Printing does not work on Samsung CLP-610ND

[Roger Binns]

I added a Samsung CLP-610ND via the gui and it auto-picked a driver that doesn't work (foo2qpdl). The printer machinery hums but no paper comes out.

Using cups I changed the driver to the enigmatically named "2.0.0 (en)" which is actually the splix driver and the native language of the printer. However no print jobs come out as this driver needs CMS files installed.

   SpliX Cannot open CMS file /usr/share/cups/profiles/samsung/CLP-610cms (2)

This need for CMS files is mandatory and mentioned in the INSTALL file for splix.

All this is a mess - no driver as shipped with the system works as is.

ProblemType: Bug
DistroRelease: Ubuntu 11.10
Package: system-config-printer-common 1.3.6+20110831-0ubuntu9.4
ProcVersionSignature: Ubuntu 3.0.0-13.22-generic 3.0.6
Uname: Linux 3.0.0-13-generic x86_64
NonfreeKernelModules: nvidia
ApportVersion: 1.23-0ubuntu4
Architecture: amd64
Date: Thu Dec 1 23:36:39 2011
Lpstat: device for CLP-610: dnssd://Samsung%20CLP-610%20(printer)._printer._tcp.local/
PackageArchitecture: all
Papersize: letter
PpdFiles: CLP-610: Samsung CLP-610 Foomatic/foo2qpdl (recommended)
ProcKernelCmdLine: BOOT_IMAGE=/boot/vmlinuz-3.0.0-13-generic root=UUID=cc8c9c7d-8fe1-4d60-984d-c5d2765f1766 ro pcie_aspm=force
SourcePackage: system-config-printer
UpgradeStatus: No upgrade log present (probably fresh install)
dmi.bios.date: 06/30/2011
dmi.bios.vendor: Intel Corp.
dmi.bios.version: KGIBX10J.86A.5936.2011.0630.2250
dmi.board.asset.tag: Base Board Asset Tag
dmi.board.name: DP55WG
dmi.board.vendor: Intel Corporation
dmi.board.version: AAE57269-404
dmi.chassis.type: 2
dmi.modalias: dmi:bvnIntelCorp.:bvrKGIBX10J.86A.5936.2011.0630.2250:bd06/30/2011:svn:pn:pvr:rvnIntelCorporation:rnDP55WG:rvrAAE57269-404:cvn:ct2:cvr:

[Roger Binns (ubuntu-rogerbinns)]

I should add that putting the CMS files in place doesn't help either. Jobs just sit in the queue in processing state forever.

Using splix is the openprinting recommended driver for this printer.

The only way I have found to make it work is to use the pcl driver as I had configured from several ubuntu releases ago.

[Roger Binns (ubuntu-rogerbinns)]

Several things were happening here at once.

splix is listed as a driver for this printer and Ubuntu supported and will not work unless the CMS profiles are installed.

Separately from that it looks like something is going on but I can't tell exactly what. Either the printer is losing its marbles, or the print data it is being sent causes it to enter a very confused state. I'm unable to tell which, and the printer configuration system really doesn't help.

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

I have done a test of creating a queue with the SpliX driver which prints into a file (I have no Samsung printer) and did not install the color profiles. The SpliX driver prints also without profiles. What is wrong for you is not the presence or absence of the profiles but something else.

Please follow the instructions of the sections "CUPS error_log" and "Capturing print job data" of https://wiki.ubuntu.com/DebuggingPrintingProblems for a failing job.

[Roger Binns (ubuntu-rogerbinns)]

The CUPS job page after I did a test print kept refreshing showing the job in processing (and never finished processing) with an message about the CMS being missing and giving the path it was looking for. After I installed the CMS files and did another job I did manage to get something to print once.

I think the printer was having issues (Windows drivers crashed), but the drivers are also an issue. In any event I can't do without printing so I got the successor model the CLP-620ND. The only driver offered was foo2qpdl. It only worked if configured in monochrome. In colour mode the printer makes some noise and then stops with nothing coming out. If I used splix for the 610 then printer spat out an error page about SPL-C error. If I used the official driver downloaded from Samsung then it printed fine except the content was shrunk horizontally onto the left half of each page.

The only driver that has worked reliably is the pxlcolor for the CLP-660ND although I get a notification on every job that the printer has a paper jam (it doesn't). Before my recent Ubuntu clean install to Oneiric I was using pxlcolor for the CLP-610 and a PPD and that had always worked fine but was no longer present in Oneiric.

