On Mon, 2011-11-21 at 17:01 -0800, Roger Luedecke wrote:

On Monday, November 21, 2011 07:52:42 PM Felix Miata wrote:

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On 2011/11/22 11:06 (GMT+1030) Rodney Baker composed:

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Hi all. I'm just wondering what others on the list are using in the way of MFC (Multi Function Centre) type printers? I have a Brother MFC-665CW which I'm thinking of replacing. Brother do have limited Linux support but I'm sure there's better around. Any suggestions? Stay away from Canon: https://bugzilla.novell.com/show_bug.cgi?id=683476 More than likely my next printer will be a Brother. I'm rather a fan of the HP printers since they have drivers for pretty much every model. Frankly, the HP all in one is normally a pain to configure under Windows and Macintosh but with YaST its a breeze. Definately stay away from Canon.

We have numerous Brother MFC-9970CDW units. These work very well and output is good. The performance of the 9970 series is much improved over previous models of that lineage. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org

On Tue, Nov 22, 2011 at 9:05 AM, jdd wrote:

you should notice that now Canon have Linux drivers (yes, good, isn't it :-)), so the old beware Canon may not be so hard (to be verified with time)

I installed the package 'splix' and my samsung printer is working very good! -- Regards, PM Mathematics Coach at IIT Trainings --------------------------------------- Open source: It sets us free Hope, like faith, is nothing if it is not courageous; it is nothing if it is not ridiculous. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org

On 11/22/2011 07:45 AM, Adam Tauno Williams wrote:

We have numerous Brother MFC-9970CDW units. These work very well and output is good. The performance of the 9970 series is much improved over previous models of that lineage.

That is good to hear. Of all the MFC's I've used, I did have good luck with the Brother machines, but that has been a decade ago. Make sure replacement toner is available and won't eat you alive in cost. -- David C. Rankin, J.D.,P.E. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org

On Tue, 2011-11-22 at 08:01 +0100, Roger Oberholtzer wrote:

On Tue, 2011-11-22 at 11:06 +1030, Rodney Baker wrote:

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Hi all. I'm just wondering what others on the list are using in the way of MFC (Multi Function Centre) type printers? I have a Brother MFC-665CW which I'm thinking of replacing. Brother do have limited Linux support but I'm sure there's better around. The prime considerations will be seamless Linux support, ease of operation (since the wife will be using it too) and decent quality photo printing. I'd prefer a network-capable unit rather than USB (mainly so it doesn't necessarily have to be co-located with the PC).

And you don't need to worry about the USB product & vendor keys being matched. Networked printing is much simpler than locally attached.

I have an Epson printer/scanner that is also wireless. At least as of 11.2 openSUSE does not really support wireless printers very well.

I don't know that it is up to the OS to support "wireless printers". Wireless is just a network topology, they are just networked printers. openSUSE has *excellent* support for network printing. On the other hand - *wireless* printers are *BAD* and *STUPID*. It is a horrible idea - full stop. The issues I've seen with wireless printers are endless [most typically they just silently drop off the network]. Getting them joined to a secure wireless network [EAP w/TKIP or AES] is a nightmare. As a professional sys-admin I'd never agree to supporting a wireless printer. Run copper to your printer. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org

On 11/22/2011 9:56 AM, Roger Oberholtzer wrote:

On Tue, 2011-11-22 at 09:26 -0500, Adam Tauno Williams wrote:

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Run copper to your printer.

That is giving in. Of course, as it stands, we can only print wireless to the printer from my daughter's Windows laptop. She plays a pivotal

That's not giving in that's sound system design. You can't force buggy firmware and hardware to be reliable by will power and your own excellence. Rather your own excellence is expressed in part by recognizing things that fundamentally can not ever be made as reliable as other things, and avoiding them because of that wherever possible. Laptop-to-network has no bearing on network-to-printer Run a cable to the printer always if there is any possibility to. It doesn't matter that the laptop will be wireless to the network. Use a printers own wireless only when the choice is that or no printer at all. And in that case, remember that that was the choice whenever the thing craps out, possibly at inconvenient times. Warn the user from day one that it may happen and that there is nothing you can do to avoid it or reduce the chances. It may be fine but that would just be luck, which is nothing to rely on. The laptops wireless connection is more reliable, more likely to be automatic, and easier for the user to deal with or find successful help with than any printers firmware for many different reasons. -- bkw -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org

On 11/22/2011 12:34 PM, Haro de Grauw pecked at the keyboard and wrote:

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Hi all. I'm just wondering what others on the list are using in the way of MFC (Multi Function Centre) type printers?

Brother DCP-9045CDN, which I can recommend without reserves for Linux use.

Notice that many manufacturers provide Linux drivers which includes a whole lot of their own software, which you may not want or need. The way I handled this (Brother and Samsung): I downloaded the Linux driver package, opened with Ark, located and saved the PPD file (which is the actual printer "driver") and deleted everything else. Then simply install the printer with YaST, by pointing it at the PPD file for your printer. If you need any more details on how to do this, just reply here.

