HOWTO: Lexmark Z611 (and possibly other 600 series) in Hardy Heron

[chapterthree]

I used the steps below to get my Lexmark Z611 working under Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy Heron and Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid Ibex (I'm running 64-bit, but I don't think that should matter for these steps).

This HOWTO was derived from http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=49714

Step 1: Install Supporting Packages

sudo apt-get install alien libstdc++5

Yes, you want to install that specific version of libstdc, even if you have a newer version.

Step 2: Activate the USB Filesystem
I found it was necessary to add the following line to /etc/fstab in order to get this working. Do something like

sudo nano /etc/fstab

and add the following line

usbfs				/proc/bus/usb		usbfs		devgid=14 0 0

Then you'll want to mount the USB Filesystem

sudo mount usbfs

Step 3: Download Driver from Lexmark
Because websites change so much, I won't try to list/maintain a direct link to the Lexmark drivers. You will want to grab the Red Hat Linux driver for the Z611, which should be named CJLZ600LE-CUPS-1.0-1.TAR.gz. I would recommend creating a folder somewhere and download this file into that folder.

Step 4: Extract and Install the Driver
Execute the following commands exactly as listed, no modifications or tweaks should be necessary for the average user. (You don't need to execute the comment lines however)

## Extracting the driver
tar -xvzf CJLZ600LE-CUPS-1.0-1.TAR.gz

## The shell script doesn't work out of the box
tail -n +143 z600cups-1.0-1.gz.sh > install.tar.gz

## Extracting the contents from the above command
tar -xvzf install.tar.gz

## Convert RPM to TGZ (alien may complain about --scripts not being used, you can ignore that warning)
sudo alien -t z600cups-1.0-1.i386.rpm

## Convert RPM to TGZ (alien may complain about --scripts not being used, you can ignore that warning)
sudo alien -t z600llpddk-2.0-1.i386.rpm

## Extracting the contents of the TGZ into the appropriate locations
sudo tar xvzf  z600llpddk-2.0.tgz -C / 

## Extracting the contents of the TGZ into the appropriate locations
sudo tar xvzf z600cups-1.0.tgz -C /

## Tell Ubuntu to refresh to see the new libraries
sudo ldconfig

## Move to location of PPDs
cd /usr/share/cups/model

## gunzip the PPD
sudo gunzip Lexmark-Z600-lxz600cj-cups.ppd.gz

## The driver installation is now complete, restart cupsys
sudo /etc/init.d/cupsys restart

Step 5: Activate Printer and Driver
Execute the following command

/usr/lib/cups/backend/z600

If all is well you should see something similar to the following:

user@hostname:/usr/share/cups/model$ /usr/lib/cups/backend/z600
direct z600:/dev/usb/lp0 "Lexmark  Lexmark Z600 Series" "Lexmark Printer"

If that doesn't work, check to see if usbfs is listed in 'cat /proc/mounts'.

Step 6: Setup Printer
If you are using GNOME:

1. Click on System -> Administration -> Printing
2. Click 'New Printer'
3. Select 'Lexmark Printer' from the list, which should have something like 'z600:/dev/usb/lp0' for Device URI. Click Forward.
4. Select 'Lexmark' from the manufacturer list and click Forward.
5. Click on 'Z600' in the model list. Driver should show as 'Lexmark Z600 v1.0-1'
6. Setup your preferred Printer Name, Description and Location and click Apply

At this point you should have a working printer.

[llandoverysurfer]

im stuck on step 2 when i try to insert that line it comes up with i havnt got yhe right permissions can you help?

[Eastisle]

Open it with an editor under sudo level, this way you can save the changes.

Something like this (or your file location):

sudo gedit /etc/fstab/

[chapterthree]

Thanks for the feedback, added to the original post.

[Temposs]

Are you sure you meant to mount smbfs? You say you're wanting to mount usbfs

Also, you forgot to add an editor command for editing fstab. That's gonna be confusing to a beginner.

Is there a reason you're using alien to transform into .tgz as opposed to .deb? .deb has a more friendly native interface...

Thanks for consolidating this updated howto.

[chapterthree]

Are you sure you meant to mount smbfs? You say you're wanting to mount usbfs

Nice catch, corrected in the original post. Thanks!

Also, you forgot to add an editor command for editing fstab. That's gonna be confusing to a beginner.

Same here, thanks! I inserted nano into the original post as I'm guessing beginners might not be familiar with vi.

Is there a reason you're using alien to transform into .tgz as opposed to .deb? .deb has a more friendly native interface...

The tutorial is based on a previous tried-and-true procedure, so I didn't deviate from it. But in this particular case I'm not sure if building a .deb would be the correct solution? I think the alien lines are simply meant to extract out the contents so that they can be installed in the correct location. Much hunch is that if you made a .deb the install would not go very well (but I'm not sure).

Thanks for the feedback!

[Temposs]

I decided to give it my deb idea a shot, so I made an all inclusive deb installer for the lexmark z600 series.

I don't actually have this printer(though someone I know does), so I can't test it.

If someone could test the efficacy and sanity of this installer, that would be great. It approximates the steps 1 through 5 of the tutorial laid out by the OP.

You'd still have to do step 6, which is reasonable, I think. It should add the fstab line on install and comment it out on uninstall. It should install and uninstall pretty gracefully. This is my first time making a package so tell me how I did.

It seems to work on my machine, except again I don't have the printer to see if it actually has the desired effect, which is to enable a lexmark z600 type printer to work.

Enjoy!

[Donshyoku]

I just wanted to confirm that Temposs's deb does work for the X1240. The X1240 shares the same driver as the Z600 when it comes to printing (but not scanning) and works perfectly from install. All you need to do is configure the driver per Temposs's instructions in GNOME and you will be set with this printer. Thumbs up!

[Temposs]

Thanks for testing my package, Donshyoku! You rock!

I've made a new version of the package that cleans up some formalities but is otherwise the same: http://temposs.googlepages.com/liblexz600core0.deb

The name of the package is changed to reflect the shared library pertaining to the z600.

[TXMUSICTRUCKER]

I was able to install drivers. At: /usr/lib/cups/backend/z600 response was: missing libstdc++.so.5 . Any help would be appreciated. I am using Unbuntu 8.04 with KDE desktop. Thanks for the help. TXMUSICTRUCKER