[solved] Installing drivers for canon pixma mg4150

[spinoza]

Hi.

I just bought a new printer, model as described in subject.
Unfortunately PCLinuxOS can't find any drivers for it. After trying some drivers for other models close to my modelname with no success, I searched for solutions on the Internet. Until now I've only found some with the .deb extension. Will it be possible to use them on a PCLinux?
If so how do I do? If not - do you have other solutions I might try?

Regards. Thomas aka Spinoza

[T6]

the manufacturer page should have support for the printer, usually a .rpm file or a .run/.bin file that installs the required files to make the printer work

if the manufacturer doesn't offer support and you can't find a driver in .rpm format, you could try to use the .deb file by using a app called alien, it is in repos

i ignore if the driver on the .deb file will work on our distro, there could be differences on places of files and configs so this could make the driver not work or be a problem for the install

[spinoza]

Thank you for your answer T6.
Searching for other driver package for Linux I found the Gutenprint project page. The list of supported printers counts the Canon MG4100, wich should work for my printer too. But since the Gutenprint package is already installed on my system and I can find a lot of other Canon models from the Gotenprint list when adding a new printer, I find it strange that the MG4100 is not listed when installing.

But actually the newest version of Gutenprint is 5.2.9, the version in the repos is 5.2.7, so since it's a new printer it might have been added later. On the Gutenprint homepage it is possible to download the newest package as a .tar package.

I have installed alien, and I,m reading about it now and might give it a shot to convert the .deb driver package.

I,ve been using PCLOS for some years, but I am total newbie when it comes to install anything that is not from the repos or drag and drop.

Do you have any suggestion what I should try now?

[T6]

if gutenprint supports it and you need a new version, then a package request is necessary, there is a section in the forum for this

the tar file is basically a compressed file containing the source code to be compiled in a console, something that most of us can't do well 

i never used alien so i can't guide you on how to use it

[spinoza]

Well I just noticed that the driver has a note saying "Experimental" at the Gutenprint list of supported printers in version 5.2.9. It seems that other drivers noted as Experimental is not in the list of available printers either (when installing a new printer), so I guess it is not in the updated package. So, maby you or someone else reading the post knows how to get the experimental drivers listed when installing a new printer? Or maby they are waiting for tests before put in the package at all?

I have tried to use alien, but it keeps coming up with errors converting the package, so no luck there either.

I guess I have to use a virtual machine for printing until a driver for the printer is available. So what did I learn today - always check for compatibility before buying new hardware :-)

Thank you for participating here, I hope it will be ok to leave this post open a bit if anyone should have a smarter solution than the virtual ¤MS machine....

[KernelKarter]

if gutenprint supports it and you need a new version, then a package request is necessary, there is a section in the forum for this

Requested almost two months ago but no votes for it yet: http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,107312.msg916679.html#msg916679

-- Eddie

[spinoza]

Thank you KernelCarter, I have put in a vote.

As a last experiment I tried to unpack all the .deb files from the canon homepage and manually placed the files in the usr + subfolders. When I later plug in the usb it finds the printer automatically, and when sending a test page to the printer it's display reacts and telling a job is coming, but nothing printing happens. Maby a desperate newbie thing to do, but thought it was worth a chance..

[bicol_willem]

Here you find your rpm package(s) / driver(s):

http://support-in.canon-asia.com/P/search?model=PIXMA+MG4170&menu=download&filter=0&tagname=g_os&g_os=Linux

 

[spinoza]

Fantastic, thank you a lot bicol-willem!
I have been looking on a lot of Canon pages and done a lot of googeling with diferent search terms. Did you simply know where to look - at the Asian canon site, or do you have some magic search terms?

Anyway - it works perfectly now! Thanx again to you and this great forum for helping me out once again!

[T6]

"Fantastic, thank you a lot bicol-willem!
I have been looking on a lot of Canon pages and done a lot of googeling with diferent search terms. Did you simply know where to look - at the Asian canon site, or do you have some magic search terms"

i don't know how but people here always find things so easily, it happened to me in the past too, it is so weird 

if all is ok now, don't forget to mark the post as (SOLVED)

[spinoza]

i don't know how but people here always find things so easily, it happened to me in the past too, it is so weird 

if all is ok now, don't forget to mark the post as (SOLVED)

Yes, and thats what is so great about this forum for Pclinux "only"users like me. I love the distro, it's been solid as a rock for 7-8 years now with a few breakdowns, but always caused by my own experiments to get some hardware to work or "playing" with a konsol, which I don't do much anymore since most things have graphical interface today. Problems always get solved, sooner or later.

This one is marked as solved now, and I suppose it's just a matter of time before the drivers are built in. Actually I think it's the first time for me, that Pclinux didn't plug and play a new printer.

[bicol_willem]

Did you simply know where to look - at the Asian canon site, or do you have some magic search terms?

Well, I have seen through time to my surprise that canon asia seems to have a more complete bunch of drivers then other official sites 
So, in case of Canon I simply look no further then there 
Happy for you it worked out well 

[T6]

"and I suppose it's just a matter of time before the drivers are built in."

well, it is a bit complicated to add drivers for every hardware existing but if you make a package request and the driver doesn't have a license forbidding us to redistribute, it could be possible

"Actually I think it's the first time for me, that Pclinux didn't plug and play a new printer."

in general, old epson, old canon and hp printers are well supported on linux with some exceptions of course, recently brother and samsung became better supported too but find hardware supported on linux without much problem is nothing guaranteed yet

fortunately things are getting better with time  

[spinoza]

I will for sure remember to look at the asian pages as the first thing next time I buy a Canon product :-)

Well, Kernelkarter has already requested the updated version of Gutenprint that should hold the canon printers, so if these packets are updated in the repos it should be there. I understand that a Linux distro can't hold every single driver for any hardware made in the world, having in mind that these distros are made in non commercial environments thats very acceptable :-)

Thanx again guys.