Lost printer setup in PCLinuxOS-KDE-2012.02

[Alfalfa]

Sometime after a recent PCLinuxOS update -- unfortunately I’m not now sure which one as I didn’t discover it right away -- my HP Deskjet 720C stopped being recognized such that I can only print to a file.

I tried a re-setup via PCLinuxOS Control Center.  Since nothing was found under Add, I went Help > Troubleshoot > Choose Printer (Not listed) > Printer Location (Locally connected printer) > Choose Device (finds  HPDeskjet 720C LPT #1 HP Deskjet 720C parallel:/dev/lpo) > Sorry!  There is no obvious solution to this problem.  Your answers have been collected together with other useful information.  If you would like to report a bug, please include this information. > Diagnostic Output (Advanced), which I saved and have reproduced here: 
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Page 1 (Scheduler not running?):
{'cups_connection_failure': False}
Page 2 (Choose printer):
{'cups_dests_available': [], 'cups_queue_listed': False}
Page 3 (Local or remote?):
{'printer_is_remote': False}
Page 4 (Choose device):
{'cups_device_attributes': {'device-class': u'direct',
                            'device-id': u'MFG:HEWLETT-PACKARD;MDL:DESKJET 720C;CMD:SCP,VLINK;CLASS:PRINTER;DESCRIPTION:Hewlett-Packard DeskJet 720 Series;  ',
                            'device-info': u'HP DESKJET 720C LPT #1',
                            'device-location': u'',
                            'device-make-and-model': u'HP DESKJET 720C'},
 'cups_device_listed': True,
 'cups_device_uri': 'parallel:/dev/lp0'}
Page 5 (Locale issues):
{'printer_page_size': None,
 'system_locale_lang': 'en_US',
 'user_locale_ctype': 'en_US',
 'user_locale_messages': 'en_US'}

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I have never reported a bug and am not confident enough in my understanding of everything involved here to call this a bug.  Perhaps someone who is knowledgeable in such matters can help to clarify what, if anything, I need to do in this regard?

Regarding the driver, "  http://openprinting.org/printer/HP/HP-DeskJet_720C  " identifies pnm2ppa as the recommended driver, and Synaptic says I have it installed.  I am sure it is what I had been using.  Any suggestions as to how I can get back to using it again without unnecessary muss and fuss will be most appreciated.

Thanks.

[djohnston]

I have an HP Deskjet 712C, but the driver I'm using shows it as a 710C. Anyway, it uses the same pnm2ppa as yours. Start with CUPS. Turn your printer on and open a web browser. Enter http://localhost:631 into the address bar. You should see the CUPS 1.4.6 main page. Click the Administration tab. In the Printers section, first click the Manage Printers button. If your printer's not showing, click the Add Printer button. In the dialog box that pops up, enter root as the username and root's password in the password field.

Does that get you anywhere?

[Alfalfa]

Thanks very much for your help, djohnston.

I got as far as the Add Printer page and stopped as it isn't clear to me which (if any) of the buttons would fit with the problem I am having.  What I get is below.  I have used an "o" at the beginning each of the choice lines below to represent buttons, and then there is a continue button below everything else.

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Add Printer

Local Printers:    SCSI Printer

o PDF Writing
o HP Printer (HPLIP)
o HP Fax (HPLIP)
o Discovered Network Printers:    

Other Network Printers:    Windows Printer via SAMBA

o Backend Error Handler
o Internet Printing Protocol (http)
o AppSocket/HP JetDirect
o Internet Printing Protocol (ipp)
o LPD/LPR Host or Printer

Continue

-----
I will look forward to any further ideas or suggestions.

Thanks again.

   

[JerryP]

Using CUPS handled my printer problems like dj says (http://localhost:631/). Since you have an HP printer, what happens when you choose HP Printer?  HPLIP are the HP drivers and I doubt it would be an option if they weren't installed on your box. You could check with Synaptic first if you want.  Worst thing that could happen is that it won't work which is what you have already.   

[Alfalfa]

Thanks for your interest, JerryP.

It had long been my understanding and experience that HPLIP does not work with the Deskjet 722C (I initially said 720C, which takes the same driver, but in fact I have a 722C) so I did not try it this time around.  I did, however, just now check with HP again and found, at    http://hplipopensource.com/node/265  :

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Are drivers available for the Deskjet 710C, 712C, 720C, 722C, 820Cse, 820Cxi, 1000Cse, 1000Cxi; or Color LaserJet 1500, 2600 printers?
Answer:

These are host based printers. Currently there are no plans to support these printers in HPLIP.  See the host-based printing article for more information.