Anyway I am closing this ticket not because it is fixed, but because anyone trying to use these printers with Ubuntu is screwed and no one is going to fix that.

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

Roger, can you tell exactly for which CLP printers the pxlcolor driver works? Then I will make appropriate database entries and make pxlcolor the recommended driver, as it seems to be the more solid solution.

Everyone with the problem do the following:

1. Try the pxlcolor driver, by choosing the "Generic PCL-6/XL printer" with "Foomatic/pxlmono" as the driver.

2. Install the SpliX package from OpenPrinting: http://www.openprinting.org/driver/splix/. To switch to this package, choose the entry containing "OpenPrinting".

Tell us which solutions work for you and which printer you are using.

[Roger Binns (ubuntu-rogerbinns)]

I had a Samsung CLP-610ND acquired at the end of 2008/early 2009 and had configured back then I think by following openprinting.org. I last used this printer in August this year with natty when it worked fine. In October I upgraded to Oneiric and for other reasons had to do a clean install which lost my printer configuration. Yesterday I needed to print something important so I added the printer letting the wizards choose and ended up in a hell that resulted in this bug report. I am still unable to tell if the issue is entirely the Linux printer drivers, or if the printer has also developed an internal fault. There are so many combinations of USB vs network, various drivers, colour versus monochrome, Windows drivers (PCL is what they default to, Samsung has their own which crashed several times). So either I was having bad luck with all the software for a discontinued printer, or the printer itself would get wedged contributing to the issues. I have attached my /etc/cups directory from a backup of when I last used the printer without issue.

Today I replaced the printer with its successor model the Samsung CLP-620ND and the rest of this refers to that printer. It speaks the same printer languages (PCL5/6, SPL) and has the same features and functionality as my 610ND did.

I made a virtual machine with a vanilla desktop install of 64 bit oneiric to ensure a clean starting point.

I searched for "print" and used whatever program appeared (system-config-printer?) to add the printer as a network printer. It was autodetected with connection options of IPP, Appsocket/Jetdirect and LPD. I left it as IPP which was selected due to being first in the list. It offered to print a test page as the final part of the printer wizard. A black and white page came out as well as a desktop notification that there was a paper jam (false). Back in the config window it showed that foo2qpdl for CLP-620 was in use. Under printer options I changed it from monochrome to color and asked for another test page. The printer made whirring sounds but no paper ever came out.

The ink/toner tab showed cartridges and what is probably their serial numbers as well as transfer belt, fuser, MP roller and tray 1 roller but does not show the levels. The printer icon in the printing tool always had a red no-entry overlay on it probably due to the nonsense paper jam claim.

I changed the driver to the CLP-610ND one labelled "2.0.0 [en]" which is splix and opted for a new PPD rather than keeping old settings. I got another (wrong) paper jam notification amd a page printed saying "SPL-C ERROR - Please use the proper driver". If I looked at completed jobs in CUPS web interface it said: "completed at Sat 03 Dec 2011 04:56:30 AM PST "SpliX Cannot open CMS file /usr/share/cups/profiles/samsung/CLP-610cms (2)"

From the splix site you can see that installing the CMS files is needed and there was a web page somewhere that linked the SPL-C error to a lack of CMS files. I didn't bother installing them this time as the splix home page shows the CLP-600 and 610 as untested (no mention of 620).

I then used the graphical tool to change the driver to Generic > PCL 6/PCL XL > Generic...

[Roger Binns (ubuntu-rogerbinns)]

Attached is natty era /etc/cups for CLP-610ND

[Roger Binns (ubuntu-rogerbinns)]

To make things further fun there are two printer configuration tools. If you use Unity then you appear to always get system-config-printer. If you use gnome-shell (as I do) then you get some system settings item that has virtually no functionality which was why my initial reports were from using the CUPS web interface.

For the virtual machine testing above I was using Unity and hence system-config-printer.

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

Roger, note that the CLP-610ND is principally a PCL-XL printer but has color reproduction problems with the standard Ghostscript driver for PCL-XL. See bug 505423 and http://www.openprinting.org/printer/Samsung/Samsung-CLP-610ND.

[Roger Binns (ubuntu-rogerbinns)]

Oh boy. The story so far for both the CLP-610 and CLP-620. (I gave the 610 to a friend and upgraded to the 620 which is substantially the same printer with refreshed hardware).

None of the open source drivers that generate SPLC work (foo2qpdl, splix) - ie even produce a page containing anything other than error messages. It is also unclear if splix needs CMS files.

The Samsung official binary driver has a nightmare installation littering the system with crap and being uninstallable, and prints the page in half the width. (The Samsung Windows driver also crashes a lot.)

