Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Using a Canon Pixma MX882 All-In-One with Ubuntu 10.10

Are you thinking about buying a Canon Pixma MX882 Wireless Office All-In-One Printer and wondering if it will work with your Ubuntu computer?  Although Canon does not make this clear in any way, the answer is YES!

+

Instead of using software that comes on a CD with the printer, you'll have to download and install drivers yourself.  They are not easy to find if you live in the US since they're only available on European and Asian Canon websites.  I'll tell you how to download and install them.

Printing

Finding and installing the drivers

  1. Visit the Linux IJ Printer Driver page on the Canon Europe web site.
  2. Click the Linux IJ Printer Driver MX880 series.tar link in the Downloads section to download the 7299.5 kb tarball.
  3. Inside the tarball, find and unpack cnijfilter-mx880series-3.50-1-deb.tar.gz.
  4. Inside the resulting cnijfilter-mx880series-3.50-1-deb/packages directory, locate and double click cnijfilter-common_3.50-1_i386.deb and  cnijfilter-mx880series_3.50-1_i386.deb in that order.  Ubuntu will guide you through the installation. 
Note: The guide that came with this driver asks you to run the install.sh program, but it didn't work for me.  When I ran it, I got an error: An error occurred. The package management system cannot be identified.

Adding the printer

  1. From Ubuntu's menu, select: System,  Administration, then Printing.
  2. From Printing window that opens, select Add.
  3. After a few seconds,  you should see a Canon MX880 printer show up under Network Printer.
  4. Select it and click Forward.
  5. Finish entering your printer Name, Description, and Location.

Scanning

Finding and installing the drivers

  1. Visit the Linux IJ Scanner Driver page on the Canon Europe web site.
  2. Click the Linux IJ Scanner Driver MX880 series.tar link in the Downloads section to download the 3072 kb tarball.
  3. Inside the tarball, find and unpack scangearmp-mx880series-1.70-1-deb.tar.gz.
  4. Inside the resulting scangearmp-mx880series-1.70-1-deb/packages directory, locate and double click scangearmp-common_1.70-1_i386.deb and  scangearmp-mx880series_1.70-1_i386.deb in that order.  Ubuntu will guide you through the installation. 
Note: The guide that came with this driver asks you to run the install.sh program, but it didn't work for me.  When I ran it, I got an error: An error occurred. The package management system cannot be identified.

    Scan Gear MP

    With the drivers, an app called Scan Gear MP is also installed.  This app serves as an interface to your scanner and has a Basic Mode:


    And an Advanced Mode:


    You can launch the app from the terminal by typing scangearmp and it is also available within Gimp by selecting FileCreate, Scan Gear MP...


    I have not yet figure out a way to use the scanner via XSane.  I'd love to hear comments about whether this is possible and how to do it.  Without XSane support, I can't use familiar programs such as SimpleScan and gscan2pdf.

    VueScan

    One more thing to mention.  Before I figured out Canon made drivers for this scanner, I came across a program called VueScan which claimed to support MX880 series printers on Linux via the network without installing any drivers at all.  It took seconds to download, launch, and see that this program could communicate with my MX882 scanner with ease!  It may be worth the $79.95 if you can't get Canon's drivers to work.

    Happy printing, scanning, copying, and faxing!

    53 comments:

    1. Anonymous8:30 PM

      Big thanks! Exactly what I needed. You save me a ton of time. You instructions work on Ubuntu 11.04.

      ReplyDelete
    2. Anonymous6:56 PM

      Fantastic! Thanks for posting this. I too used this on 11.04 and it was perfect.

      ReplyDelete
    3. Anonymous6:04 AM

      Thanks a lot dude :). I spend a lot of time to find help with this issue. I almost freaked out when I wanted to download the Linux driver for the Canon Pixma MX885 from Canon's homepage. They were not available. WTF? At least I found your page. Now everythings fine.

      greets from Austria

      ReplyDelete
    4. Alvin Burns2:58 PM

      Thank you, thank you, and thank you again! I followed your meticulous instructions and my download/driver install worked PERFECTLY. You made my day!

      ReplyDelete
    5. Anonymous5:24 PM

      This works with Fedora too, if you use the regular rpm files.

      Thanks.

      ReplyDelete
    6. Larry1:03 AM

      Works perfect for Linux Mint 11. Thanks for locating the drivers.

      ReplyDelete
    7. Anonymous10:51 PM

      it works prefectly on 10.10 and saved me a lot of time!

      ReplyDelete
    8. Works perfectly. Thanks. Now, how do I open the User's Guide? It's downloaded and extracted, but I can't figure out the command to view it.

      ReplyDelete
    9. Anonymous2:08 AM

      Thank you!
      Great help finding the drivers.
      BTW, the install.sh command is to be typed in the terminal preceded by a sh command. So we just need to extract the folder somewhere, access that folder in the terminal and type 'sh install.sh' once in the folder.
      Worked like a charm.
      Thanks again...

