Can't get Dell Printer to work.....?

[azbobc]

I'm running Ubuntu OS on an older Dell computer, so far it's been doing great. I have a Dell 720 printer connected to it which the OS recognized but could not find a driver for. I went to Dell.com in the hopes of finding the needed driver but they don't seem to support anything other than Win based programs. I tried using the generic driver with no luck. Has anyone else experienced and solved this type of issue?

[oz]

It's my understanding that the Dell 720 is actually a re-branded Lexmark Z615 printer. If this is the case, you can check here for some information on getting it to work with Linux:

OpenPrinting database - Printer: Lexmark Z615

[azbobc]

I had read that also and have visited that site.... however I noted the only linux distro listed was RedHat. Is that going to do me any good?

[oz]

Generally speaking, Lexmark printers and Linux don't have the best history when it comes to working together.

Whether or not your printer will work, I can't really say, but source tarballs can be installed on any distribution. It appears that some users have worked long and hard enough on this issue that they finally got their printers to work, at least partially to mostly.

If I remember correctly, the Lexmark website had Linux driver downloads for the Z600 series printers at one time, but I don't know if they still maintain those drivers. If they don't, you might be able to make use of the drivers found in the links on the openprinting.org page above.

My guess is that it probably won't be an easy task to get it working, but perhaps I'm wrong.

[azbobc]

I found some additional info/help here: HOWTO: Install PITA Lexmark Z600 Z615 and Dell Photo Printer 720 - Ubuntu Forums but still can't get it to work. I can't even get it to find the downloaded driver typing the command they show...

[oz]

If you want, you can try this link because it appears there are a couple of deb files there you can use rather than have to use alien to convert them. Using them should at least save you a few steps if these files are still available.

Since I'm not currently running Ubuntu, or Debian, and having never used a Lexmark printer I can't offer up any specific advice but hopefully this will help.

[azbobc]

I do just like it says, I download the file. Then I go to my terminal screen under applications and "paste" the first command in (i copy and paste it so it's exactly as they post) and this is what I get......
tar: CJLZ600LE_CUPS_1_0_1.TAR.gz: Cannot open: No such file or directory
tar: Error is not recoverable: exiting now
tar: Child returned status 2
tar: Error exit delayed from previous errors

It's not so much running into issues, but when someone has done it and then posts a how to and I still can't get it, well... it's frustrating to say the least.
Thx for tour suggestions, i'll fumble around some more.... perhaps i'll accidentally do something right.

[azbobc]

One thing I did take note of is that these files are still compressed, shouldn't they be uncompressed before anything can be done? If so how do you go about unzipping or uncompressing a file?

[oz]

To install deb files, you can use the dpkg command:

sudo dpkg -i filename.deb

You can get more information about the dpkg command and its use by checking the manual page:

man dpkg

[azbobc]

Thx for the help Oz but I'm definitely putting the NEW in newbie on this issue. Even with what was listed on the other site by someone that did the exact same thing I still can't do it.
I think part of the prob is that when I went to the Lexmark site and download the drivers ala RedHat they stay in a 'compressed' format in my temp folder. I've tried the tar command at terminal prompt and even extract via right clicking.... it just isn't doing the job.