In general, my experience of Brother laser MFCs (leaving aside the Linux question) is that they are extremely well-built and reliable, nearly all components can be replaced (not just toner and drum units, but also feed belt, waste toner collection etc.) which is not always the case with the smaller/cheaper products from the competition. Also, those Brother MFCs that have the option of buying large (4000+ page) toner cartridges, like my DCP-9045CDN, have some of the lowest cost-per-page of any compact colour lasers. (The only real rival here is Oki.)

Of course, if you are talking about larger machines, the "big guys" like Xerox, Ricoh, and Océ come into play. Notice that Océ was recently bought by Canon, and as others have pointed out, Canon has not been the most Linux-friendly company.

Hope this helps.

Haro

The best printer to look at is the one that also gives low cost per page at print time. The printer may cost more to purchase but save you a bundle at toner replacement time. I have a Xerox Phaser 6180dn color laser and I am able to get refill kits for $175us (roughly $40 a cartridge) for the high capacity cartridges which give 6000 pages color and 8000 pages black. -- Ken Schneider SuSe since Version 5.2, June 1998 -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org

Hello, On Nov 22 18:02 Dr. Ing. Joaquin Sosa wrote (excerpt):

On Tue, Nov 22, 2011 at 12:34, Haro de Grauw wrote:

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Of course, if you are talking about larger machines, the "big guys" like Xerox, Ricoh, and Océ come into play. Notice that Océ was recently bought by Canon, and as others have pointed out, Canon has not been the most Linux-friendly company.

All of the proper big machines are going to have PostScript support. They are going to work with no issues on Linux, Mac, etc. Worst case you need to install the Windows driver on a Windows PC and extract the .ppd file.

The question was not only about a printer but about a multi function device (i.e. at least a printer/scanner/copier). In this case one needs a scanner driver for Linux if the device is connected directly to the Linux workstation (usually via USB), see http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Configuring_Scanners If the device is connected via network, have a look at "Scanning via Network" in http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Configuring_Scanners Regarding network connection via a small printserver box: For scanning you need a full bidirectional communication between computer and device. Usual printserver boxes provide only some kind of unidirectional data transfer from the computer to the device so that plain printing usually works but usually nothing else. As far as I know only HP Jetdirect printservers for HP devices provide additionally some SNMP stuff to get HP device status and whatever else is needed so that in particular HP's own HPLIP printer/scanner driver software can use HP all-in-one devices for printing, device status, scanning, faxing,... See http://hplipopensource.com/node/287 ------------------------------------------------------------------- HP Linux imaging and printing What network print servers are supported? Answer: Currently we have only tested HP JetDirect devices with HPLIP. No other network print servers are supported. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Also see my older mail (the URLs therein may be outdated): http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse/2008-09/msg00090.html I don't know to what extent Linux drivers from other manufactures work. Kind Regards Johannes Meixner -- SUSE LINUX Products GmbH -- Maxfeldstrasse 5 -- 90409 Nuernberg -- Germany HRB 16746 (AG Nuernberg) GF: Jeff Hawn, Jennifer Guild, Felix Imendoerffer

Hello, On Nov 23 10:58 Roger Oberholtzer wrote (excerpt):

I do not think SANE supports wireless scanners.

It depends on whether or not the SANE driver (i.e. the SANE backend, see http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:Configuring_Scanners) supports it when the device is connected via network. You may check http://www.sane-project.org/sane-mfgs.html which devices are listed there where the network interface should be supported (but as usual there is no guarantee). If you use the driver from Avasys, visit their web-site or see http://www.sane-project.org/lists/sane-backends-external.html#S-EPKOWA Regarding wireless network: In theory it should not matter which kind of physical network connection is used (e.g. wireless versus wired network connection) - provided the particular physical network connection works reliable. In practice wireless network connection is known to not work reliable (compared to traditional wired network connection). Furthermore wireless networking could be insecure, see http://en.opensuse.org/SDB:CUPS_and_SANE_Firewall_settings Kind Regards Johannes Meixner -- SUSE LINUX Products GmbH -- Maxfeldstrasse 5 -- 90409 Nuernberg -- Germany HRB 16746 (AG Nuernberg) GF: Jeff Hawn, Jennifer Guild, Felix Imendoerffer -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org

On Wed, 2011-11-23 at 20:07 +0800, Ed Greshko wrote:

On 11/23/2011 05:58 PM, Roger Oberholtzer wrote:

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I think the scanner was a big part of my install issue with the Epson printer on openSUSE (11.2?). I do not think SANE supports wireless scanners. At least not two years ago. I will be checking this all with openSUSE 12.1 to see if there is any improved support.

FWIW, I have an HP 6500 all-in-one printer configured as a wireless printer and shared between Linux and Windows systems.

It works flawlessly from all systems. Allowing for printing, faxing, and scanning.

What controls the scaning? Perhaps HP have a SANE plugin in the printer package they provide for Linux? Yours sincerely, Roger Oberholtzer OPQ Systems / Ramböll RST Office: Int +46 10-615 60 20 Mobile: Int +46 70-815 1696 roger.oberholtzer@ramboll.se ________________________________________ Ramböll Sverige AB Krukmakargatan 21 P.O. Box 17009 SE-104 62 Stockholm, Sweden www.rambollrst.se -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: opensuse+unsubscribe@opensuse.org To contact the owner, e-mail: opensuse+owner@opensuse.org