My Linux Blog

Monday, January 09, 2006

Printer stopped due to wrong lp permission

This is a recurring problem. After a reboot the printer (attached to the paralel port on my Kubuntu box) stopped printing. A look at the status of the printer on the KDE from kcontrol, shows the printer is stopped. Restarting it doesn't work (after a few secons its status reverts to "stopped").

Looking at the CUPS error log file was revealing:
$ tail /var/log/cups/error_log
I [09/Jan/2006:13:17:59 +0100] Printer 'Sepultura' started by 'root'.
I [09/Jan/2006:13:17:59 +0100] Started filter /usr/lib/cups/filter/pstops (PID 10528) for job 168.
I [09/Jan/2006:13:17:59 +0100] Started filter /usr/lib/cups/filter/foomatic-rip (PID 10529) for job 168.
I [09/Jan/2006:13:17:59 +0100] Started backend /usr/lib/cups/backend/parallel (PID 10530) for job 168.
E [09/Jan/2006:13:17:59 +0100] [Job 168] Unable to open parallel port device file "/dev/lp0": Permission denied
E [09/Jan/2006:13:17:59 +0100] PID 10530 stopped with status 1!
I [09/Jan/2006:13:17:59 +0100] Hint: Try setting the LogLevel to "debug" to find out more.


There is a problem with the persissions of the parallel port! This seems to be a common problem.
The/my solution is to change the ownership of /dev/lp0 from root (which it was for some reason) to lp:
$ sudo chown lp /dev/lp0

Monday, January 02, 2006

Connecting a Nokia 6630 to my Linux box using a USB-Bluetooth adapter.

Just got home with a Belkin Bluetooth USB adapter.

First step: I search on Adept (or Synaptic) for all Bluetooth packages and see that I have everything installed that looks relevant.

Second Step: I plug the device into a USB port. KDE tells me it has found the device, great! Kbluetoothd starts and a Bluetooth-ish Icon appears on my system tray.Now, the real goal was to be able to talk to my Nokia 6630 phone. Clicking on the Icon opens a Konqueror window with one entry for my Nokia 6630 (I had previously activated the Bluetooth interface on it). Opening shows me several options.Trying to open, for example, the OBEX File Transfer prompts my phone for a password. Here is where you have to actually read the kbluetooth documentation: you have to edit your /etc/Bluetooth/hcid.conf file according to this!

After restarting the bluez services (On my kubuntu box by doing
sudo /etc/init.d/bluez-utils restart)
Everything works.