Setting up Printer in Ubuntu

[Jim March]

Comments interspersed...

On Wed, Nov 19, 2008 at 11:16 PM, Richard Wilson <relw at mchsi.com> wrote:
> All,
>
> I am helping a friend try to get his printer working under Ubuntu
> (version 8.04.1, I believe), which is a release with which I am not very
> familiar, being heavy into Red Hat and Fedora.
>
> He's asked for my help getting his printer working, a Lexmark 35-4500,
> which I haven't been able to find listed at http://linuxprinting.org.  I
> asked him to confirm the model more than once -- I suspect I may have to
> visit him and see this thing for myself...

Yeah, as near as I can tell, the "x3500" through "x4550" are all
basically the same engine and take the same ink cartridges.  So I
think this guy is reading a cartridge - I found reference to a
"35-4500" cartridge apparently covering that whole sweep.

God knows what he actually has.

Some or all of these have WiFi printing abilities.  I'd recommend just
using them as USB if you're going to get them to work at all.

Most references say they're doorstops as far as any distro goes.
Lexmark is just about the worst (barely worse than Canon) as far as
penguin support goes.

I did find a reference to one series needing USB file system support turned on:

http://onlyubuntu.blogspot.com/2008/06/howto-setup-lexmark-z611-printer-in.html
- turning on the USB file system as described in step 2 won't hurt,
and will help if you get into virtualized guest operating systems that
need USB access (VirtualBox, etc.).  And it might be the final touch
needed to get your turkey to work.

I also found a tutorial covering the "z4200" Lexmark under Ubuntu.  If
you're lucky it'll be close enough, at least for straight printing
(the x3500-x4550 series are multi-function):

http://www.ubuntugeek.com/how-to-setup-lexmark-4200-series-printer-to-work-with-ubuntu.html

> Can anyone point me at Ubuntu's equivalent of Yum? (apt-get?)  I expect
> I'll have to download some stuff to get this printer working.  Any
> pointers anyone can share are appreciated -- I am not a fan of Lexmark,
> but would like to help my friend out.
>
> Complicating all this is my friend's lack of Internet connectivity -- I
> frequently download stuff for him and burn it to CD or DVD.  Any ideas
> on how to burn an ISO of all available Ubuntu updates on a Fedora
> system?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> Richard Wilson
> Apache Junction
> relw at mchsi dot com

Man, if it's at ALL possible haul the computer and printer to
someplace with an Ethernet cord!!!  I solve problems like this with my
cellular modem, and can provide basically DSL-grade speed dang near
anywhere.

Making that printer work will involve trial and error, downloading
different drivers, it'll be a mess.  Doing so with no Internet
connection?  Pure pain, man, don't even think about it...

Jim