n00b needs printer help [SOLVED]

[zaivala]

OK, I haven't used anything like Mageia since Mandrake 9. I haven't found any distro yet that works better than Puppy, and that does not install well (runs off disk nicely though). So I'm still trying to find that Magic Distro In the Sky and still haven't stuck with one long enough to know what I'm doing.

Computer: Dell Inspiron 518 00
2.40 GHz Intel Core2 Quad Q6600
4 Gb RAM 266MHz bus speed
Hitachi 500 Gb HD
Optiarc DVD+-RW AD-72008
ATI Radeon HD 2400 PRO
SB Audigy

I have a Brother MFC-J470DW printer. It is connected to the network wirelessly. I cannot print to it from Mageia, even from Google Drive under Mageia, although it works like a champ on the Windoze side (Win 7 H P),

I can't even find the printer setup stuff, which is easy to find in every other Linux distro I've tried in the past 5 years.

Give me an idea. Please. There are almost 2,000 posts on this, each dealing with someone else's computer, I've read about 10% of them and gotten nowhere.

[benmc]

Hello zaivala and welcome to Mageia forums

You dont say if you are running from a Live or installed from a Live disc.
Some things are left out of these discs and need to be added later, like printer stuff.

So, launch Mageia Control Centre, check that you have "configured media sources for install and update ", if you only have core release and non-free release, you will have to add new repos and then enable core updates, non-free updates and tainted repos, also if a 64 bit system, enable the 32 bit versions as well.
Then click on the second tab [hardware] on the left pane [under Mageia with the desktop background].
this should bring you to "manage your hardware", at the bottom of this page is "configure your printer"
you will then have to install the printer software, then drivers etc.

regards

Benmc

[zaivala]

I installed from a complete download, did not find a live disc or I would have used that. Whenever I do software updates, I keep being told to put the "core release" disc into my drive, which seems odd for a full install. I have already done the first step, added all the repos I could (there are several boxes, such as core release update, it will not let me check). It's a 32-bit system (why I gave the computer specs).

As for the rest, I did not see that, and I thank you and am doing it now. I'll report back as to success.

[zaivala]

OK, it's not seeing my Network for this purpose and is asking me to name which network to search... my connection is to ATT784 (modem) but is that the Network name? It's not finding a printer there but it's there... I've tried other choices, and again am asked names I do not know. I have also tried the IP address of my modem...

[benmc]

I keep being told to put the "core release" disc into my drive

disable the first two options, cd-rom core and non-free from your repo list.
the left most column: enabled, is the one you need to be sure is ticked.

go back to your windows 7 and check your printers address there, make a note of it. then enter it in the Mageia system,
I am surprised it cannot find it

[zaivala]

I just gave up and reinstalled (yeah, it's hours of work I lost, but...) and will see whether I have the same issues.

The biggest part started during installation, when it could not find a driver for the wireless (it said it would use a Windoze driver, and then, after failing to find one, notified me that it can only use Windoze drivers up to XP, and I'm using 7). So updates had to wait until installation was complete and I could use a THEN-INSTALLED driver to connect to wifi.

[zaivala]

OK, this time it actually found the printer... then tried to install a Brother laser printer driver for it. I found the Linux driver for this printer on the Brother site and downloaded it... but cannot for the life of me get it to unzip (I have a slightly more than vague idea of how to use Terminal, and am getting error messages that the file does not exist when I've already changed to the directory it is in and can see it with an ls command).

So it's better but I'm not there yet.

[benmc]

download the 2 rpm packages from http://support.brother.com/g/b/download ... _as&os=127

LPR printer driver (rpm package)
CUPSwrapper printer driver (rpm package)

they can be installed directly without starting the "configure printer".
after they have installed, you will need to run the "configure printer" application.

you will need to do the same for the scanner part as well

[zaivala]

I got them downloaded last night but couldn't get them installed. Today I attempted to install them from Chrome and it went perfectly... haven't gone to finish the setup but thank you.

Updated: Printer setup worked perfectly, although I haven't tested it yet. System still could not find the scanner.

Second Update: Well, the system sees the printer, and the system sees my documents, and the system says it is printing the document to the printer via CUPS, but the document never gets to the printer. I've tried three different documents.

Update Three: I opened CUPS, and found the error message: Processing - "Unable to locate printer."

[zaivala]

OK. I don't get it. My wireless connection is being addressed as a Netgear installation; it's a Motorola. It seems to work so far as getting online, but Mageia can't find a printer on that network and it might be because it is being mis-addressed. I have all the print drivers installed, I have the network working... but ...

