HP Officejet Pro X476dw MFP prints in 300dpi

Bug #1385055 reported by Schlomo Schapiro
8
This bug affects 1 person
Affects Status Importance Assigned to Milestone
HPLIP
New
Undecided
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hplip (Ubuntu)
Triaged
Low
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Bug Description

Running Ubuntu 14.04 running stock hplip 3.14.3

Printer HP Officejet Pro X476dw MFP

hp-check -t output is attached

Problem:

Initially I noticed that printing documents with Hebrew fonts results in low quality with fuzzy lines. After some debugging I was able to trace this down to the fact that by default CUPS converts the print job to a 300dpi PS before giving it to the hp driver:

D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:01 +0200] [Job 261] Printer make and model: HP HP Officejet Pro X576dw MFP
D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:01 +0200] [Job 261] Running command line for pstops: pstops 261 schlomo hebrew-test.pdf 1 'finishings=3 media=iso_a4_210x297mm output-bin=face-down print-color-mode=color print-quality=4 sides=one-sided job-uuid=urn:uuid:c1da9224-d10b-3c2f-6a99-487121b8864c job-originating-host-name=localhost time-at-creation=1414128121 time-at-processing=1414128121 Duplex=None PageSize=A4'
D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:01 +0200] [Job 261] No resolution information found in the PPD file.
D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:01 +0200] [Job 261] Using image rendering resolution 300 dpi
D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:01 +0200] [Job 261] Running command line for gs: gs -q -dNOPAUSE -dBATCH -dSAFER -sDEVICE=ps2write -sOUTPUTFILE=%stdout -dLanguageLevel=3 -r300 -dCompressFonts=false -dNoT3CCITT -dNOINTERPOLATE -c 'save pop' -f /var/spool/cups/tmp/066575456f596

I was able to fix the problem by adding this resolution setting to the PPD:

*DefaultResolution: 600x600dpi

As a result the print job is converted at 600dpi instead of 300dpi which leads to the expected good result:

D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:33 +0200] [Job 262] Printer make and model: HP HP Officejet Pro X576dw MFP
D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:33 +0200] [Job 262] Running command line for pstops: pstops 262 schlomo hebrew-test.pdf 1 'Duplex=None finishings=3 media=iso_a4_210x297mm output-bin=face-down print-color-mode=color print-quality=4 sides=two-sided-long-edge job-uuid=urn:uuid:83e69459-c350-37e5-417d-9ca00f8c6bd9 job-originating-host-name=localhost time-at-creation=1414128153 time-at-processing=1414128153 PageSize=A4'
D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:33 +0200] [Job 262] Using image rendering resolution 600 dpi
D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:33 +0200] [Job 262] Running command line for gs: gs -q -dNOPAUSE -dBATCH -dSAFER -sDEVICE=ps2write -sOUTPUTFILE=%stdout -dLanguageLevel=3 -r600 -dCompressFonts=false -dNoT3CCITT -dNOINTERPOLATE -c 'save pop' -f /var/spool/cups/tmp/0666d544aec68

I think that the PPD is broken because it does not specify a resolution.

It would be nice if the PPD could be fixed.

Revision history for this message
Schlomo Schapiro (sschapiro) wrote :
Revision history for this message
Schlomo Schapiro (sschapiro) wrote :

The attached PDF looks very bad when printed in 300dpi and looks good when printed in 600dpi. Somehow this font makes the problem very visible, with latin fonts the difference in quality was less profound.

In 300dpi the lines of the letters look ragged and not crisp.

Revision history for this message
Johannes Meixner (jsmeix) wrote :
Revision history for this message
Johannes Meixner (jsmeix) wrote :

FYI:
The attached PDF.ppd.gz belongs to
https://answers.launchpad.net/hplip/+question/256131
because it seems one cannot attach files to questions.

Revision history for this message
Schlomo Schapiro (sschapiro) wrote :
Revision history for this message
Schlomo Schapiro (sschapiro) wrote :

A year has passed - what do I need to do to get this PPD fix upstream?

