Epson Stylus Photo R300 not detected in 11.10

[David Shochat]

The printer was handled without problem in many previous Ubuntu releases.
I don't really believe the fault is in CUPS, but it shows up as CUPS not being able to find the printer.
I did various tests recommended in https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingPrintingProblems:

#2:
$ lsmod | grep usb
usb_storage 44173 0

#3/4: Here's what gets added to /var/log/syslog when the printer is
either turned on or plugged back in after being unplugged:
Oct 17 19:22:45 gateway kernel: [ 4544.968057] usb 1-4: new high speed USB device number 5 using ehci_hcd
Oct 17 19:22:45 gateway mtp-probe: checking bus 1, device 5: "/sys/devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb1/1-4"
Oct 17 19:22:45 gateway kernel: [ 4545.101917] scsi9 : usb-storage 1-4:1.0
Oct 17 19:22:45 gateway mtp-probe: bus: 1, device: 5 was not an MTP device
Oct 17 19:22:45 gateway udev-configure-printer: add /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb1/1-4/1-4:1.1
Oct 17 19:22:45 gateway udev-configure-printer: device devpath is /devices/pci0000:00/0000:00:1d.7/usb1/1-4
Oct 17 19:22:45 gateway udev-configure-printer: Device vendor/product is 04B8:0803
Oct 17 19:22:45 gateway udev-configure-printer: failed to claim interface 0
Oct 17 19:22:46 gateway kernel: [ 4546.824413] scsi 9:0:0:0: Direct-Access EPSON Stylus Storage 1.00 PQ: 0 ANSI: 2
Oct 17 19:22:46 gateway kernel: [ 4546.829110] sd 9:0:0:0: Attached scsi generic sg2 type 0
Oct 17 19:22:46 gateway kernel: [ 4546.843632] sd 9:0:0:0: [sdb] Attached SCSI removable disk

Sounds to me like it gave up interpreting it as a printer and decided
to call it a storage device.

#6
$ lsusb | grep Epson
Bus 001 Device 005: ID 04b8:0803 Seiko Epson Corp. Printer (Composite Device)

#7
$ ls -l /dev/usb/lp*
ls: cannot access /dev/usb/lp*: No such file or directory
$ ls -l /dev/bus/usb/*/*
crw-rw-r-- 1 root lp 189, 4 2011-10-17 19:22 /dev/bus/usb/001/005 (only included the relevant line)

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
Package: cups 1.5.0-8ubuntu2
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-12.20-generic 3.0.4
Uname: Linux 3.0.0-12-generic i686
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu3
Architecture: i386
CupsErrorLog:
 E [17/Oct/2011:18:26:12 -0400] Filter "hpgltops" not found.
 E [17/Oct/2011:18:26:12 -0400] Filter "pstoraster" not found.
 E [17/Oct/2011:18:26:12 -0400] Filter "pstoraster" not found.
Date: Mon Oct 17 20:17:53 2011
Lpstat: Error: command ['lpstat', '-v'] failed with exit code 1: lpstat: No destinations added.
MachineType: System manufacturer System Product Name
Papersize: a4
ProcKernelCmdLine: root=UUID=e6bf4075-e01b-482a-b4fb-7832b25eef55 ro quiet splash
SourcePackage: cups
UpgradeStatus: Upgraded to oneiric on 2011-10-15 (2 days ago)
dmi.bios.date: 09/27/2006
dmi.bios.vendor: American Megatrends Inc.
dmi.bios.version: 0215
dmi.board.asset.tag: To Be Filled By O.E.M.
dmi.board.name: P5W64 WS Pro
dmi.board.vendor: ASUSTeK Computer INC.
dmi.board.version: Rev 1.xx
dmi.chassis.asset.tag: Asset-1234567890
dmi.chassis.type: 3
dmi.chassis.vendor: Chassis Manufacture
dmi.chassis.version: Chassis Version
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnAmericanMegatrendsInc.:bvr0215:bd09/27/2006:svnSystemmanufacturer:pnSystemProductName:pvrSystemVersion:rvnASUSTeKComputerINC.:rnP5W64WSPro:rvrRev1.xx:cvnChassisManufacture:ct3:cvrChassisVersion:
dmi.product.name: System Product Name
dmi.product.version: System Version
dmi.sys.vendor: System manufacturer

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

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