15 year-old SCX-4623FW printer/scanner in modern Linux

(I believe this printer/scanner has issues in Windows 11)

So how well does a fifteen year-old printer/scanner work in modern Linux?
Very well, thank you.

The last time HP (who bought Samsung) updated the drivers for this printer
was on September 1st, 2017, so exactly seven years ago today.

This printer still works "out of box" in Linux. You just have to add it and
the drivers are there, built-in to Linux (at least in Linux Mint). I use it
on the network. You can also directly connect to it this printer for
administration via its IP address.

The scanner, however, has additional requirements. You can still download
the driver for it (and the printer) from HP. Installing the driver is
simple, extract the files from the driver tar file into a folder (use
"extract all"), then — in a terminal — go to the folder you extracted to,
and run sudo ./install.sh. Accept the license and allow the drivers to set
up the firewall (as directed). Done.

At this point the printer will still work, but if you're using your scanner
on a network, you'll have to do one more thing. Tell your scanner to use
your network setting.

Since this Samsung printer uses a Xerox scanner, you'll need to edit the
xerox_mfp.conf file. You'll find that file in the /etc/sane.d directory.

And here's the part that threw me. In this file you will find two entries
for the Samsung SCX-4623FW printer. The first just says Samsung SCX-4623
Series. Use this one. The other, strangely enough, says Samsung SCX-4623FW
(which should be the right choice) DON'T use this one, it won't work. Why? I
have no idea. Why there are two entries for this printer? I have no idea. I
just know that the one works and the other doesn't.

You'll see this entry...

#Samsung SCX-4623 Series
usb 0x04e8 0x2424

You'll edit to look like this...

#Samsung SCX-4623 Series
#usb 0x0e8 0x3434
tcp xxx.xxx.xx.xx 9400

And save the file. The x's stand for the printer's IP address. If you're
going to use the printer on both the USB port and network, don't comment out
the usb line (I'm guessing). I commented it out just to be sure it looks for
the network and not for the USB port.

Now you should have a working scanner in Linux Mint. I've tried it in all
three standard Linux Mint desktops, Xfce, Mate and Cinnamon. Worked in all
of them. This works with the sheet feeder as well, you can scan multiple
pages at a time simply by loading them in (face up and top down) in the
sheet feeder and picking the right option — "All Pages from Feeder" — in
Document Scanner.       

The standard Document Scanner application works well for regular scanning.
If you need OCR software, install tesseract-ocr (which can be used directly
from the terminal) and install gImageReader (which is graphic front-end for
tesseract). I've had very good luck with this combination.

I would imagine that this solution would work with other Samsung (Xerox)
scanners.

So a fifteen year-old printer/scanner still works well in Linux Mint.

BTW, I didn't come up with this solution on my own. I did an Internet search
and found the answer here...

https://askubuntu.com/questions/1262946/ubuntu-20-04-network-printer-works-but-scanner-not-detected

The only part of it I solved was figuring out which SCX-4623 entry to edit —
and that was just by trial and error.

--
“Evil is not able to create anything new, it can only distort and destroy
what has been invented or made by the forces of good.” —J.R.R. Tolkien

RonB <ronb02NOSPAM@gmail.com> wrote:

