Ubuntu & Printers/Scanners?

giradman · #1 November 1st, 2007, 06:08 AM

Just added a new HD to an old IBM X40 laptop & installed Ubuntu 7.1 - 'wireless' network card recognized & have internet access - plan to carry this on trips but also keep in a back bedroom where I have an older Brother Laser Printer HL-1450 & an HP Scanner (5470c) - use to have these running nicely on an old Dell Inspiron w/ Windows 2K; what are my 'chances' of getting this older hardware to run w/ Ubuntu? I've done some 'web surfing' on the Brother printer and seems to be trouble! Any experience out there, comments, or suggestions - thanks, as usual!

jmtjet · #2 November 1st, 2007, 03:09 PM

Your Brother laser printed should be supported in Ubuntu and most HP products are supported. Check the links below for more info;
http://www.openprinting.org/show_pri...rother-HL-1450
http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay...ysprune=&f=135

Hope this helps.

giradman · #3 November 1st, 2007, 04:28 PM

Jmtjet - thanks for the links above - will explore them & likely will join the Ubuntu Forums -

giradman · #4 November 5th, 2007, 01:30 AM

Just to respond to my own post!

After reading the links supplied previously, searching the web, and registering @ the Ubuntu Forums, I was still quite confused as to the exact sequence of events to perform to see if my old IBM w/ Ubuntu would install my old Brother Laser printer?

Well, I just plugged it into the USB port, turned the printer on, and waited - Ubuntu recognized and installed the printer quickly - I was printing in a 'flash'! I was thoroughly amazed @ the convenience - I guess for many fairly recent printers that the OS already has setups in the CUPS programming of the OS - quite pleased!

Just some additional info for those in the same way -

jmtjet · #5 November 5th, 2007, 03:11 AM

Happy to hear that your printer was supported. Have you tried your scanner yet?

giradman · #6 November 5th, 2007, 02:47 PM

No, have not hooked up the scanner - one step @ a time!

modmidget · #7 November 5th, 2007, 06:32 PM

The Sane backend drivers list says your scanner has "Basic" drivers. This is their description of basic:

basic means it works at least in the most important modes but quality is not perfect.

Here is a link to the Sane drivers list for scanners:

http://www.sane-project.org/sane-backends.html#SCANNERS

giradman · #8 November 5th, 2007, 09:53 PM

Modmidget - thanks for the link - I have a Canon MF Pixma hooked up to my desktop computer, so no hurry for basic scanning needs; but, the HP has a nice 'transparency adapter' for slide scanning - have not decided if I want to scan 'box loads' of old slides, so my hesitation; but I did want the laser printing options.

modmidget · #9 November 5th, 2007, 11:53 PM

I have an Epson Perfection 1240U hooked up to my Ubuntu box and now that you mention it, I haven't seen an option for scanning slides or negatives in XSane. My scanner is capable of doing both in Windows. Oh well, I rarely use those features anyway and I do have a dual boot with Windows XP.

Maybe I should also mention my Canon Pixma iP2000 and Canon Pixma iP4200 both work pretty well in Ubuntu 7.10 but the highest resolution Ubuntu cups offers is 600x600 which means photos are kind of grainy. At a distance the photos look pretty good, but up close they aren't as good as photos from the same printers in Windows. In Ubuntu 7.04 these printers hardly worked at all, so 7.10 is a BIG improvement.

giradman · #10 November 13th, 2007, 01:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmtjet

Happy to hear that your printer was supported. Have you tried your scanner yet?

Jmtjet & Modmidget - after a delay, I tried the HP scanner this afternoon - simply plugged it into the computer and then ran the XSane Scanner software, the scanner was detected; HP54xx was listed as the scanner (5470c from previous post) - seemed to work OK & scanned in a color photo - have not done much else, but again as w/ my Brother laser printer, this Ubuntu release impresses! Need to check out more 'specialized' features of the scanner & have not yet tried the 'transparency adapter' for slides. Thanks for all of your advice & comments -

thegreenblob · #11 November 13th, 2007, 11:19 PM

You can install most printers in ubuntu by going to System>Administration>Printing.

giradman · #12 November 13th, 2007, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by thegreenblob

You can install most printers in ubuntu by going to System>Administration>Printing.

Thanks - got the printer to work by just plugging it in (Post #4 above) - was not as sure about the HP scanner, but did the same as just mentioned in a more recent post. I've been quite impressed (despite the negative publicity in the past about Linux & hardware) w/ Ubuntu 'handling' the hardware from that in the old IBM laptop I'm using to the USB add-ons!

modmidget · #13 November 13th, 2007, 11:51 PM

Looks like someone wants us to click on his "Free Gaming Tournaments" link.

SPAMMER???????

thegreenblob · #14 November 14th, 2007, 01:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by modmidget

Looks like someone wants us to click on his "Free Gaming Tournaments" link.

SPAMMER???????

Well of course I want people to click it, it's my site. But it's in my sig >_> I don't see how that's spamming...

But, @ TC, glad you got it working.

modmidget · #15 November 14th, 2007, 02:18 AM

OK, sorry thegreenblob. It was just one of those senior moments. When I see the word GAMING I automatically think Gambling/Casinos etc. I went to your web site and saw words like Nintendo, Atari, ect. I guess it's just one of those generation gap things. You think gaming as in computer games, I think gaming as in slot machines and poker.

I apologize.