "Install PPD file?". I've tried various combinations
> of specifications without success.
>
> Can some kind soul give me some pointers for the next problem-solving try?
>
> TIA - Tom

I found out what PPD files were ("official Adobe files used to configure
PostScript printers") which doesn't fix my problem since such a driver
doesn't seem to be part of Ubuntu's distribution. Nothing seems available
thru Lexmark. I did find such a file for the Z42/Z43 in linuxprinting.org
however the installation procedures are beyond my level of "expertise".
Are there any documented procedures which could help in understanding how
to apply a printer driver of this nature?

Again TIA, Tom

[Tom Clydesdale]

On Sat, 22 Apr 2006 14:38:25 -0600, Tom Clydesdale wrote:

> On Fri, 21 Apr 2006 15:45:32 -0600, Tom Clydesdale wrote:
>

>> I'm attempting to add a contributed Lexmark Z43 printer to my Ubunto
>> 5.10-GNOME system but can't get it to print. Background information:
>>
>> 1. The printer works properly on an WindowsXP system (different computer).
>> 2. Linux thinks it is printing i.e. queued messages appear to be going to
>> the printer - no error indications & no activity in the printer.
>> 3. Connection is via USB but, I had similar problems with a parallel cable
>> connection.
>> 4. When going to System | Administration |Printing the Z43 is shown as
>> "Ready".
>> 5. When I first connected the printer linux recognized it immediately and
>> seemed to install it properly. (I previously installed an H-P Laserjet
>> with the indications and it has worked properly.)
>>
>> The one clue I may have, but don't understand, is an error message when
>> loading the driver - "Install PPD file?". I've tried various combinations
>> of specifications without success.
>>
>> Can some kind soul give me some pointers for the next problem-solving try?
>>
>> TIA - Tom

>
> I found out what PPD files were ("official Adobe files used to configure
> PostScript printers") which doesn't fix my problem since such a driver
> doesn't seem to be part of Ubuntu's distribution. Nothing seems available
> thru Lexmark. I did find such a file for the Z42/Z43 in linuxprinting.org
> however the installation procedures are beyond my level of "expertise".
> Are there any documented procedures which could help in understanding how
> to apply a printer driver of this nature?
>
> Again TIA, Tom

I found two ".ppd" files which may be what the system is looking for,
however both are ".gz" (gzipped) files. I want to unzip them to regular
files then access them by specifying the complete file path/filename
during the printer driver load. Does this sound like a correct solution?
(I've never attempted a maneuver of this type since installing Ubuntu -
Newbie if you can't guess.)

The two files are listed below and I'm concerned regarding the naming
convention as to the proprietry of each (??)
1. /usr/share/cups/model/gimp-print/4.2 filename: lexmark-z43.ppd.gz
2. /usr/share/pd/Lexmark filename: Lexmark-Z43_z42.ppd.gz

Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Tom

[Bud]

Tom Clydesdale wrote:

Tom,

Those .gz files are automagically looked at by Linux. Have you got CUPS set
up? If it is available to Gimp, then it should be available to set up in
CUPS. Look at linuxprinting.org for more info or look to see if CUPS is
available. In a terminal type whereis cups or which cups. Been a while since
I looked at Ubuntu, gave it up, best to just by Debian if you want to use a
Linux system based on Debian.

HTH
--
For the outdoor type:
[url]http://idahoptv.org/outdoors/shows/centennialtrail/[/url]

[Hadron Quark]

"Tom"posted on 2006-04-21:

> I'm attempting to add a contributed Lexmark Z43 printer to my Ubunto
> 5.10-GNOME system but can't get it to print. Background information:
>
> 1. The printer works properly on an WindowsXP system (different computer).
> 2. Linux thinks it is printing i.e. queued messages appear to be going to
> the printer - no error indications & no activity in the printer.
> 3. Connection is via USB but, I had similar problems with a parallel cable
> connection.
> 4. When going to System | Administration |Printing the Z43 is shown as
> "Ready".
> 5. When I first connected the printer linux recognized it immediately and
> seemed to install it properly. (I previously installed an H-P Laserjet
> with the indications and it has worked properly.)

HP is well supported : Lexmark isn't unfortunately.

>
> The one clue I may have, but don't understand, is an error message when
> loading the driver - "Install PPD file?". I've tried various combinations
> of specifications without success.

I did too and gave up. Why am I telling you this? So that you dont
despair and blame yourself too much - I thought I must be stupid not
to be able to get such a common printer working.

>
> Can some kind soul give me some pointers for the next problem-solving try?
>
> TIA - Tom
>

I sold the lexmark and bought an HP.

Sorry if that sounds negative : it is. I hate the Linux printing setup
for desktop setups with a passion : it is indescribably complicated
and long winded in comparison with the windows counter part - one of
the few areas it is now lagging IMO. If it works : fine, you dont have
to tinker. But if you do have to tinker then the combination of serial
devices, usb ports, permissions, cups, cups permissions, drivers,
postscript options etc are enough to make an ageing techy cry.

