Printing error

[Aleksiy]

I get the message ERROR NAME; stackunderflow COMMAND; pop OPERAND STACK; when I try to print from Firefox or anything that has a picture as part of the file. I am running saucy on an AMD64 system. so far I have tried deleting the printer and setting it up again. No change. Ubuntu 13.10

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

Please follow the instructions on

https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingPrintingProblems

especially the sections "CUPS error_log" and "Capturing print job data".

Also tell us which printer model you are using and how your printer is connected.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for cups (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[Bill Duetschler (bikergeek)]

Changing this back to "Incomplete" because this bug affects me on Xubuntu 14.04 Trusty, and I can provide the requested information.

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

Bill, then provide the information as requested in comment #1, please.

[Bill Duetschler (bikergeek)]

This occurs when I attempt to print from Firefox or Thunderbird. I am using a networked Brother HL5370DW black-and-white laser printer. I have tried both the drivers supplied with Xubuntu as well as the .debs and .PPD downloaded from the Brother website, both produce the same result.

Printing a straight text file via 'lpr' works. Printing from Chrome works too. So does printing a text document generated in LibreOffice. Evidently the printer gets detected just fine.

Will attach cups error log.

I can't reproduce the problem consistently, but it seems to happen when I'm printing emails from my gmail account. I"ll attach an example.

[Bill Duetschler (bikergeek)]

attaching the error log.

[Bill Duetschler (bikergeek)]

Attaching an example output file that the printer errors on.

[Bill Duetschler (bikergeek)]

'file' says it's "PJL encapsulated PostScript document text", but when I try to open it with evince, I get:

Unable to open document
File type unknown (application/octet-stream is not supported)

GhostScript appears to display the file correctly, just using 'gs printout' (where 'printout' is the name of the file). (not sure if I should be using any other opts here--gs has many options and I don't quite understand them all, sorry)

Trying to print the raw file with 'nc -w1 192.168.2.21 9100 < printout' causes the printer to print the 'stackunderflow' error.

Hope this is useful info. Please let me know if I can be of further help.

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

This looks like a bug in the PostScript interpreter in the printer. Can you scan the error page which the printer prints and attach the scanned file to this bug report. Thanks.

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

Please also attach the the PPD file of your printer (in /etc/cups/ppd/).

[Bill Duetschler (bikergeek)]

Scan of error page produced by the printer.

[Bill Duetschler (bikergeek)]

The PPD file currently in use.

[Pascal De Vuyst (pascal-devuyst)]

According to it's specifications the Brother HL5370DW supports PCL6.
Please try the different PCL6/5e drivers offered under the manufacturer "Generic". Especially try the PCL-6/XL printer with "Foomatic/pxlmono" and the PCL-5e printer with "Foomatic/hpijs-pcl5e".
Does it work now?

[Bill Duetschler (bikergeek)]

Pascal,

The "PCL-6/XL Foomatic/pxlmono" driver works correctly on the test file I uploaded in #7. The "PCL-6/XL Foomatic/hpijs-pcl5e" driver won't even allow the printer to print a test page.

So I guess the pxlmono driver works as a workaround for the time being.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

[Expired for cups (Ubuntu) because there has been no activity for 60 days.]

[Pander (pander)]

See also:
- https://<email address hidden>/msg08508.html
- http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-hardware-18/can%27t-print-web-pages-in-linux-it-just-prints-out-an-error-page-4175509472/
- https://answers.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cups/+question/245248
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=855009
- http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.linux.redhat.fedora.general/423054

[Steve Holmes (sdholmes)]

We seem to have the same issue introduced with Ubuntu 14.04LTS:-
Error: stackunderflow, Command: pop
but only when printing from some websites with Firefox 36 (and before that 35).

Printers affected: Brother HL-5240, and Brother HL-6050, using the recommended 'Brother <model> BR-Script3' drivers.