Revision history for this message
gf (gf-interlinks-deactivatedaccount) wrote :

Hello Schlomo,
Thank you for submitting this bug and reporting a problem with hplip. You made this bug report some time ago and Ubuntu and hplip have been updated since then.

Could you confirm that this is no longer a problem and that we can close the ticket?
If it is still a problem, are you still interested in finding a solution to this bug?
If you are, could you let us know and, in the current version, could you run the following (only once):
apport-collect 1385055
and upload the updated logs and and any other logs that are relevant for this particular issue.

Thank you again for helping make Ubuntu and hplip better.
G
[Ubuntu Bug Squad volunteer triager]

Changed in hplip:
status: New → Incomplete
Changed in hplip (Ubuntu):
status: New → Incomplete
Revision history for this message
Schlomo Schapiro (sschapiro) wrote :

Can you please point me to the source repo of the PPD for this printer? The bug is in the PPD which explicitly limits the resolution to 300dpi even though the printer supports true 600dpi in hardware.

I haven't upgraded to 18.04 yet so that I can happily check the PPD in your source code instead.

Revision history for this message
gf (gf-interlinks-deactivatedaccount) wrote :

Hi Schlomo,
I think the latest version of hplip is 3.18.7 from August 2018 and can be found here:
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/hplip/3.18.7+dfsg1-1

There is also the ability to download it directly from HP:
https://developers.hp.com/hp-linux-imaging-and-printing

click "Download HPLIP"
In the drop-down list, pick "Ubuntu"
Or, if you are familiar with tar, there are advanced options at the bottom of that same page for downloading actual files.

Hope this helps
:)
G

Revision history for this message
Schlomo Schapiro (sschapiro) wrote : Re: [Bug 1385055] Re: HP Officejet Pro X476dw MFP prints in 300dpi
Download full text (4.6 KiB)

Thanks. I checked the 3.18.7 PPDs and found out that the problem is still
not fixed. The root issue is that the PPD does not define the
DefaultResolution parameter which causes CUPS to use a default of 300dpi.

So the problem is that the
*DefaultResolution: 600x600dpi
line is still missing from the PPD which I pointed out already at the
beginning of this thread.

It turns out that a lot of PPDs are missing this line:

$ ( pwd ; zgrep -o DefaultResolution *ppd* | wc -l ; ls -l | wc -l )
~/hplip-3.18.7/prnt/ps
     256
     339

As you can see, there are 339 PPD files in the prnt/ps directory and only
256 of them contain a DefaultResolution line. Probably the other ones also
will have a similar bug if the printer supports more than the CUPS default
of 300dpi

I therefore kindly ask you to add the DefaultResolution line to the PPD. If
you point me to a place where I can submit a Pull Request I will gladly do
so. Unfortunately neither the Sourceforge nor the Launchpad project seem to
contain the source code repo.

On Thu, 6 Sep 2018 at 11:55, gf <email address hidden> wrote:

> Hi Schlomo,
> I think the latest version of hplip is 3.18.7 from August 2018 and can be
> found here:
> https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/hplip/3.18.7+dfsg1-1
>
> There is also the ability to download it directly from HP:
> https://developers.hp.com/hp-linux-imaging-and-printing
>
> click "Download HPLIP"
> In the drop-down list, pick "Ubuntu"
> Or, if you are familiar with tar, there are advanced options at the bottom
> of that same page for downloading actual files.
>
> Hope this helps
> :)
> G
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1385055
>
> Title:
> HP Officejet Pro X476dw MFP prints in 300dpi
>
> Status in HPLIP:
> Incomplete
> Status in hplip package in Ubuntu:
> Incomplete
>
> Bug description:
> Running Ubuntu 14.04 running stock hplip 3.14.3
>
> Printer HP Officejet Pro X476dw MFP
>
> hp-check -t output is attached
>
> Problem:
>
> Initially I noticed that printing documents with Hebrew fonts results
> in low quality with fuzzy lines. After some debugging I was able to
> trace this down to the fact that by default CUPS converts the print
> job to a 300dpi PS before giving it to the hp driver:
>
> D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:01 +0200] [Job 261] Printer make and model: HP HP
> Officejet Pro X576dw MFP
> D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:01 +0200] [Job 261] Running command line for
> pstops: pstops 261 schlomo hebrew-test.pdf 1 'finishings=3
> media=iso_a4_210x297mm output-bin=face-down print-color-mode=color
> print-quality=4 sides=one-sided
> job-uuid=urn:uuid:c1da9224-d10b-3c2f-6a99-487121b8864c
> job-originating-host-name=localhost time-at-creation=1414128121
> time-at-processing=1414128121 Duplex=None PageSize=A4'
> D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:01 +0200] [Job 261] No resolution information found
> in the PPD file.
> D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:01 +0200] [Job 261] Using image rendering
> resolution 300 dpi
> D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:01 +0200] [Job 261] Running command line for gs: gs
> -q -dNOPAUSE -dBATCH -dSAFER -sDEVICE=ps2write -sOUTPUTFILE=%stdout
> -dLanguageLevel=3 -r...

