package brother-lpr-drivers-laser 2.0.1-3-0ubuntu4 failed to install/upgrade: trying to overwrite '/usr/bin/brprintconfiglpr2', which is also in package brdcp7040lpr:i386 2.0.2-1

[Bill Risch]

Binary package hint: brother-lpr-drivers-laser

Problem occurred when trying to install a Brother dcp-7040 printer

ProblemType: Package
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.04
Package: brother-lpr-drivers-laser 2.0.1-3-0ubuntu4
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 2.6.38-8.42-generic 2.6.38.2
Uname: Linux 2.6.38-8-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
Architecture: amd64
Date: Fri Apr 22 17:23:57 2011
ErrorMessage: trying to overwrite '/usr/bin/brprintconfiglpr2', which is also in package brdcp7040lpr:i386 2.0.2-1
InstallationMedia: Ubuntu 11.04 "Natty Narwhal" - Alpha amd64 (20101202)
SourcePackage: brother-lpr-drivers-laser
Title: package brother-lpr-drivers-laser 2.0.1-3-0ubuntu4 failed to install/upgrade: trying to overwrite '/usr/bin/brprintconfiglpr2', which is also in package brdcp7040lpr:i386 2.0.2-1
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)

[Bill Risch (brisch)]

I have done some additional testing relating to the underlying printer problem.
I tested lucid (10.04) Maverick (10.10) and Natty and found the same problem.
The i386 driver cannot be installed along with the amd64 driver already on the system.
dpkg reports a installation conflict. This problem seems to be not only for printers but for any device that
requires a i386 driver to be installed.
Further, I installed openSUSE on one of my test drives and found the same problems.
It appears that this is not a Ubuntu specific problem but rather a Linux problem. I suspect the underlying
software as openSUSE and Ubuntu seem to use the same software for the driver functions for
printers and scanners.
Going to the brother driver site and reading the FAQ's, relating to drivers, shows this problem has been around
for a long time. The fixes have been for a specific printer and not for the whole family of devices.
If you review the list of supported drivers in Ubuntu, it is only a small subset of the available printers from brother.
When the underlying problem referenced by this bug report is addressed then the real problem will be resolved.
If more detailed test results are required please request same.

[Bill Risch (brisch)]

Libmotif4 is supposed to be installed
bill@bill-GA-MA78GM-US2H:~$ apt-cache policy libmotif4libmotif4:
  Installed: (none)
  Candidate: 2.3.3-5ubuntu1
  Version table:
     2.3.3-5ubuntu1 0
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty/multiverse amd64 Packagesbill@bill-GA-MA78GM-US2H:~$

This package is the driver for the Brother DCP-7040
 sudo dpkg -i --force-depends /home/bill/Downloads/brdcp7040lpr-2.0.2-1.i386.deb
[sudo] password for bill:
dpkg: error processing /home/bill/Downloads/brdcp7040lpr-2.0.2-1.i386.deb (--install):
 package architecture (i386) does not match system (amd64)
Errors were encountered while processing:
 /home/bill/Downloads/brdcp7040lpr-2.0.2-1.i386.deb
As you can see i386 and amd64 will not coexist.

bill@bill-GA-MA78GM-US2H:~$ sudo apt-get install libmotif4:i386-2.3.3-5Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
E: Unable to locate package libmotif4:i386-2.3.3-5
E: Couldn't find any package by regex 'libmotif4:i386-2.3.3-5'

Now attempting to install the amd64 version
bill@bill-GA-MA78GM-US2H:~$ sudo apt-get install libmotif4
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  libmotif4
0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 0 not upgraded.
Need to get 1,417 kB of archives.
After this operation, 3,793 kB of additional disk space will be used.
Get:1 http://archive.ubuntu.com/ubuntu/ natty/multiverse libmotif4 amd64 2.3.3-5ubuntu1 [1,417 kB]
Fetched 1,417 kB in 32s (43.6 kB/s)
Selecting previously deselected package libmotif4.
(Reading database ... 384708 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking libmotif4 (from .../libmotif4_2.3.3-5ubuntu1_amd64.deb) ...
Setting up libmotif4 (2.3.3-5ubuntu1) ...
Processing triggers for libc-bin ...
ldconfig deferred processing now taking place

