I also have an HP LaserJet 1018 and I have the same errors.
Kernel: 2.6.31-16-generic

The printer worked on Ubuntu since january 2008, with issues (often I had to reboot for the document to print, or to boot with the printer switched on). The situaton did not improve with Karmic (errors where more random).
Not the printer does not work at all. It looks like some kernel upgrade (-14 -15 -16, I don't know) changed something in USB.

Here is my dmesg log. The first lines seems to correspond to the time when I plugged the printer.

[ 1306.672290] usb 1-5.3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 13
[ 1307.124850] hub 1-5:1.0: unable to enumerate USB device on port 3
[ 1341.324329] usb 1-5.4: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 14
[ 1341.436173] usb 1-5.4: configuration #1 chosen from 1 choice
[ 1341.439226] usblp0: USB Bidirectional printer dev 14 if 0 alt 0 proto 2 vid 0x03F0 pid 0x4117
[ 1343.154636] usb 1-5.4: usbfs: interface 0 claimed by usblp while 'usb' sets config #1
[ 1347.960109] usb 1-5.4: usbfs: USBDEVFS_CONTROL failed cmd python rqt 128 rq 6 len 255 ret -110
[ 1348.156076] usb 1-5.4: usbfs: USBDEVFS_CONTROL failed cmd hp rqt 128 rq 6 len 255 ret -110
[ 1348.552158] usb 1-5.4: usbfs: USBDEVFS_CONTROL failed cmd python rqt 128 rq 6 len 255 ret -110
[ 1352.960100] usb 1-5.4: usbfs: USBDEVFS_CONTROL failed cmd python rqt 128 rq 6 len 255 ret -110
[ 1358.080193] usb 1-5.4: usbfs: USBDEVFS_CONTROL failed cmd python rqt 128 rq 6 len 255 ret -110
[ 1363.080053] usb 1-5.4: usbfs: USBDEVFS_CONTROL failed cmd python rqt 128 rq 6 len 255 ret -110
[ 1368.080159] usb 1-5.4: usbfs: USBDEVFS_CONTROL failed cmd python rqt 128 rq 6 len 255 ret -110
[ 1372.388100] usb 1-5.4: usbfs: USBDEVFS_CONTROL failed cmd python rqt 128 rq 6 len 255 ret -110
[ 1377.388077] usb 1-5.4: usbfs: USBDEVFS_CONTROL failed cmd python rqt 128 rq 6 len 255 ret -110
[ 1382.388174] usb 1-5.4: usbfs: USBDEVFS_CONTROL failed cmd python rqt 128 rq 6 len 255 ret -110
[ 1394.745293] usb 1-5.4: USB disconnect, address 14
[ 1394.745474] usblp0: removed
[ 1396.736302] usb 1-5.3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 15
[ 1411.808291] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 1426.984380] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 1427.176164] usb 1-5.3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 16
[ 1442.248304] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 1457.424470] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 1457.600315] usb 1-5.3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 17
[ 1462.620113] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 1467.740156] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 1467.916269] usb 1-5.3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 18
[ 1472.936181] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 1478.056094] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 1478.160354] hub 1-5:1.0: unable to enumerate USB device on port 3
[ 2156.448301] usb 1-5.3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 19
[ 2171.520262] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 2186.696332] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 2186.872297] usb 1-5.3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 20
[ 2201.944262] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 2217.120331] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 2217.296293] usb 1-5.3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 21
[ 2222.316065] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 2227.436076] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 2227.612311] usb 1-5.3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 22
[ 2232.632077] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 2237.752087] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 2237.856346] hub 1-5:1.0: unable to enumerate USB device on port 3
[ 3395.372242] usb 1-5.3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 23
[ 3410.444355] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 3425.620314] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 3425.796292] usb 1-5.3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 24
[ 3440.868378] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 3456.044311] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 3456.220293] usb 1-5.3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 25
[ 3461.240100] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 3466.360159] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 3466.536264] usb 1-5.3: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 26
[ 3471.556073] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 3476.676126] usb 1-5.3: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 3476.780388] hub 1-5:1.0: unable to enumerate USB device on port 3
[ 3633.442881] usb 1-5: USB disconnect, address 8
[ 3635.540023] usb 1-5: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 27
[ 3650.652036] usb 1-5: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 3665.868065] usb 1-5: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 3666.084035] usb 1-5: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 28
[ 3681.196039] usb 1-5: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 3696.412027] usb 1-5: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 3696.628735] usb 1-5: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 29
[ 3701.648151] usb 1-5: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 3706.768058] usb 1-5: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 3706.984124] usb 1-5: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 30
[ 3712.004065] usb 1-5: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 3717.124091] usb 1-5: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 3717.228037] hub 1-0:1.0: unable to enumerate USB device on port 5
[ 3717.500347] usb 4-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 26
[ 3732.612030] usb 4-1: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 3747.828036] usb 4-1: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 3748.044029] usb 4-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 27
[ 3763.164037] usb 4-1: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 3778.400038] usb 4-1: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 3778.616081] usb 4-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 28
[ 3783.637657] usb 4-1: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 3788.757929] usb 4-1: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 3788.972038] usb 4-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 29
[ 3793.993492] usb 4-1: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 3799.113458] usb 4-1: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 3799.216047] hub 4-0:1.0: unable to enumerate USB device on port 1
[ 3956.656079] usb 4-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 30
[ 3968.268057] hub 4-0:1.0: unable to enumerate USB device on port 1
[ 3970.904029] usb 1-5: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 31
[ 3986.016025] usb 1-5: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 4001.244034] usb 1-5: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 4001.460022] usb 1-5: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 32
[ 4016.572035] usb 1-5: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 4031.788037] usb 1-5: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 4032.004018] usb 1-5: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 33
[ 4037.024110] usb 1-5: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 4042.144116] usb 1-5: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 4042.360030] usb 1-5: new high speed USB device using ehci_hcd and address 34
[ 4047.380103] usb 1-5: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 4052.500109] usb 1-5: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 4052.604034] hub 1-0:1.0: unable to enumerate USB device on port 5
[ 4052.876150] usb 4-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 31
[ 4067.988032] usb 4-1: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 4083.204027] usb 4-1: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 4083.420027] usb 4-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 32
[ 4098.532030] usb 4-1: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 4113.748016] usb 4-1: device descriptor read/64, error -110
[ 4113.964026] usb 4-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 33
[ 4118.985400] usb 4-1: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 4124.105654] usb 4-1: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 4124.320027] usb 4-1: new full speed USB device using uhci_hcd and address 34
[ 4129.341890] usb 4-1: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 4134.461144] usb 4-1: device descriptor read/8, error -110
[ 4134.564043] hub 4-0:1.0: unable to enumerate USB device on port 1