Linux woes

[ffutures]

I've got my main computer working again under windows, mostly by deleting Net Framework 4 and the program that used it, which unfortunately is the automatic backup to network drive program. I shall have to be very careful about manual backups for the moment. I still think I need a more modern computer, but a little of the urgency has gone.

While I was messing around with Linux I made an annoying discovery - my network printer, the Ricoh Aficio SP C240DN, doesn't appear to be supported at all. I've tried other Ricoh drivers as recommended on a couple of sites but so far no success. Anyone know a fix for this? The best bet I have so far is printing to PDF, saving to the network drive, then printing the file from my iBook, which is not really practical for everyday stuff. It unfortunately means I can't rely on the backup computer to be useful if I convert it to Linux, so I shall have to sort out some sort of Windows fix.

Comments

[ggreig]

I would hazard a guess it's the backup programme to blame. The .Net framework's pretty safe, it's more likely that a backup programme is trying to do something "clever" that doesn't quite work.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Or the combination is simply eating too much memory.

[uk-lemming.livejournal.com]

For the printer, try an initial connection via USB, then modify it to support the Network

[nojay.livejournal.com]

Printing (and scanning) under Linux is somewhat of a minefield. The usual approach is to look a for a printer that is already supported and buy that rather than try and make a new/rare/unsupported device work with assorted trickery or odd hacks. The bad news is a lot of printers and scanners supported by Linux are no longer being made or sold. Newer machines that support a "standard" like PCL6 or PS will usually work though.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately it's some weird standard - DDST?

The actual specification says

Printer language/fonts DDST (GDI)

Drivers PCL5c/PCL6, PostScript® 3™ emulation Windows® XP/Vista/7/Server 2003/Server 2008 (32bit/64bit), Macintosh 10.3v or later

What I think this means is that the drivers pretend that the printer is PCL or Postscript, but it isn't really.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

It's found the printer on the network, it just doesn't seem to know how to drive it.

[nojay.livejournal.com]

If the manual says it can run PCL6 in emulation then I'd expect Linux to be able to drive it. You might lose some functionality like remote administration, toner level reporting etc. but it should print. You could try installing a generic PCL6 driver and see if that works, even under Windows.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

OK, I'll give it a shot tonight.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

I've tried about fifteen different Ricoh and generic drivers, none are getting any output though several make its lights flash. Looking at linux forums there seem to be several people after this and no indication that anyone has been successful, I think there may be no easy way to do it.