Note that I still cannot install the driver
bill@bill-GA-MA78GM-US2H:~$ sudo dpkg -i --force-depends /home/bill/Downloads/brdcp7040lpr-2.0.2-1.i386.deb
dpkg: error processing /home/bill/Downloads/brdcp7040lpr-2.0.2-1.i386.deb (--install):
 package architecture (i386) does not match system (amd64)
Errors were encountered while processing:
 /home/bill/Downloads/brdcp7040lpr-2.0.2-1.i386.deb

This is a dead end and I cannot go further to solve my problem.
Why can't i386 and amd64 exist side by side?
All users trying to install drivers are finding this problem

[graphius (klughammer)]

The brother supplied scanner driver works fine. Is this a Brother problem?

[Bill Risch (brisch)]

@graphius What system are you running? Is it i386 or amd64?
My system is amd64 running natty and as you can see by my comments the printer DCP-7040 does not work.
As I stated it is more that a printer rather it is a printer, scanner, copier.
I have some plain brother printers which work. Just not this model.
Further, Brother does not have a amd64 driver and due to the age of the device it appears that they have
no intention of creating 64 bit drivers. I have looked on their site and there are few if any 64 bit drivers for
any of their products.
I tried Lucid, Maveric and Natty and none work.
Since I have 3 complete systems the problem appears to be Ubuntu related.
Further, I installed openSUSE and have the same problem. The basic printer handling is the same as in
Ubuntu.
dpkg: error processing /home/bill/Downloads/brdcp7040lpr-2.0.2-1.i386.deb (--install):
 package architecture (i386) does not match system (amd64)
Does this not seem to make things clear?
If you have a solution I would like to here of it.

[Bill Risch (brisch)]

I have taken a step back from the printer problem and went to the brother site and looked for scanner drivers.
I found the latest scanner drivers for the DCP-7040 and installed them. I also loaded the XSane image scanner
utility. I now have the scanner function working ( at least a test scan worked).

Getting back to the printer driver problem, that is not solved. The question was asked "is it a brother problem"
and the answer is yes. I have tested this printer on Ubuntu Natty, openSuse (the latest version) and Debian
(the latest version) all fail the same way, can't install a proper driver.
I have searched the brother site trying to find a contact to express the problem. I just have not found said
contact yet. After I post this message I will go back and try again.

Here is the interesting part, the scanner drivers are up to date as of 2011 but the printer drivers are for 2008
and seem to be completely out of sync with the latest versions of Linux. I hope I can get this resolved.
I started this because I want to get the printer I paid for working properly. Maybe even help others.

[Marius B. Kotsbak (mariusko)]

This is a package outside of Ubuntu, so I mark this bug as invalid. Please follow bug #425172 for getting updated drives into Ubuntu.

[Marius B. Kotsbak (mariusko)]

For using the drivers from Brother, you can discuss it in the forums. Btw, have you tried "dpkg -i --force-all"? Maybe it is a workaround.

[Bill Risch (brisch)]

DO NOT SLUFF THIS OFF. See bug #783974
I have installed the suggested brother solution but it does not work.
See my previous comments, I have tried all install options I am aware of.
All fail and I have given the terminal outputs.

[Marius B. Kotsbak (mariusko)]

Thank you for taking the time to report this bug and helping to make Ubuntu better. This particular bug has already been reported and is a duplicate of bug #425172, so it is being marked as such. Please look at the other bug report to see if there is any missing information that you can provide, or to see if there is a workaround for the bug. Additionally, any further discussion regarding the bug should occur in the other report. Feel free to continue to report any other bugs you may find.