Keep printer on usb(2.0) alive with merlin

[itpp20]

As subject, I have a laserjet on the usb (2.0) port which likes to go into sleep mode, when it does and awakes the router does not see the printer until I re-insert the usb cable, any ideas how to keep the port alive?

 

[Ro berto]

EZ Printer sharing problems solution

Hi, I'm using Merlin's excelent firmware (34_2_SDK5) on my new RT-N66U. I'm very happy with this device. It meets all my expectations. The only problem so far was disapearring EZ Printer service. After 2 or 3 days my USB GDI Samsung ML1665 printer won't print anymore. The symptoms are well known...

www.snbforums.com

 

[itpp20]

Tnx. But this does not sound like a sturdy solution, I might just get a usb print server.

 

[dosborne]

I might just get a usb print server.

Personally, I wouldn't bother for many reasons, I'd get a new printer from this century with either ethernet, WiFi, or both I'm surprised, if you have a usb-only (or serial, or parallel) printer, that a) it still works and b) you can still get toner for it. A colour inkjet would probably be about the same quality as a 20 year old laser and run you $30. I kept my old hp laserjet IIP as long as I could get parts, but haven't seen a non networked (ethernet or wifi) printer in 20 years.

Can you even buy a usb print server device any more?

Of course, the choice is yours to make as I'm sure there are other compelling reasons to keep your printer running.

Edit: wow, I just googled and you *can* still buy usb printer servers. Maybe I'll fax in my order for one lol

 

[Make WiFi Great Again]

Personally, I wouldn't bother for many reasons, I'd get a new printer from this century with either ethernet, WiFi, or both I'm surprised, if you have a usb-only (or serial, or parallel) printer, that a) it still works and b) you can still get toner for it. A colour inkjet would probably be about the same quality as a 20 year old laser and run you $30. I kept my old hp laserjet IIP as long as I could get parts, but haven't seen a non networked (ethernet or wifi) printer in 20 years.

Can you even buy a usb print server device any more?

Of course, the choice is yours to make as I'm sure there are other compelling reasons to keep your printer running.

Edit: wow, I just googled and you *can* still buy usb printer servers. Maybe I'll fax in my order for one lol

I hope there is not alot of people here like this fellow who reply with such an elitist attitude to others who may use yesterdays tech. And then to lol ..... Alot of people myself included use older hardware and are proud to reduce ewaste. I had good luck going into my brother mfc and disableing the sleep mode so that i dont have the same problem. Kill a watt shows a 2w difference between awake and sleep on my mfc Perhaps so i can kive without it. op could try that before spending $30 on a new inkjet that only comes with small token ink cartridges and needs replacment cartridges that cost more then the whole unit . if i had a smiley that smacked its self in the head id use that here and now.

 

[L&LD]

Lighten up. It's Christmas time!

 

[itpp20]

All kind of assumptions and no dialog, for a remote location I need a high quality color printer which will print no more than 100 pages/year, which is a brand new HP lasetjet 150a with factory cartridges for 500 pages at a really good deal, a simple usb cable and we're of printing. Too bad of a crap implementation in the asus (no blame intended to merlin) for printer (service) support. A cheap usb print server for 20 usd will have to do.

 

[L&LD]

I hate it too when I buy modern infrastructure and they expect modern methods of connecting too. So frustrating.

What router are we talking about? What firmware are you running? When was the last time you upgraded the firmware on the router? When was the last time a full reset to factory defaults was performed?

Assuming these answers aren't needed to offer possible help for your issue and whining about a $20 solution doesn't help either. Particularly when an answer doesn't fit your concept of acceptable and is disregarded offhand too.

No one here is being paid to offer assistance. This is a two-way street. Let's meet, half-way.

 

[itpp20]

I hate it too when I buy modern infrastructure and they expect modern methods of connecting too. So frustrating.

I never stated that, others did, having a new item does not automatically mean it has all of todays connectivity, there are things such as stripped hardware to make it cheaper, this is such an example, no lan, no wifi, just a plain printer.

What router are we talking about? What firmware are you running? When was the last time you upgraded the firmware on the router? When was the last time a full reset to factory defaults was performed?

The first reply indicated a well known answer and a solution and also no reason to upgrade or flash to default, as a personal choice I did not find that solution good enough, it may work fine for others, I am not dissing the solution given.

Assuming these answers aren't needed to offer possible help for your issue and whining about a $20 solution doesn't help either. Particularly when an answer doesn't fit your concept of acceptable and is disregarded offhand too.

I asked for a solution and I was given one, I am free to accept that or not, this has nothing to do with fitting my need and I'm not whining about a $20 device, only criticizing asus for a crap implementation.

No one here is being paid to offer assistance. This is a two-way street. Let's meet, half-way.

I am not picking on anyone, I am just choosing not to accept a solution (unless a better one comes up) and may go for some other external device (which I have in a container).
And yes I could have gotten a laser with lan or wifi but for the extra price for these options I can buy 3 print servers, which, where I am at, is not in stock anyway, which, I need now and not in 3 weeks when maybe they can supply one.

 

[L&LD]

@itpp20, okay, I accept your reasons at face value. But you still didn't provide the pertinent replies to my queries that may bring the answers you seek.

 

[CaptnDanLKW]

@itpp20 Are you sure its when the printer goes into sleep? Consider this might be bad timing, since, IIRC USB ports have power savings parameters too (on the router).
Check / watch the kernel ring buffer (dmesg) or tail /tmp/syslog.log . If, at the moment your printer goes to sleep you see USB/ ohci disconnect events in the kernel, then my idea below is useless. However I'd be surprised if power savings removed power from the USB port.

