Printer Wizard drivers don't recognize HP Deskjet 400

A P. S. (FWIW),.....computer is Pentium 2, 333Mhz, 4.3g HD, 256 RAM.

My wife has a laptop that's a 300mhz PII Mobile with 256MB of RAM installed.

I originally installed one of the SimplyMEPIS 3.3 releases on it. But, I've since upgraded it to 3.4.3 (ironically, because I couldn't get a new HP printer we bought to work properly under the older 3.3.x release, even after updating all installed packages via Synaptic).

I have no experience with the older SimplyMEPIS you're trying to use (it's even older than the 3.3.x release I originally installed on my wife's laptop). But, you'll probably need to add the printer via the cups web interface.

Basically, click on this link to add it (it will open up the interface in a web browser like firefox or konquerer):

http://localhost:631

Sometimes, a printer will show up more than once in the list (look at the list closely to see). If so, make sure to pick the printer name with the underscore characters in it. The one without the udnerscore characters may work, but you'll have lots of issues from my experience trying it.

If it doesn't work (i.e., the printer driver doesn't show up in the list), you may need to try a newer version of SimplyMEPIS.

With SimplyMEPIS 3.4.3 and older, you need to use the CUPS web interface (the link I just posted) to add an HP printer for everything to work correctly (that's been my experience anyway).

With the newer SimplyMEPIS 6.0 releases, you need to use the KDE interface to add one (KMenu>System Settings>Peripherals>Printers). The same thing applies to picking the printer with the underscore characters in it's name (HP Printers will show up more than once and you have to pick the right one).

Jim C.

Hi Jim, thanks for your input and the CUPS link.

Went thru the CUPS printer driver list and HP Deskjet 400 wasn't listed, so outta luck there.

What's the score on the ESP Print Pro software? Is this a good alternative to trying to find an older HP printer that would be CUPS compatible?

Thanks in advance

You may be able to update it. I never have used your version of SimplyMEPIS. So, I can't offer much help with it. Perhaps some of the other forum members can offer suggestions.

If you load Synaptic (the package manager), then click the Reload Button, it will download a list of packages.

You can then click the Mark all Upgrades button and it will mark anything that is upgradeable (based on what's available in it's repositories).

Then, when you click Apply, it will install all of the upgrades.

I don't know if the printer drivers would include any upgrades that may support your printer or not. Also, you may end up upgrading a lot of things you don't need to and could potentially break the system.

I'm no expert on printer drivers for sure. But, you can probably update just the printer related packages and see if the updates support your printer.

So, you may want to use Synaptic, press it's Reload button to get a fresh list of available software, then search for anything with printers in the package names and see if upgrades are available. HPLIP would be one to look for in the list.

Or, see if a newer version of SimplyMEPIS supports your printer (most likely so if you jump to the latest version).

The only issue is that a newer version may hog a bit more in the way of resources compared to an older one. Some of the SimplyMEPIS 3.3.x releases are still available on some of the download mirrors if you don't want to jump straight to something like SimplyMEPIS 6.0. But, the newer the MEPIS version, the more likely your printer will be supported in the distro without needing any updates.

Jim C.

I don't have your version of SimplyMEPIS.

But, I just loaded 3.3.1-1 (an older MEPIS version that I had a CD for at my desk), and it looks like the Deskjet 400 is in the list of drivers.

I think this is a pretty old printer... So, it might work with the version you have, too.

Perhaps I'm steering you in the wrong direction. I just noticed that the CUPS Web Interface didn't load in 3.3.1-1. I had to use KDE (the Control Center menu choice) under Peripherals>Printers to add one (at least from the Live CD).

Do you see it there in the list of drivers after you select Add Printer and Pick HP?

If not, it may be easier to just install a newer version of SimplyMEPIS. It looks like any of the 3.3 releases would probably support it.

You can still download 3.3.1-1 from here:

ftp://ftp.wustl.edu/pub/linux/distributions/mepis/3.3.1/SimplyMEPIS-3.3.1-1.iso

Jim C.

Hi again, Jim.....problem solved (no thanks to the techno -klutz that I am)

I clicked on the "Printer Drivers" tab on the CUPS page, that gave the list of drivers that didn't include DJ 400.

Then went to "CUPS Software" and entered the printer in a search box. New box asked for ID so entered username and password, to no avail.

Long story short.....what WILL work is to type the word "root" as username and your root password as password (worked for me , anyway)

Test page ran great and can type letters now. Thanks very much for your patience with me .....drmopp