Problem setting up HP LaserJet P1102 on Linux

If you have problem setting up driver for HP LaserJet P1102, it most probably because of Smart Install feature of the device. You can see it in dmesg output:


[353279.710023] usb 6-1: new high-speed USB device number 22 using ehci_hcd
[353279.824940] usb 6-1: New USB device found, idVendor=03f0, idProduct=002a
[353279.824944] usb 6-1: New USB device strings: Mfr=1, Product=2, SerialNumber=3
[353279.824947] usb 6-1: Product: HP LaserJet Professional P1102
[353279.824950] usb 6-1: Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard
[353279.824952] usb 6-1: SerialNumber: 000000000Q84CF03SI1c
[353279.826253] scsi16 : usb-storage 6-1:1.0
[353280.838094] scsi 16:0:0:0: CD-ROM            HP       Smart Install    1.0  PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
[353280.868209] sr1: scsi3-mmc drive: 0x/0x caddy
[353280.868365] sr 16:0:0:0: Attached scsi CD-ROM sr1
[353280.868452] sr 16:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 5

it is useful for Windows users as it will create a virtual cdrom drive in order to install the printer's driver. For Linux, this feature will prevent the setup utility to detect it as a USB printer as it sees it as a disk. The solution to this problem is by deactivating the feature using usb_modeswitch utility as below:

usb_modeswitch -m 4 -r 4 -v 0x03f0 -p 0x002a -M 55534243287E778400000000000006D0000000000000000000000000000000 -n

Please login as root before issuing the command.

The output is something like this:


Looking for default devices ...
   found matching product ID
   adding device
 Found device in default mode, class or configuration (1)
Accessing device 023 on bus 006 ...
Getting the current device configuration ...
 OK, got current device configuration (1)
Using first interface: 0x00
Using endpoints 0x04 (out) and 0x04 (in)
Not a storage device, skipping SCSI inquiry

USB description data (for identification)
-------------------------
Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard
     Product: HP LaserJet Professional P1102
  Serial No.: 000000000Q84CF03SI1c
-------------------------
Looking for active driver ...
 No driver found. Either detached before or never attached
Setting up communication with interface 0
Using endpoint 0x04 for message sending ...
Trying to send message 1 to endpoint 0x04 ...
 Sending the message returned error -5. Trying to continue
Reading the response to message 1 (CSW) ...
 Response reading got error -5
 Device is gone, skipping any further commands
-> Run lsusb to note any changes. Bye.

(This output is after I ran the command once. You may see something like removing/deactivating the disk.) 

Then restart the printer or turn it off and on again. You should now run hp-setup utility to setup the printer and this time it can see the attached USB printer listed and you can select the printer to install the driver.

Hope this helps. Have fun!

Update: Whenever you restart your pc,  it can't connect to the printer. So this is not permanent solution. What you have to do is run the command of usb_modeswitch again and there you go. It will recognize the printer but this time you dont have to reinstall the driver. For permanent solution, from what I have read, I need to use Windows to run the printer's utility software but I never tried it before. if I have tried it, i will post it here.

Setting up webcam on Linux (ZC0301)

It was a rare occasion if I got my hand on a web camera. This time I borrowed it from my colleague. Last time I couldn't get it to work. I didn't remember why. But this time, it was easy as ABC.

Spec:
Model : Z-Star Microelectronics Corp. Havit 3808 (this is what it says on the tin)
Chipset : ZC0301 (from lsusb)

Last time I looked at http://zc0302.sourceforge.net/ for the driver. It has been inactive for a long time. Still so far, the driver for ZC0301 is still not supported.

This time: I looked at spcaxx project page at http://mxhaard.free.fr/spca5xx.html. The webcam I was using supported. As stated on the website, for Fedora Core 6 users like me can download the driver here. The driver is actually a kernel module and after installing it, you can load the module with modprobe : modprobe gspca

When done, open your kopete, and click Settings --> Configure.. --> Device and see whether it detects and display video from the webcam. Then you can enjoy webcam session with your friends and acquaintances.

Good luck!

ATI releases Linux driver and update

PEOPLE often complain about ATI Linux support. Nvidia rocks with driver support for the OS, and we know that Nvidia has just released a driver supporting the new kernel.

ATI is ready with its own answer, supporting XFree86 4.1, XFree86 4.2, XFree86 4.3 and X.Org 6.8. There is even a 64-bit driver and all of these drivers and XFree86 and the driver itself are version 8.24.8.

The driver supports all the modern graphic cards including X1900, X1800 cards and the older ones too. The big thing is that ATI now supports Avivo, even under Linux, and we do know that many of this community plays with video files than with games.

The Linux driver even has a GUI and you can download it here.

*UPDATE: My machine now uses ATI's proprietary driver and it rocks. The installation is a snap.