Ubuntu
cups package

How do I get Ubuntu to print to a LexMark x125?

Asked by William M. Thompson

I have recently installed Ubuntu on a system that had previously had Windows XP on it.
This is a summary of the hardware:
   Processor: Intel (R) Celeron (TM) CPU 1200 MHz
   Memory 243.8 MiB
   Available Disk Space 101.6 GiB

Ubuntu has been successfully installed and I am using this OS to type this issue. The Printer I have is connected via a USB port. When I plugged in this printer, Ubuntu recognized it. I have yet to successfully print a Test Page, though.

I have already tried a couple of suggestions I have found after searching online:
http://ubuntu.forums.org/showthread.php?t=230496
http://ubuntu.forums.org/showthread.php?t=107987

These instructions do not work and some of the suggestions do not make any sense. The Lexmark x125 is connected via a USB port, so why does the instructions suggest to connect as a Network Printer? Also the print driver is a .pdd file and no such file exists in the zipped files that are suggested to be downloaded.

I continued to search and I found a PDD file that I thought might work:
http://www.openprinting.org/printer/Lexmark/Lexmark-X125
This page contains a link to a PDD file which I downloaded and used in the setup configuration for the printer. But, after doing this, I was still unable to print a test page.

I know that my Ubuntu Operating System recognizes my Lexmark x125 printer. I know this because when I bring up the window, "Printer Properties -'x125' on localhost" there is a line of text that reads "Printer State: Idle" and when I pull the cable that connects the printer to the computer out of the printer, this line of text changes and reads "Printer State: Stopped -Unplugged or turned off". So I know that Ubuntu "sees" my printer. So why cannot I print something?

Please help. Please tell me what more information you need and how to get it.

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Ubuntu cups Edit question
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Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#1

I'd stick with:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=230496

Lexmark support is still pretty pisspoor for Linux but a nice project has made some which you can compile. You will most likely need to also compile the driver every time you get a new kernel so keep the source handy.

You will need to run:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

to get the tools to build the source

Revision history for this message
William M. Thompson (wm-m-thompson) said : 		#2

Do I have to run:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

from the root or does it matter where I run that command from?

Do you mean I need to download the X125-drv-0.2.3.tar.gz driver from: http://sourceforge.net/projects/x125-linux/ and this is the source code that I need to build?

Actually, I was able to run the make command mentioned on http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=230496 but that did not produce a driver file.

Revision history for this message
actionparsnip (andrew-woodhead666) said : 		#3

You run it in a terminal. You don't need to even thik about root, sudo does al you need (and gksudo for graphical apps)

Just follow the guide and you should be fine.

Revision history for this message
William M. Thompson (wm-m-thompson) said : 		#4

It did not work.
I ran the command to create the build tools, then I followed the instructions. (Here are the lines I am supposed to run)

    cd drv_x125
    cd src
     make (ignore warnings you may see here)
     sudo make install

     sudo /etc/init.d/cupsys restart

(mentioned on http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=230496)

(and here are my results)
dawn@dawn-desktop:~/Desktop/prndriver/drv_x125$ cd src

dawn@dawn-desktop:~/Desktop/prndriver/drv_x125/src$ make

make: `x125_cmyk' is up to date.

dawn@dawn-desktop:~/Desktop/prndriver/drv_x125/src$ sudo make install

cp x125_cmyk /usr/local/bin

chmod a+x x125_cmyk_print.sh

cp x125_cmyk_print.sh /usr/local/bin

cp ../foomatic/db/source/driver/*.xml /usr/share/foomatic/db/source/driver

cp ../foomatic/db/source/printer/*.xml /usr/share/foomatic/db/source/printer

cp ../foomatic/db/source/opt/*.xml /usr/share/foomatic/db/source/opt

dawn@dawn-desktop:~/Desktop/prndriver/drv_x125/src$ sudo /etc/int.d/cupsys restart

sudo: /etc/int.d/cupsys: command not found

Revision history for this message
marcobra (Marco Braida) (marcobra) said : 		#5

On Ubuntu 10.04 the latest command is:

sudo /etc/init.d/cups restart

Revision history for this message
William M. Thompson (wm-m-thompson) said : 		#6

This hurdle has been cleared.
[code]
dawn@dawn-desktop:~/Desktop/prndriver/drv_x125/src$ sudo /etc/init.d/cups restart

[sudo] password for dawn:

 * Restarting Common Unix Printing System: cupsd [ OK ]

dawn@dawn-desktop:~/Desktop/prndriver/drv_x125/src$
[/code]

I followed the other steps carefully on this page:
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=9696522

But when I tried to print a page it failed. The good news, I guess, is that it failed differently than it had before. Now I am getting an interesting system print icon like this:

[IMG]http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h292/Athono/Screenshot-4.png[/IMG]

And it seems that the OS tries to print for a while before giving up and assuming that the printer is disconnected:
[IMG]http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h292/Athono/Screenshot-5.png[/IMG]

All these conditions occur when I try to print a test page.

But there is another option. There is a button that says "print self-test page". This is the result when I click this button:
[IMG]http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h292/Athono/Screenshot-6.png[/IMG]

Revision history for this message
Juan Montoya (th3pr0ph3t) said : 		#7

Most Lexmark hardware doesn't work with linux.

2010/8/9 William M. Thompson <email address hidden>:
> Question #119915 on cups in ubuntu changed:
> https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cups/+question/119915
>
> William M. Thompson posted a new comment:
> This hurdle has been cleared.
> [code]
> dawn@dawn-desktop:~/Desktop/prndriver/drv_x125/src$ sudo /etc/init.d/cups restart
>
> [sudo] password for dawn:
>
>  * Restarting Common Unix Printing System: cupsd
> [ OK ]
>
> dawn@dawn-desktop:~/Desktop/prndriver/drv_x125/src$
> [/code]
>
> I followed the other steps carefully on this page:
> http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=9696522
>
> But when I tried to print a page it failed.  The good news, I guess, is
> that it failed differently than it had before.  Now I am getting an
> interesting system print icon like this:
>
> [IMG]http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h292/Athono/Screenshot-4.png[/IMG]
>
> And it seems that the OS tries to print for a while before giving up and assuming that the printer is disconnected:
> [IMG]http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h292/Athono/Screenshot-5.png[/IMG]
>
> All these conditions occur when I try to print a test page.
>
> But there is another option.    There is a button that says "print self-test page".  This is the result when I click this button:
> [IMG]http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h292/Athono/Screenshot-6.png[/IMG]
>
> --
> You received this question notification because you are an answer
> contact for Ubuntu.
>

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