      ReplyDelete
    10. Anonymous3:20 PM

      Mucho Gracias, Ken.

      ReplyDelete
    11. Anonymous2:26 AM

      Perfect. Works on Ubuntu 11.10 like a charm. Thanks so much for posting this.

      ReplyDelete
    12. Anonymous3:08 PM

      This was very helpful, got it working in just minutes after reading this page. Weird that Canon doesn't publish the drivers on their US site, but hey, the links on your page worked fine.

      ReplyDelete
    13. Have you been able to find out the IP address of the printer? I would like to use it over the network and unfortunately have no way of telling what IP address it was assigned.

      ReplyDelete
    14. Anonymous7:05 PM

      Great post. This worked on ubuntu 10.10 64 bit and a canon mx850

      Thanks

      ReplyDelete
    15. This solution also work with Canon Pixma MG5150, thanks

      ReplyDelete
    16. Anonymous7:57 AM

      Thanks Ken! This appears to have worked perfectly. Even the install.sh's worked for me. Printing is now working and I haven't tested scanning yet, but the software is installed.

      ReplyDelete
    17. Anonymous10:16 AM

      Very useful! Thanks. Funny how if you search Canon's web site for Linux you only get two matches - both devices with embedded Linux. :(

      ReplyDelete
    18. A PPA for this Canon driver was set up some time ago. To add it to Ubuntu, just type: sudo add-apt-repository ppa:michael-gruz/canon

      Details on the PPA are at http://ubuntu-tweak.com/source/michael-gruz-canon/

      Thanks, and enjoy!

      ReplyDelete
    19. Ken,you must be a genius to figure these things out.I have PixmaMX882 and Linux Ubuntu 10.1. Using your instructions,I was able to download the print drivers,but when I went to add the printer it did not show up. Will the VueScan you mentioned work on all Linux Ubuntos or just the 10.1. Does the VueScan work for the print drivers and fax as well as the scanner? Also,in an Ubunto posting I read that others are having the same problem as me. One person said he resolved the issue by connection the USB cord directly to the router.Does that make sense to you? And if it does make sense, would connecting the USB Canon print cord to a print network work as well? Any help would be very much appreciated. Thank you so much! marcarquilla@gmail.com http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1864495

      ReplyDelete
    20. LMark9:26 PM

      Hi Ken! Your instructions worked well, but I cannot seem to set the driver to BW mode (pigmented ink cartridge). Do you know how to set this in the software? Thx, Mark

      ReplyDelete
    21. Anonymous9:35 AM

      thank you so much for your post. i was able to get this printer to work.

      ReplyDelete
    22. Your link to the driver downloads and installation with and without script worked fine. Thanks!
      Is there a way to print in using only black ink? I've looked in the printer properties for a way to print in grayscale or "just black" when you don't want to print in color. The printer properties seems to only offer RGB under "Printer Options/Printer Model"

      ReplyDelete
    23. Anonymous6:29 AM

      Ken,

      Many thanks! Your instructions are clear and complete! Both scanner and printer now work!

      BTW, if someone isn't able to make the Canon linux drivers work, TurboPrint is a reasonably inexpensive driver set (around 40 USD) that also allows you to see ink levels, etc.

      ReplyDelete
    24. Works on LinuxMint 11, thanks! The script (install.sh) worked fine for me when run in a terminal window.

      ReplyDelete
    25. Anonymous4:16 AM

      Ken,

      i use Ubuntu 11.04. i downloaded the package but when i double click cnijfilter-common_3.50-1_i386.deb or cnijfilter-mx880series_3.50-1_i386.deb i received an error message "item cannot be installed or removed until package catalog is repaired" i hit the Repair button but the problem is not solved and i receive another error message.

      Any thoughts?

      thank you

      Giyora

      ReplyDelete
    26. Anonymous3:11 PM

      Big thanks from me too... Thinking to look on on European or Asian links will probably pay off for other things as well. Thanks for the help and the tip.

      ReplyDelete
    27. After following these instructions which worked great with my networked MX882 I then built my own sane backend drivers using these instructions:

      http://mp610.blogspot.com/2008/04/give-your-scanner-new-freshly-sane.html

      and this patch:

      http://web.archiveorange.com/archive/v/O5zM9OvZyYozmCCWO2E4

      and can now scan from my MX882 using SANE.

      ReplyDelete
    28. Anonymous11:57 AM

      This tutorial is fantastic. I was having such trouble transitioning from my MX860 to the MX882, but you made it a breeze! Many thanks for the detail and clarity!

      ReplyDelete
    29. I echo the comments above. Excellent instructions. Thank You

      ReplyDelete
    30. Anonymous6:17 AM

      Thanks for this, worked perfectly for me in Kubuntu 11.10. The install shell script for the scanner must be fixed because it worked for me.

      ReplyDelete
    31. Thanks so much. Worked like a charm!

      ReplyDelete
    32. Thanks for your instructions. Worked like a charm!