Read more...

Revision history for this message
gf (gf-interlinks-deactivatedaccount) wrote :

Hi Schlomo,
Just to clarify and prep this report for the programmers, what version of ubuntu are you in now?
Thanks
G

Revision history for this message
Schlomo Schapiro (sschapiro) wrote :
Download full text (3.4 KiB)

Using Ubuntu 16.04. I originally reported it when I was using 14.04, but
the PPD hasn't seen any changes in all those years and nobody from the
HPLIP developers looked at this bug (AFAIK).

On Fri, 7 Sep 2018 at 14:11, gf <email address hidden> wrote:

> Hi Schlomo,
> Just to clarify and prep this report for the programmers, what version of
> ubuntu are you in now?
> Thanks
> G
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1385055
>
> Title:
> HP Officejet Pro X476dw MFP prints in 300dpi
>
> Status in HPLIP:
> Incomplete
> Status in hplip package in Ubuntu:
> Incomplete
>
> Bug description:
> Running Ubuntu 14.04 running stock hplip 3.14.3
>
> Printer HP Officejet Pro X476dw MFP
>
> hp-check -t output is attached
>
> Problem:
>
> Initially I noticed that printing documents with Hebrew fonts results
> in low quality with fuzzy lines. After some debugging I was able to
> trace this down to the fact that by default CUPS converts the print
> job to a 300dpi PS before giving it to the hp driver:
>
> D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:01 +0200] [Job 261] Printer make and model: HP HP
> Officejet Pro X576dw MFP
> D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:01 +0200] [Job 261] Running command line for
> pstops: pstops 261 schlomo hebrew-test.pdf 1 'finishings=3
> media=iso_a4_210x297mm output-bin=face-down print-color-mode=color
> print-quality=4 sides=one-sided
> job-uuid=urn:uuid:c1da9224-d10b-3c2f-6a99-487121b8864c
> job-originating-host-name=localhost time-at-creation=1414128121
> time-at-processing=1414128121 Duplex=None PageSize=A4'
> D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:01 +0200] [Job 261] No resolution information found
> in the PPD file.
> D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:01 +0200] [Job 261] Using image rendering
> resolution 300 dpi
> D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:01 +0200] [Job 261] Running command line for gs: gs
> -q -dNOPAUSE -dBATCH -dSAFER -sDEVICE=ps2write -sOUTPUTFILE=%stdout
> -dLanguageLevel=3 -r300 -dCompressFonts=false -dNoT3CCITT -dNOINTERPOLATE
> -c 'save pop' -f /var/spool/cups/tmp/066575456f596
>
> I was able to fix the problem by adding this resolution setting to the
> PPD:
>
> *DefaultResolution: 600x600dpi
>
> As a result the print job is converted at 600dpi instead of 300dpi
> which leads to the expected good result:
>
> D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:33 +0200] [Job 262] Printer make and model: HP HP
> Officejet Pro X576dw MFP
> D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:33 +0200] [Job 262] Running command line for
> pstops: pstops 262 schlomo hebrew-test.pdf 1 'Duplex=None finishings=3
> media=iso_a4_210x297mm output-bin=face-down print-color-mode=color
> print-quality=4 sides=two-sided-long-edge
> job-uuid=urn:uuid:83e69459-c350-37e5-417d-9ca00f8c6bd9
> job-originating-host-name=localhost time-at-creation=1414128153
> time-at-processing=1414128153 PageSize=A4'
> D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:33 +0200] [Job 262] Using image rendering
> resolution 600 dpi
> D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:33 +0200] [Job 262] Running command line for gs: gs
> -q -dNOPAUSE -dBATCH -dSAFER -sDEVICE=ps2write -sOUTPUTFILE=%stdout
> -dLanguageLevel=3 -r600 -dCompressFonts=false -dNoT3CCITT -dNOINTERPOLATE
> -c 'save pop' -f /var/spoo...