--
%

[Tom Clydesdale]

On Fri, 21 Apr 2006 15:45:32 -0600, Tom Clydesdale wrote:

> I'm attempting to add a contributed Lexmark Z43 printer to my Ubunto
> 5.10-GNOME system but can't get it to print. Background information:
>
> 1. The printer works properly on an WindowsXP system (different computer).
> 2. Linux thinks it is printing i.e. queued messages appear to be going to
> the printer - no error indications & no activity in the printer.
> 3. Connection is via USB but, I had similar problems with a parallel cable
> connection.
> 4. When going to System | Administration |Printing the Z43 is shown as
> "Ready".
> 5. When I first connected the printer linux recognized it immediately and
> seemed to install it properly. (I previously installed an H-P Laserjet
> with the indications and it has worked properly.)
>
> The one clue I may have, but don't understand, is an error message when
> loading the driver - "Install PPD file?". I've tried various combinations
> of specifications without success.
>
> Can some kind soul give me some pointers for the next problem-solving try?
>
> TIA - Tom

After much investigation and many differing attempts at completing the
installation I ran into the following site which I think forces me to
rethink the installation:

[url]http://www.linuxprinting.org/lexmark-faq.html#free_software_support[/url]

Should you be thinking of purchasing or otherwise acquiring a Lexmark I
strongly suggest looking at that site - Lexmark ink-jets look like LOSERS
in general.

Tom

[Wayne]

On Tue, 25 Apr 2006 11:31:02 -0600, Tom Clydesdale wrote:

> After much investigation and many differing attempts at completing the
> installation I ran into the following site which I think forces me to
> rethink the installation:
>
> [url]http://www.linuxprinting.org/lexmark-faq.html#free_software_support[/url]
>
> Should you be thinking of purchasing or otherwise acquiring a Lexmark I
> strongly suggest looking at that site - Lexmark ink-jets look like LOSERS
> in general.

I think most non-windows users come to that conclusion eventually :-)

You're better off with an HP, Epson or Brother. I have an old Lexmark Z51
which I bought because it had OS/2 drivers. At the time I was pleased and
it does work with Linux, probably because of it's age! The other downside
to Lexmark is the cost of the cartridges! A B+W and colour cartridge cost
me about $50 each! I can get a printer for $50, use it till it's empty,
throw it away and get a new one :-) Canon are probably the cheapest to run
but I don't know how good their Linux support is.

Wayne
--
Registered Linux user #375994
[url]http://www.geocities.jp/rondonko/[/url]

[Michael B. Trausch]

Tom Clydesdale wrote in <pan.2006.04.25.17.31.01.441937@comcast.net> on Tue
April 25 2006 13:31:

>
> After much investigation and many differing attempts at completing the
> installation I ran into the following site which I think forces me to
> rethink the installation:
>
> [url]http://www.linuxprinting.org/lexmark-faq.html#free_software_support[/url]
>
> Should you be thinking of purchasing or otherwise acquiring a Lexmark I
> strongly suggest looking at that site - Lexmark ink-jets look like LOSERS
> in general.
>
> Tom

Yes, Lexmark ink jet printers are pretty bad. However, their laser printers
work pretty well under Linux. I've used (at work) the T622 and the color
C752 I think it was, and they worked great with Linux PostScript drivers.
The printer that I have at home, the Lexmark E240, works wonderfully with
the PCL 6 drivers that come with an Ubuntu system, as well. (However, even
though the box says that it supports PostScript, it apparently only does so
under OS X for *some* reason -- I thought that OS X used CUPS and so it
would work under Linux, but, the Linux binary drivers provided by Lexmark
don't work for it. *shrugs*

- Mike

[Stephen Rush]

On Tue, 25 Apr 2006 23:32:21 -0400, Michael B. Trausch wrote:

> Tom Clydesdale wrote in <pan.2006.04.25.17.31.01.441937@comcast.net> on Tue
> April 25 2006 13:31:
>

>>
>> After much investigation and many differing attempts at completing the
>> installation I ran into the following site which I think forces me to
>> rethink the installation:
>>
>> [url]http://www.linuxprinting.org/lexmark-faq.html#free_software_support[/url]
>>
>> Should you be thinking of purchasing or otherwise acquiring a Lexmark I
>> strongly suggest looking at that site - Lexmark ink-jets look like LOSERS
>> in general.
>>
>> Tom

>
> Yes, Lexmark ink jet printers are pretty bad. However, their laser printers
> work pretty well under Linux. I've used (at work) the T622 and the color
> C752 I think it was, and they worked great with Linux PostScript drivers.
> The printer that I have at home, the Lexmark E240, works wonderfully with
> the PCL 6 drivers that come with an Ubuntu system, as well. (However, even
> though the box says that it supports PostScript, it apparently only does so
> under OS X for *some* reason -- I thought that OS X used CUPS and so it
> would work under Linux, but, the Linux binary drivers provided by Lexmark
> don't work for it. *shrugs*

Lexmark has (or used to have) two lines of printers. The ones intended
for corporate offices had real processors in them, and understood
PostScript, PCL or both. The cheap line are -Ugh!- Winprinters that
expect the driving computer to do all of the character generation and
timing. This requires several megabytes of driver code, which is supplied
only for Windows. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that these drivers are
actually developed by Microsoft.

