Debian 12. HP Laserjet Professional P1606dn
If it prints at all, it prints the top inch of the test page or just random binary. I have tried the recommended driver, the driverless driver, the Generic PCL 4/5 driver, the Generic PCL 6 driver. And probably others I am not remembering.
I am trying to print over Ethernet, but I am about to drag the printer over near my desk and print via USB.
Fortunately, I don’t have actual critical printing to do right now and I am only setting up a printer after installing Debian 12. BTW this means it is a fresh install of Debian 12 too.
I have been helpdesk support at a data center. I would not consider myself a dummy, but this is getting ridiculous. A task that should have taken all of 10 minutes has taken over 2 hours so far.
How are we ever going to get “The Year of Linux on the Desktop” if simple printing is and continues to be such a pain?
She is currently rocking a very expensive-per-page Xerox color laser printer in her office, but next time we have to buy toner for that beast . . . She does not need color. The network is a single SOHO switch-based gigabit ethernet connected to the AT&T uverse router. Printing would not have to traverse any router. Now if the printers have to phone home, they will have to deal with carrier grade NAT, or use IPV6.
You can get adapters to send USB over standard Ethernet cabling. So you could use your existing wiring but get more reliable USB printing.
Hmm strange - If one were to do that is the cable still available for ethernet at the same time? (as in a USB <> Ethernet bridge)
There are USB over IP solutions that utilize standard networking protocols, but I was thinking of just a USB extender kind of thing. Like this: https://www.amazon.com/Cable-Matters-Ethernet-Extender-Adapter/dp/B08HHFZY5H?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&psc=1&smid=A1AMUYYA3CT6HJ
Edit: If I wasn’t clear, this device needs exclusive usage of the cable. It cannot be simultaneously used for networking.
Mine has only to go to the other side of my office, no need for the item you propose. But it would be useful for someone who wanted to interact with a printer much further away.