Read more...

Revision history for this message
gf (gf-interlinks-deactivatedaccount) wrote :

OK, thanks for the update, Schlomo. I think there is enough information in this report now that it can be send to the programmers. For their ease, I will add a summary here. Please feel free to add any corrections.

-----------------------
SUMMARY:
Ubuntu version 16.04 and 18.04

Problem is reproducable by the bug reporter.
Printer is HP Officejet Pro X476dw MFP.

Notes:
Printing documents with Hebrew fonts results in low quality with fuzzy lines (default CUPS converts the print job to a 300dpi PS before giving it to the hp driver)

Expected behaviour: documents print at 600 dpi
Actual behaviour: documents are printing at 300 dpi

Additional notes:
Bug reporter is in Ubuntu 16.04 but has checked the latest PPD file (v3.18.7) and issue still exists. “The PPD does not define the DefaultResolution parameter which causes CUPS to use a default of 300dpi.”

Solution:
Add to the PPD for this printer: the DefaultResolution parameter. For example:
*DefaultResolution: 600x600dpi
-----------------------

Revision history for this message
Schlomo Schapiro (sschapiro) wrote :
Download full text (4.4 KiB)

Thanks! Can you link here the upstream bug report and fix once it is there?

What about the other PPDs that don't set a default resolution? I would
suppose that they suffer from the same problem if the printer supports more
than 300dpi.

On Sun, 9 Sep 2018 at 02:29, gf <email address hidden> wrote:

> OK, thanks for the update, Schlomo. I think there is enough information
> in this report now that it can be send to the programmers. For their
> ease, I will add a summary here. Please feel free to add any
> corrections.
>
> -----------------------
> SUMMARY:
> Ubuntu version 16.04 and 18.04
>
> Problem is reproducable by the bug reporter.
> Printer is HP Officejet Pro X476dw MFP.
>
> Notes:
> Printing documents with Hebrew fonts results in low quality with fuzzy
> lines (default CUPS converts the print job to a 300dpi PS before giving it
> to the hp driver)
>
> Expected behaviour: documents print at 600 dpi
> Actual behaviour: documents are printing at 300 dpi
>
> Additional notes:
> Bug reporter is in Ubuntu 16.04 but has checked the latest PPD file
> (v3.18.7) and issue still exists. “The PPD does not define the
> DefaultResolution parameter which causes CUPS to use a default of 300dpi.”
>
> Solution:
> Add to the PPD for this printer: the DefaultResolution parameter. For
> example:
> *DefaultResolution: 600x600dpi
> -----------------------
>
> --
> You received this bug notification because you are subscribed to the bug
> report.
> https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/1385055
>
> Title:
> HP Officejet Pro X476dw MFP prints in 300dpi
>
> Status in HPLIP:
> Incomplete
> Status in hplip package in Ubuntu:
> Incomplete
>
> Bug description:
> Running Ubuntu 14.04 running stock hplip 3.14.3
>
> Printer HP Officejet Pro X476dw MFP
>
> hp-check -t output is attached
>
> Problem:
>
> Initially I noticed that printing documents with Hebrew fonts results
> in low quality with fuzzy lines. After some debugging I was able to
> trace this down to the fact that by default CUPS converts the print
> job to a 300dpi PS before giving it to the hp driver:
>
> D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:01 +0200] [Job 261] Printer make and model: HP HP
> Officejet Pro X576dw MFP
> D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:01 +0200] [Job 261] Running command line for
> pstops: pstops 261 schlomo hebrew-test.pdf 1 'finishings=3
> media=iso_a4_210x297mm output-bin=face-down print-color-mode=color
> print-quality=4 sides=one-sided
> job-uuid=urn:uuid:c1da9224-d10b-3c2f-6a99-487121b8864c
> job-originating-host-name=localhost time-at-creation=1414128121
> time-at-processing=1414128121 Duplex=None PageSize=A4'
> D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:01 +0200] [Job 261] No resolution information found
> in the PPD file.
> D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:01 +0200] [Job 261] Using image rendering
> resolution 300 dpi
> D [24/Oct/2014:07:22:01 +0200] [Job 261] Running command line for gs: gs
> -q -dNOPAUSE -dBATCH -dSAFER -sDEVICE=ps2write -sOUTPUTFILE=%stdout
> -dLanguageLevel=3 -r300 -dCompressFonts=false -dNoT3CCITT -dNOINTERPOLATE
> -c 'save pop' -f /var/spool/cups/tmp/066575456f596
>
> I was able to fix the problem by adding this resolution setting to the
> PPD:
>
> *DefaultResolution: 600x600dpi
>
...

