Lexmark printers

Lexmark Inkjet printers are generally not Linux friendly because they do not provide Linux drivers above or below the Z600-800 series. However, what drivers they do provide can be used to get your X-series or Z-series printer to work (hopefully!).

= Prerequisites = Additionally to the basic setup described in the USB guide, add this to your kernel:

If you build these as modules, remember to load them before trying to add the printer to CUPS

= Installing the Printer Driver =

Getting the ebuild
If your printer is in this table, it is supported by the. Download the ebuild, and rename it to the filename listed in the table.

Adding the ebuild to a Local Overlay
Create a Local Overlay if required.

Add the package to your local overlay.

Unmasking and Installing
The easiest way to deal with masked packages is by using.

Restart CUPS:

Other Printers
Your printer may have a driver made specifically for it. See http://downloads.lexmark.com/ (and update this page!)

If you have the inclination, please update the ebuild so that your printer will be supported in future.

= Adding the printer to Cups = Plug in the printer, switch it on, then check the driver backend:

from which the output should be something like: direct z600:/dev/usb/lp0 "Lexmark Lexmark Z600 Series" "Lexmark Printer"

The easiest way for adding the new printer is the CUPS browser interface.

Point your web browser to http://localhost:631/

Click on "Manage printers", then "Add printer". You'll have to type your root password.

Type a name for your printer.

Choose your device. You should see "Lexmark Z600" or similar beneath "USB Printer ". If the printer isn't there, make sure that you loaded the kernel modules. (modprobe usblp)

Choose the make "Lexmark". Choose the driver that you installed.

That's it, your printer is installed. You can check by entering in the link for the printer and clicking on "Print test page".

= Troubleshooting =

If you get the following error: "Unsupported format 'application/postscript'!", remove the new added printer, add the following line to the file "/usr/share/cups/model/Lexmark-Z600-lxz600cj-cups.ppd"
 * cupsFilter: "application/vnd.cups-postscript 0 foomatic-rip"

and install the printer again.

= Printer List =

Take a look at the OpenPrinting page for a more up-to-date list. http://www.openprinting.org/printers

Working Printers

 * Lexmark E120 (usb-only model, works with as Optra E with hpijs driver, MAC drivers don't work)
 * Lexmark E120n (network model, using PPD which I extracted from driver for MAC, works also with HP PCL6 PPD, trying to make lexmark drivers for linux to work.)
 * Lexmark E220 (using udev - used PPD which I extracted from driver for MAC)
 * Lexmark E232 (using udev - used PPD which I extracted from driver for MAC and had to remove several lines from PPD)
 * Lexmark E330 (using udev)
 * Lexmark 5700 (using udev - black & white only)
 * Lexmark X1100 (using udev)
 * Lexmark X1110 (using devfs)
 * Lexmark X1130 (using devfs, only Printing)
 * Lexmark X1140 (using devfs, only Printing)
 * Lexmark X1150 (using devfs, using udev: black & white only; prints full color from linux to shared printer on XP Pro)
 * Lexmark X1170 (using udev)
 * Lexmark X1185 (using devfs and udev)
 * Lexmark X1190 (using udev, only Printing; somewhat slow...)
 * Lexmark X1195 (using udev)
 * Lexmark X1240 (using udev, only Printing)
 * Lexmark X1250 (using udev)
 * Lexmark X1270 (using udev)
 * Lexmark X5150 (using udev, z55 driver, only Printing)
 * Lexmark Z23 (using udev, z35 driver)
 * Lexmark Z25 (using devfs and udev)
 * Lexmark Z33 (using devfs, z35 driver)
 * Lexmark Z33 (using devfs, z35 driver)
 * Lexmark Z35 (on Ubuntu 5.04 Hoary, using udev) -- Had to install PPD manually due to several errors.
 * Lexmark Z55 (using udev)
 * Lexmark Z513 (using udev)
 * Lexmark Z515 (using devfs and udev)
 * Lexmark Z517 (using udev)
 * Lexmark Z65 (using devfs, z65 driver)
 * Lexmark Z600 (using udev)
 * Lexmark Z605 (using devfs and udev ) -- Personal note: thank you for this tutorial!
 * Lexmark Z605 (on Debian Sarge without neither devfs nor udev) -- thank you very much :-)
 * Lexmark Z611 (using devfs and udev)
 * Lexmark Z612 (devfs) - http://florian-konnertz.de thanks a lot for this detailed howto!
 * Lexmark Z615
 * Lexmark Z617
 * Lexmark Z645 (udev)
 * Lexmark Z700 (using udev, z600 driver w/ alignment problem, everything is shifted to the left)
 * Lexmark Z705 (using udev)
 * Dell A920 (using devfs, z600 driver)
 * Dell A920 (using udev, z600 driver)
 * Dell Photo 720 (using udev, z600 driver)
 * Lexmark P3150 (using udev, z600 driver, w/ some shading issues )
 * Lexmark P3120 (has a slight alignment issue relative to the page) - When using the P3120, two printers will show up in the GNOME selection menu. DO NOT use the one that says "Lexmark *Lexmark 3100 Series". Use the other one.

Non-Functioning Printers

 * Lexmark X2550 - Sets up Ok and all looks good but no test page appears.
 * Lexmark X2580 - Sets up Ok and all looks good but no test page appears.
 * Lexmark X5250 (using udev) - There is an LLPDDK for this, but no driver for it that works.
 * Lexmark x1270m - No drivers from Lexmark, using z600 appears okay but no test page appears. No error given from print dialog in openoffice.

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