Driverless printing only prints a blank sheet 17.10

[Roderic Jones]

Driverless printing works perfectly in Ubuntu 17.04 with my Epson WF 3620. Scanning is also perfect.
I have 17.10 on another SSD and driverless printing was working but recent updates have broken this. I reinstalled from the Aug 14th daily build and have updated it daily but printing still does not work

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

Can you please supply the following files:

PPD file for your printer (in /etc/cups/ppd/) on 17.04.

PPD file for your printer (in /etc/cups/ppd/) on 17.10.

Output of the following commands in a terminal window:

driverless
lpstat -v
ipptool -tv <IPP URI> get-printer-attributes.test

The <IPP URI> you can find in the output of the "driverless" or "lpstat -v" commands. It is some expression starting with "ipp://..." or "ipps://..." (on one of my printers it is "ipp://HP5CB901E7DDC7.local:631/ipp/print").

Please attach the files one by one, do not compress them and do not package them together. Thanks.

[Roderic Jones (rodericj)]

Here are the two files

Good luck

On 21 August 2017 at 17:01, Till Kamppeter <email address hidden>
wrote:

> Can you please supply the following files:
>
> PPD file for your printer (in /etc/cups/ppd/) on 17.04.
>
> PPD file for your printer (in /etc/cups/ppd/) on 17.10.
>
> Output of the following commands in a terminal window:
>
> driverless
> lpstat -v
> ipptool -tv <IPP URI> get-printer-attributes.test
>
> The <IPP URI> you can find in the output of the "driverless" or "lpstat
> -v" commands. It is some expression starting with "ipp://..." or
> "ipps://..." (on one of my printers it is
> "ipp://HP5CB901E7DDC7.local:631/ipp/print").
>
> Please attach the files one by one, do not compress them and do not
> package them together. Thanks.
>
> ** Changed in: cups (Ubuntu)
> Status: New => Incomplete
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1712019
>
> Title:
> Driverless printing only prints a blank sheet 17.10
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cups/+bug/1712019/+subscriptions
>

--
Rod Jones

[Roderic Jones (rodericj)]

I think these files are the same. It took me a little while to realise that
on filename uses hyphens and the other underscores. Otherwise they are the
same.

On 22 August 2017 at 09:24, Roderic Jones <email address hidden> wrote:

> Here are the two files
>
> Good luck
>
> On 21 August 2017 at 17:01, Till Kamppeter <email address hidden>
> wrote:
>
>> Can you please supply the following files:
>>
>> PPD file for your printer (in /etc/cups/ppd/) on 17.04.
>>
>> PPD file for your printer (in /etc/cups/ppd/) on 17.10.
>>
>> Output of the following commands in a terminal window:
>>
>> driverless
>> lpstat -v
>> ipptool -tv <IPP URI> get-printer-attributes.test
>>
>> The <IPP URI> you can find in the output of the "driverless" or "lpstat
>> -v" commands. It is some expression starting with "ipp://..." or
>> "ipps://..." (on one of my printers it is
>> "ipp://HP5CB901E7DDC7.local:631/ipp/print").
>>
>> Please attach the files one by one, do not compress them and do not
>> package them together. Thanks.
>>
>> ** Changed in: cups (Ubuntu)
>> Status: New => Incomplete
>>
>> --
>> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
>> report.
>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1712019
>>
>> Title:
>> Driverless printing only prints a blank sheet 17.10
>>
>> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cups/+bug/1712019/
>> +subscriptions
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Rod Jones
>
>

--
Rod Jones

[Roderic Jones (rodericj)]

I have reinstalled Ubuntu 17.04 from the daily build available today,
updated it and only installed Fish, Gdebi, Gparted and Synaptic.

The problem persists.