Read more...

Revision history for this message
gf (gf-interlinks-deactivatedaccount) wrote :

OK, thanks for the update, Schlomo. I think there is enough information in this report now that it can be send to the programmers. For their ease, I will add a summary here. Please feel free to add any corrections.

-----------------------
SUMMARY:
Ubuntu version 16.04 and 18.04

Problem is reproducable by the bug reporter.
Printer is HP Officejet Pro X476dw MFP.

Notes:
Printing documents with Hebrew fonts results in low quality with fuzzy lines (default CUPS converts the print job to a 300dpi PS before giving it to the hp driver)

Expected behaviour: documents print at 600 dpi
Actual behaviour: documents are printing at 300 dpi

Additional notes:
Bug reporter is in Ubuntu 16.04 but has checked the latest PPD file (v3.18.7) and issue still exists. “The PPD does not define the DefaultResolution parameter which causes CUPS to use a default of 300dpi.”

Solution:
Add to the PPD for this printer: the DefaultResolution parameter. For example:
*DefaultResolution: 600x600dpi
-----------------------

Changed in hplip:
status: Incomplete → New
Changed in hplip (Ubuntu):
status: Incomplete → New
Revision history for this message
gf (gf-interlinks-deactivatedaccount) wrote :

Hi Schlomo,
Sorry for the duplicate post. I thought I had forgotten to hit the "Post Comment" button yesterday.

In response to your post: there is no "upstream" bug, in this case. The HPLIP group uses Launchpad as well to triage bugs. So this bug report, in effect, IS the upstream bug since the "HPLIP" (in capital letters) package is associated with it.

Regarding the other PPDs with similar problems, generally a separate bug report would be submitted for each PPD, since each file is related to a specific make and model of printer.

Alternatively, if you are feeling energetic, :) and want to go through the whole hplip package and find all the lines that need to be corrected/added, you could add submit a bulk bug report with all the details, to help the programmers clear up this problem for everyone. :)

But I know not everyone has the time to do this. Thanks for your help on clarifying this issue. Hopefully, they will soon fix the PPD for your printer.

:)
G

Revision history for this message
C de-Avillez (hggdh2) wrote :

setting Triaged/Low per request in #ubuntu-bugs.

Changed in hplip (Ubuntu):
importance: Undecided → Low
status: New → Triaged
Revision history for this message
gf (gf-interlinks-deactivatedaccount) wrote :

Thanks for changing the importance and status levels for me, C!
:)
G

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