Okay...........In the past, I've never had a problem printing as a normal user when setting up the printer in KDE using CUPS with my old Lexmark Z11 printer (which barely works in Linux).....

Recently I bought a new USB printer, HP DeskJet 3740, which I set up without a hitch as a USB printer, and was able to print as a normal user without having to enter the root username and password everytime I wanted to print something.......Having to authorize each time happens when starting a new session or instance of the KDE browser/file manager.........

Then after installing the hplip package, I couldn't check the alignment with the 'hplip_align' command..........Probing with the 'hplip_probe' command showed the printer with the hp uri (hp:/usb/Deskjet_3740?serial=XXXXXXXXXXXXXX), so I tried to align by passing the hp uri to the 'hplip_align' command, which resulted in errors....

Then I decided to remove the printer in the KDE print manager and reinstall it..........This is a local printer, so after choosing the local printer option I noticed in the next screen, at the bottom of the list in the "Other" category, there was the entry for the printer with the hp uri..........Naturally, I selected this instead of the 'USB Printer #1" entry which I previously used...........Now, I can align using the 'hplip_align' command without any more errors..........

But, as a result, I can no longer print as a normal user when starting a new session without having to enter the authorization details (root username and password) everytime I want to print something with the printer...........I can print to file, both pdf and ps formats, without any issues, yet printing with the printer requires authorization everytime........

Can anyone shed some light on this...........I don't think it's a permissions problem since I was able to print with it as a normal usb printer before setting it up with the hp uri and not have to authorize..........But I could be wrong.....

Any help much appreciated, thanx

You may have to add root to the list of users allowed to print to that printer - printjob ownership is only transferred to the 'true' owner at the last minute.

Also check that you didn't accidentally add yourself to the list of denied users, rather than allowed users (I've done it before).

Cheers,

mj

Well, I made sure the "denied" users list was empty when I set it up.......

As for the adding root to the list of allowed users, I'm not sure how to do that in KDE, after the fact, since I've never had this issue before...........And I set the printer up while as the root user to begin with, so shouldn't that be enough?.........

Also, I just found out that the "hp:/" connection protocol is apparently not fully supported in KDE...............While in the KDE print manager, I tried to use the "Printer Tools" button at the top which uses the "EPSON Inkjet Utilities" to align, clean, ink level etc. and I get an error message stating: "Unsupported connection type: hp"..........I can still use the printer, tho', as long as I enter the root authorization..............

I'm going to set it up as a regular USB printer and see about using the EPSON Inkjet Utilities for alignment, cleaning, etc., through the KDE print manager.....The only reason I set it up with the hp:/ protocol was to use the command line utilities that comes in the "hplip" package........

Within the Kde control center ->Administrator mode -> Click on printer, then Properties tab below, scroll down to Users -> Click Change. Strange as it may seem, not necessarily (particularly with certain versions of Cups).

Cheers,

mj

Okay.....................I figured out what happened........

Apparently, the print jobs were being sent as the root user instead of a regular user.........I must've done something when messing around trying to use the hp:/ printer protocol.........

Only now I have to store my user password in the KDE print manager configuration dialog box to stop having to enter it manually with each new session................something I never had to do before messing around......

Anyway, I appreciate the help, mj.....Thanx