2004-03-28 11:07:20

by DervishD

[permalink] [raw]
Subject: Problems with my parport (and printer)

Hi all :)

I have a printer connected thru my parallel port, supported in
the kernel by parport+parport_pc+lp:

kernel: parport0: PC-style at 0x378 (0x778), irq 7 [PCSPP,TRISTATE]
kernel: parport0: Printer, Lexmark International Lexmark Optra E312
kernel: lp0: using parport0 (interrupt-driven).
kernel: lp0: console ready

It works ok, BTW... The problem is that, when the printer is
switched of and I try to print something, the print command just
blocks, no error, no messages, nothing. I use a shell function to
print, which sends a control command to the printer and after that
sends the file I want to print. It stops (forever) at the reset
command, something like "echo -n '\eE' > /dev/printer".

Why this operation doesn't fail? IMHO, it should fail with
ENODEV, because parport can work (the parallel port is there...), but
lp shouldn't (the printer is switched off...).

BTW, I would swear I have the parallel port configured as EPP+ECP
with DMA3 and irq 7 :??? Why is it detected as PCSPP?

Any help? Thanks in advance :)

Ra?l N??ez de Arenas Coronado

--
Linux Registered User 88736
http://www.pleyades.net & http://raul.pleyades.net/


2004-03-28 15:51:38

by Jan-Benedict Glaw

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Subject: Re: Problems with my parport (and printer)

On Thu, 2004-03-25 12:51:31 +0100, DervishD <[email protected]>
wrote in message <20040325115131.GA12195@DervishD>:
> Hi all :)
>
> I have a printer connected thru my parallel port, supported in
> the kernel by parport+parport_pc+lp:
>
> kernel: parport0: PC-style at 0x378 (0x778), irq 7 [PCSPP,TRISTATE]
> kernel: parport0: Printer, Lexmark International Lexmark Optra E312
> kernel: lp0: using parport0 (interrupt-driven).
> kernel: lp0: console ready
>
> It works ok, BTW... The problem is that, when the printer is
> switched of and I try to print something, the print command just
> blocks, no error, no messages, nothing. I use a shell function to

First of all, if you want to do normal printing, you shouldn't switch on
LP console. From there on, all kernel debug output (as seen in
/var/log/kern.log and outputted with "dmesg") would be sent to the
printer, what isn't exactly what you want to have.

> Why this operation doesn't fail? IMHO, it should fail with
> ENODEV, because parport can work (the parallel port is there...), but
> lp shouldn't (the printer is switched off...).

Another gotcha may be that your printer doesn't easily accept commands.
Many printers don't do that nowadays. Some are dumb GDI-Printerts
(Windows-only, that is...), some nees specific wake-up sequences.

MfG, JBG

--
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"Eine Freie Meinung in einem Freien Kopf | Gegen Zensur | Gegen Krieg
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2004-03-28 18:11:08

by DervishD

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Subject: Re: Problems with my parport (and printer)

Hi Jan :)

* Jan-Benedict Glaw <[email protected]> dixit:
> > kernel: parport0: PC-style at 0x378 (0x778), irq 7 [PCSPP,TRISTATE]
> > kernel: parport0: Printer, Lexmark International Lexmark Optra E312
> > kernel: lp0: using parport0 (interrupt-driven).
> > kernel: lp0: console ready
> > It works ok, BTW... The problem is that, when the printer is
> > switched of and I try to print something, the print command just
> > blocks, no error, no messages, nothing. I use a shell function to
> First of all, if you want to do normal printing, you shouldn't switch on
> LP console. From there on, all kernel debug output (as seen in
> /var/log/kern.log and outputted with "dmesg") would be sent to the
> printer, what isn't exactly what you want to have.

That's right, but LP console must be activated at boot time (or
at module-loading time) AFAIK, so this is not the problem.

> > Why this operation doesn't fail? IMHO, it should fail with
> > ENODEV, because parport can work (the parallel port is there...), but
> > lp shouldn't (the printer is switched off...).
> Another gotcha may be that your printer doesn't easily accept commands.
> Many printers don't do that nowadays. Some are dumb GDI-Printerts
> (Windows-only, that is...), some nees specific wake-up sequences.

This printer (Lexmark Optra E312) is not a winprinter, and the
problem is not related to commands. The printer works fine, I have no
problems with that. My problem arises when the printer is offline:
when I send data to the printer and it is not connected, the command
used to send that data doesn't fail, just waits forever...

Thanks for your answer anyway :) Really I'm not familiar with the
parallel port :(

Ra?l N??ez de Arenas Coronado

--
Linux Registered User 88736
http://www.pleyades.net & http://raul.pleyades.net/