First steps#

You have the driver installed (see Installation) and both services are running. Now you register the printer with the printer app and print a first page.

Step 1: Power and Bluetooth on#

Power the printer on and keep it close to your computer. Ensure Bluetooth is enabled on your computer.

Note

The printer accepts one connection at a time and does not show up in a scan while another device (a phone or another computer) is connected to it. Bluetooth range is short: keep the printer near your computer.

Step 2: Register the printer#

sudo phomemo-printer-app autoadd
sudo phomemo-printer-app printers

The autoadd command automatically scans for printers within range and registers every compatible printer it finds. The printers command then lists all registered printers.

Tip

At its very first start (no saved state yet) the printer app registers every printer in range automatically. This means you may be able to skip the autoadd command, if you have the printer turned on and in range during the first installation of the driver package.

Alternative: Register through the web interface#

In addition to the CLI commands you can register a printer through the printer app web interface:

  1. Open http://localhost:8000/ in your browser

  2. Use the the Add Printer button. The printer app then scans for printers in range.

  3. Select the printer and continue the registration through the web interface.

Step 3: Print the test page#

Ensure the printer is powered on and in range, and load a sheet.
Then open the printer app web interface at http://localhost:8000/, select your printer in the menu, then use the button Print test page.

The test page shows the printer’s address, serial number, battery state, firmware and driver versions, and more.

Step 4: Add a permanent CUPS queue (optional)#

The queue CUPS creates on first use is temporary: CUPS removes it once the printer idles. GNOME Settings lists only permanent queues, so add one if you want the printer to show up in your system printer GUI.

In GNOME:
Settings → Printers → Add Printer, then pick the printer.

On the command line:

sudo lpadmin -p Phomemo_M08F_DDEEFF -E -m everywhere \
  -v 'ipps://Phomemo%20M08F%20(DDEEFF)._ipps._tcp.local/'

driverless (from cups-filters) lists the exact URI for your printer. CUPS’ own lpinfo --include-schemes dnssd -v may leave the printer out.

Next#