Can't set up printers on PCLos 2010 [Solved]

[Waldo22]

I have five machines here.  All run PCLinuxOS in one form or another, depending on the specs of the machine, and all are fully updated.  Yes, I spend quite a bit of time keeping them updated (including LibreOffice, thank you), but I would do the same if they were running Windows.  It only makes sense for security's sake, if nothing else.  All in all, the results justify the efforts.   

[DeBaas]

rsync -avz -P --stats --delete-after \ftp.nluug.nl::pclinuxos/. \/media/RepoDisk/PCLinuxOS/

Is the complete repo.
rsync --help  for exclude options

For my ignorant Linux converts (those who do not update) I save the /home partition and recreate the install in about 30 minutes with the latest iso, including update, localization and Libre. (fast and fair use 60Mbit/s)

[YouCanToo]

Hindsight is a wonderful thing.  Telling me you are now up to 2013 is no comfort.

The first part of OP has already been answered - 2010 is no longer supported (and usually I feel no need to constantly upgrade).

Whilst the bit about why printer support not being available on this particular (machine/version) is largely irrelevant now (because of above) just wondered out of interest...

Whilst printing to pdf is not my practice I did also say "Even the ubiquitous print to pdf is not present".

Is the file cups-pdf installed

[YouCanToo]

This is now somewhat away from original questioning about why Cups was not functioning on my 2010 but that is now perhaps academic.

I apologise for my impertinence and will consider myself suitably reprimanded for not having the foresight to regularly upgrade all my distros on a regular basis across 5 machines (on some of which I don't use linux on a regular basis).

There is a program that can be found in pcc that will keep you machine "updated" automatically if you leave the system running. It is called "Apt" and can be found  in PCC --> system --> Manage System Services

[Pussycat]

Thank you for a  pretty comprehensive statement Old-Polack!

I had not intended this to be a debate/lecture about the mantra of constant updating,  It has never been an issue for me hitherto and had not realised the distinction about PCLos being a rolling release strategy.  Whilst, I've been distracted by other life matters over the last couple of years, maintaining distros has not been a top priority.  Over that period I have occasionally cast an eye out for new versions trialing them and, if persuaded, installing whilst seeking the nevana of the same distro/version fully functional across all 5 machines.  Consequently or otherwise, these machines have several flavours of linux (plus 2 incarnations of Win) on each with at least one version of PCLos, including 2009 (I still prefer kde3 and keep for nostalgic reasons!) , 2010, 2011 and 2012 (but 2013 is the subject of another thread ).  2012 was the subject of yet another thread, though not because of upgrade issues, but because of it and my experiences so far with 2013, I'd be reluctant to update in it case it upset what had already been achieved.

To be honest I have a pretty relaxed attitude to updating.  It wouldn't have been installed unless I was happy enough with it  but do usually do an immediate update.  As long as any apps do what I need reliably then I feel no urgency to update them for the sake of it

XP has been going for 12 years (albeit with service packs but sp3 was 5 years ago) and runs happily across all machines (shared with Vista on 2 machines and 98SE on the others) and have no desire or need yet to upgrade to 7 or 8 (even if they were free - and Android does touchsreen better!).  OK, I've given XP some Vista/7 cosmetic tweaks and 98 some XP looks!  Even when support ends in 2015, I'll still have all the components to enable a reinstall if necessary, with most of it slipstreamed.

So my main criteria for upgrade are look, feel and any additional functionality - but also ensure wifi support (an area that linux now excels in) and printing (though cups doesn't seem to move on much anyway, with only the occasional printer added but at least HP and Brother offer their own support/drivers).  These are all area that I check out before installing (and even then it will initially be alongside an existing version).

Anyway, I must avoid duplicating and/or confusing my two ongoing threads, especially as you are contributing to both, thank you.

To take a couple of your sentences light-heartedly

"Cups is not functioning on your system because you have not updated your system in a timely manner." - I wasn't aware that Cups or any other app/function was time limited and would cease to work!  They may become dated but not non-functional.

"you neglected to keep it updated in the proper manner" - sounds like an endorsable offence (perhaps carrying a prison sentence)!

But may be the first quote is accurate as I'm confident that printers were installed but Cups has gone awol.  And, of course, because of my neglect have no chance of recovering the situation.

It may be that I've tried more recent versions on the machine but were rejected because they failed my litmus test.  Furthermore, there is the danger that updating may invoke failures of functionality.  Indeed, I've just tried 2012 which works fine on the Toshiba but on the netbook in question, fails (This program has exited abnormally") when trying to access printer set-up from PCC.  Oh dear...!

In your screenshot, are you indicating that the highlighted repo could be used to update 2010?

And what did you mean by 2010 being the "last true release of the 32 bit version" - I thought 2013 was the first available as 64bit?

just17 - Sorry, I don't understand.

rastus - That sounds an excellent idea and is something I enquired about some years ago somewhere but still don't know quite how to go about it?

