HPLIP

what ppd to use for hp colour laserjet 2840?

Asked by kaben hp

We have a networked hp colour laserjet 2840. When I install using the HPLIP software (I've tried debian stable, testing and unstable packages), the suggested driver is for the hp 2500. There is also another displayed (but not highlighted) driver for the 3800 series. There is no indication of which driver to use, other than the 2500 being highlighted. Since the 2500 is highlighted, and the docs state that I should use the suggested driver, I've chosen it.

Printing anything results in black bars filling the page, or even an entirely black page. When I manually download the ppd available on linuxprinting.org for the 28xx series specifically, printing works perfectly... but HP's install for hplip reports that there is no fax ppd provided.

There are two problems here, as I see it. First, I can not find any documentation stating what driver to use with the 2840. Even if the 2500 driver is supposed to be the correct driver to use, I have no way of knowing if it is indeed correct. Again, there is no information on the HPLIP homepage as to what driver one should use with what printer. The end user is left in a state of entire and complete uncertainty as to what they should be using. Additionally, there should be something to indicate whether or not a driver is suggested. Simply highlighting a ppd in a list of ppds does not tell me if the ppd is suggested (as the docs say will happen), or if it is just highlighted and a 'suggested' printer driver will show up in some other fashion.

Put another way, since I have never used the HPLIP package before, I do not know if the 'suggested' driver is the highlighted one, or one with a '*' after it, or one with '(suggested)' after it, or the one closest to the printer model number numerically! Is 2500 better than 3800, because it is closer to 2800? Will the 3800 ppd, even it it works, try to use features that the 2800 won't understand? I can't tell, and the docs don't say.

Anyhow, and clarification on what ppd to use would be quite helpful.

Question information

Language:
English Edit question
Status:
Solved
For:
HPLIP Edit question
Assignee:
No assignee Edit question
Solved by:
kaben hp
Solved:
Last query:
Last reply:
Revision history for this message
Aaron Albright (albrigha-deactivatedaccount) said : 		#1

Please run hp-check and post the output.

There is a 2840 (2800 series) ppd file. If it's not showing up there could be an issue with your install. You could try re-installing hplip.

Hope this helps.

A

Revision history for this message
kaben hp (answers-launchpad-net) said : 		#2

Hmm.

When I check the hplip install directory, under ppd, I get the following:

# ls *2800*
HP-Business_Inkjet_2800-hpijs.ppd

# grep 2800 *
HP-Business_Inkjet_2800-hpijs.ppd:*% You may save this file as 'HP-Business_Inkjet_2800-hpijs.ppd'
HP-Business_Inkjet_2800-hpijs.ppd:*Product: "(HP BUSINESS INKJET 2800)"
HP-Business_Inkjet_2800-hpijs.ppd:*ModelName: "HP Business Inkjet 2800"
HP-Business_Inkjet_2800-hpijs.ppd:*ShortNickName: "HP Business Inkjet 2800 hpijs"
HP-Business_Inkjet_2800-hpijs.ppd:*NickName: "HP Business Inkjet 2800 Foomatic/hpijs"
HP-Business_Inkjet_2800-hpijs.ppd:*1284DeviceID: "MFG:HEWLETT-PACKARD;MDL:HP BUSINESS INKJET 2800;CMD:PCL5e,PCL6,POSTSCRIPT;DES:Hewlett-Packard Business Inkjet 2800;DRV:Dhpijs,R0,M1,F1,Sv,TI,X600,Y600,C1,t90,l90,g100,p100,s70;"
HP-Business_Inkjet_2800-hpijs.ppd:*FoomaticIDs: HP-Business_Inkjet_2800 hpijs
HP-Business_Inkjet_2800-hpijs.ppd:*FoomaticRIPOptionSetting Model=HP-Business_Inkjet_2800: " -sDeviceMan&&

#grep 2840 *

# ls *2840*
ls: *2840*: No such file or directory

So, I'm still not sure what PPD works with the HP Color Laserjet. Could you please tell me what PPD this is?

Thanks

Revision history for this message
kaben hp (answers-launchpad-net) said : 		#3

Btw, this is with hplip-2.7.12.... aka /tmp/hplip-2.7.12/ppd.

Revision history for this message
Aaron Albright (albrigha-deactivatedaccount) said : 		#4

Run hp-check and post the output.

Thanks!

A

Revision history for this message
kaben hp (answers-launchpad-net) said : 		#5

This works.

As you may notice, I was using Debian packages. I did not want to install non-Debian packages, if for some reason the problem was with hplip in itself, and not the Debian packages.

However, the version in Debian unstable is certainly high enough that, according to the hplip main page, there should be 2840 drivers included. The odd thing is, however, that the 2800 drivers are not seen.

Do you have any idea why this might be? I would like to file a bug report against the Debian package, if this is indeed the case.

As well, this still does not address my statements about end users not knowing what's going on. Follow my logic here:

1) I install Debian packages
2) I see the printer doesn't seem to have an identical driver, as the 2500 is shown as a best-fit
3) generally under CUPs, this sort of thing happens all the time, even though the off-name driver will still work
4) I validate my Debian package version with the HPLIP page, and that version is supposed to support my printer
5) further docs state that "The PPD files (drivers) which are most similar to your printer are displayed. Select the appropriate PPD file for your printer:"
6) using this logic, the 2500 is possibly 'most similar', so I select it (and, other docs on the hplip site state that I should try to use the default suggested driver)
7) I do so, and black bars print

Using the above flow, there is no way for the end user to tell if the driver in question is indeed the correct driver or not. That is, I can't tell, when I install, if the 2500 driver is wrong or if it is just the suggested driver. Heck, the docs even *state* the driver may not be exact same name as the printer.

So again, I implore you to keep a list of printers and the correct driver that it will use. Alternatively, perhaps some dialog that states "we did not recognize your printer, but you are welcome to try a driver below". Otherwise, how can I tell that hplip is not attempting to use the correct driver?

Thanks