I'm glad I never got rid of my old Citizen MSP-40 (an Epson FX clone).
Yes, it's slow (by present standards) and only offers two builtin fonts,
but it takes fanfold paper and it needs no driver, just a stream of plain old
ASCII characters. If I need to print color or graphics I have a HP 7450. It
works fine from Linux with the CUPS HPIJ driver, but it costs more to run
and only holds 50 sheets of paper.

[Michael B. Trausch]

Stephen Rush wrote in <pan.2006.04.26.05.21.39.198434@comcast.net> on Wed
April 26 2006 01:21:

>
> Lexmark has (or used to have) two lines of printers. The ones intended
> for corporate offices had real processors in them, and understood
> PostScript, PCL or both. The cheap line are -Ugh!- Winprinters that
> expect the driving computer to do all of the character generation and
> timing. This requires several megabytes of driver code, which is supplied
> only for Windows. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that these drivers are
> actually developed by Microsoft.
>
> I'm glad I never got rid of my old Citizen MSP-40 (an Epson FX clone).
> Yes, it's slow (by present standards) and only offers two builtin fonts,
> but it takes fanfold paper and it needs no driver, just a stream of plain
> old
> ASCII characters. If I need to print color or graphics I have a HP 7450.
> It works fine from Linux with the CUPS HPIJ driver, but it costs more to
> run and only holds 50 sheets of paper.
>

You know, once upon a time I had a dot-matrix printer that was a Citizen,
though I can't remember what it was. About two years ago I had the need
for one again, and I went out hunting for one not expecting to find one,
and lo and behold the local computer shop had a Citizen 500 printer for
sale for like $30 or $40.

Having learned my lesson from the past, I haven't gotten rid of this
printer, and so long as it works, I don't intend to. As I recall, the
Citizen that I used to have before this one lasted quite a long time, and I
think we'd gotten rid of it for one of those black and white Epson ESCP/2
printers (a Stylus 300, I think?).

I find that the dot matrix printers are quite nice for debugging things,
because you can have it print a line at a time as it is fed to the printer,
unlike a laser printer, which holds everything until it gets a page or a
line feed...

- Mike

[Wayne]

On Wed, 26 Apr 2006 03:00:10 -0400, Michael B. Trausch wrote:

> Having learned my lesson from the past, I haven't gotten rid of this
> printer, and so long as it works, I don't intend to. As I recall, the
> Citizen that I used to have before this one lasted quite a long time, and
> I think we'd gotten rid of it for one of those black and white Epson
> ESCP/2 printers (a Stylus 300, I think?).

I've got an old Canon BJ-10 somehwere in the closet, wonder if it still
works :-) I also just uncovered an Epson AP-550EX in there. I may go
hunting for a ribbon for it and see if it's still usable. I'm tired of
the Epson PM-950C we have (connected to the family expee machine) telling
me to change the yellow cartridge before it will print a black document!

Wayne
--
Registered Linux user #375994
[url]http://www.geocities.jp/rondonko/[/url]

[Stephen Rush]

On Wed, 26 Apr 2006 03:00:10 -0400, Michael B. Trausch wrote:

> I find that the dot matrix printers are quite nice for debugging things,
> because you can have it print a line at a time as it is fed to the printer,
> unlike a laser printer, which holds everything until it gets a page or a
> line feed...

The Citizen MSP (and, presumably, the Epson FX) also has a hex mode, which
will show you exactly what data the printer received, with no
interpretation at all. That may have saved my life when I was going
'round and 'round with what turned out to be a flaky connector. The file
(checked with a hex editor) was good, the printer self-test was good...

[Michael B. Trausch]

Stephen Rush wrote in <pan.2006.04.26.08.21.14.30917@comcast.net> on Wed
April 26 2006 04:21:

> On Wed, 26 Apr 2006 03:00:10 -0400, Michael B. Trausch wrote:
>

>> I find that the dot matrix printers are quite nice for debugging things,
>> because you can have it print a line at a time as it is fed to the
>> printer, unlike a laser printer, which holds everything until it gets a
>> page or a line feed...

>
> The Citizen MSP (and, presumably, the Epson FX) also has a hex mode, which
> will show you exactly what data the printer received, with no
> interpretation at all. That may have saved my life when I was going
> 'round and 'round with what turned out to be a flaky connector. The file
> (checked with a hex editor) was good, the printer self-test was good...

I don't think the printer that I have has that option anywhere that I can
find it in the documentation. One other thing I've noticed that this
printer is lacking is a list of commands that it accepts. I seem to recall
my old Citizen printer containing a reference of commands that you could
send it over the parallel cable to trigger different modes, font faces,
etc.

The thing that is good about it is that it can emulate an FX-880, FX-850,
FX-series, Proprinter III, and an OKI printer -- though I don't know why
they bothered with that emulation. I thought that the FX / Proprinter
emulations were standard, last I checked... :-)

- Mike