--- /usr/share/hplip/base/logger.py.old	2012-10-01 15:57:23.788970745 +0200
+++ /usr/share/hplip/base/logger.py	2012-10-01 16:26:22.623529521 +0200
@@ -289,10 +289,16 @@
 
     information = info
 
+    def _toutf8(self, message):
+        try:
+            return message.encode('utf-8')
+        except UnicodeDecodeError:
+            return message.decode('utf-8').encode('utf-8')
+            
 
     def warn(self, message):
         if self._level <= Logger.LOG_LEVEL_WARN:
-            txt = "warning: %s" % message.encode('utf-8')
+            txt = "warning: %s" % self._toutf8(message)
             self.log(self.color(txt, 'fuscia'), Logger.LOG_LEVEL_WARN)
 
             syslog.syslog(syslog.LOG_WARNING, "%s[%d]: %s" % (self.module, self.pid, txt))