hplip cannot find DeskJet 5440 printer, despite CUPS's claims to the contrary

[Michal Suchanek]

I installed the hplip package to manage a DeskJet 5440 printer. It just says there is no HP printer installed. It then opens the CUPS web interface that shows the installed printer.

When I run the commnand line ink level monitoring as root it works.

But cartridge alignment does not. It prints the alignment page but then again complains it cannot find the printer.

[Will Hayworth (whayworth)]

Renamed the bug to have a more descriptive title. May I suggest that the reporter read http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html?

[Aaron Albright (albrigha-deactivatedaccount)]

Please run:

/usr/lib/cups/backend/hp

and post the output.

what version of hplip?

i've tested the deskjet 5440 extensively with ubuntu.

Aaron

[Michal Suchanek (hramrach)]

~$ /usr/lib/cups/backend/hp
direct hp:/usb/Deskjet_5400_series?serial=TH56O121PD047N "HP Deskjet_5400_series" "hp:/usb/Deskjet_5400_series?serial=TH56O121PD047N"

 # /usr/lib/cups/backend/hp
direct hp:/usb/Deskjet_5400_series?serial=TH56O121PD047N "HP Deskjet_5400_series" "hp:/usb/Deskjet_5400_series?serial=TH56O121PD047N"

ii hplip 0.9.7-4ubuntu1 HP Linux Printing and Imaging System (HPLIP)

hp-levels works even as user. So it is probably not permission related.

[Aaron Albright (albrigha-deactivatedaccount)]

Are you still having a problem with this? If the ink levels works then the cart align shouldn't give any printer communication errors. also try running hp-info and post the output.

Aaron

[Michal Suchanek (hramrach)]

The gui still does not work.

The ink level meter was the only thing that worked from the start ( I tried the gui application, ink levels, and alignment).

[Aaron Albright (albrigha-deactivatedaccount)]

Can you run "tail -f /var/log/messages", then try and do one of the functions that isn't working and post any errors in the log?

A

[Michal Suchanek (hramrach)]

Communication with hp-align:

$ hp-align

 HP Linux Imaging and Printing System (ver. 0.9.7)
 Printer Cartridge Alignment Utility ver. 2.3

 Copyright (c) 2003-5 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, LP
 This software comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
 This is free software, and you are welcome to distribute it
 under certain conditions. See COPYING file for more details.

 Using device: hp:/usb/Deskjet_5400_series?serial=TH56O121PD047N
 [ERROR]: Unexpected message
An alignment page will be printed.
Please load plain paper into the printer. Press <Enter> to contine or 'q' to quit.
Enter the numbered box on line A where the inner lines best line up with the outer lines (1-23): 17
Enter the numbered box on line C where the inner lines best line up with the outer lines (1-23): 13
Enter the numbered box on line B where the inner lines best line up with the outer lines (1-17): 4
Enter the numbered box on line E where the inner lines best line up with the outer lines (1-9): 4
Enter the numbered box on line D where the inner lines best line up with the outer lines (1-23): 12
Enter the numbered box on line G where the inner lines best line up with the outer lines (1-9): 4
Enter the numbered box on line F where the inner lines best line up with the outer lines (1-9): 3
Enter the numbered box on line H where the inner lines best line up with the outer lines (1-9): 3
lp: The printer or class was not found.
An alignment page will be printed.
Please load plain paper into the printer. Press <Enter> to contine or 'q' to quit.

At some point before the first prompt syslog produces:

Jul 20 18:42:12 localhost python: hpssd [WARN] Inrecognized URI: parallel:/dev/lp0
Jul 20 18:42:12 localhost python: hpssd [WARN] Inrecognized URI: usb://HP/Deskjet%205400%20series?serial=TH56O121PD047N

However, the GUI tool does not produce any syslog messages, it just shows the dialog saying there is no printer.

[Aaron Albright (albrigha-deactivatedaccount)]

It appears that the printer is not setup for using the hp:// backend, as such the hp tools will not work.

try removing the printer and follow the steps here

http://hplip.sourceforge.net/install/step4/cups/index.html

for setting up the printer correctly.

Aaron

[Aaron Albright (albrigha-deactivatedaccount)]

Sorry, now I see that the printer IS using the HP backend.

can you run

/usr/lib/cups/backend/hp

and post the output?

also try running the hp-align again, but this time run hp-align -g and post the output. may want to attach as a file though..