The outputs you requested are attached as a file

On 22 August 2017 at 09:41, Roderic Jones <email address hidden> wrote:

> I think these files are the same. It took me a little while to realise
> that on filename uses hyphens and the other underscores. Otherwise they are
> the same.
>
> On 22 August 2017 at 09:24, Roderic Jones <email address hidden> wrote:
>
>> Here are the two files
>>
>> Good luck
>>
>> On 21 August 2017 at 17:01, Till Kamppeter <email address hidden>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Can you please supply the following files:
>>>
>>> PPD file for your printer (in /etc/cups/ppd/) on 17.04.
>>>
>>> PPD file for your printer (in /etc/cups/ppd/) on 17.10.
>>>
>>> Output of the following commands in a terminal window:
>>>
>>> driverless
>>> lpstat -v
>>> ipptool -tv <IPP URI> get-printer-attributes.test
>>>
>>> The <IPP URI> you can find in the output of the "driverless" or "lpstat
>>> -v" commands. It is some expression starting with "ipp://..." or
>>> "ipps://..." (on one of my printers it is
>>> "ipp://HP5CB901E7DDC7.local:631/ipp/print").
>>>
>>> Please attach the files one by one, do not compress them and do not
>>> package them together. Thanks.
>>>
>>> ** Changed in: cups (Ubuntu)
>>> Status: New => Incomplete
>>>
>>> --
>>> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
>>> report.
>>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1712019
>>>
>>> Title:
>>> Driverless printing only prints a blank sheet 17.10
>>>
>>> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
>>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cups/+bug/1712019/
>>> +subscriptions
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Rod Jones
>>
>>
>
>
> --
> Rod Jones
>
>

--
Rod Jones

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

Please run ipptool with the full printer URI, like this:

ipptool -tv ipp://EPSON25B56D.local:631/ipp/print get-printer-attributes.test > out.txt

Attach the resulting output (here the file out.txt).

make sure that attachments get the MIME type text/plain, as then one can easily read them in a web browser.

[Roderic Jones (rodericj)]

Is this OK?

On 22 August 2017 at 14:16, Till Kamppeter <email address hidden>
wrote:

> Please run ipptool with the full printer URI, like this:
>
> ipptool -tv ipp://EPSON25B56D.local:631/ipp/print get-printer-
> attributes.test > out.txt
>
> Attach the resulting output (here the file out.txt).
>
> make sure that attachments get the MIME type text/plain, as then one can
> easily read them in a web browser.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1712019
>
> Title:
> Driverless printing only prints a blank sheet 17.10
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cups/+bug/1712019/+subscriptions
>

--
Rod Jones

[Roderic Jones (rodericj)]

I have run the ipptool on both 17.04 and 17.10.

running diff produces the following:

rod@rod-desktop ~> diff out4.txt out10.txt
59c59
< printer-up-time (integer) = 146417546
---
> printer-up-time (integer) = 146414147

On 22 August 2017 at 14:38, Roderic Jones <email address hidden> wrote:

> Is this OK?
>
> On 22 August 2017 at 14:16, Till Kamppeter <email address hidden>
> wrote:
>
>> Please run ipptool with the full printer URI, like this:
>>
>> ipptool -tv ipp://EPSON25B56D.local:631/ipp/print get-printer-
>> attributes.test > out.txt
>>
>> Attach the resulting output (here the file out.txt).
>>
>> make sure that attachments get the MIME type text/plain, as then one can
>> easily read them in a web browser.
>>
>> --
>> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
>> report.
>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1712019
>>
>> Title:
>> Driverless printing only prints a blank sheet 17.10
>>
>> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cups/+bug/1712019/
>> +subscriptions
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Rod Jones
>
>

--
Rod Jones

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

The problem you see in the PPDs. Resolutions are different.

So can you try to set the Print Quality to Draft to see whether it prints?

Another test is creating a new queue with the OLD PPD file. Can you print with this queue, Print Quality set to Norml or High?

[Roderic Jones (rodericj)]

There is no dialog to print in draft either in printing from LibreOffice or
from chrome.

