[ale] HP P2035 printer won't on Mandriva 2010.0

[Bob Toxen]

Hey J. D., Jim, and ALE,

THANKS to J. D. and Jim for their helpful advice!

Mandriva did not offer the python-devel rpm but I finally found a
compatible one elsewhere (usual RPM version dependency hell issues).
Then that miserable excuse of an install script from HP wanted cups-devl
(not CUPS!)  Couldn't find one easily.

By this time HP had wasted 6 hours of my life.

I returned the HP junk and got a Brother HL-5340D Laser Printer.  The
MicroCenter Associate showed me how to get the PPD file from Brother's
web site (quite easy).


Brother's instructions were very detailed, even reminding me to chown
and chmod the installed PPD file appropriately and telling how to restart
CUPS, giving the different pathname to find the startup script depending
on Red Hat based, Debian, and SuSE Distros!

It took me 15-20 pain-free minutes to get the Brother printer working!
Brother's web site not only said that it supported Linux but included
Distros includine Mandrake (now Mandriva)!


As an experienced Linux and Unix printer, installation scripts and the
like should be designed for a minimal system.  HP's requiring optional
software, such as python-devel and cups-devel, to install something as
simple as a printer is, IMHO, inexcusable incompetence.  I think that
HP laptops are junk too!  I guess that's part of HP's cutting its R&D
from 8% of revenue to 0.7%.  Another Great of the industry crashes and
burns.

While I wanted to buy my new printer from HP since the old one lasted
since 1993, I note that my Brother FAX machine bought in 1995 still is
going strong.

Bob

On Wed, Aug 11, 2010 at 12:53:15PM -0400, J. D. wrote:
> Hey Bob,

> Can you get the python-devel rpm from another source? It sounds like
> you'll need it to get going on the driver.

> I found a link here but I've never worked with mandiva:

> http://rpm.pbone.net/index.php3/stat/4/idpl/13451691/dir/mandriva_2010/com/libpython2.6-devel-2.6.4-1.2mdv2010.0.i586.rpm.html

> Best regards,

> J. D.

> On Tue, Aug 10, 2010 at 12:38 PM, Bob Toxen
> <transam at verysecurelinux.com>wrote:

> > My old HP printer had the nerve to die after only 17 years.
> >
> > I'm unable to get my new HP LaserJet P2035 printer (via parallel port)
> > to work on Mandriva 2010.0.  (Btw, avoid this version of Mandriva like
> > the plague!)
> >
> >
> > First, the printer install CD says one must install a driver on Linux
> > but it refuses to install demanding I first install "python-devel".
> > Unfortunately, there is no such RPM found using Mandriva's GUI install
> > tool.  I've installed anything remotely related and still get the error.
> >
> > Also, when I use the browser interface to CUPS (http://localhost:631)
> > and try things such as clicking on maintenance "clean print heads" (just
> > to see if I can talk to the printer), I get an error complaining about
> > can't run "application/vnd.cups" or something very similar.
> >
> > When I first plugged in the printer, on restarting cups each time it
> > would spit out a page that had been queued from when the old printer
> > died.  The printer's self-test buttin spits out its test page.
> >
> >
> > I'm at the end of my rope here and I'm week on multimedia and printing,
> > being a "server guy".
> >
> > Any help gratefully accepted.  I'll even throw in a free sightseeing
> > flight around Atlanta for the first one to solve the problem.
> >
> > If converting the printer connection to USB would help, I can do that.
> >
> > THANKS!
> >
> > Bob Toxen
> > bob at verysecurelinux.com               [Please use for email to me]
> > http://www.verysecurelinux.com        [Network&Linux security consulting]
> > http://www.realworldlinuxsecurity.com [My book:"Real World Linux Security
> > 2/e"]
> > Quality spam and virus filters.
> > Quality Linux & UNIX security and SysAdmin & software consulting since
> > 1990.
> >
> > "One disk to rule them all, One disk to find them. One disk to bring
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> > -- The Silicon Valley Tarot Henrique Holschuh with ... by Bob
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