Arch Linux

desertViking

Member

From: Arizona

Registered: 2005-10-30

Posts: 170

modprobe lp

Hi,
I have a simple problem and could use some advice.
I'm running 0.7.1 and have a printer attached to the parallel port.  Following the instructions on the wiki, I first enabled the printer by entering

#modprobe lp
#modprobe parport
#modprobe parport_pc 

from the command line.
To make it persistant, I added the lp, parport and parport_pc to the module array in rc.conf.
The wiki seems to indicate that the preferred method to make the parallel port printer persistant on boot is to code the modules into modprobe.conf.
I looked through the man pages and google for a couple of simple examples but haven't run accross a sample that will work.  My fat fingers keep typing "syntax" errors :-/
Would somebody be able to point me in the right direction or offer a couple of example lines that would help me out?
Thx in advance for helping a new guy.

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"In theory, there's no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is."

T-Dawg

Forum Fellow

From: Charlotte, NC

Registered: 2005-01-29

Posts: 2,736

Re: modprobe lp

Syntax errors? How did you enter them? It shoule be like this:

MODULES=(lp paraport paraport_pc)

You could also tryi running hotplug and compare the difference of lsmod to see what modules you need.

desertViking

Member

From: Arizona

Registered: 2005-10-30

Posts: 170

Re: modprobe lp

Hi,

The changes I made to rc.conf were as you described and they work OK.  The wiki seemed to recommend modifying modprobe.conf instead.

My syntax errors were from failed attempts to add the lp, parport and parport_pc to modprobe.conf.  I'm fumbling with the syntax for the "install" command in modprobe.conf.

Is the right syntax something as simple as:

install lp ?

It's probably not a big deal, but I was just trying to learn how to do it right.

Sorry, I should have been more clear!

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"In theory, there's no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is."

desertViking

Member

From: Arizona

Registered: 2005-10-30

Posts: 170

Re: modprobe lp

Apparently only the "lp" module needs to get loaded by hand.  I have it working in rc.conf, but still haven't quite figured out how to make it work from modprobe.conf.

I tried the code:

install lp

In modprobe.conf, but that doesn't seem to have the desired effect.

Thx for any thoughts you could offer.

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"In theory, there's no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is."

tomk

Forum Fellow

From: Ireland

Registered: 2004-07-21

Posts: 9,839

Re: modprobe lp

The latest version of modprobe.conf has the right syntax included. Upgrade module-init-tools, if you haven't already, and you'll find the new version in modporobe.conf.pacnew.

tpowa

Developer

From: Lauingen , Germany

Registered: 2004-04-05

Posts: 2,322

Re: modprobe lp

with new modul-init-tools + initscripts it should be autodetected by hwdetect.
have a look at rc.conf.new for new autoload layout.

desertViking

Member

From: Arizona

Registered: 2005-10-30

Posts: 170

Re: modprobe lp

Hi,

I downloaded the new module-init-tools.

The example in modprobe.conf.pacnew was what I was looking for.  It would have taken me awhile to arrive at that using the man page :->

The new hwdetect and init scripts appear very elegant.  I'm anxious to try them out as I've heard good things about them.  Nice job!

Thank-you for your advice.

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"In theory, there's no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is."

desertViking

Member

From: Arizona

Registered: 2005-10-30

Posts: 170

Re: modprobe lp

Greetings,

I've experimented with the new init files.  This is what I've found.

After installing the new files, modprobe.conf.pacnew had this for the parallel port:

install parport_pc modprobe -i parport_pc ; modprobe lp ; true

lsmod showed parport_pc, but not parport or lp.  I executed "modprobe lp" from the command line tp see if the printer would work but was unable to print.

I modified the code this way:

install parport modprobe -i parport; parport_pc modprobe -i parport_pc ; modprobe lp ; true

I rebooted and checked to see if if the two parallel port modules had been probed.  They were, but not lp.

I checked print anyway, but it did not work.  I executed "modprobe lp" from the command line, and I was able to print.

So, I added "lp" to modules in rc.conf.  After rebooted I checked with lsmod, all modules were there and I was able to print.

I have a solution, but I don't know if a better one might present itself.

Thanks again for helping me!

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"In theory, there's no difference between theory and practice, but in practice there is."