>15 year-old SCX-4623FW printer/scanner in modern Linux
>
>(I believe this printer/scanner has issues in Windows 11)
>
>So how well does a fifteen year-old printer/scanner work in modern Linux?
>Very well, thank you.
>
>The last time HP (who bought Samsung) updated the drivers for this printer
>was on September 1st, 2017, so exactly seven years ago today.
>
>This printer still works "out of box" in Linux. You just have to add it and
>the drivers are there, built-in to Linux (at least in Linux Mint). I use it
>on the network. You can also directly connect to it this printer for
>administration via its IP address.
>
>The scanner, however, has additional requirements. You can still download
>the driver for it (and the printer) from HP. Installing the driver is
>simple, extract the files from the driver tar file into a folder (use
>"extract all"), then — in a terminal — go to the folder you extracted to,
>and run sudo ./install.sh. Accept the license and allow the drivers to set
>up the firewall (as directed). Done.
>
>At this point the printer will still work, but if you're using your scanner
>on a network, you'll have to do one more thing. Tell your scanner to use
>your network setting.
>
>Since this Samsung printer uses a Xerox scanner, you'll need to edit the
>xerox_mfp.conf file. You'll find that file in the /etc/sane.d directory.
>
>And here's the part that threw me. In this file you will find two entries
>for the Samsung SCX-4623FW printer. The first just says Samsung SCX-4623
>Series. Use this one. The other, strangely enough, says Samsung SCX-4623FW
>(which should be the right choice) DON'T use this one, it won't work. Why? I
>have no idea. Why there are two entries for this printer? I have no idea. I
>just know that the one works and the other doesn't.
>
>You'll see this entry...
>
>#Samsung SCX-4623 Series
>usb 0x04e8 0x2424
>
>You'll edit to look like this...
>
>#Samsung SCX-4623 Series
>#usb 0x0e8 0x3434
>tcp xxx.xxx.xx.xx 9400
>
>And save the file. The x's stand for the printer's IP address. If you're
>going to use the printer on both the USB port and network, don't comment out
>the usb line (I'm guessing). I commented it out just to be sure it looks for
>the network and not for the USB port.
>
>Now you should have a working scanner in Linux Mint. I've tried it in all
>three standard Linux Mint desktops, Xfce, Mate and Cinnamon. Worked in all
>of them. This works with the sheet feeder as well, you can scan multiple
>pages at a time simply by loading them in (face up and top down) in the
>sheet feeder and picking the right option — "All Pages from Feeder" — in
>Document Scanner.? ? ? ?
>
>The standard Document Scanner application works well for regular scanning.
>If you need OCR software, install tesseract-ocr (which can be used directly
>from the terminal) and install gImageReader (which is graphic front-end for
>tesseract). I've had very good luck with this combination.
>
>I would imagine that this solution would work with other Samsung (Xerox)
>scanners.
>
>So a fifteen year-old printer/scanner still works well in Linux Mint.
>
>BTW, I didn't come up with this solution on my own. I did an Internet search
>and found the answer here...
>
>https://askubuntu.com/questions/1262946/ubuntu-20-04-network-printer-works-but-scanner-not-detected
>
>The only part of it I solved was figuring out which SCX-4623 entry to edit —
>and that was just by trial and error.

I purchased a flatbed scanner by Epson, to help my friend send some
documents to the government electronically, and it was a fun thing to
buy anyway, it works well under Linux, I initially used it when I
still had Windows, but all my hardware seems to be supported by Linux.

--
Joel W. Crump

Amendment XIV
Section 1.

[...] No state shall make or enforce any law which shall
abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the
United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of
life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;
nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal
protection of the laws.

Dobbs rewrites this, it is invalid precedent. States are
liable for denying needed abortions, e.g. TX.

On Sun, 1 Sep 2024 21:48:01 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:

> This printer still works "out of box" in Linux. You just have to add it
> and the drivers are there, built-in to Linux (at least in Linux Mint). I
> use it on the network. You can also directly connect to it this printer
> for administration via its IP address.

I've got a Samsung CLP 300 color laser printer from 2007. I use it very
rarely but when I had to print hardcopy this winter I was amazed when I
turned it on, plugged the USB into the Ubuntu 22.04 box and It Just
Worked.

rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:
>On Sun, 1 Sep 2024 21:48:01 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:
>
>> This printer still works "out of box" in Linux. You just have to add it
>> and the drivers are there, built-in to Linux (at least in Linux Mint). I
>> use it on the network. You can also directly connect to it this printer
>> for administration via its IP address.
>
>I've got a Samsung CLP 300 color laser printer from 2007. I use it very
>rarely but when I had to print hardcopy this winter I was amazed when I
>turned it on, plugged the USB into the Ubuntu 22.04 box and It Just
>Worked.

