How do I get my MX870 Canon Printer to work with ubuntu?

[p.echols at comcast.net]

----- "Karl Auer" <kauer at biplane.com.au> wrote:

> From: "Karl Auer" <kauer at biplane.com.au>
> To: ubuntu-users at lists.ubuntu.com
> Sent: Tuesday, May 25, 2010 5:14:19 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
> Subject: RE: How do I get my MX870 Canon Printer to work with ubuntu?
>
> On Tue, 2010-05-25 at 23:46 +0000, Kurtus H wrote:
> > I found where to download the file- waaay at the bottom and I had
> not
> > tried this before. 
> > Then I downloaded the Linux driver and exploded the archive, but it
> > does not seem to install.  It gave two option to install "Run in
> > terminal" and "Run".  I tried both and then tried printing from
> open
> > office, but it did not work.  What do I need to do to get it to
> work?
> > I tried deleting the default driver that was given to this printer
> and
> > let it re-detect, but I do not know where or how to find the
> > "installed" driver- if it was installed.
> 
> Sorry Kurtus, I don't know. I don't have an MX870, I just found that
> link and it looked likely.
> 
> However, it looks like what you have to run is the "install.sh" file.
> I
> do not know exactly what this does, and it says on the web page that
> it
> is for Fedora or SuSE 11 (i.e., not Ubuntu), so make sure you have a
> backup before you do anything.
> 
> To run the install file, unpack the archive somewhere, CD to the
> directory containing the extracted files, and run (as root or using
> sudo) "./install.sh".


I know it sounds daunting, but what I have done in similar situations is to read the "install.sh" file and see if it will do things that are logical for ubuntu.  Surprisingly enough, you will fine that there are things in a script that you DO understand, even if you are a relative newbie. You can read a file from a terminal window by:

$ less install.sh

Or right click and select "open with" | gedit

Then, depending on what you see, you can do them manually, modified to suit.

Note, I have not been following this thread, and I have not read the script.  but I thought I would mention this possibility before you run a script that might do something  . .  uhhh . . . unfriendly.  

Good luck

--PE