Missing HP P1102 laser printer Print Density settings (i.e. "Extra dark")

[Vincas Dargis]

Since 13.10 (both 64bit Ubuntu and Kubuntu) upgrade I cannot select "Extra dark" printer settings when printing from LibreOffice, GIMP, Inkscape, Kate or whatever with HP LaserJet P1102 on Dell Inspiron 1520.

There is no such option in global printer settings also, both Ubuntu and Kubuntu.

There are "Pritint quality: Draft, Normal"; "Output mode: Grayscale" and others, but "Print Density" is missing. There are no problems with printing itself though.

Driver name in printer dialog:
"HP_LaserJet_Professional_P1102"
"Automatically setup by HPLIP"
"hp:/usb/HP_LaserJet_Professional_P1102?serial=000000000Q854HW7PR1a"
"HP LaserJet Professional p1102, hpcups 3.13.9, requires proprietary plugin".

I remeber I had to launch "hp-plugin" to make this printer work on 13.10, as it was automatclly deceted, but failed to print.

Some more info:
$ cat /var/lib/hp/hplip.state
[plugin]
installed = 1
eula = 1
version = 3.13.9

-

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 13.10
Package: cups 1.7.0~rc1-0ubuntu5.1
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.11.0-14.21-generic 3.11.7
Uname: Linux 3.11.0-14-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
ApportVersion: 2.12.5-0ubuntu2.2
Architecture: amd64
CupsErrorLog:

Date: Thu Jan 23 20:54:05 2014
InstallationDate: Installed on 2013-12-05 (49 days ago)
InstallationMedia: Kubuntu 13.10 "Saucy Salamander" - Release amd64 (20131016.1)
Lpstat: device for HP_LaserJet_Professional_P1102: hp:/usb/HP_LaserJet_Professional_P1102?serial=000000000Q854HW7PR1a
MachineType: Dell Inc. Inspiron 1520
MarkForUpload: True
Papersize: a4
PpdFiles: HP_LaserJet_Professional_P1102: HP LaserJet Professional p1102, hpcups 3.13.9, requires proprietary plugin
ProcEnviron:
 LANGUAGE=lt_LT
 PATH=(custom, no user)
 XDG_RUNTIME_DIR=<set>
 LANG=lt_LT.UTF-8
 SHELL=/bin/bash
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.11.0-14-generic root=UUID=cc6507c9-31d9-4db9-bdb2-d14f8432b3b2 ro quiet splash vt.handoff=7
SourcePackage: cups
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 11/05/2007
dmi.bios.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.bios.version: A04
dmi.board.name: 0KY768
dmi.board.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.chassis.type: 8
dmi.chassis.vendor: Dell Inc.
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnDellInc.:bvrA04:bd11/05/2007:svnDellInc.:pnInspiron1520:pvr:rvnDellInc.:rn0KY768:rvr:cvnDellInc.:ct8:cvr:
dmi.product.name: Inspiron 1520
dmi.sys.vendor: Dell Inc.

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

This is most probably caused by a newer version of the driver for this printer, HPLIP. Looks like this "darkness" option got removed.

Can anyone of the HPLIP developers at HP check this? Was there really removed an option for making the printout lighter or darker?

[Vincas Dargis (talkless)]

Is any walkaround is possible? Maybe I could copy some files from hplip 13.04 .deb, or aquire older HP plugin or something..?

[Vincas Dargis (talkless)]

To downgrade, I've removed printer and uninstalled few packageds:

$sudo apt-get purge hplip-cups hplip-ppds printer-driver-hpcups

and downloaded and extracted 13.04 packages (using sudo dpkg -x):
hpijs-ppds_3.13.3-1ubuntu0.1_all.deb
hplip-cups_3.13.3-1ubuntu0.1_all.deb
printer-driver-hpcups_3.13.3-1ubuntu0.1_amd64.deb

After reboot, printer was sucessfully detected and all missing options reapeard. Tried "Extra Light" and "Extra Dark" - works indeed.

Though driver is somehow different, detected as "...Foomatic/foo2zjs-z2"..?

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

"...Foomatic/foo2zjs-z2" is not HPLIP, this is an independent third-party driver. Perhaps this density feature you are after is ghenerally not available in HPLIP but only in the alternative driver. On an all up-to-date system this driver is also available but it seems that it is not selected automatically for your printer.

You can change printer drivers manually if you are not content with the automatic selection. To do so start system-config-printer, right-click the printer you want to modify, and choose "Properties" in the Pop-up menu. In the dialog appearing then click the "Change" button in the "Make and Model" line. Then a new dialog appears. Click "Forward" on the manufacturer page (stay with "HP") and on the model page, in the right column, choose the "...Foomatic/foo2zjs-z2" entry. Click "Forward" again and your driver is changed. Now you should have the density option.

[Vincas Dargis (talkless)]

Till - this option was in older hplip, just tried it in 13.04 Live CD.

I've failed to downgrade to older hplip, but Foomatic just works so It's good enough for me. I just have my hplip packages removed.

But as I said, this (and other) options were in older hplip, it's regression of some kind.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

Status changed to 'Confirmed' because the bug affects multiple users.