Using the HP1010 printer with Linux

Printing from Linux on the HP1010 is not very difficult to set up.
I use Cups for printing.

USB printer on Linux

It worked out that using an USB printer on Linux is quite easy. I have to load the following usb-modules:

• usbcore
• usb-ohci (depends on your motherboard)
• printer

With the modules loaded and plugging in the printer, the following message appears in /var/log/messages:
kernel: printer.c: usblp0: USB Bidirectional printer dev 2 if 0 alt 1 proto 2 vid 0x03F0 pid 0x0C17

Also the printer is listed in /proc/bus/usb/devices.

Configuring CUPS

This is in /etc/cups/printers.conf:

<DefaultPrinter HP1010>
Info HP 1010
Location Usbbus
DeviceURI usb:/dev/usb/lp0
State Idle
Accepting Yes
JobSheets none none
QuotaPeriod 0
PageLimit 0
KLimit 0
</Printer>

Printing from a M$ windows machine to the Linux Cups printer

It was possible to use the Linux box with Cups and the HP1010 USB-printer as a remote network printer for M$ Windows XP. This was how we did it:

in XP, choose networkprinter
choose URL: http://<ip-number>:631/printers/HP1010
where <ip-number> is the ip-number of the Linux box
and HP1010 is the name of the queue
choose the drivers for the HP LaserJet 1100

So, if you have a family member who is stupid enough to run an unsafe OS from that very unethical company, he or she can use your stable and safe Linux system to get a proper printed document.

Troubleshooting

When sending a printjob to Cups while the printer is not turned on, something nasty happens.
Cups complains that usb:/dev/usb/lp0 doesn't exists. Turning the printer on is not enough.

This is what I do in order to get it working again:

modprobe printer
lpadmin -p HP1010 -E

If you have given a different name to your printer then you'll have to change the lpadmin-option above accordingly.