HP deskjet d1660 - "grayscale mode" & black cartridge not working

[SR_ELPIRATA]

A friend of mine has this printer as well, so we started your procedure but with the many hp-check stuff that shows up is a bit complicated. I noticed that we had the 3.9.8 version installed (Ubuntu 9.04) and used the check stuff portion to make sure I had all the packages needed.

Then, I noticed the link to the HPLIP site and I went there and.... there was an automatic installer there, with all steps outlined. That automatic installer also checks for dependencies and stuff needed so there's no need to do it separately (like I did).

Just download the file, change directory and execute (as per their instructions). Since we had 9.04 the link there says that we could use the automatic wizard feature. After checking for dependencies (which I had downloaded them before) it tried to run but for 3 times it stopped and always for the same missing file, 'python-devel' which if you try to download yourself doesnt exist, at least not with that name.

All you need to do is to install that file but instead of python-devel is called python-dev. After that, the automatic wizard (which at the start is just a script) progressed as normal and then it made the actual installer, which then, after finishing, adds the HP logo to your printer icon when connected and powered on.

So, its working and we didnt have to do any of the removing stuff, since the installer script did it itself.

BTW I was surprised when 'eska' said in the subject that it didnt work in grayscale mode, I guess because it means that somehow it found a driver for this D1660 whereas we couldnt.

Also, wanted to mention that even though many HP printers work well with Linux... this HPLIP software works for 1597 (or so they said) HP printers, so it might be a good idea to keep it handy.

ELP

PS: Eska you should edit the subject to SOLVED status, so others can benefit from this and not overlook it.

[Tommykry]

Help anyone! having the same problems with Linux Mint 9 and Hp Deskjet D1660. I've tried everything! I got the printer to print a test page only once, the printer works on win xp and Pclos 2010, I've tried the
instructions above with no success any help would be great, the printer just sits there and does nothing when i send it to print, it is recognized by all the hp software and everything works like it should other then it won't print, here is what happens when i try and run the software from the hp site :

tommy@tommy-laptop ~ $ cd Desktop
tommy@tommy-laptop ~/Desktop $ sh hplip-3.10.5.run
Creating directory hplip-3.10.5
Verifying archive integrity... All good.
Uncompressing HPLIP 3.10.5 Self Extracting Archive........................................... .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. .................................................. ..

HP Linux Imaging and Printing System (ver. 3.10.5)
HPLIP Installer ver. 5.1

Copyright (c) 2001-9 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, LP
This software comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
This is free software, and you are welcome to distribute it
under certain conditions. See COPYING file for more details.

Installer log saved in: hplip-install_Wed-26-May-2010_23:35:46.log

/
note: Defaults for each question are maked with a '*'. Press <enter> to accept the default.


INSTALLATION MODE
-----------------
Automatic mode will install the full HPLIP solution with the most common options.
Custom mode allows you to choose installation options to fit specific requirements.

Please choose the installation mode (a=automatic*, c=custom, q=quit) : a

Initializing. Please wait...


INTRODUCTION
------------
This installer will install HPLIP version 3.10.5 on your computer.
Please close any running package management systems now (YaST, Adept, Synaptic, Up2date, etc).


DISTRO/OS CONFIRMATION
----------------------
Distro appears to be Linux Mint 9.

Is "Linux Mint 9" your correct distro/OS and version (y=yes*, n=no, q=quit) ? y


ENTER USER PASSWORD
-------------------
Please enter the user (tommy)'s password:
Password accepted


RUNNING PRE-INSTALL COMMANDS
----------------------------
OK


INSTALL MISSING REQUIRED DEPENDENCIES
-------------------------------------
warning: There are 7 missing REQUIRED dependencies.
note: Installation of dependencies requires an active internet connection.
warning: Missing REQUIRED dependency: gcc (gcc - GNU Project C and C++ Compiler)
warning: This installer cannot install 'gcc' for your distro/OS and/or version.
error: Installation cannot continue without this dependency. Please manually install this dependency and re-run this installer.
tommy@tommy-laptop ~/Desktop $

[Tommykry]

Anyone