[µT6]

"In your screenshot, are you indicating that the highlighted repo could be used to update 2010?"

before i installed pclinux 64 bit rc1(i wanted to have a 64 bit os running), i was using any of the repos available to update my install, i installed this netbook with pclinux 2010.1 iso, back in october 2010 and ran it happily until last month

if you try to update your current install, that hasn't been updated since that year with that or any other repo, you will kill it or leave it mostly non functional, forcing you to take the only action possible, install a new pclinux version from the new pclinux 2013.02 iso

as you see, if you keep a install updated, you won't need to reinstall it but if you leave it untouched for 3 years, well, you won't have much options

"And what did you mean by 2010 being the "last true release of the 32 bit version" - I thought 2013 was the first available as 64bit?"

64 bit is not ready yet, we are testing rc1 at the moment and is doing very well, in a couple months there could be a final version

pclinux is a 32 bit distro, it can be used on 64 bit hardware so this is not a issue for most users but since 64 bit seems to be the future, well, here we are, using a release candidate version of it

next release could be available in both 32 and 64 bit version

"I wasn't aware that Cups or any other app/function was time limited and would cease to work!  They may become dated but not non-functional."

if the printer you have, doesn't work with the cups version made in 2010, it doesn't mean that it stopped working, it means that it is not supporting the printer yet or has problems with that particular driver under that particular version on that year, and you need to update cups or get a ppd file, possibly other files too, details vary from printer to printer

"sounds like an endorsable offence (perhaps carrying a prison sentence)!"

again, not telling you what to do, but pclinux requires constant updates as the rolling release distro it is and if you don't make them for 3 years, well, what can we do other than tell you to download a new iso?

now, we are insisting too much about the topic, maybe we could move forward and help you with he new iso and the printer you need to use?

[Pussycat]

This all a long way from OP (and now probably in the wrong forum) - remember, adding printers was not a matter of whether they are supported (because I know they are) but why the option was greyed out.  The supplementary question was about repos which has now become a discussion on the pros (mostly) and cons of regular updating.

Whilst the philosophy seems sound, recent experience indicates caution -

Because of original problem, I have tried 2012 and 2013 on the particular machine and both fail in some important aspect.  Therefore, I wonder if (with the benefit of hindsight of course) I had regularly updated, my working install would eventually have become unusable.

Upgrading, as such, is not an issue other than possibly the number of additional apps that have been downloaded.  I keep my personal data in separate ntfs partitions where it is "safe" (with regular backup) and accessible to all o/s.

[sling-shot]

I wonder if (with the benefit of hindsight of course) I had regularly updated, my working install would eventually have become unusable.

That might be have been true if there were multiple issues left unattended accumulating over time. On the other hand, if the issues are reported in a timely manner, the excellent developers of PCLinuxOS do come up with a solution most of the time removing such issues.

Please try the newest .iso with your printer and check if your problem persists with a fully updated install from that .iso. In that case people would be able to help you resolve that issue.

People are not able to help because realistically nobody is using such old software and hence it may not be possible to troubleshoot now.

Just to be clear - PCLinuxOS supports installs that are either those which have been kept fully updated regularly or are fresh installs from the last released .iso.

[rastus]

rastus - That sounds an excellent idea and is something I enquired about some years ago somewhere but still don't know quite how to go about it?

Pussycat. Check your PMs.

[YouCanToo]

rastus - That sounds an excellent idea and is something I inquired about some years ago somewhere but still don't know quite how to go about it?

Did you look in the Knowledge Base How To's ?

I think there is an article about doing just this

[rastus]

I've PM'd pussycat with the little info I have; I couldn't find anything about local repos on either the main forum or the knowledgebase and posting local repo instructions in a thread about adding printers doesn't seem right. It's funny but I could have sworn there were instructions somewhere, neither forum or knowledgebase searches show anything though. 

[Just17]

I've PM'd pussycat with the little info I have; I couldn't find anything about local repos on either the main forum or the knowledgebase and posting local repo instructions in a thread about adding printers doesn't seem right. It's funny but I could have sworn there were instructions somewhere, neither forum or knowledgebase searches show anything though. 

Here are a few threads that relate to keeping a local copy of the main repository ...

http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,101197.0.html

http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,97145.0.html

http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,108188.0.html

http://www.pclinuxos.com/forum/index.php/topic,107523.0.html

[rastus]

None of those showed up when I did the search... perhaps I used the wrong search term   ... reading through them there is a link in one of the posts to this:

http://pclosmag.com/html/Issues/201006/page18.html

which is a how to from the PCLOS magazine.


Edited for grammar. Again.

[TerryN]

None of those showed up when I did the search... perhaps I used the wrong search term  

Don't forget that the search box at the top of the screen only searches the current board if you are viewing a post from a board (or a board index).  Using the Search Tab or using the search box on the "Home" screen will search ALL boards.

So if you type "local repository" in the search box you can see now (while reading this) you will only get the 2 results in the "Desktop Hardware" board.

Terry.

[Webt]

Just to go back to the original question in the OP about setting up printers: nobody has asked the obvious question, what printer does Pussycat have? I had a heck of a problem getting my Epson combi to work, and never got the scanner working, even using Win7 in a virtualbox. Now got myself a shiny new HP combi, scans and prints perfectly. So even when (s)he has got a new iso installed, the problem may persist, depending on what printer (s)he has.