Ghostscript print filters for the Deskjet products can be found at the pnm2ppa project.

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Thanks, once again, and I look forward to receiving any further ideas and suggestions.

[djohnston]

I got as far as the Add Printer page and stopped as it isn't clear to me which (if any) of the buttons would fit with the problem I am having.
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Add Printer

Local Printers:    SCSI Printer

o PDF Writing
o HP Printer (HPLIP)
o HP Fax (HPLIP)
o Discovered Network Printers:    

You have an HP printer, so you would click the o HP Printer (HPLIP) button. Did you first click the Manage Printers button? If you did, what was the result? Did it say you have no printer?

It had long been my understanding and experience that HPLIP does not work with the Deskjet 722C (I initially said 720C, which takes the same driver, but in fact I have a 722C) so I did not try it this time around.  I did, however, just now check with HP again and found, at    http://hplipopensource.com/node/265  :

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Are drivers available for the Deskjet 710C, 712C, 720C, 722C, 820Cse, 820Cxi, 1000Cse, 1000Cxi; or Color LaserJet 1500, 2600 printers?
Answer:

These are host based printers. Currently there are no plans to support these printers in HPLIP.  See the host-based printing article for more information.

Ghostscript print filters for the Deskjet products can be found at the pnm2ppa project.

HP is saying on their web page that they will no longer support such old printers as the parallel port ones you and I have. That's all. It doesn't matter. The support for them is already there in PCLinuxOS. Convince yourself. Open a terminal and enter:

which pnm2ppa

You get /usr/bin/pnm2ppa, don't you? Let's also see if the printer driver is on your system. In the same terminal, enter:

ls /etc/cups/ppd | grep HP_DESKJET

You get HP_DESKJET_720C.ppd, don't you? If not, stop there and post back with your results. It doesn't matter if you use the 720C driver for a 722. As I said before, I'm using the 710C driver for a 712. It works.

I don't see how you can say that "HPLIP does not work with the Deskjet 722C". You started this thread by saying,

Sometime after a recent PCLinuxOS update -- unfortunately I’m not now sure which one as I didn’t discover it right away -- my HP Deskjet 720C stopped being recognized such that I can only print to a file.

Either the printer worked before or it didn't. If it did, let's start with what packages you have installed. Open Synaptic. Click the big Reload button. Then click the big Mark All Upgrades button. If there are any upgrades, click the Apply button and do a full update of your system.

With Synaptic still open, click the big Search button. Enter the word printer in the search window. Make sure all of the following packages are installed. If one isn't mark it for installation. If more packages are reuired as dependencies, mark those for installation, too.

task-printing-hp
system-config-printer
printer-testpages
printer-tools
printer-utils
pnm2ppa
postscript-ppds
hplip
hplip-common
hplip-hpijs
gutenprint-cups
gutenprint-foomatic
ghostscript
ghostscript-common
foomatic-db
foomatic-filters
cups
cups-drivers

Post again when you're ready to continue.

[Alfalfa]

Thanks for your continued help, djohnston.

I tried to do exactly what you said in your first reply:  I went http://localhost:631 > Administration > Manage Printers (No Printers) > Add Printer (entered root password) and, since you had not said to do anything further, I copied what I got and posted back.

Consistent with “...identifies pnm2ppa as the recommended driver, and Synaptic says I have it installed” in the last paragraph of my original post, entering “  which pnm2ppa  “ in a terminal, gets:

/usr/bin/pnm2ppa
[x@localhost ~]$

Entering “   ls /etc/cups/ppd | grep HP_DESKJET   “ in a terminal, however, gets nothing, so I have stopped here pending further input.

For what it’s worth, I had hoped to clarify a couple of minor technicalities by including “(I initially said 720C, which takes the same driver, but in fact I have a 722C)” in my reply to JerryP.

The printer did work before, and still does with other distros on other computers.

I just updated Synaptic and confirmed that all of the packages you listed are installed.

Will appreciate any further ideas or suggestions.

[Just17]

try


ls /etc/cups/ppd

or

ls /etc/cups/ppd | grep Deskjet

I have a HP and this is what I get

Code: [Select]

ls /etc/cups/ppd
Deskjet_3050_J610_USB.ppd

[Alfalfa]

Thanks for the suggestions, Just18.

