Monday, January 19, 2009

Dell 1320c Color Laser Printer and Ubuntu

I just got the Dell 1320c Color Laser printer...new from Dell and it comes ready to be plugged into a network.

I didn't plan on getting another color printer...I threw my last one (inkjet) in the trash for constant nozzle clogging...it would use up a ton of ink trying to clean the jets...and the last time this happened the jets never cleaned. Each set of inks cost about $40 (color and black). I even disassembled it and manually cleaned everything...no change...so I got fed up and tossed it.

To fill the void, I upload pictures to the Walgreen's that is about 2 blocks away, and by the time I am ready to leave the house, they are already processed as real photos. Much nicer than the inkjet could do.

So fast forward a few months and the wife suggests that she would be happier, and therefore I would be happier if we had a color printer.

I read the reviews this Dell seemed to be the right balance of price, print quality, cost of refills, ease of changing toner, networkable, etc.

To install on windows machine it is easy, one quick setup file that finds the printer on the network and installs the drivers...it even lets you change things like IP address.

However on Ubuntu it is not quite as straight forward...but luckily some smart folks found an easy (for linux) solution...here is the fixed/clarified version from this forum post.

I got the 1320c to run under Ubuntu, the procedure was following:

1.
Download the Linux driver for the Xerox DocuPrint C525 Printer:
ftp://ftp.fxa.com.au/drivers/dpc525a/dpc5...ux_.0.0.tar.zip

2.
Unpack
$ unzip dpc525a_linux_.0.0.tar.zip

2a.
Install ALIEN
$sudo apt-get update
$sudo apt-get install alien


3.
Ubuntu/Debian stuff to convert rpm to something installable:
$ sudo alien -d Fuji_Xerox-DocuPrint_C525_A_AP-1.0-1.i386.rpm

4.
Install the driver:
$ sudo dpkg -i fuji-xerox-docuprint-c525-a-ap_1.0-2_i386.deb

5.
Install the printer (it is detected by cups) and use the installed driver (it is under the FX tab)
Optionally choose install driver manually from the file (it is placed there by the "dpkg -i fuji-..."): /usr/share/cups/model/FujiXerox/en/FX_DocuPrint_C525_A_AP.ppd

6.
In CUPS printer settings under the Optional Components set up the 250 Sheet Tray, along with A4 page size.

7.
Tadah

--
[Zbigniew Jerzak]
[http://jerzak.eu]

Now go to Administration->Printing and add printer. The Dell 1320c with the IP address showed in the list. I clicked on it, and chose FORWARD, and pointed it to the location in step 5 (/usr/share/cups/model/FujiXerox/en/FX_DocuPrint_C525_A_AP.ppd).

I tried to print a test page, but the printer showed a paper error...well that is because I skipped step 6. Only I set it to letter size (US) and on the last tab selected AUTO for the tray.

Printed just fine!

1 comment:

austin said...

This is nice blog you shared interesting information about dell 1320c printer.Color and printing quality features of these printer are really superb.