If I add another printer and it searches for a driver then draft printing
is on the menu but printing still does not work.

I deleted the PPD files from etc/cups/ppd and copied the old (17.04) PPD
file into the directory. This does not help.

unfortunately the earliest daily build I have is 14th August when the
problem had already occurred. I can not try an earlier Kernal.

On 22 August 2017 at 17:41, Till Kamppeter <email address hidden>
wrote:

> The problem you see in the PPDs. Resolutions are different.
>
> So can you try to set the Print Quality to Draft to see whether it
> prints?
>
> Another test is creating a new queue with the OLD PPD file. Can you
> print with this queue, Print Quality set to Norml or High?
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1712019
>
> Title:
> Driverless printing only prints a blank sheet 17.10
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cups/+bug/1712019/+subscriptions
>

--
Rod Jones

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

First, the kernel has no influence to printing results. All the printing logic is happening in user space.

Please do the following tests and tell in which cases you get useful printouts (and if so, also tell whether there are quality differences, the PPD files are ones which you had attached in comment #2, file.pdf is an arbitrary PDF file):

lpadmin -p oldppd -E -v ipp://EPSON25B56D.local:631/ipp/print -P EPSON-WF-3620-Series17-04.ppd
lpadmin -p newppd -E -v ipp://EPSON25B56D.local:631/ipp/print -P EPSON_WF_3620_series17-10.ppd

lp -d oldppd -o cupsPrintQuality=Draft file.pdf
lp -d oldppd -o cupsPrintQuality=Normal file.pdf
lp -d oldppd -o cupsPrintQuality=High file.pdf

lp -d newppd -o cupsPrintQuality=Draft file.pdf
lp -d newppd -o cupsPrintQuality=Normal file.pdf
lp -d newppd -o cupsPrintQuality=High file.pdf

For these tests please also follow the instructions of the section "CUPS error_log" on https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingPrintingProblems

[Roderic Jones (rodericj)]

I think you discount a kernel problem too lightly. When CUPS has started a
print job it has to send it to the printer. In my case over the network.
This involves the kernel and or the network driver.

I have just tried the daily build of Ubuntu Gnome - the browser can not
find google and ubuntu Budgie - same problem. The ppd file for the printer
is present in both distributions.

I will re-install Ubuntu tomorrow and try again. 17.04 works perfectly.

On 22 August 2017 at 19:08, Till Kamppeter <email address hidden>
wrote:

> First, the kernel has no influence to printing results. All the printing
> logic is happening in user space.
>
> Please do the following tests and tell in which cases you get useful
> printouts (and if so, also tell whether there are quality differences,
> the PPD files are ones which you had attached in comment #2, file.pdf is
> an arbitrary PDF file):
>
> lpadmin -p oldppd -E -v ipp://EPSON25B56D.local:631/ipp/print -P
> EPSON-WF-3620-Series17-04.ppd
> lpadmin -p newppd -E -v ipp://EPSON25B56D.local:631/ipp/print -P
> EPSON_WF_3620_series17-10.ppd
>
> lp -d oldppd -o cupsPrintQuality=Draft file.pdf
> lp -d oldppd -o cupsPrintQuality=Normal file.pdf
> lp -d oldppd -o cupsPrintQuality=High file.pdf
>
> lp -d newppd -o cupsPrintQuality=Draft file.pdf
> lp -d newppd -o cupsPrintQuality=Normal file.pdf
> lp -d newppd -o cupsPrintQuality=High file.pdf
>
> For these tests please also follow the instructions of the section "CUPS
> error_log" on https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingPrintingProblems
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1712019
>
> Title:
> Driverless printing only prints a blank sheet 17.10
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cups/+bug/1712019/+subscriptions
>

--
Rod Jones

[Roderic Jones (rodericj)]

I apologise for doubting you I think the fault is in the PPD file.

