This tutorial is for Ubuntu (and I’m using WindowsXP to obtain the ppd file), but i’m sure it’ll work on other distributions as well. There aren’t many Dell printer drivers in Ubuntu by default so you’ll need a ppd file to do that. You can create the ppd file all by yourself with the instructions below (since i could not upload it here).
Steps to create the ppd file (In Windows)
- You can download the driver here
- It will most probably be an exe file so either you can extract (though its and exe file, its just a self extracting file) it using wine or by logging into windows machine
- Next, goto the location where you installed the file it will most probably be
C:\dell\printer\Drivers\Print\Win_2KXP\ENGLISH\and find the fileDKAAY1P2.PP_ - Open a command window, navigate to that directory and then do
expand DKAAY1P2.PP_ dkaay1p2.ppd
Steps to install the ppd file in Ubuntu
- Boot into Linux and navigate to System >> Administration >> Printing
- Click on Add, and when a window pops up, click on Network Printer
- Hopefully your printer is in the list (else check the networking, or if its a http printer then provide URI)
- Select the printer and click Forward
- It will search for new drivers (it may take some time)
- Click on provide PPD file and navigate to where you have the ppd file stored
- Your printer is now installed, you can test by printing a test page
This tutorial does not cover the driver installation of Xerox workstations or other such office-based printers. Nevertheless, this generic approach could be applied to other printer drivers as well.
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Thanks for the post, just fyi the exe is just a self-extracting archive that can be extracted with normal compression tools such as 7zip.