[SWLUG] Printing

[justin at discordia.org.uk]

On 24 Jul, Tony Pursell wrote:
> I'm trying to get my printer working with Debian but I don't seem to be able 
> to get off first base.  Just doing some thing simple like 
> 
> ls > /dev/lp0
> 
> brings back
> /dev/lp0: No such devicel

The entry in /dev is always there, its a static file.

The error you got is telling you that there is no device associated with
that file.

Have a look (lsmod) if the parport and lp kernel modules have been
loaded, or if the kernel mentioned (dmesg) what type and location of
parallel port it found. 
If not you can try loading it manually (modprobe lp)

All these things should happen automatically either at bootup or when
the printing daemon is run (lpd or cupsd dependant on which printer
system its using) but i wouldnt recommend trying to set that up
manually, your system should have come with a printer config tool which
will setup up the printer queue and filters correctly.

i have no idea what debian call their tool. redhat called theirs
redhat-config-printer-gui.