I tried both   ls /etc/cups/ppd  and  ls /etc/cups/ppd | grep Deskjet  in Konsole and got nothing.

Will welcome other ideas or suggestions.

[Alfalfa]

OK.  Got my big boy pants on, as I heard someone say the other day, and I’m ready to take my lumps.  Those (JerryP, Just18, and especially djohnston!) who have tried to help are entitled to be irritated, but hopefully someone besides me can also get something positive out of this mess.

I looked at my printer sitting there with its green light on and decided to try another computer/distro on it again.  (no doubt many already sense what’s coming)   Yep, it didn’t work.  So I unplugged the printer’s power cord, waited 10 minutes, plugged it back in, went to  http://localhost:631 , followed the steps outlined by djohnston and it worked and I was able to print!

Then I came back to my PCLinuxOS machine and did the same.  Everything went great, as reflected in the following four Add Printer (text) screens -- until I exited screen 4 without clicking that last Add Printer button at the bottom.  Now it seems I’m back at square one or thereabouts.

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Add Printer (screen 1)

Local Printers:

o PDF Writing
o SCSI Printer

Discovered Network Printers:
 
Other Network Printers:

o Windows Printer via SAMBA
o Backend Error Handler
o LPD/LPR Host or Printer
o Internet Printing Protocol (http)
o AppSocket/HP JetDirect
o Internet Printing Protocol (ipp)

Continue
-----
Add Printer (screen 2)

Local Printers:

* HP DESKJET 720C LPT #1 (HP DESKJET 720C)
o SCSI Printer
o PDF Writing
o HP Printer (HPLIP)
o HP Fax (HPLIP)

Discovered Network Printers:    

Other Network Printers:

o Windows Printer via SAMBA
o Backend Error Handler
o LPD/LPR Host or Printer
o Internet Printing Protocol (http)
o AppSocket/HP JetDirect
o Internet Printing Protocol (ipp)

Continue
-----
Add Printer (screen 3)

Name:      HP_Deskjet_720C
(May contain any printable characters except "/", "#", and space)

Description:   HP_Deskjet_720C
(Human-readable description such as "HP LaserJet with Duplexer")

Location:    
(Human-readable location such as "Lab 1")

Connection:    parallel:/dev/lp0
Sharing        o Share This Printer

Continue
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Add Printer (screen 4)

Name:       HP_DESKJET_720C
Description:    HP DESKJET 720C
Location:    
Connection:    parallel:/dev/lp0
Sharing:    Do Not Share This Printer
Make:       HP (Select Another Make/Manufacturer)
Model:    HP DeskJet 720C Foomatic/pnm2ppa (en) [highlighted -- I thought I was done!]
      [list of many other HP models follows here, also highlighted, but differently]

Or Provide
a PPD File:             Browse

      Add Printer

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I do not have a LAN but I do use an old IBM 233 as an ICS router that boots from floppy and runs Brazil Firewall (formerly Coyote Linux) in memory.  A couple of weeks ago a power blip during a storm somehow scrambled the floppy such that the router would not restart until I reformatted and rewrote it.  Now I can see that the printer must have blinked as well and just needed a reset, which -- if I had done that first -- probably would have avoided all of this.   

So I apologize to everyone for the wheel spinning I’ve caused you and I apologize to PCLinuxOS for thinking badly of its updates.  If no one wants to try and help me any further I will understand.  Regardless, thank you.  I would likely have never gotten this far without the help you’ve already provided.

Alfalfa

[Just17]

Glad to see you found the problem 

We all make mistakes EVERY day ......  don't sweat it, it happens; learn from it

Now, as punishment,       Go Have Fun!

[Alfalfa]

Thanks for not beating me up, Just18.  But it’s not quite fun time here yet.  Perhaps I was not clear enough when I said, “[n]ow it seems I’m back at square one or thereabouts.”  In fact, it’s like I was on a one-way street when I missed that last “Add Printer” button and my punishment is that I’m not being allowed to go around again.   Now the first and second Add Printer buttons only get the following:
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Add Printer

Local Printers:

o PDF Writing
o SCSI Printer
o HP Printer (HPLIP)
o HP Fax (HPLIP)

Discovered Network Printers:    

Other Network Printers:

o Windows Printer via SAMBA
o Backend Error Handler
o LPD/LPR Host or Printer
o Internet Printing Protocol (http)
o AppSocket/HP JetDirect
o Internet Printing Protocol (ipp)

Continue

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Fortunately, having just tried it again, I know the other computer with the other distro can still print.