I have a second computer for my grandchildren and visitors and this also
has a network printer. This is usually turned off and I use the one in my
study (WF). I have turned the printer on (XP) and this is recognised by the
clean install of 17.10 and prints correctly!

I enclose the PPD file for this. I will do the other tests you sugest later.

Rod Jones

On 22 August 2017 at 23:18, Roderic Jones <email address hidden> wrote:

> I think you discount a kernel problem too lightly. When CUPS has started a
> print job it has to send it to the printer. In my case over the network.
> This involves the kernel and or the network driver.
>
> I have just tried the daily build of Ubuntu Gnome - the browser can not
> find google and ubuntu Budgie - same problem. The ppd file for the printer
> is present in both distributions.
>
> I will re-install Ubuntu tomorrow and try again. 17.04 works perfectly.
>
> On 22 August 2017 at 19:08, Till Kamppeter <email address hidden>
> wrote:
>
>> First, the kernel has no influence to printing results. All the printing
>> logic is happening in user space.
>>
>> Please do the following tests and tell in which cases you get useful
>> printouts (and if so, also tell whether there are quality differences,
>> the PPD files are ones which you had attached in comment #2, file.pdf is
>> an arbitrary PDF file):
>>
>> lpadmin -p oldppd -E -v ipp://EPSON25B56D.local:631/ipp/print -P
>> EPSON-WF-3620-Series17-04.ppd
>> lpadmin -p newppd -E -v ipp://EPSON25B56D.local:631/ipp/print -P
>> EPSON_WF_3620_series17-10.ppd
>>
>> lp -d oldppd -o cupsPrintQuality=Draft file.pdf
>> lp -d oldppd -o cupsPrintQuality=Normal file.pdf
>> lp -d oldppd -o cupsPrintQuality=High file.pdf
>>
>> lp -d newppd -o cupsPrintQuality=Draft file.pdf
>> lp -d newppd -o cupsPrintQuality=Normal file.pdf
>> lp -d newppd -o cupsPrintQuality=High file.pdf
>>
>> For these tests please also follow the instructions of the section "CUPS
>> error_log" on https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingPrintingProblems
>>
>> --
>> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
>> report.
>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1712019
>>
>> Title:
>> Driverless printing only prints a blank sheet 17.10
>>
>> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
>> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cups/+bug/1712019/
>> +subscriptions
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Rod Jones
>
>

--
Rod Jones

[Roderic Jones (rodericj)]

I have done these tests. a lot of fiddling with the files was necessary
because they all have to be owned by root to work.

The "old" ppd file produces draft, normal and high printouts as you would
expect.

The new PPD file produces draft and high output but normal just ejects a
blank sheet. This has been the problem.

I have tried fiddling with the print settings printing from chrome but I
van not get any mark on the paper.

Printing from libre Office Write is the same but in the print dialog as
well as the two printers "oldppd" and "newppd" show up. If you select
"oldppd" it prints correctly.

Best wishes

Rod Jones

On 22 August 2017 at 19:08, Till Kamppeter <email address hidden>
wrote:

> First, the kernel has no influence to printing results. All the printing
> logic is happening in user space.
>
> Please do the following tests and tell in which cases you get useful
> printouts (and if so, also tell whether there are quality differences,
> the PPD files are ones which you had attached in comment #2, file.pdf is
> an arbitrary PDF file):
>
> lpadmin -p oldppd -E -v ipp://EPSON25B56D.local:631/ipp/print -P
> EPSON-WF-3620-Series17-04.ppd
> lpadmin -p newppd -E -v ipp://EPSON25B56D.local:631/ipp/print -P
> EPSON_WF_3620_series17-10.ppd
>
> lp -d oldppd -o cupsPrintQuality=Draft file.pdf
> lp -d oldppd -o cupsPrintQuality=Normal file.pdf
> lp -d oldppd -o cupsPrintQuality=High file.pdf
>
> lp -d newppd -o cupsPrintQuality=Draft file.pdf
> lp -d newppd -o cupsPrintQuality=Normal file.pdf
> lp -d newppd -o cupsPrintQuality=High file.pdf
>
> For these tests please also follow the instructions of the section "CUPS
> error_log" on https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingPrintingProblems
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1712019
>
> Title:
> Driverless printing only prints a blank sheet 17.10
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cups/+bug/1712019/+subscriptions
>

--
Rod Jones

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

Thank you for the tests.

