Is there anyway to get a Dell 922 printer to work in Linux?

S

Someone28624

Big Geek
I don't think the drivers exist. Am I screwed? Sorry for all the questions, but I'm hoping there's a way.

distro: Ubuntu 7.10
 
Have you experimented with the drivers availbale for other DELL printers in CUPS. You may find that one will run your printer well enough for the short term until proper drivers are written. Check to see what print engine the printer uses as it may be based on another, older model and therefore those drivers will run it as well.
 
You'll have to do some sniffing around on the net i'm afraid so just google. Maybe if you go to dell and check out the specs for the printer on their site you'll be able to find it. However bear in mind that perhaps its not based on another print engine and you're out of luck. In this siutation you're back to trial and error with CUPS and whatever drivers you have. You should be able to get it printing text without any problems but the colours will be the difficult bit.
 
at the moment i don't think that printer will function on *nix[ot]but i've oly had a quick look[/ot]a site worth staring with is the Linux Incompatibility list
The Linux Foundation

As noted for the Dell AIO 944, none of the Dell/Lexmark Multifunction/All-In-One printers will work under Linux due to them being Host-based printers (offloading processing to the OS, much like Winmodems), which make them cheaper by not requiring a powerful processor in the printer. Along with their use of proprietary print data streams, that makes them difficult to support without official drivers, which are Windows-only
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however, IBM has a technical description of the problem here, however, the printer may function with a generic driver
 
Dell OEMs Lexmark printers, the most nefarious and evil printers known to technology. Lexmark inkjets are so cheap because they are built without a formatter, the brain part of a printer which makes it print. Instead, the computer acts as the formatter, and as such takes a lot of resources and extremely complicated drivers. Because it's such a large undertaking, the drivers are only written for very specific versions of Windows, not 9x, Mac or Linux. And since the drivers in Lexmark printers are inextricably tied to the hardware, they even chose to bundle in spyware with the drivers. Wasn't that nice of them?

The moral of the story is: don't buy Dell or Lexmark printers. HP would be a much better choice. You will get a printer with a real formatter, and you'll be able to print in any OS you choose. If you already got a Dell printer bundled with a PC, it's around Christmas time. You might have success selling it off right now. :)

Here's another article to help make my case:
OpenPrinting database - Printer: Dell Photo AIO Printer 922

Best regards,
-AT
 
Ok, so the 922 won't work.

My parents are so fed up with Windows right now though, they're *gasp* actually willing to buy a new printer to make this work.

Best bet at a reasonable price?
 
Someone28624 said:
Best bet at a reasonable price?
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Depends on what they want to spend, how much they want to print, and what they want to do with it. Basically, inkjets are cheaper up front, but much, much pricier per page to print. If you don't really care about printing photos, go with a monotone laserjet for the best possible value. If you care about quality, long-term usage and best price per print, you can pay more up front and get a small-office color laserjet. If you can't afford a color laser and want to print photos, you're going to have to get an inkjet. Any inkjets are going to have the same general limitations, meaning they break easily, don't last very long, and model lines are quickly discontinued. Worst of all, ink is extremely expensive and once opened will dry up in a few months whether it's used or not.

My recommendations in a nutshell:

  • Get a laserjet if possible
  • If you can't afford the upfront cost of a laserjet, get an inkjet
  • consult with OpenPrinting - The Linux Foundation for compatibility before purchasing your printer
 
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