[djohnston]

Then I came back to my PCLinuxOS machine and did the same.  Everything went great, as reflected in the following four Add Printer (text) screens -- until I exited screen 4 without clicking that last Add Printer button at the bottom.  Now it seems I’m back at square one or thereabouts.

Alfalfa,

Sorry for the delay. I got busy on something else. I was wondering if that thing was "connected", and had contemplated having you check the parallel port connector, etc. Well, no panic. If it worked before, it can work again. Try the problem from this angle. Power off the printer and check the connections. Double-check your router again, etc. Then power off and reboot the PCLinuxOS installation. Next, turn the printer back on and wait a minute.

Then, go to PCC > Hardware > Setup the printer(s). Is the printer showing (cross fingers)? If it is, you can right-click the icon, select Properties and print test pages, etc. from there. If not, go through the CUPS interface and add the printer. Take your time and make sure you complete the last steps. Post back.

[JerryP]

Operating computers can be a humbling experience especially when you don't have a manual (but that's why we have forums). 
+1 what DJ says to do and NB he said "power off" the computer not just restart. You don't want to leave anything behind.

[Alfalfa]

In case anyone wondered, I didn’t forget -- I just had some real life stuff come up that I had to take care of.

First, a correction/clarification:  I now see that my 08:45:58 AM reply to Just18 of Sunday morning left out my copy and paste quote from a second document.  What I thought I had posted is copied in full below:

=====
Thanks for not beating me up, Just18.  But it’s not quite fun time here yet.  Perhaps I was not clear enough when I said, “[n]ow it seems I’m back at square one or thereabouts.”  In fact, it’s like I was on a one-way street when I missed that last “Add Printer” button and my punishment is that I’m not being allowed to go around again.   Now the first and second Add Printer buttons I only get the following:

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Add Printer

Local Printers:

o PDF Writing
o SCSI Printer
o HP Printer (HPLIP)
o HP Fax (HPLIP)

Discovered Network Printers:    

Other Network Printers:

o Windows Printer via SAMBA
o Backend Error Handler
o LPD/LPR Host or Printer
o Internet Printing Protocol (http)
o AppSocket/HP JetDirect
o Internet Printing Protocol (ipp)

Continue

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Fortunately, having just tried it again, I know the other computer with the other distro can still print.

=====  (end of intended reply to Just18)

Now for the meat and potatoes!  Thank you so much for your patient support, djohnston.  I rechecked everything as you said, including unmaking and remaking the parallel port connection.  Then I powered off and restarted. Still nothing via PCC but the CUPS Add Printer screen was like Screen 1 in my May 05, 2012, 11:13:10 PM reply above.  I pressed Continue and waited and it came back the same.  Then I pressed it again and waited and same again, then again, and again, and after the fourth press it came back like the Screen 2 of that earlier post.  Of course then I pressed the Add Printer button at the bottom of Screen 4 when that came up.  Then I worked through a couple of more screens that came after that until I finally got to the grand prize:

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HP_DESKJET_720C (Idle, Accepting Jobs, Not Shared)

(Button:)  Maintenance   v   (Button:)  Administration   v

Description:
HP DESKJET 720C
Location:

Driver:
HP DeskJet 720C Foomatic/pnm2ppa (color, 2-sided printing)
 
Connection:
parallel:/dev/lp0
Defaults:
job-sheets=none, none media=na_letter_8.5x11in sides=one-sided

Jobs

Search in HP_DESKJET_720C:

(Button:)  Show Completed Jobs   (Button:)  Show All Jobs

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Clearly, I should have checked the printer once I knew that the router had been knocked offline by the storm.  Then, in addition to missing that problem until it hit me over the head, I apparently didn’t get the parallel port connection put back right after I checked it the first time.  These are lessons I know at least *I* won’t be forgetting for a while.

And yes, JerryP, I had already recently begun using more shudown-restarts and fewer reboots for the reason you say.  Not 100% sure it matters very often but it only adds a few seconds and I know it can’t hurt.

Thanks again everybody.  (Unfortunately I don’t see how to mark this solved, or I would happily do so.)