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I have been trying to get an old but good laserprinter to work with Ubuntu 12.04. According to the documentation, the printer can emulate the HP Laserjet IIP printer, and works with PCL4.

The printer has no USB cable, just an LPT one, and since my computers no longer have such a port, I'm using (trying to) an LPT -> USB cable.

I've come across this forum thread (by far the only useful topic I've found on the net regarding this printer): http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=85466

I've followed the instructions and manually installed the printer using a generic PCL4 laserjet driver. However, when I try to print, it doesn't work:

I see a blinking orange indicator on the printer, which indicates data is being recieved. However, the indicator won't stop blinking. Even after an hour, it still blinks and prints nothing.

The printer itself works well: I printed a test page using the "test" button, and that worked as expected.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

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Edit: Allow me to clarify the fact that the printer can emulate an HP Laserjet IIP. Therefore, if you know how to install an HP Laserjet IIP printer, please feel free to let me know, as it is likely to work with my printer too!

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  • you can choose "HP LaserJet 2P" from the list of printer drivers when you add a printer (tested this comment by just specifying "localhost" as my lpd/lpr value) - are you saying that this driver doesnt work?
    – fossfreedom ♦
    Jun 1, 2012 at 15:31
  • Thank you for your suggestion. I tested this but the results remain the same. After the installation, I am offered to print a test page: I accept, and I see the printer status is set to "Processing data" (I'm translating it), but after a few seconds it becomes "Processing data - Unable to send data to the printer". When I try to install the printer, I do it by going in the top-right unity menu -> "Printers" -> "Add new printer". When I hit "add new printer", I have to choose a device, and after some seconds a device named "Unknown" appears in the list...
    – Eti
    Jun 2, 2012 at 18:59

1 Answer 1

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Find your correct driver here:

http://welcome.solutions.brother.com/bsc/public_s/id/linux/en/download_prn.html

and follow instructions here:

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=590793

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  • Thank you for your answer. The second link is quite interesting, but the first one doesn't contain a driver for my printer. Note that the HL-6 is a model on its own. It has nothing to do with the more recent HL-6xxx models!
    – Eti
    May 29, 2012 at 20:39
  • That 2nd link isn't useful, it's 5 years of stuff spread over 15 pages with no clarity on what works and what doesn't.
    – Jorge Castro
    May 30, 2012 at 4:12

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