New Printer [Solved]

[B3rtm3n]

My Epson Stylus Photo R285 just crashed, I think it is hardware related. All ink cartridges are full but the system says there is no ink. I tried it under Windows too but same problem.

So I have to buy a new printer and it has to work without any problem under Linux (Sabayon)
I already found:
http://www.openprinting.org/printers

where I can check for printers.

I am not looking for all in one, I just need a good color printer that works good when using Linux. I used mtink for a while for my Epson but I need something better.

Now on one website I found a remark that HP has the best Linux support. They even have a tool for Linux for managing printers and ink levels which shows interesting:
http://hplipopensource.com/hplip-web/index.html

Does anyone has experience with HP or are there other printer manufacturers with good Linux support?

If not which is a good HP printer?

Does anyone also has experience with CISS kits? It looks interesting to save money as I have 2 kids who need to do a lot of printing for school.

[Fitzcarraldo]

Another place to check is the list of Gutenprint Supported Printers, as the Gutenprint drivers package is readily available in Gentoo/SL.

Most (but not all) HP printers are a safe bet. You can check the supported models on the HPLIP Web site: http://hplipopensource.com/hplip-web/su ... index.html

I currently have a couple of Canon inkjet MFPs (PIXMA MP510 and MP560, both no longer produced) at home and the print quality is excellent (certainly better than the old HP PSC2110 MFP and Epson Stylus Photo 950 printer I had previously). Driver support in Gentoo/SL for Canon printers used to be very difficult (I had to jump through hoops with hacked ebuilds in a local overlay) but the drivers for Canon printers in Gutenprint over the last couple of releases has improved significantly. Have a look for currently-available models in the Gutenprint list of supported printers.

The problem with a lot of printers that have Linux drivers is that the manufacturers provide RPM and .deb packages but not ebuilds for Gentoo/SL. So the fact that a printer is billed as having Linux support does not necessarily mean it is easy to get working with Gentoo/SL, just that it is easy to get working in Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora or openSUSE. I suggest you google the model number plus "gentoo" when investigating a specific model. Of course also check the Web sites you mentioned plus the ones I have listed.

I have to print to a large number of different network printers in various locations, and I have managed to print to the vast majority from Linux providing the printers support Postscript, as support for Postscript in Linux printer drivers is generally good. So that's something else to bear in mind.

Although I have been able to get Brother printers working with Gentoo/SL, it's not simple (see threads such as Can I install .rpm or .deb drivers on Sabayon? and Brother MFC-J430w printer doesn't work with CUPS, for example) and I personally would check very carefully before buying a Brother printer. Same goes for Samsung printers (I had to do some hacking to get a Samsung office laser printer working with the Samsung Unified Print Driver ebuild) and Lexmark printers.

Basically, my advice whichever model you think you want to buy, is to search carefully on the Web to find out whether there is someone using it in Gentoo or Sabayon before parting with your cash.

Also, whichever manufacturer and model you buy, watch out for this too: Re: printer doesn't work after upgrade.

[B3rtm3n]

Thanks you the your help.

I will check your Gutenprint list vs the openprinting one.

I also found an interesting website: http://www.printer.com/
You can calculate which kind of printer you want and also the amount of bling bling you have to pay for ink.
Turns out cheap printers can be twice as expensive on long term as more expensive printers because of the inkcartridges.

[B3rtm3n]

Ok, I bought the Epson office BX635FWD.

This is an all-in-one. The printer works out of the box but whatever I try, the scan function does not work. Xsane does not see the scanner while it is supported, see:
http://www.sane-project.org/cgi-bin/driver.pl?manu=&model=BX635FWD+&bus=any&v=&p=

how can I fix this, anyone has an idea? Please let me know. Thanks in advance.

ps btw, why is Vuescan not available?
http://www.hamrick.com/vuescan/epson_stylus_bx635fwd.html

[Fitzcarraldo]

Well, according to what you posted, it's supported by the SANE epkowa backend which, again according to what you posted, is part of the iscan and iscan-data packages. So I had a look at what is available in Gentoo and SL:

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$ eix iscan
* media-gfx/iscan
     Available versions:  2.26.2^t (~)2.28.1.3^t {{X doc gimp jpeg linguas_ar linguas_de linguas_es linguas_fr linguas_it linguas_ja linguas_ko linguas_nl linguas_pt linguas_zh_CN linguas_zh_TW png tiff}}
     Homepage:            http://www.avasys.jp/english/linux_e/dl_scan.html
     Description:         EPSON Image Scan! for Linux (including sane-epkowa backend)

* media-gfx/iscan-data
     Available versions:  1.9.0.1 (~)1.13.0.1
     Homepage:            http://avasys.jp/english/linux_e/
     Description:         Image Scan! for Linux data files

* media-gfx/iscan-plugin-esdip
     Available versions:  (~)1.0.0.5
     Homepage:            http://www.avasys.jp/english/linux_e/dl_scan.html
     Description:         Plugin for 'epkowa' backend for image manipulation.

* media-gfx/iscan-plugin-gt-f500
     Available versions:  (~)1.0.0.1 {{minimal}}
     Homepage:            http://www.avasys.jp/english/linux_e/dl_scan.html
     Description:         Epson Perfection 2480/2580 PHOTO scanner plugin for SANE 'epkowa' backend.

* media-gfx/iscan-plugin-gt-f720
     Available versions:  0.0.1 {{linguas_ja}}
     Homepage:            http://www.avasys.jp/english/linux_e/dl_scan.html
     Description:         Epson Perfection V300 PHOTO scanner plugin for SANE 'epkowa' backend.

* media-gfx/iscan-plugin-gt-x770
     Available versions:  (~)2.1.2.1-r2
     Homepage:            http://www.avasys.jp/english/linux_e/dl_scan.html
     Description:         Epson Perfection V500 scanner plugin for SANE 'epkowa' backend.

* media-gfx/iscan-plugin-gt-f670 [1]
     Available versions:  [m](~)2.1.0
     Homepage:            http://www.avasys.jp/english/linux_e/dl_scan.html
     Description:         Epson Perfection V200 PHOTO scanner plugin for SANE 'epkowa' backend.

* media-gfx/iscan-plugin-gt-f730 [1]
     Available versions:  [m]0.1.1
     Homepage:            http://www.avasys.jp/english/linux_e/dl_scan.html
     Description:         Epson Perfection V330 PHOTO scanner plugin for SANE 'epkowa' backend.

* net-wireless/wifiscanner
     Available versions:  (~)1.0.1-r1 (~)1.0.1-r2 {{ncurses wireshark}}
     Homepage:            http://wifiscanner.sourceforge.net/
     Description:         analyzer and detector of 802.11b stations and access points

[1] "sabayon" /var/lib/layman/sabayon

Found 9 matches.

https://packages.sabayon.org/quicksearch?q=iscan

So I suggest you install the iscan and iscan-data packages as a start and see where that gets you.

[B3rtm3n]

Thx very much for your help, your'e the coolest

It is my fault but I forgot to mention, the first thing I did was installing everything available and when it did not work and I was stuck on Google I only posted ...

But after reading your message it gave me some ideas to have a look at Gentoo too ...
I solved the matter following these instructions:
http://en.gentoo-wiki.com/wiki/Epson_USB_Scanner

1)

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lsusb

gave: Bus 002 Device 007: ID 04b8:088f Seiko Epson Corp.

So I knew it was connected.

3)

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sane-find-scanner -q

gave: found USB scanner (vendor=0x04b8, product=0x088f) at libusb:002:007

4) I did

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nano /etc/sane.d/epkowa.conf

and added in this text in this file: usb 0x04b8 0x088f
based upon the information (3) gave.

I did 2 additional checks:

5)

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sane-find-scanner

gave: found USB scanner (vendor=0x04b8, product=0x088f) at libusb:002:007

6)

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scanimage -L

gave: device `epkowa:usb:002:007' is a Epson PID 088F flatbed scanner
so I knew it was working

I opened Xsane Scanner Tool and it started right away without error.
Btw. First time I have a scanner that works with Linux