Bug IS Reproducible in 1404LTS
------------------------------
Load one of the following index/home pages in Firefox 36.0 and try to print it:-
https://www.gov.uk - almost any page on this site seems to fail
http://www.lloydsbank.com/
http://www.bostonglobe.com/news/bigpicture
http://www.harrington-fabric-and-lace.co.uk

All these sites print OK from Firefox 35 or 36 in 1204LTS with the recommended BR-Script3 drivers, and also in 1404LTS with the Foomatic/ljet4 driver as detailed below.
Some of these sites are important services which we and many others need to print pages from. Most other websites print OK.
We don't tend to print such large or complex pages with other apps, so that might be why we only notice it with Firefox.

We tried resetting all Firefox's printer settings by editing prefs.js and deleting all lines containing 'user_pref("print.print_' but it made no difference.

To avoid this bug we have had to change from the recommended 'Brother ... BR-Script3' drivers, to: Generic > PCL6/XL > Foomatic/ljet4. This driver gives good results for the HL-5240, but poorer image quality (greys/half-tones) for the HL-6050.

1404LTS suffers this bug
===================
Kernel: 3.13.0-46-generic x86_64 (64 bit)
Desktop: Unity and Xfce
Firefox: 36.0+build2-0ubuntu0.14.04.4
Using recommended drivers:-
  Brother HL-5240 BR-Script3 v1.03
  Brother HL-6050 BR-Script3 v1.00
cups 1.7.2-0ubuntu1.5
cups-browsed 1.0.52-0ubuntu1.2
cups-filters 1.0.52-0ubuntu1.2
foomatic-db-engine not installed
foomatic-filters not installed
foomatic-db-compressed-ppds 20140410-0ubuntu1
hplip 3.14.3-0ubuntu3.2
libcupsfilters1 1.0.52-0ubuntu1.2
$ locale
LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
LANGUAGE=en_GB:en
LC_CTYPE="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_NUMERIC="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_TIME="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_COLLATE="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_MONETARY="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_MESSAGES="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_PAPER="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_NAME="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_ADDRESS="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_TELEPHONE="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_MEASUREMENT="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_IDENTIFICATION="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_ALL=

1204LTS does NOT have this bug
==========================
a) on the machine above (now running 1404LTS) when it had 1204LTS and Firefox 35
b) on a different machine with Firefox 35 or 36, currently as follows:-
Firefox 36.0+build2-0ubuntu0.12.04.5
Using recommended drivers:-
  Brother HL-5240 BR-Script3 v1.03 (same as 1404LTS)
  Brother HL-6050 BR-Script3 v1.00 (same as 1404LTS)
cups 1.5.3-0ubuntu8.6
cups-filters 1.0.18-0ubuntu0.2
foomatic-db-compressed-ppds 20120322-0ubuntu1
foomatic-db-engine 4.0.8-2ubuntu1
foomatic-filters 4.0.16-0ubuntu0.2
hplip 3.12.2-1ubuntu3.4
libcupsfilters1 1.0.18-0ubuntu0.2
$ locale
LANG=en_GB.UTF-8
LANGUAGE=en_GB:en
LC_CTYPE="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_NUMERIC="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_TIME="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_COLLATE="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_MONETARY="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_MESSAGES="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_PAPER="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_NAME="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_ADDRESS="en_GB.UTF-8"
LC_TELEPHONE="e...

[Steve Holmes (sdholmes)]

Forgot to mention: Firefox was tested in Safe Mode.

[Pascal De Vuyst (pascal-devuyst)]

Please provide https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingPrintingProblems#Getting_the_data_which_would_go_to_the_printer

[Bill Duetschler (bikergeek)]

Attaching the problematic file per Pascal's instructions, above, following directions in https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingPrintingProblems#Getting_the_data_which_would_go_to_the_printer

[Steve Holmes (sdholmes)]

Print output files attached for:-
Brother HL-5240 using recommended BR-Script3 driver BR5240_2 v1.03

[Steve Holmes (sdholmes)]

Print output files attached for:-
Brother HL-6050 using recommended BR-Script3 driver BR6050_2 v1.00

[Prx (info-productivix)]

Hi,

I am on 32 bits Ubuntu 14.04.1 LTS
and I had the same error message with HL-5350DN.
I solved recently by changing the driver to
Generic PCL 3 Printer Foomatic/pcl3
and set the parameters to monochrom and 600x600dpi
The other 2 are bugging.
regards

[L-Train (so1dieroffortune)]

Same error when printing from firefox in Ubuntu 15.10 with Brother HL-5370DW. I have had this same issue for a couple of years now with the past several ubuntu versions.

