[ubuntu] Canon Pixma MP550 - how to?

[uhappo]

Well, that's about it, is there a way to get it going on?

I don't have it, my father has it and I'm not able to "take care of it" at the moment, soon. Any solutions how to manage it, printing and scan?

[uhappo]

Haven't tried it yet, but goosh batman, there seems to be some light ahead...

http://support-au.canon.com.au/EN/se...&menu=Download

[matttbe]

Hello !

I don't know if you've resolved your problem but this is what I've done on computers (32/64bits) which use my new Canon Pixma MP550 : (hope it can also help other people )

1. Firstly, download drivers from Canon Australian website : for the printer and the scanner.
2. Extract these two tarballs
3. Install it :
   • For 32bits (most people): simply use gdebi (double-click on all deb files) but start with the deb file which has 'common' in its name.
   • For 64bits: you've to force the installation (I've tested and it works perfectly ):
     • Open a terminal, go to the repertory of deb files and force the installation :

        cd cnijfilter-mp550series-3.20-1-i386-deb/packages/
        sudo dpkg -i --force-architecture cnijfilter-*.deb

     • For scangears :

        cd ../../scangearmp-mp550series-1.40-1-i386-deb/packages/
        sudo dpkg -i --force-architecture scangearmp-*.deb

     • Donwload and install GetLibs in order to add some 32bits dependences: GetLibs (simply double click on the file in order to install it !)
     • Use GetLibs for scangears:

       getlibs /usr/bin/scangearmp

     • I don't remember if it needs some others dependences but you can use this command:

       sudo apt-get install -f

*****

Now you should connect your printer but it can be interesting to change some things for the better parameters:

• Edit this file : /usr/share/cups/model/canonmp550.ppd with an editor with root right, e.g.

   sudo gedit /usr/share/cups/model/canonmp550.ppd

• Add these lines at the end of the file for having some options about the quality and the grayscale :

  *OpenUI *CNQuality/Quality: PickOne
  *DefaultCNQuality: 3
  *CNQuality 2/High: "2"
  *CNQuality 3/Normal: "3"
  *CNQuality 4/Standard: "4"
  *CloseUI: *CNQuality
  
  *OpenUI *CNGrayscale/Grayscale: PickOne
  *DefaultCNGrayscale: false
  *CNGrayscale false/Off: "false"
  *CNGrayscale true/On: "true"
  *CloseUI: *CNGrayscale

• If you want more resolution choices, replace :

  *OpenUI *Resolution/Output Resolution: PickOne
  *DefaultResolution: 600dpi
  *Resolution 600dpi/600 dpi: "«/HWResolution[600 600]»setpagedevice"
  *CloseUI: *Resolution

  by

  *OpenUI *Resolution/Output Resolution: PickOne
  *DefaultResolution: 600dpi
  *Resolution 300dpi/300 dpi: "«/HWResolution[300 300]»setpagedevice"
  *Resolution 600dpi/600 dpi: "«/HWResolution[600 600]»setpagedevice"
  *Resolution 1200dpi/1200 dpi: "«/HWResolution[1200 1200]»setpagedevice"
  *Resolution 2400dpi/2400 dpi: "«/HWResolution[2400 2400]»setpagedevice"
  *Resolution 4800dpi/4800 dpi: "«/HWResolution[4800 4800]»setpagedevice"
  *Resolution 9600dpi/9600 dpi: "«/HWResolution[9600 9600]»setpagedevice"
  *CloseUI: *Resolution

• You can now restart Cups:
  • For Karmic/Lucid

     sudo service cups restart

  • For Jaunty/Intrepid

    sudo /etc/init.d/cups restart

  • For Hardy

    sudo /etc/init.d/cupsys restart

• Simply plug the USB connector of your printer. A new window will be displayed. If not, go to System -> Adminitration -> Printers and add a new printer with Canon MP550 series Ver.3.20 drivers (or with the path of this ppd file : /usr/share/cups/model/canonmp550.ppd).
• (If you had already installed your printer and you change the .ppd file, you've to 'reinstall' your printer by removing it and adding it in System -> Adminitration -> Printers)

About the scanner

• You can use scangear (a tool of Canon) that you can launch with scangearmp (use Alt+F2 shortkey )
• But you can also sane (e.g. with xsane or the excellent gscan2pdf) but you have to use the latest version of sane-backends
  • You can have a look to this tutorial: http://mp610.blogspot.com/2008/04/gi...shly-sane.html
  • Or (for Karmic or Lucid only) you can download libsane and sane-utils packages from my ppa (this is an update of sane-backends (1.0.21cvs)) : https://launchpad.net/~matttbe/+archive/ppa/+packages (It's maybe not recommended to add this ppa if you don't want to install some 'non official' packages )

I hope it can help you an other people

[uhappo]

YEAH!

Great info, some new things for me. But..

But the ability to use sane/xsane is top notch thingy, YEAH!

[eucryphia]

Originally Posted by matttbe Hello ! I don't know if you've resolved your problem but this is what I've done on computers (32/64bits) which use my new Canon Pixma MP550 : (hope it can also help other people ) <big snip> I hope it can help you an other people

Thank you very much matttbe

The printer drivers worked a treat, right out of the box, to an MP550 shared on a networked Win XP box.

My PC is:

Mozilla/5.0 (X11; U; Linux i686; en-US; rv:1.9.0.1 Gecko/2010021501 Ubuntu/8.04 (hardy) Firefox/3.0.18

I haven't worked out how to connect to the scanner remotely, more surfing required

[HandleWithCare]

You saved me a lot of time searching and tweaking, thank you! One more question though. Do you know whether or not it is possible to enable direct scanning from the device?

[matttbe]

Originally Posted by HandleWithCare One more question though. Do you know whether or not it is possible to enable direct scanning from the device?

Yes I think it's possible if you install a newer version of sane-backend. Look at the end of my previous post
I know that you can change something about buttons with gscan2pdf but I can't test right now.

If you find something about that, please share this information, it can be useful

[HandleWithCare]

I have found that you can use the buttons for scanning to get multipage scanning (see here: http://mp610.blogspot.com/2007/12/mu...ing-mp610.html) but so far no luck on automatic scanning, so without having to open xsane for example.

[HandleWithCare]

Hi, when I try to print a photo on glossy II paper, nothing happens. That is, the job is "processing" and also the lcd on the printer shows "preparing" but in the end nothing happens? Any clues?
Btw, no luck on the buttons so far.

[micronetic]

Hi there,

I am completely new to Ubuntu and would like to know how to force the installation of the two files, the Scangear and the printer driver. I got the files in a folder on my desktop but when I copy your code into the terminal it says wrong path, I don't know how to get to the folder with the files.

Can you guys help me please?