Printers >

• https://openprinting.github.io/ [ 1 ]

Printer issues to keep in mind:

• Ink / toner replacement
• Duplex (double-sided) printing

• Contemporary laser printers have a number of pages for their photoconductor (it is replaceable).

2006-03-12 or earlier ∞

This was a research project from back in my PCLinuxOS days. (distribution version not recorded, likely PCLinuxOS .92, project date estimated)

I don’t think this project went anywhere.. I don’t recall buying a printer and as of 2020-06-27 I don’t have one and have already been working on more recent research having wholly forgotten about this old project.

Printer issues to keep in mind:

• Ink / toner replacement

• Duplex (double-sided) printing

  • Windows drivers are good at supporting this sort of things, Linux drivers are not.

Good ∞

• Hewlett-Packard (HP)

  • Many HPs are officially supported. See also https://hpinkjet.sourceforge.net/ and https://hpoj.sourceforge.net/
  • HP Photosmart 3310
    — Has everything: 6 ink cartridge photo printing, 3.5″ colour screen, hi-res scan, built-in slide/negative scan, fax, wireless networking, the works.
  • HP 5550
  • HP 812c – Discontinued
  • HP 7150 – Discontinued

• Epson

  • Epson Stylus Photo 830
  • Epson Stylus Photo R300 works out of the box.
  • Epson Stylus Photo R210 (for direct CD/DVD colour printing)

• Brother

  • Brother MFC-5440CN
    — Understanding terrible instructions and getting the driver installed was a PITA, but once it was installed, it worked fine.
  • Brother DCP7020 which is a laser copier/printer/scanner (mono) is working fine.

• Konica Minolta magicolor 2430DL – colour laser.

• Kyocera Mita FS-100+ laser

  • I can’t find any info on this printer.

• Lexmark Z51 was reported as working fine with .92

Bad ∞

• turboprint drivers. EUR 29.95

• Canon printers

  • Canon PIXMA IP500
  • Canon i250 was documented in the PCLinuxOS wiki I think.
  • Canon IP4000 – very well supported by the turboprint drivers (required)

• Compaq (bought by HP) or Dell (rebranded Lexmark)

• Lexmark

  • Lexmark Z54 reportedly has print head clogging issues.

Ugly ∞

• MFC Brother printers (Multi Function Center) — There are varying reports for these types of printers.

  • You need to install the lpr module first then the cups wrapper. The SANE backends work.

• Epsons reportedly may have print head clogging issues.

Footnotes

1. was http://www.linuxprinting.org/ [ ↩ ]