[L-Train (so1dieroffortune)]

I just found a workaround for my case (Brother HL-5370DW)
The original issue happens to me when i used the default driver:
"Brother HL-5370DW BR-Script3"
Once i switched to:
"Brother HL-5370DW Foomatic/Postscript"
I can now print from Firefox.

[Pander (pander)]

Why is this bug report incomplete? What is more expected?

As a fix, either correct the BR-Script3 situation of prevent selecting it because many users choose it and run into trouble.

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

Pander, for you it also does not work with BR-Script but with any other PostScript driver?

[cschmit (cschmit)]

I hat the same Problem with Firefox printing with my Brother HL-5270DN so I now tried the driver Brother HL-5170DN - CUPS+Gutenprint v5.2.10-pre2 an not any other for Brother HL-5270DN, and that seems to work.

[Pander (pander)]

Till, no the drivers shipped by default work incomplete with Brother HL5250DN. Many bug reports exist and point to this and use of the foomatic driver as a fix. does that answer your question?

[Aleksiy (aleksiyi)]

How can I replace my driver with foomatic?

On Wed, Jan 20, 2016 at 8:32 AM, Pander <email address hidden> wrote:

> Till, no the drivers shipped by default work incomplete with Brother
> HL5250DN. Many bug reports exist and point to this and use of the
> foomatic driver as a fix. does that answer your question?
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1306849
>
> Title:
> Printing error
>
> Status in foomatic-db package in Ubuntu:
> Incomplete
>
> Bug description:
> I get the message ERROR NAME; stackunderflow COMMAND; pop OPERAND
> STACK; when I try to print from Firefox or anything that has a picture
> as part of the file. I am running saucy on an AMD64 system. so far I
> have tried deleting the printer and setting it up again. No change.
> Ubuntu 13.10
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
>
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/foomatic-db/+bug/1306849/+subscriptions
>

[Pander (pander)]

Add this (one) line to /etc/apt/sources.list

deb http://www.openprinting.org/download/printdriver/debian lsb3.2 main main-nonfree contrib # OpenPrinting https://openprinting.org/drivers

then, do
  sudo apt-get update
  sudo apt-get upgrade
  sudo apt-get install openprinting-ppds-postscript-brother
and go to
  http://localhost:631/printers/
to configure your printer

Does that answer your quest? Can the status of Incomplete get changed to Valid for this issue?

[brian bissenden (brindle67)]

Hi
   I am having the same problem using 14.04 brother HL-5240 I saw your fix above but could you write it for a novice please. No idea how to get to Add this (one) line to /etc/apt/sources.list.
I have used the terminal with sudo commands before
thanks

[Pavneet Arora (usonianhorizon)]

Same problem as others have listed above. 15.10. Brother HL-5370DW connected via network suddenly started spitting out on most (but not all) webpages printed from Firefox:

ERROR NAME;
stackunderflow
COMMAND;
pop
OPERAND STACK;

Tried switching driver to "Brother HL-5370DW Foomatic/Postscript" as suggested above, but same errors.

Finally, I noticed that the Brother support site list:

- Generic LPR printer driver (deb package)
- Generic CUPSwrapper printer driver (deb package)

dated 20 Jun 2014. Installed these, and I can once again print!

These show up under http:localhost:631/printers/ as:

- Brother BrGenML1 for CUPS (grayscale, 2-sided printing)

HTH.

[Thomas Mayer (thomas303)]

Please take issues of old libcairo into account: https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cups/+bug/802942

I experience similar issues with an old Kyocera FS-1020d. As it turned out, my printing problems were all libcairo related:

- Upgrade from 14.04 to 16.04 solved all printing problems for GTK applications that rely on systems libcairo (FF/TB have their own built-in old libcairo 1.9.5!)
- After compiling Firefox 47 against system's libcairo (on 16.04), these printing problems got fixed, too.

