Printer config problem
 

Hi all:

I'm having a problem getting a printer configured on my office machine.
It's an old Epson laser which is HP Laser-Jet III compatible. I can get
it to print plain text without any problems (including my daily work
notes, which are generated by an old DOS database program running under
DOSEmu), and it will print the CUPS test page without a problem.
However, if I try to get it to print, say, an HTML file, I get one line
of text:

%!PS-Adobe-3.0
%%BoundingBox: 0 0 612 612 792
%% Creator: Mozilla PostScript module (rv


Then it spits out about 50 blank pages (probably unprintable codes which
trigger page feeds).

The printer's predecessor was an old HP DeskJet which did the same
thing. I have another printer on the machine which does print Web pages
and other formatted stuff, so I haven't bothered that much with it
before, but now it's bugging me.

I've tried deleting, then re-installing, the printer through CUPS. No
better. Anyone have a fix for this? I'm sure I'm using the right
printer driver, because I used the same printer (and the same driver) on
one of my home servers without any problems. This box is running
Mandrake 9.2 and is generally rock-solid.

[root@officebox: /home/rcs]$ uptime
17:38:11 up 102 days, 23:16

Not bad for a machine that gets heavy use every day, with a minimum of
6-8 large apps open all the time.

Anyway, if anyone can give me a hint as to a fix for this, I'd
appreciate it. Thanks.

Bob

Are you sure you have the ports set up correctly in the kernel? The paralell port if that is what it uses or USB stuff if it is USB.

It could also be Mozilla. I had trouble with Mozilla printing to mine once and I had to change the print command. The command that mine uses is this:

May want to check that and make sure it is correct. Not sure what the heck all that means though. :scratch:

Later

:D :D :D :D

might wanna try installing ghostscript. Im not sure exactly what mozilla uses for its printing but that might be the issue. I doubt its cups because it can print the test page.

I have had better luck with older printers rather then newer printers working in linux.


might wanna check out www.linuxprinting.org they explain how to use some more exact drivers though a new methood that i used to get an old panasonic workin.

Does it print OK from any other apps? When mine did that it was only a Mozilla probelm. If it prints OK from Kwrite, Open Office etc then you at least know it is Mozilla.

Just a thought.

:D :D :D :D

Thanks for the replies. No, it's not just Firefox...it doesn't print from OpenOffice either - same thing, spits out reams of blank paper. There are two things that do print correctly:

(1) The CUPS test page
(2) Text-only output from DataPerfect 2.6 running in a DOS box under DOSEmu.

Even a simple 'cat filename.whatever > /dev/lp0' doesn't work right.

This one's really driving me nuts. I've tried several different drivers (through CUPS configuration (browser; port 631). No joy.
Ghostscript is installed. The printer is LaserJet 3/3p/3Si compatible. I now have it using the standard LJ3/CUPS-gimp-print driver.

I have another printer (on /dev/lp1) which works fine (HP OfficeJet 600).

TIA for any more advice you can provide.
Bob