SUSE 10.0 can't detect parallel port + updating to firefox 1.5
 

Hi I have SUSE 10.0 installed and it doesn't detect my parallel port (SUSE 9.3 did not problem). How can I force a detection? What is failing?

My second question is how do I upgrade from firefox 1.0.7 to 1.5? As far as I am aware there are no updates on the installation sources.


Mat

On the parallel port I am not sure, try turning off DMA for it in the bios. As for upgrading to Firefox 1.5, go to the main site, the linux version is available to download and install from there, instructions and all.

What's the DMA?

Mat

I fixed a similar problem--not being able to print to the parallel printer port--by changing the computer's parallel port BIOS settings from EPP, ECP or ECP/EPP (I forgot which it was) to Normal.

Regarding Firefox 1.5, I recommend staying with 1.0.7 for now. I tried 1.5 and removed it from my system. The problems included the Extensions behaving erratically, the Extension manager (or whatever it is called) not performing as expected, no setting in Preferences to keep web sites from installing sofware on your computer, etc. :twocents:

DMA means Direct Memory Access versus a program reading one character at a time.

There was no setting 'Normal'. There was a selection of weird three digit numbers/letters. I did not see the combinations EPP/ECP anywhere in the selection.

Mat

What's plugged into the parallel port? Linux waits for something to be connected to any port before announcing or configuring for it.

added information
 

Just wanted to say I have the exact same problem and my HP810c printer was connected to the parallel port..BTW same thing in 9.3 as well as 10.0
jolphil

here is how to do it
 

go to
http://penguin-breeder.org/kernel/download/
download the file ppscsi-beta.tar.gz
unpack and go to ppscsi-beta2/
then:
make
insmod ppscsi.ko
insmod epst.ko
Then to go yast and it will detect the scanner. However you will have to pick the correct model (mine is a hp scanjet 5100c).

OK, I went back to my manual and checked. The options in my BIOS (ASUS P4C800E-Deluxe motherboard) in the Parallel Port Mode setting were [Normal][Bi-directional][EPP][ECP]. Of those ECP was the default, which did not work. Setting it on Normal solved my problem (where I could previously see the parallel port but not print to it). If you do not have those options, they may have been hidden (some manufacturers may hide them to keep people from changing them) and other BIOSes may use different terms. If you do not come across a solution, you can always change the settings in BIOS and see what happens. It is probably safe, as such changes will only affect your parallel port, which is not currently working anyway. :twocents:

I will keep playing with the BIOS settings for now. The weird thing is that it worked for 9.3 just fine and then when I took it off I couldn't detect it again. I have bought the version rather than downloading it so I should get some support from Novell, I will see what they advise.

As for firefox 1.5, it seems to work fine for me, I was wondering if all I had to do to upgrade it was just replace the thing in /usr/bin and /etc/preload.d with the 1.5 versions

Mat

If you change the firefox link in /usr/bin to the directory where you installed 1.5 many things will work correctly, including the preload.

I have been using exclusively FF 1.5 since beta2, mostly for the update features and the tab reordering which I find vastly useful, but also for certain themes. I have had no issues in Windows XP or SuSE 10 with KDE 3.5 thru the past few kernels. I highly recommend it, and I used the ftp.suse.com/pub/projects rpm to upgrade my FireFox in SuSE.

I still can't get my printer to work on Suse 10.0. Any one any ideas? Will 10.1 have the solution?

Mat