How I compiled FF against system's libcairo:
https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cups/+bug/802942/comments/20

What happens if you upgrade to 16.04?
What happens if you compile FF against system's libcairo in 16.04?

Please report back.

[Thomas Mayer (thomas303)]

I tried to reproduce this issue with a

- Ubuntu 16.04
- Firefox 47 (shipped with ubuntu, FF-built-in old libcairo 1.9.5)
- Kyocera FS-1020d (with 128 MB memory extension and built-in printserver).

https://www.gov.uk printed out perfectly fine

http://www.lloydsbank.com/ prints out nothing, with no error indicated and printerqueue empty

http://www.harrington-fabric-and-lace.co.uk prints out nothing, with no error indicated and printerqueue empty

After that, I tested FF with system's libcairo

- Ubuntu 16.04
- Firefox 47 (compiled with --enable-system-cairo like in https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cups/+bug/802942/comments/20)
- Kyocera FS-1020d (with 128 MB memory extension and built-in printserver).

https://www.gov.uk printed out perfectly fine (as before)

http://www.lloydsbank.com/ printed out perfectly fine with system's libcairo

http://www.harrington-fabric-and-lace.co.uk printed out perfectly fine with system's libcairo

Again, all printing problems are solved for me with system's libcairo which comes shipped with ubuntu 16.04 (while ubuntu 14.04 version of system's libcairo also had issues).

I'm not sure if this issue is as libcairo related as https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cups/+bug/802942 but affected users with brother printers might give it a try.

[Pander (pander)]

Unfortunately, bug is still there in Ubuntu 17.10 (Lubuntu). See also http://www.itbh.at/brother-printer-error-name-typecheck-command-image-operand-stack/?lang=en

[Bill Duetschler (bikergeek)]

Still experiencing this in Xubuntu Bionic, with Firefox 60.0.1.

[Tom Stover (tespro)]

Experiencing this same Brother printer problem with Ubuntu 18.04 download in late May, 2018

[Bill Duetschler (bikergeek)]

Still occurring on Bionic in November 2018.

[Bill Duetschler (bikergeek)]

Still an issue with Xubuntu Cosmic, Firefox 64.0.

[Carl-Daniel Hailfinger (hailfinger)]

Same issue with printing files from Firefox (and sometimes other applications) in Bionic with a Brother HL5250DN.
The used driver does not matter (BR-Script3, PCL, PS).
Related: https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=855009#c6

Solution:
Use the BR-Script3 driver, then edit (as root) the PPD for your printer (for me it's /etc/cups/ppd/Brother_HL-5250DN_Brotherscript3.ppd ).
The PPD starts with some comments, then the following content:

[...]
*%================================================
*% Copyright(C) 2005 Brother Industries, Ltd.
*% "Brother HL-5250DN BR-Script3"
*%================================================
*%==== General Information Keywords ========================
*FormatVersion: "4.3"
*FileVersion: "1.03"
*LanguageEncoding: ISOLatin1
*LanguageVersion: English
*Manufacturer: "Brother"
*PCFileName: "BR5250_2.PPD"
*Product: "(Brother HL-5250DN series)"
*PSVersion: "(3010.106) 5"
*ShortNickName: "Brother HL-5250DN BR-Script3"
*ModelName: "Brother HL-5250DN BR-Script3"
*NickName: "Brother HL-5250DN BR-Script3"
*1284DeviceID: "MFG:Brother;MDL:HL-5250DN series;CMD:PJL,PCL,PCLXL,POSTSCRIPT;"
*%==== Basic Device Capabilities =============
*LanguageLevel: "3"
[...]

Edit the line with "LanguageLevel" and change the "3" to "2". It should now look like this:
*LanguageLevel: "2"

Restart cups with "systemctl restart cups". Enjoy.

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

hailfinger, this would mean that Brother's PostScript printers only work with PostScript level 2 instead of level 3, this is at least what cups-filters will do different after your change.

I have modified cups-filters (the pdftops filter) now to emit PostScript level 2 on Brother printers, regardless whether the PPD filetells level 2 or level 3.

See

https://github.com/OpenPrinting/cups-filters/commit/84657859490f302bb6d146517f656d5fe933363d