A great post written by a great Trisquel user. Thank you very much, Chris,
for your huge Trisquel project contribution.
Some things from my Trisquel user experience:
If you haven't got hplip version compatibility, you need compile hplip from
source code to get printer works. That was I did when I bought my HP LaserJet
400 M401a printer and I was using Trisquel 6.
I use Trisquel 7 now so I have got hplip version compatibility for my laser
printer. I need check that the "printer-driver-postscript-hp" package is
installed. This package provides the PPD file needed by CUPS in order the
printer works.
Finally, modern HP printers has a built-in feature called "HP Smart Install":
the printer has got a "dual-mode": as a printer itself and as a usb CD-ROM
(it is a flash memory inside the printer that contains the Windows drivers),
and when the printer shows up as a usb CD-ROM, CUPS can't get it to print.
This feature must be disabled to get the printer works. There are some ways
to do that and I used from the device front panel (take care that the tool
SmartInstallDisable-Tool.run, provided by hplipopensource.com, could be
non-free). Another way to disable "HP Smart Install" is through
usb-modeswitch tool.
Useful links:
http://hplipopensource.com/node/367
https://bugs.launchpad.net/hplip/+bug/672134
PD. Sorry for english writing mistakes. My mother tongue is spanish language.
Thanks.
