Any assistance with the following conundrum would be greatly appreciated. hardware: hp ze4220 laptop (i386 arch) hp DeskJet 842c I recently installed FC 4 and am struggling to install and configure my hp Deskjet 842c. I have tried the GUI tools in KDE and GNOME and have given CUPS and gimp-print a shot, but to no avail. The problem seems to lie in that the printer is connected to my laptop via a parallel port. I hope that the following might aid the diagnosis of this problem: 1. input: [root@laptop ~]# lpadmin -d hpdeskjet842c output: lpadmin: Unable to connect to server: Connection refused (note: lpstat does not work either in terminal) 2. input: /usr/sbin/ptal-init setup output: Stopping the HP OfficeJet Linux driver. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This program manages devices controlled by the HP OfficeJet Linux driver (hpoj). It attempts to probe your computer for local parallel- and USB-connected devices, and allows you to specify network addresses for remote JetDirect-connected devices. If you experience any difficulties in detecting your device(s), then refer to the hpoj documentation for troubleshooting information. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Currently defined device names ([*]=default): (none) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Probe for parallel-connected devices ([y]/n)? y Successfully loaded kernel module "lp" for the device probe. Warning: Probing incorrect I/O port addresses could result in system instability and/or data loss! Consult your hardware documentation, BIOS setup and/or kernel messages to verify correct base addresses in the following prompts. Also, take care not to probe parallel ports that have non-printer devices (such as disk or tape drives) connected. Probe parallel port "-base 0x378 -basehigh 0x778 -device /dev/lp0" (y/[n])? y *** Found "DESKJET 840C" but failed to communicate with it! *** Elapsed time for this attempt was 1 second(s). *** Check syslog file for ptal-mlcd error messages. *** See hpoj documentation for troubleshooting information. Press <Enter> alone to continue, or if you would like to probe an undetected parallel port, then enter its hexadecimal base address (such as "378", "278", or "3BC") here ---> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Probe for USB-connected devices ([y]/n)? n ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Press <Enter> alone to continue, or if you would like to add a JetDirect-connected device, then enter its dotted-decimal IP address or hostname here ---> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Done updating device configuration files stored under /etc/ptal. If you make manual changes to those files, then be sure to run "/usr/sbin/ptal-init start" so they will take effect. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Starting the HP OfficeJet Linux driver. No hpoj devices have been configured. As root, run "/usr/sbin/ptal-init setup". 3. Upon connecting to <a href="http://127.0.0.1:631">127.0.0.1:631</a> (the CUPS server, I believe) and attempting to "add printer", I am unable to select a device to go along with the printer whose name, location, and description I have specified. When I attempt to select a device, the drop-down menu is blank. and, finally... 4. Using the GNOME Printer Configuration tool, I am able to add new queues; however, I have tried both the locally-connected ptal and /dev/lp0 devices AND the Networked CUPS (IPP) option, all of which result in the following error message upon test printing: lpr: error - unable to print file: server-error-service-unavailable I hope that I have provided sufficient information. I would be most grateful for any assistance the community might be able to provide. Thanks, glaucon829