Aaron

[Aaron Albright (albrigha-deactivatedaccount)]

Sorry, also run

lpstat -v

and post that output as well.

Aaron

[Michal Suchanek (hramrach)]

I tried to uninstall the printer and now I cannot install printers anymore.

The gnome cups manager does not offer any printer drivers.

The cups web interface does not work either. First it reported Error: Unknown or Error: Bad request when adding (and then also when listing) printers. Removing printers.conf did not help. When it was recreated the errors appeared again.
Removing and reinstalling all of cups (except the stuff that is held by lsb), foomatic, and hp* did not help either. It just produces blank page on adding a printer, and the list stays empty.

I guess the next thing to try is installing Debain packages or using the source. So much for user friendly distros.

Just to make sure I tried memtest, and it did not find any errors. So there should not be any heavy memory corruption or somesuch.

[Pascal De Vuyst (pascal-devuyst)]

You say you have empty driver list in CUPS webinterface.
Is package foomatic-filters-ppds installed?

What is the output of:
$ lpinfo -v

Are there any PPD files under /usr/share/ppd ?

Are the symlinks under /usr/share/cups/model present? Please attach output of:
$ ls -l /usr/share/cups/model

[Michal Suchanek (hramrach)]

No, the cups interface shows the printer models correctly.

It just does nothing when I select the model and click add. An empty page is shown, and the printer list stays empty.

The part that does not show printer models is the gnome cups manager.

[Pascal De Vuyst (pascal-devuyst)]

Do you get any information if you run gnome-cups-manager from a terminal? If so, please attach.

Ubuntu disables the cups webinterface in favor of gnome-cups-manager.
Did you add cypsys user to the shadow group? You should do this to enable cups webinterface in Ubuntu. More information can be found here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/PrintingCupsWebInterface

[Pascal De Vuyst (pascal-devuyst)]

As Aaron suggested I also think you installed your printer with the usb backend instead of the hp backend. hp-toolbox GUI needs the hp backend to work!
Run the following command to find out which backend you use:
$ lpstat -v
The recommend way for installing a printer in Dapper using gnome-cups-manager is described here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/HpPrinterInstallationAndMaintenanceDapper

[Michal Suchanek (hramrach)]

How do I tell in the gnome-cups-manager wether I am installing the printer using the hp backend or the usb backend?

Since the gnome-cups-manager is the preferred method it should be possible to clearly distinguish the two backends in the UI, and the ui should provide a hint that the hp backend is needed for hplip to work. So should the dialog that says the printer is not installed. It should also mention the gnome-cups-manager since the cups web is not usable by default.

[Aaron Albright (albrigha-deactivatedaccount)]

Can you run:
sudo /etc/init.d/hplip status

and post the output?

if hplip isn't running run

sudo /etc/inid.d/hplip start

also run lpstat -v and post that output as well. You may want to consider taking this to the hplip mailing list at http://hplip.sourceforge.net as this sounds more of how to than a ubuntu defect. and I will help you further from the hplip mailing list.

Aaron
HPLIP Team Member

[Michal Suchanek (hramrach)]

OK, the gnome-cups-manager works for me after upgrading the remaining pre-release gnome packages to current.

The cups interface works since I added cupsys to shadow and root to lpadmin (I authenticate as root in cups). The failure when cupsys is not in the shadow group is very nice - one gets a blank page, no error, and the operation is not finished.

The hplip tools are much more helpful when the printer is installed using the hp backend than when using the usb backend.

I wonder why the ink level monitor worked but the rest of the tools did not.

In the gnome-cups-manager it is impossible to tell the usb backend from the hp backend (except that the HP backend option is listed second - not the default(!), and has spaces in the printer name). I guess some more obvious distinction would be helpful. So would a sentence or two about using printers with hplip when a hp backend printer is found.

Since Ubuntu is supposed to be user friendly I would expect that connecting the printer and clicking through a few dialogs should be enough to get the printer going.

If I read a HP Printer howto I would probably get the printer set up correctly at the first try. But I thought it was the goal of Ubuntu to make the distribution "BFU" friendly so I tried the "BFU" approach this time.
I'm sorry if my impression was wrong and I need lessly wasted your time.

Thanks for the help

[Pascal De Vuyst (pascal-devuyst)]

I'm glad everything is solved now.

The main problem you had is because gnome-cups-manager suggest the usb backend by default, while it should suggest the hp backend when available.
Closing this bug as a duplicate of bug #32302.