Yep, people think it's so hard to use Linux, but it's remarkably easy
if one is just the tiniest bit patient. It might not have the bells
and whistles of Winblows, but that's kind of the point, we don't want
the gargantuan, ever-increasing bloat. We just want a sensible
computer system.

--
Joel W. Crump

Amendment XIV
Section 1.

[...] No state shall make or enforce any law which shall
abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the
United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of
life, liberty, or property, without due process of law;
nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal
protection of the laws.

Dobbs rewrites this, it is invalid precedent. States are
liable for denying needed abortions, e.g. TX.

On 2024-09-01, rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:
> On Sun, 1 Sep 2024 21:48:01 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:
>
>> This printer still works "out of box" in Linux. You just have to add it
>> and the drivers are there, built-in to Linux (at least in Linux Mint). I
>> use it on the network. You can also directly connect to it this printer
>> for administration via its IP address.
>
> I've got a Samsung CLP 300 color laser printer from 2007. I use it very
> rarely but when I had to print hardcopy this winter I was amazed when I
> turned it on, plugged the USB into the Ubuntu 22.04 box and It Just
> Worked.

I always liked Samsung printers. They never played games on you if you
bought off-brand toner. And the Xerox scanner was probably a bonus — as
Xerox is also the company that originally released tesseract-ocr (probably
not its original name) to Open Source.

I found out that I didn't have to install the scanner driver at all (it must
have already been installed by default). All I had to do is change the xerox
configuration file. At least that was the case on a laptop running LMDE 6
(Debian Edition of Linux Mint).

And talk about "playing games." The damned Epson inkjet printer my wife
uses, just quit working about a month. Gave a bogus error about needing to
replace something or other and simply wouldn't work. I looked it up on the
Internet and someone is getting rich supplying "reset" software to clear
that bogus error to let you run you run your damned Epson inkjet again. My
wife was in the middle of printing funeral "pamphlets" for her brother's
funeral when that happened. I had to find the reset program so we could get
them finished. Does Epson think they're making friends with anyone by
pulling off this bullshit? Other than that, we've never had a problem with
that printer and we've always used their ink (we paid more for the printer
because the tank ink system was a good deal).

It's been working fine since the reset. I have trouble believing Epson can
away with pulling this crap.

--
“Evil is not able to create anything new, it can only distort and destroy
what has been invented or made by the forces of good.” —J.R.R. Tolkien

On Mon, 2 Sep 2024 01:11:24 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:

> I always liked Samsung printers. They never played games on you if you
> bought off-brand toner. And the Xerox scanner was probably a bonus — as
> Xerox is also the company that originally released tesseract-ocr
> (probably not its original name) to Open Source.

I didn't go out looking for a printer but when I saw the CLP-300 on sale
at Staples it followed me home. I want to say $100 but that seems too low
but it was dirt cheap for a color laser. I have never replaced the toner
although I think the drum could use a cleaning.

> And talk about "playing games." The damned Epson inkjet printer my wife
> uses, just quit working about a month. Gave a bogus error about needing
> to replace something or other and simply wouldn't work.

Epson always gave the printer away to sell cartridges. I bought one at
CostCo for $25. It was a pain to get up since like the 'Winmodems' the
brains were all in the Windows driver. I finally got a linux driver that
more or less worked.

Even then I print so infrequently every print job meant pulling the
cartridges, hosing them down with isopropanol, and hoping they worked.

On 2024-09-02, rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:
> On Mon, 2 Sep 2024 01:11:24 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:
>
>
>> I always liked Samsung printers. They never played games on you if you
>> bought off-brand toner. And the Xerox scanner was probably a bonus — as
>> Xerox is also the company that originally released tesseract-ocr
>> (probably not its original name) to Open Source.
>
> I didn't go out looking for a printer but when I saw the CLP-300 on sale
> at Staples it followed me home. I want to say $100 but that seems too low
> but it was dirt cheap for a color laser. I have never replaced the toner
> although I think the drum could use a cleaning.

Yeah, I wish HP hadn't bought out Samsung's printer line. I wonder if any of
the Samsung lines were continued with the HP name?

