Printer Problems

Hi,

I have an HP psc 1317 hung off an XP machine.

My Aspire One found it (the machine and printer) in the WORKGROUP workgroup and I added it. It seemed too easy to be true... and it was - Every time I try to do a test page I get a "Remote Downlevel Document" in my XP print queue. It is owned by "Guest". The printer clicks a few times then it locks up. And the print queue locks up. I can't delete the job. The only way to get rid of it is to reboot the PC.

I did a bit of Googling. I found a post somewhere which said I had to set smb.conf (Samba config) so that:
workgroup = WORKGROUP

I did that and rebooted both machines. Doesn't help.

I'm stuck! Any ideas?

Thanks,
Dave

 

Hi roxburd

I have an Epson printer connected to my XP PC. I can see my XP PC on my network and edit files etc. from the aspire. I cannot see my printer that I have set up as shared. I use Konqueror for networking my One.
However I can print documents etc on it from the Aspire. I achieved this by using the printer set up on the Aspire (Settings then Printing) by adding New Printer, selecting "Windows Printer via SAMBA" then Forward. This will produce a list of manufacturers including HP. I note your specific printer is not listed, however there is PSC 1310 as well as other PSC drivers. You may need to find out if your printer will run on any of the drivers listed. You will need a Linux driver for the printer.

Best wishes.
Edit --- Have a look on HP's web site, it does appear the drivers are the same but it refers to having "Limited" support under Linux.

 

Hi Solpuerto.

HP have been helping me - they suggested ensuring "Print Services for Unix" is enabled in XP, disabling the XP firewall and then adding the printer on the Aspire as a Unix LDP printer.

The printer setup worked. I queued a test print. The test print appeared in the XP print queue as "Test Print" owned by root on the Aspire - looked good. But didn't print. :-/

Cheers,
Dave

 

Hmmm, well, two weeks later and it's all gone quiet from HP's top experts. I had been looking forward to posting a solution... instead, my conclusion is that if you buy an Aspire you typically can't print from it. (Assuming a printer hung off an XP machine shared over WiFi is a pretty typical setup).

Shame - I probably wouldn't have bought one if I'd known.

Oh, and, as shipped, it seems that all distributions of Linux (including the Linpus on the Aspire) fail to WiFi networks running on non-US channels. So not only can my daughter not print but she's can't even use her mother's WiFi network. So the Aspire is pretty-much useless to her. It's such a shame to take an initiative which could have delivered a useful piece of technology and cripple it for want of things that seem to basic - network and print. IMHO. I guess this is what you call the trough of disillusionment.

Dave