Its possible the USB port on the router is also going to sleep / low power at the same time and I know there are ways to pass parameters to the driver to modify its functions. I'd search the forums (and even linux sites) for the method. But asI said above, if your router sees a USB disconnect event when your printer sleeps, dont bother searching.

 

[itpp20]

Its when the printer goes in to power saving mode when the ac68u no longer detects the printer, when I re-insert the cable things come back alive eventhough the printer is still sleeping. This indicates the print service is still running or is kicked by some other service when connection(power) returns on the port. A print job then runs as normal. This also indicates a print server will work which I know works with sleeping devices.

 

[dosborne]

Alot of people myself included use older hardware and are proud to reduce ewaste.

It was genuine surprise that things like usb-only laser printers would still be available or function today. My HP laserjet IIP went through 3 LCD replacements before it was cheaper to buy a new printer, decades ago. I even spent a couple hundred on a ethernet port for it. As a point if interest / remembrance of the "old" days, IIRC, the printer itself was about $1K, an extra 512MB RAM (or maybe less) was $400, the ethernet adapter / font cartridge was $250 and a proper paper tray another $150. Last yearc I picked up a colour laser with *many* more features and capabilities for around $400, a long way from the $2k of my last laser, but also a long way from the $50 inkjet I had in between.

Some of my gear now is from the 1980s. Not from an ewaste point of view, stuff was simply better, and if it still works and provides a useful function.... I still have and use, a 4" B&W TV as a monitor for my raspberry pi!

Again, I was surprised that items such as usb print servers were still available. I searched high and low for a telecom product, or equivalent, that used to be readily available from Radio Shack. It would have been ideal for after a recent move to a condo, but nobody seems to make it any more. I haven't looked for this type of stuff for a long time. Manufacturers tend to move on pretty quickly and drop things off the products. If you need serial or parallel cables (MFM or RLL HDD's, 5.25" FDD's, SCSI CDROM's,...), I still have a few although I got rid of a couple boxes of them when I moved.

My point was more along the lines of a generic statement saying that, in general, it was easier and perhaps even cheaper to buy a new printer (albeit inkjet instead of laser) with WiFi/ethernet, at roughly $50 than buying an adapter, at roughly $70 when I googled them. I did say to the OP, that they may have compelling reasons to keep using their current equipment, as details had not been provided. I spent many hours trying to cobble together a solution to merge old and new tech, and most of the time it wasn't worth the effort in the long run due to either technical incompatibilities or ultimately really being about buying the right tools for the job. Adding a print server could, in some circumstances, introduce new issues that are just as bad as the original problem, thus putting you back to square one. I know, because I've wasted time and money only to end up giving up and getting the right part in the end.

If you found a smilie was elitist, ..... Sometimes a smilie is just a smilie.

@itpp20 does it come back online if the printer is power cycled? What is the timeout on the sleep cycle? Maybe a timer or internet controlled smart switch ($10) could be used to cycle the printer. The smart switch, depending on your use case, could save you money too (albeit not much in real terms) by keeping the printer truly "off", but perhaps more importantly could extend its life.

 

[intr0]

Personally, I wouldn't bother for many reasons, I'd get a new printer from this century with either ethernet, WiFi, or both I'm surprised, if you have a usb-only (or serial, or parallel) printer, that a) it still works and b) you can still get toner for it. A colour inkjet would probably be about the same quality as a 20 year old laser and run you $30. I kept my old hp laserjet IIP as long as I could get parts, but haven't seen a non networked (ethernet or wifi) printer in 20 years.

Can you even buy a usb print server device any more?

Of course, the choice is yours to make as I'm sure there are other compelling reasons to keep your printer running.

Edit: wow, I just googled and you *can* still buy usb printer servers. Maybe I'll fax in my order for one lol

Okay. Thanks for the Edit post-googling. I didn't know orders were still capable of being faxed. I have a fax-wish; I wish I had a fax. In all seriousness. I think it's the memories of non-related copy machine toner smell. As for 20 year old HP printers: they work. Especially laser & office jets. And no ink to buy / fill.

 

[itpp20]

This is in no way an attack on anyone here, I appreciate the answers even if they don't help solve the issue. I'm from the 60's, token ring time, had to learn and build just about everything myself and all that, flown 10 hours to the middle of nowhere to help a client where the only laserjet as new is a plain one with nothing but an usb port which has to work with the asus (which doesn't want to stay awake). I don't have the time to fiddle around as I won't be back for 6 months so a print server will have to do, which works with any usb device asleep or not.
@dosborne When I re-insert the usb cable all comes back alive, powercycling does not help (well it helps with the asus but they are not going to do that every day just to print)

 

[intr0]

This is in no way an attack on anyone here, I appreciate the answers even if they don't help solve the issue. I'm from the 60's, token ring time, had to learn and build just about everything myself and all that, flown 10 hours to the middle of nowhere to help a client where the only laserjet as new is a plain one with nothing but an usb port which has to work with the asus (which doesn't want to stay awake). I don't have the time to fiddle around as I won't be back for 6 months so a print server will have to do, which works with any usb device asleep or not.
@dosborne When I re-insert the usb cable all comes back alive, powercycling does not help (well it helps with the asus but they are not going to do that every day just to print)

I am *assuming* you've disabled USB hibernation? Also, I wish I could be more helpful, but I use neither Windows nor MacOS so I am unable to test this issue out using Asus's software that needs to be installed. I'd think it'd be simpler to forgo the software from Asus & use your printer directly via your router by way of various devices such as workstations and phones. I'm unsure why they've written the software, really, unless it's to somehow lock out Linux users which would be ironic. But if I'm mistaken, can one not use CUPS in conjunction with the router sans Asus software? Also, apologies for not knowing your printer model.