>> And talk about "playing games." The damned Epson inkjet printer my wife
>> uses, just quit working about a month. Gave a bogus error about needing
>> to replace something or other and simply wouldn't work.
>
> Epson always gave the printer away to sell cartridges. I bought one at
> CostCo for $25. It was a pain to get up since like the 'Winmodems' the
> brains were all in the Windows driver. I finally got a linux driver that
> more or less worked.
>
> Even then I print so infrequently every print job meant pulling the
> cartridges, hosing them down with isopropanol, and hoping they worked.

That's wasn't the case with my wife's Epson ET-2750 (EcoTank series). It
doesn't use cartridges, it uses ink "tanks." Epson made it clear that the up
front cost was more but it was cheaper to refill and maintain. And that has
been the case (even using Epson ink). What I didn't expect, however, was
that they would have a "stop printing" "feature" at a certain number of
pages — for no particular reason, except to make more money either by
forcing you to have it "repaired" or buy a new printer.

This printer/scanner works "out of the box" on Linux. (Almost to the point
of irritation for me, as I don't want to use it. Linux Mint keeps "finding
it" when I boot up.)

--
“Evil is not able to create anything new, it can only distort and destroy
what has been invented or made by the forces of good.” —J.R.R. Tolkien

On Mon, 2 Sep 2024 22:22:26 -0000 (UTC), RonB <ronb02NOSPAM@gmail.com>
wrote in <vb5dr2$30otp$1@dont-email.me>:

> On 2024-09-02, rbowman <bowman@montana.com> wrote:
>> On Mon, 2 Sep 2024 01:11:24 -0000 (UTC), RonB wrote:
>>
>>
>>> I always liked Samsung printers. They never played games on you if you
>>> bought off-brand toner. And the Xerox scanner was probably a bonus —
>>> as Xerox is also the company that originally released tesseract-ocr
>>> (probably not its original name) to Open Source.
>>
>> I didn't go out looking for a printer but when I saw the CLP-300 on
>> sale at Staples it followed me home. I want to say $100 but that seems
>> too low but it was dirt cheap for a color laser. I have never replaced
>> the toner although I think the drum could use a cleaning.
>
> Yeah, I wish HP hadn't bought out Samsung's printer line. I wonder if
> any of the Samsung lines were continued with the HP name?
>
>>> And talk about "playing games." The damned Epson inkjet printer my
>>> wife uses, just quit working about a month. Gave a bogus error about
>>> needing to replace something or other and simply wouldn't work.
>>
>> Epson always gave the printer away to sell cartridges. I bought one at
>> CostCo for $25. It was a pain to get up since like the 'Winmodems' the
>> brains were all in the Windows driver. I finally got a linux driver
>> that more or less worked.
>>
>> Even then I print so infrequently every print job meant pulling the
>> cartridges, hosing them down with isopropanol, and hoping they worked.
>
> That's wasn't the case with my wife's Epson ET-2750 (EcoTank series). It
> doesn't use cartridges, it uses ink "tanks." Epson made it clear that
> the up front cost was more but it was cheaper to refill and maintain.
> And that has been the case (even using Epson ink). What I didn't expect,
> however, was that they would have a "stop printing" "feature" at a
> certain number of pages — for no particular reason, except to make more
> money either by forcing you to have it "repaired" or buy a new printer.
>
> This printer/scanner works "out of the box" on Linux. (Almost to the
> point of irritation for me, as I don't want to use it. Linux Mint keeps
> "finding it" when I boot up.)

I have an HP all-in-one, and both the color printer and the scanner
work without a problem. (Knock on wood.)

When I run xsane(1), it scans the network, and presents _two_ scanners
to chose from -- the HP using the "hpaio" driver, and also one with the
"airscan" driver. I use the latter, because I figure it is more modern.

https://imgur.com/hv28zZI

--
-v System76 Thelio Mega v1.1 x86_64 NVIDIA RTX 3090 Ti
OS: Linux 6.11.0-rc6 Release: Mint 21.3 Mem: 258G
"Death benefits = oxymoron."