The pxlcolor driver does work for most text and images. Windows also detects the printers as PCL printers.

The "firmware" issue for the 610 you linked to is also present in the 620. The test PDF is http://bugs.ghostscript.com/attachment.cgi?id=5917 and my resulting output is attached. Some of the letters ended up completely omitted.

I printed the PDF from Windows and it printed correctly although the larger coloured letters were cross hatched. On both Windows and Linux I used Google Chrome's builtin PDF support to do the printing since the code should be identical. I also tried evince on Linux which gave the same output as Chrome.

I'm not convinced the issue really is a firmware bug, but probably some dark corner of the PCL spec being interpreted differently.

[Roger Binns (ubuntu-rogerbinns)]

Windows driver output show cross hatching attached.

I changed the Ubuntu driver to be the Generic PCL 5c and that test PDF prints perfectly.

I then made a 3 page LibreOffice doc consisting of text, images and colourful web page pasted in and made it print with the PCL 5c driver in highest resolution & quality colour plus duplex. Both the colour and the duplex worked, but the images were a little grainy. It also took several minutes for the pages to come out due to printer processing time.

Switching back to the PCL 6/XL driver had completely screwed up colour mostly having a washed out beige effect and I couldn't figure out a way of fixing that (seems to be affected by print job content). It only took a few seconds for the print job to come out. I also tried Gutenprint but couldn't figure out a way to make it produce colour.

So using the PCL 5c driver will result in most reliable print jobs, but images are a little grainy and you get long processing times on complex jobs.

Using the PCL 6 driver will result in the fastest jobs and good image quality. Except when it doesn't work by leaving out coloured letters, or messes colours up completely.

[Florian Hars (hars)]

I just have to add that the PCL 5c driver is no panacea, either. Apart from the low resolution, it just garbles a different (and seemingly smaller) set of output files that the PCL 6 XL driver. Until now the only reliable way to print a file on a Samsung CLP-610 in Ubuntu 11.10 is to copy the file to a computer still running Ubuntu 11.04 and print it using the samsung proprietary driver that happens to work there.

[Florian Hars (hars)]

I attach a log file containing the result of three attempts to print the ubuntu test page. The first (job 40) used the driver with the label "Samsung CLP-610 Foomatic/foo2qpdl (recommended)" in monochrome mode and resulted in a slightly off-center monochrome test page. Job 41 used the same driver in color mode and resulted in some whirring sounds and no output (not really surprising, given that there is a irrecoverable error from ghostscript in there). Job 42 used the driver "Samsung CLP-610, 2.0.0" and resulted in a single page saying

SPL-C ERROR - Please use the proper driver
POSITION: 0x0 (0)
SYSTEM: src/xl_image
LINE: 606
VERSION: SPL-C 5.35 11-20-2007

The cms files the log complains about may be remnants of a failed attempt to install the proprietary driver (which I only tried after observing the problems described above).

[Florian Hars (hars)]

For what it's worth, I manually linked the directory with all the cms files to where the splix driver was looking for it, and it stopped compaining, but now ghostrscript dies in a way that makes cups think the printer is offline.

[Roger Binns (ubuntu-rogerbinns)]

The missing CMS files complaint is from splix ("Samsung CLP-610, 2.0.0") and possibly qpdl. I got the messages long before going anywhere near the proprietary driver.

The proprietary driver is especially nasty for its installation scattering files all over the system with no way to uninstall. Heck it even iterates over every entry in /etc/passwd (including all the system accounts) creating Desktop subdirectories!

It looks like getting the qpdl driver to actually work would be the best way forward.

I did try contacting Samsung support over all this and got a comically useless response.

[Florian Hars (hars)]

I think we have months ago established that the missing files are a red herring and the real problem is that foo2qpdl-wrapper calls ghostscript in a way that makes ghostscript go belly up (Job 41 in the log file provided in comment 14).

[Florian Hars (hars)]

As the Job 42 in the logfile attached to comment 14 and the logfile in comment 15 show, there is another bug in the splix driver for this printer. I'm setting the bug to confirmed for both packages as Rober Binns and me have independently observed the same behaviour.

[Florian Hars (hars)]

For completeness, I add the files /var/spool/cups that are generated when trying to print using the splix driver for the CLP-610

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

I cannot reproduce the Ghostscript error when using the foo2qpdl driver. Does it happen on all your attempts to print with this driver? If it does not happen, does the file get printed then?

