Just FYI - I have a Brother HL-5050 which connects via USB to parallel cable & works perfectly.
Trouble for me is that each time I need to print it must be carried & connected - and it is a pain to carry around, so...
A friend suggested getting a Canon BJC-80 or 85.
I found an inexpensive BJC-80, unopened & new so I bought it.
Assembled & connected it, but it wasn't automatically found - so I searched for info & tried several methods, but it never prints - sometimes it makes like it is printing via Gutenprint, then what comes out is blank.
Other times it has gone nuts & ejected paper page after page until empty & had to be shut off.
Here is an example of the info I've found & tried:
After wasting way too much time on ' Method 1' seen there I stopped & came here to ask for help, please.
I'm hoping someone here will guide me to get this working ?!?
Support for a specific device is sometimes difficult to locate.
This search site is sometimes useful but, for the BJC-80, there is no joy:
There was a long discussion to support BJC-80 with Gutenprint here. I couldn't identify anything specific that would guarantee success, but if you scan it, you may get some ideas that might help.
Lastly, this is a shot in the dark. IF, by chance, the BJC-80 uses Canon's UFR II (I couldn't locate anything, but that doesn't mean that it does not use it), you could try installing the driver from here, you could install that and give it a try, because it does support a huge range of printers. Even if you don't see a reference to your specific model, as was the case for mine (MF3010) at the time that I went looking about 10 years ago, you might find another model which evolved from the same internal equipment and would have a compatible interface, but making that work for you involves doing some printer research.
According to Canon, the BJC-80 was discontinued in 2003-2004. That means you're trying to use a printer that is over 20 years old. It may work, but even finding supplies for it could be problematic.
Need only last me a few months once I can make it work - making any repairs ain't gonna happen & supplies are still quite plentiful for it.
@Ericmarceau:
My laser printer uses CUPS & I've tried what I could find so maybe what I found will help - or if not, if/when & can find my IT stuff from storage I'll make a parallel port on the PC in hopes it'll help.
I'd really hoped (unrealistically ??) for another member to have set up this or the BJC-85 similarly with success...sigh.
that process does come to a point where the Debian package for UFR II is referenced ... so ... I have to say that I am convinced that your new Canon printer would work well if you tried to install the driver I pointed to, but when you go thru the install process, it will ask you to pick a printer. You need to pick one which is close to the BJC-80/85 in terms of
internal parts, and
features
in order to get a "best-fit" match.
Hope that helps!
[Edit:]
The full list of BJC family printers is offered by Wikipedia, as follows:
Series introduced in the 1990s. Canon refers to inkjet printers as bubblejets, hence the frequent BJC-prefix (BubbleJet Color).
Canon BJC-50
Canon BJC-55
Canon BJC-70
Canon BJC-80
Canon BJC-85
Canon BJC-85W
Canon BJC-210
Canon BJC-210SP
Canon BJC-240
Canon BJC-250
Canon BJC-255SP
Canon BJC-600
Canon BJC-600e
Canon BJC-610
Canon BJC-620
Canon BJC-800
Canon BJC-1000
Canon BJC-2000
Canon BJC-2010
Canon BJC-2100
Canon BJC-2100SP
Canon BJC-2110
Canon BJC-3000
Canon BJC-4000
Canon BJC-4100
Canon BJC-4200
Canon BJC-4300
Canon BJC-4400
Canon BJC-4550
Canon BJC-5000
Canon BJC-5100
Canon BJC-5500
Canon BJC-6000
Canon BJC-6100
Canon BJC-6200
Canon BJC-6200S
Canon BJC-6500
Canon BJC-7000
Canon BJC-7100
Canon BJC-8000
Canon BJC-8200
Canon BJC-8500
Model numbers, in general, are deceiving. You need to pick an alternate model that was market-released after the BJC-80 to ensure best chance of driver compatibility, but don't choose the newest and latest printer, because that could have incompatibilities that crept into the driver code.
Thanks for the time & efforts in helping me here !!
This saga has an unhappy sort of ending...
I've tried everything possible to make it print & nothing has made any difference.
No point in getting more specific - that printer is now condemned as a dud.
I'll waste no more time or efforts upon it.
Well, don't feel too bad. I had a Canon Pixma IP100, which was released in 2008. I bought it because it was only slightly larger than a laptop (and fit in my laptop bag) so I could use it at conferences and such. When it worked, it was fine, but setting it up was brutally difficult (times were harder then). I don't know exactly when Canon discontinued it, but their support page says it's not suitable for my (any) current OS.
The "planned obsolescence" of the computer industry...
Yes, the "planned obsolescence" in so many things is just nasty, I agree.
Even though I'd still like to have a small, light, cheap printer - ATM my solution is clearing a close storage space for my big, heavy HL-5050 so that it need not be carried around so much - and also, finding that my PC's parallel port works fine is good news that makes it all a bit easier.
