[SOLVED] Installing Printer?

[MasterChief]

I'm running Fedora 14 and I NEED to install a HP 8500 Officejet Pro All-in-One Wireless A909g printer. The only versions that Windows has is for Fedora 15, 16, & 17. There has to be a way to install this. I don't think I am doing the command-line prompt correctly. Can somebody help me???

Thanks,
Chief

[smr54]

I would try installing the hplip package (with yum install hplip) then running hp-setup. Assuming the printer already has an IP address, command line is probably quicker with

hp-setup -i <ip_address>

[MasterChief]

It has an IP address and the printer works on three other computer (MacBook, MacMini, & Windows XP). I tried reinstalling it today using the hplipopensource that HP's website recommended. I used F17 because the command-line prompt kept giving me an error and saying try using F17.

What do I do after it is done with the Dependencies and Conflict Resolution? Should it work like it does on my Mini? Or is there something else I have to do? When would I have to use your command line suggestion?

Thanks,
Chief

[smr54]

There should be an rpm for hplip. I would try using that if possible. I haven't installed it from source, using the hplip tarball in awhile. They did have a guide for Fedora, don't know if it's up to date.

Also, I would definitely recommend, if you were going to use their site's source, that you use the tarball rather than the wizard--the wizard was horribly done, it would tell you that you were missing a package, you would then have to start the whole thing again from the beginning and it would tell you that you were missing another package. I have an old page on using it with CentOS, though the packages needed might be different.

http://home.roadrunner.com/~computertaijutsu/hplip.html

Still, you should be able to avoid all that by running yum install hplip. Then, once it's installed, you can run the command I gave. You can also use the gui, but I've forgotten how to do that--I remember that at least at one point, it would fail to discover network printers and you'd have to enter it manually, but I have no idea if that's fixed or not.

[StephenH]

I used to have that model. I now have the OfficeJet Pro 8500A Plus A910. However, the installation should be easy. HP printers are one of the easiest to get to work.

Try installing hpijs and hplip.

Open a web browser and type: http://localhost:631

That will open the CUPS interface. From there, click on the Administration tab. Once that opens, click on the "Add Printer" button (You could also try the "Find new printers" button).

You should get a pop-up window which will ask you for a username and password. This is root and your root password. Once you do so, you should see a screen which will list Local Printers, Discovered Network Printers, and Other Network Printers.

My preferred way is to set the printer up ahead of time to use a static IP address (check the printer manual for that). That way, it will always have the same IP address even after everything is shut-down and restarted. If you have done this, then the next step is to look under the Other Network Printers section for AppSocket/HP JetDirect. Select that option and click Continue.

At the next screen, you will see a text box for "Connection:" in which you will enter the following (adjust to suit your network):

socket://192.168.X.xxx:631 (X and xxx being the appropriate numbers for your network if you are using a 192.168. address.)

Once you do that and continue, you will get to a page to add a name and description. Do so. It will then take you to a page where you select your make (HP). The next page will give you a list of models. Choose the appropriate hpcups or hpijs model (Edit: I prefer the hpcups driver. It seems to give a better-sized image on the page). On the next page, set your default options (or query printer for default options). Once you do so, you are done.

The next screen will give you maintenance and administration options. From there, you can print a test page or modify default settings as well as other options.

Now, whether you share the printer is up to you. I usually don't since i set up the individual computers to access the printer directly over the network. That way, I don't have to worry about whether the host computer is turned on or not (having encountered that situation many times at work).

Hopefully, this will get you on track. I'm not sure about the dependencies and conflicts resolution. I'm a bit confused. You said in the first post that you were using Fedora 14 and in your second that you used F17. If you are using Fedora 14, that is long ago superseded. F17 is okay. Once it is brought up to date, it is solid. F18 has its startup problems caused by the new installer, but once it is installed, it is just as solid (if not more so) than F17. However, the method I outlined to you above should work and get your printer installed and working.

Are you active duty or retired? I'm a retired 1SG (26 years).

[MasterChief]

Thank you! I got it to work. I kept everything that was automatically set, but it doesn't matter as I'll only print text.

I'm using the Fedora 14 OS for a Linux+ certification college class, but I used the Fedora 17 drivers for the printer. It seems to work fine. :)

Thank you for all of your help, I really appreciate it!

Edit: the dependencies and conflict resolution, I think, came from the drives not being for that OS.

[StephenH]

Great! I'm glad you got it to work. You should find in the thread tools an option to mark your problem as solved. It is good to do so to let others know it is solved.