The printed error message in comment #14 makes the impression that SpliX has a bug upstream that prevents from printing on the 610 with SpliX.

Can you also try whether SpliX works when choosing other CLP-... models?

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

In bug 936629 a user reports that the problem described there occurs for him with the foo2qpdl driver. Perhaps you also suffer the problem of bug 936629 at least when you are using foo2qpdl. Please check for lines containing "audit" in /var/log/syslog and try to print again (with all drivers) after running

sudo aa-complain cupsd

Does this help?

[Launchpad Janitor (janitor)]

This bug was fixed in the package splix - 2.0.0+svn300-1.1ubuntu2

---------------
splix (2.0.0+svn300-1.1ubuntu2) precise; urgency=low

  * debian/rules: Removed PPD files for the Samsung CLP-610 and CLP-610ND,
    these printers do not work with SpliX (LP: #898986).
 -- Till Kamppeter <email address hidden> Tue, 6 Mar 2012 09:20:00 +0100

[Roger Binns (ubuntu-rogerbinns)]

The exact same problems occur with the CLP-620ND. (I bought one replacing the 610 hoping it was fixed - sadly not.)

Consequently the 620 should also be removed. I'm happy to run any additional tests you want to confirm this.

[Till Kamppeter (till-kamppeter)]

The CLP-620(ND) does not have a SpliX PPD, so there is nothing to remove.

For using the foo2qpdl driver please follow the instructions of comment #22 and tell whether this helps.

[Florian Hars (hars)]

I get the ghostscript error every time I try to print the test page with the foomatic driver in color. There are no line containing "audit" in the syslog (except two "profile_replace" ten minutes earlier when I changed some settings). I attach another cups error_log with debug log-level.

[Roger Binns (ubuntu-rogerbinns)]

I just tried again with a fresh install of Precise with my 620ND. By default the foomatic driver is picked and it defaults to monochrome. I tried printing this bug page as my test. I don't know if the blame is with Chrome or the driver, but it behaves as though the top and bottom margins are 0 but I did get the output. system-config-printer shows a red exclamation mark and claims a media jam even though there isn't one. If I switch to colour mode then the printer machinery whirs a lot, the display says "Ready" and nothing comes out.

I went to change the driver. Only foo2qpdl is listed for this model and the ones around it. printer-driver-splix is installed and its package description claims "... and color (CLP-5xx, CLP-6xx) models are supported".

I went to the 660ND selection in the printer driver selector and picked the pxlcolor option. The page took an extraordinary amount of time to print (many minutes) from Chrome. eog was relatively instant but bizarrely it printed on the back of the paper so the printer printed a blank page, sucked it back in through the duplexer and then printed it. Libreoffice didn't have the delay issues either. In the generic driver section there is also Gutenprint offered for PCL 6, but that did not support colour.

The firmware bugs that result in botched large single colour text being the wrong colour or coming out white are still exposed when using PCL 6, but not present when using PCL 5c.

The final conclusion is that to use this printer you need to choose PCL 5c or PCL 6.

PCL 5c: Prints large coloured text fine, but takes a long time to print images (and possibly lower quality too)
PCL 6: Messes up large coloured text, prints images quickly

Also you will always have an icon indicating there is a paper jam even though there isn't.

[jhoechtl (johann-hoechtl)]

For immediate help: I use Samsung CLP610 and 620 reliably since 2+ years with this solution:

http://www.bchemnet.com/suldr/

No problem whatsoever.

[Roger Binns (ubuntu-rogerbinns)]

@Johann, thank you for that pointer. I had tried the official Samsung driver earlier which has the world's worst installer and on printed to half the page width.

Using the latest driver from bchemnet I found the following:

* Using the Samsung Configurator meant no print jobs came out and I was constantly told about non-existent paper jams
* Using system-config-printer with DNS-SD/LPD printed and also claimed paper jams via notification popups
* Using system-config-printer with Jetdirect printed and there were no popups but the printer icon and successfully completed job icons all have explanation marks saying there were paper jams
* I did some test prints including the multi-coloured text which doesn't come out with Samsung's PCL and was murky with Samsung's Windows SPL-C driver

That leads to the following conclusions:

* Samsung's printers do not do PCL emulation correctly
* There are several open source SPL-C drivers but none of them work correctly
* Samsung's current binary SPL-C driver does generate correct output
* Samsung's engineers should be ashamed at the packaging and components of their driver
* The bchemnet repackaging undoes most of the Samsung packaging and security issues
* Use as little Samsung code as possible (eg only use the Configurator to access scanner functionality - not present in my printer)