CUPS installed, but installer fails to recongize it

[Schorschi Decker]

On Debian 9.6, attemptiing to install hplip 3.18.12, CUPS 2.2.1-8+deb9u2 Installed but installer fails to recongize it. CUPS reported as not installed, required dependency missing, regardless of CUPS package installation by installer or via apt-get directly. Unable to finish HP lip install.

Tried to resolve issue with CUPS service running, and not running. Did purge of CUPS, and reinstall, no joy. Appears HP lip installer does not validate installation as expected. Did not see this issue with Debian 9.4.

Oh, and hp-doctor script? Searched entire file system, no such file.

Output from installer...

RUNNING PRE-INSTALL COMMANDS
----------------------------
OK

MISSING DEPENDENCIES
--------------------
Following dependencies are not installed. HPLIP will not work if all REQUIRED dependencies are not installed and some of the HPLIP features will not work if OPTIONAL dependencies are not installed.
Package-Name Component Required/Optional
cups base REQUIRED
Do you want to install these missing dependencies (y=yes*, n=no, q=quit) ?

INSTALL MISSING REQUIRED DEPENDENCIES
-------------------------------------
note: Installation of dependencies requires an active internet connection.
warning: Missing REQUIRED dependency: cups (CUPS - Common Unix Printing System)

CHECKING FOR NETWORK CONNECTION
------------------------------- Network connection present.

RUNNING PRE-PACKAGE COMMANDS
---------------------------- su -c "dpkg --configure -a" (Pre-depend step 1) su -c "apt-get install -f" (Pre-depend step 2) su -c "apt-get update" (Pre-depend step 3)
OK

DEPENDENCY AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION
----------------------------------
Running 'su -c "apt-get install --force-yes -y cups"'
Please wait, this may take several minutes... Running 'su -c "apt-get install --force-yes -y libcups2"'
Please wait, this may take several minutes... error: A required dependency 'cups (CUPS - Common Unix Printing System)' is still missing.

# apt-get install cups
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
cups is already the newest version (2.2.1-8+deb9u2).
0 upgraded, 0 newly installed, 0 to remove and 91 not upgraded.

[brian_p (claremont102)]

What is your printer model?

--
Brian.

[Schorschi Decker (dachshund-digital)]

Oh, I should have noted that, right, HP LaserJet 5 and HP DeskJet 5650A. I realize both are older printers, but using CUPS and using various available drivers, work fine, such as the guten variants.

I would prefer to use the HP LIP variants of course. Was using 3.16.x release on Debian 9.4 (Raspbian), where the installation worked like a charm, if a bit slow because I used a Raspberry Pi.

But this issue is reported against a CUPS server on Debian 9.6, on older HP DC5000 MT desktop with 4 GB RAM, so is Intel Pentium.

Just curious, how is the printer model(s) relevant, given this appears to just be an installation script issue? Or is it just for reference, or testing at your end?

[brian_p (claremont102)]

If it's a matter of simply enabling printing, the Debian 9.6 packages or 3.18.12 in backports should be sufficient. OTOH, if testing the HPLIP installer is the objective, I have no idea why it fails.

--
Brian.