What do I do now? I've tried reconfiguring the network and it won't let me change it from Netgear.

[doktor5000]

Mageia looks at the network from the wireless chipset, which is probably from netgear. It doesn't care about your router or wifi AP or modem, which seems to be from motorola.
Does not even matter when you say your network is working, and you can browse the internet and such.

For the printer detection, please see: viewtopic.php?f=24&t=9986 and https://bugs.mageia.org/show_bug.cgi?id=16311

[zaivala]

This is indeed strange.

I had nearly given up on Mageia. I deleted the GRUB bootloader using the Mageia disk. I did not delete Mageia. I read some responses, here and in another topic, and decided to try it again. I got my Mageia disk out and reinstalled the GRUB bootloader, and had it remap the drive. I then rebooted...

And the test page came out of my printer during the reboot, before I had even signed in to Mageia.

This does not prove that it will always work... let me test it again...

Nope, can't print it from Mageia. I will attempt the results of the bug message.

[zaivala]

OK, there is nothing in the bug report which says HOW or WHERE to configure the firewall. I went through the Network Config and don't see it. More help?

[doktor5000]

Not sure how deleting grub is related in any way to your printing problems ...

For the firewall that is referred to, see the documentaiton: http://doc.mageia.org/mcc/5/en/content/ ... ewall.html
"Network service autodiscovery" is the last checkbox at the bottom there.

[zaivala]

Not sure how deleting grub is related in any way to your printing problems ...

It wasn't. It was the potential end of my Mageia problems, i.e., giving up. If I wanted to bang my head into the brick wall some more, all I had to do was enter the Mageia 5 disk and restore the GRUB loader, rather than install Mageia.

For the firewall that is referred to, see the documentaiton: http://doc.mageia.org/mcc/5/en/content/ ... ewall.html
"Network service autodiscovery" is the last checkbox at the bottom there.

I will check that. Thank you. The last link I got talked to me about the firewall problem, but did not tell me how to fix it other than "change your firewall settings". If I could find how to GET TO the firewall settings (where did they hide the firewall in the menus?) I could have had it fixed by now.

I find it quite odd that I get one job printed from the printer queue whenever I boot Mageia -- while Linux is loaded and Mageia is not yet. So Linux has no problem with my printer, it is a Mageia bug, as has been lovingly pointed out.

[doktor5000]

For the firewall that is referred to, see the documentaiton: http://doc.mageia.org/mcc/5/en/content/ ... ewall.html
"Network service autodiscovery" is the last checkbox at the bottom there.

I will check that. Thank you. The last link I got talked to me about the firewall problem, but did not tell me how to fix it other than "change your firewall settings".

Not sure how you are reading, it is written out both in the forum thread and in the bugreport:

For network auto-dicsovery to work, "network services autodiscovery" must be enabled in the firewall

If I could find how to GET TO the firewall settings (where did they hide the firewall in the menus?) I could have had it fixed by now.

Well, it's not hidden, it's located IMHO pretty comprehensible in MCC => security => firewall.
Not sure where you have been looking. Also I've posted the link to the documentation above.

[zaivala]

Sure it makes sense when you're familiar with it. But every distro I've ever used seems to have a different idea of where things should be and how easy it should be to find them. I will point out that whatever serves as a manual for this distro is a far cry from complete. But now that I'm done fixing everything except one or two more minor items, I will work at appreciating the beauty of Mageia rather than ranting at how things do not work out of the box, which is, in my opinion, why Linux is not on a lot more machines.

[doktor5000]

I will point out that whatever serves as a manual for this distro is a far cry from complete.

What are you missing in particular from http://www.mageia.org/doc/ ?

[zaivala]

It's full of information. You have to know where to look for it first, though. And most things assume you have access to documentation on the processes being referred to already. Not made for Noobies. It is only because I'm as experienced as I am (still not very, but I keep trying) that I even got through installation (comments on that elsewhere, especially the lack of Back buttons even where the screen text itself recommends using one).

[doktor5000]

It's full of information. You have to know where to look for it first, though.

Where to look for the documentation? What about the "Docs" in the header which is above all Mageia sites?
See https://nav.mageia.org/

[zaivala]

Missing the point. Your docs are written as a technical manual, not a user manual. I would have to know your chosen vocabulary, what word means what, before approaching the text. I'm sure it would all make sense if I were a long-time Mageia user, but it was gobbledygook to me, both in structure and content. And I'm not the off-the-shelf newbie, I'm someone who has at least waded into a number of distros. Never an expert swimmer, though...