      ReplyDelete
    33. Anonymous8:59 AM

      Just one hint which did cost me an hour: To get the printer running over the network you need to open the Port 8611 for both TCP and UDP

      ReplyDelete
    34. Anonymous5:48 AM

      Hi Ken, thank you very much for helping to find these "hidden" drivers and your description for installation. Works great with my MX885 on Ubuntu 11.10.

      Greetings from Germany

      ReplyDelete
    35. By the way, the error in the install script is just that it freaks out when it finds both rpm and dpkg on the system (which is actually not horribly unusual). I just moved rpm out of the way:

      sudo mv /usr/bin/rpm /usr/bin/XXXrpm

      ran the script, and moved rpm back after. Thanks for the tip on where to find the driver in the first place!

      ReplyDelete
    36. Works well but cannot get it to print landscape mode.

      ReplyDelete
    37. LeeMoff4:18 PM

      Thanks so much for this massively helpful info! It has saved my #$@(
      any number of times when I load a new distro and can't print or scan on my MX882.
      You rock!

      ReplyDelete
    38. Anonymous12:19 PM

      MANY THANKS! I am just getting started with LINUX and was at wits end trying for days to use wireless printing on my Ubuntu 11.10 laptop with my Canon MX882! Everything I tried was unsuccessful and I had almost given up when I stumbled upon your info. Downloaded drivers, ran install.sh (worked for me) and I was printing in about 20 minutes! Again, many thanks!

      ReplyDelete
    39. Anonymous1:37 AM

      Ken thanks for your input with this I can confirm that this process works with Ubuntu 12.04 also.

      ReplyDelete
    40. This worked wonderfully, thank you so much! After having my printer for a year, I am finally able to not have any reason for a Windows partition!

      I would like to add something - the user *must* first set up their wireless on the printer before following these instructions.

      ReplyDelete
    41. Anonymous7:37 PM

      Your instructions are MUCH appreciated, worked with 11.04, THANK YOU!

      ReplyDelete
    42. Anonymous5:27 PM

      Thanks a ton Found this before but your instructions totally clear up the ambiguity in the install.

      ReplyDelete
    43. Anonymous5:15 PM

      Really helpful, thanks so much for putting these instructions together.

      ReplyDelete
    44. Canon's follow up to the MX882 is the MX892 and Canon offers a Linux driver at http://www.driverlook.com/canon-pixma-mx892-all-in-one-printer-driver-linux-mac-osx/

      ReplyDelete
    45. Canon's follow up to the MX882 is the MX892 and Canon offers a Linux driver at http://www.driverlook.com/canon-pixma-mx892-all-in-one-printer-driver-linux-mac-osx/

      ReplyDelete
    46. Anonymous8:45 PM

      This was great help for me. I had the script error and typed in the bit about "
      sudo mv /usr/bin/rpm /usr/bin/XXXrpm" and it worked. This was mentioned by Steve Collins. But now I don't know how to put the rpm back in. Actually, I'm new to linux and I don't know what an rpm is. I hope it isn't too important 'cause I guess it isn't on my computer anymore, but my printer works! Ubuntu 12.04

      ReplyDelete
    47. This worked basically the same for the MX512 with Ubuntu 12.04
      Thanks

      ReplyDelete
    48. This is awesome! Thanks so much Ken. I am a complete noob to Ubuntu and I was able to get my MX882 running with your instructions (Scanner too). I am using this on Unbuntu 12.10 64 bit and to avoid hassle I used the 32 bit drivers. No errors during the whole process, including the install.sh. You're a lifesaver man.

      ReplyDelete
    49. Anonymous12:51 AM

      thanks a lot!!

      ReplyDelete
    50. Anonymous12:44 PM

      Awesome! Thanks a bunch. Just installed on Ubuntu 13.04 with not a whimper of a problem.

      ReplyDelete
    51. Anonymous1:45 AM

      Works on ubuntu 12.04 as well! Thanks a lott!

      By the way Anonymous said...

      "i use Ubuntu 11.04. i downloaded the package but when i double click cnijfilter-common_3.50-1_i386.deb or cnijfilter-mx880series_3.50-1_i386.deb i received an error message "item cannot be installed or removed until package catalog is repaired" i hit the Repair button but the problem is not solved and i receive another error message."

      This happend to me too until I realised that my ubuntu is a 64bit version. Embarrassing! Just try the appropriate drivers and it will hopefully work.

      ReplyDelete
    52. Anonymous11:50 AM

      Thank you! I had hit a dead end on the US Canon site, but now have my MX882 connected to Debian 7.1.

      ReplyDelete
    53. Anonymous, sorry, I just saw this (setting up the same printer again -- not sure what happened to the original settings).

      You probably don't need rpm anyway, but all that command did was move it do a different place. You should just be able to undo it by moving it back:

      sudo mv /usr/bin/XXXrpm /usr/bin/rpm

      ReplyDelete