This means that the odd resolution (4800x1200 dpi) which got put into the "Normal" setting of the "cupsPrintQuality" option breaks it (as I assumed yesterday).

You should be able to work around this if the print dialog of the application offers a "Print Quality" option where you can set "Draft" or "High".

I have already posted a upstream bug report on CUPS:

https://github.com/apple/cups/issues/5091
The driverless PPD generator chooses resolutions for cupsPrintQuality settings badly

Unfortunately, Mike Sweet, the author of CUPS, is currently on vacation, so it can take some time until he will read this bug report.

Note that the PPD generator in cups-filters is a near 100% copy of the one of CUPS. I will look into fixing it there and then proposing a patch to CUPS.

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package cups-filters - 1.17.1-0ubuntu1

---------------
cups-filters (1.17.1-0ubuntu1) artful; urgency=medium

  * New upstream release 1.17.1
    - Fixed resolution handling in the PPD generator for driverless
      printing (CUPS issue #5088, CUPS issue #5091, Closes: #868360,
      LP: #1712019).
    - Make print quality option in the generated PPDs for driverless
      printers actually work (CUPS issue #5090).
    - rastertopdf: Prefer RLE compression instead of Flate as
      there are HP printers where Flate is buggy.
  * Updated debian/libcupsfilters1.symbols.

 -- Till Kamppeter <email address hidden> Fri, 25 Aug 2017 11:22:49 -0300

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

I have now fixed the problem myself in the PPD generator in cups-filters (and added the changes as a pathc for CUPS to the CUPS upstream report). Also Mike Sweet seems to be back from vacation and has already read my numerous bug reports.

So as soon as cups-filters 1.17.1-0ubuntu1 gets onto your system (package available on Artful) you can create a working print queue. Also a fully automatically created print queue should work.

[Roderic Jones (rodericj)]

I can confirm that the fix works. Well done.

I have used Ubuntu for many years and have installed it for family and
friends. I initially recommended HP printers because HPLIP worked so well.
5 years ago we downsized and I wanted to archive a lot of stuff and HP did
not have a suitable machine for duplex scanning and printing. The Epson
machine is excellent but installing the drivers was always a bit of a pain.
17.04 was a revelation and I immediately stopped using 16.04. I suppose you
can now use most printers but my sister (in USA) has a Cannon - that was a
real pain.

Many thanks for your hard work.

Rod Jones

On 25 August 2017 at 17:31, Till Kamppeter <email address hidden>
wrote:

> I have now fixed the problem myself in the PPD generator in cups-filters
> (and added the changes as a pathc for CUPS to the CUPS upstream report).
> Also Mike Sweet seems to be back from vacation and has already read my
> numerous bug reports.
>
> So as soon as cups-filters 1.17.1-0ubuntu1 gets onto your system
> (package available on Artful) you can create a working print queue. Also
> a fully automatically created print queue should work.
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1712019
>
> Title:
> Driverless printing only prints a blank sheet 17.10
>
> To manage notifications about this bug go to:
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/cups/+bug/1712019/+subscriptions
>

--
Rod Jones

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

Great, thank you for the feedback.

So my recommendation for getting a working printer is choose one which does driverless printing (the ones on which you can print from a phone: AirPrint, IPP Everywhere, Mopria, Wi-Fi Direct). Or an HP, as HPLIP continues to be developed.

I hope in the Google Summer of Code 2018 driverless scanning can be done.

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

Fixed in CUPS 2.2.4-4.