Epson 4105 - Printer acts like it will print, but pages come out blank

Linux.Blue741 · 11-02-2019, 10:01 PM

I have KUbuntu 18.04.2 LTS, and a Epson XP-4105 Printer.

From what it looked like, I was able to get the printer set up and running.
However, the pages I print (basic black text) come out blank.

Whatever info you may need, I'll do my best to type it out here.
I basically want to print basic black text papers.

Thanks!

frankbell · 11-02-2019, 10:10 PM

Have you looked in the log files?

Look in /var/log/cups or use journalctl to look for printing errors, then post any error messages here, being sure to surround any terminal output with "code" tags which become available when you click the "Go Advanced" button beneath the compose post window.

This article discusses how to use journalctl (the SystemD system for viewing logs) for printers.

Linux.Blue741 · 11-02-2019, 10:40 PM

I think I finally figured it out. Let me know if this looks right.

Code:

E [02/Nov/2019:15:54:38 -0500] [cups-deviced] PID 12112 (gutenprint52+usb) stopped with status 1!
E [02/Nov/2019:16:06:19 -0500] [cups-deviced] PID 12610 (gutenprint52+usb) stopped with status 1!
E [02/Nov/2019:20:54:10 -0500] [cups-deviced] PID 13840 (gutenprint52+usb) stopped with status 1!
E [02/Nov/2019:21:40:09 -0500] Scheduler shutting down due to program error.
E [02/Nov/2019:21:40:27 -0500] [cups-deviced] PID 14520 (gutenprint52+usb) stopped with status 1!

Code:

W [05/Oct/2019:07:45:24 -0500] CreateProfile failed: org.freedesktop.DBus.Error.NoReply:Did not receive a reply. Possible causes include: the remote application did not send a reply, the message bus security policy blocked the reply, the reply timeout expired, or the network connection was broken.

ferrari · 11-03-2019, 12:00 AM

Unfortunately, the snippet you've shared is unlikely to be relevant to the problem you've encountred.

It helps to put cupsd into debug mode for more verbose logging. Do that with

Code:

sudo cupsctl --debug-logging

Stale/stuck print jobs can be removed with

Code:

sudo cancel -a

Open a terminal and watch the error log with

Code:

sudo tail -f /var/log/cups/error_log

Send a print job and examine the output.

The command can be grepped to filter for errors or filter-related output...

Code:

sudo tail -f /var/log/cups/error_log | egrep -iA4 "filter|error"

Capture and post the logging output. That should help tell us what is going wrong here.

Linux.Blue741 · 11-03-2019, 12:27 AM

I'm not even sure this is right.
I can't seem to access root unless I do sudo -i and enter the password that way. otherwise, I enter it in using su, and it just says "authentication denied".

Anyway, I don't know what this means.

Code:

root@jeremy-741:~# sudo cupsctl --debug-logging
root@jeremy-741:~# sudo cancel -a
cancel: cancel-job failed: Connection reset by peer
root@jeremy-741:~# sudo tail -f /var/log/cups/error_log
D [03/Nov/2019:00:23:57 -0500] [Client 3] Writing IPP response, ipp_state=IPP_STATE_DATA, old wused=0, new wused=0
D [03/Nov/2019:00:23:57 -0500] [Client 3] bytes=0, http_state=0, data_remaining=75
D [03/Nov/2019:00:23:57 -0500] [Client 3] Flushing write buffer.
D [03/Nov/2019:00:23:57 -0500] [Client 3] New state is HTTP_STATE_WAITING
D [03/Nov/2019:00:23:57 -0500] [Client 3] Waiting for request.
D [03/Nov/2019:00:23:57 -0500] cupsdSetBusyState: newbusy="Dirty files", busy="Active clients and dirty files"
I [03/Nov/2019:00:23:58 -0500] Expiring subscriptions...
I [03/Nov/2019:00:24:27 -0500] Saving subscriptions.conf...
D [03/Nov/2019:00:24:27 -0500] cupsdSetBusyState: newbusy="Not busy", busy="Dirty files"
I [03/Nov/2019:00:24:27 -0500] Expiring subscriptions...
sudo tail -f /var/log/cups/error_log | egrep -iA4 "filter|error"

It seems like it wants to print. It doesn't make printing sounds, but paper goes through, and just comes out blank.

ferrari · 11-03-2019, 01:02 AM

Still not showing the expected output.

In any case, post the following info....

1) Printer status information

Code:

lpstat -t

2) Some information about the CUPS filter (driver) configuration....

Code:

sudo egrep -i "name|model|filter" /etc/cups/ppd/*

Linux.Blue741 · 11-03-2019, 08:00 AM

Code:

jeremy@jeremy-741:~$ lpstat -t
scheduler is running
system default destination: EPSON_XP-4100_Series
device for EPSON_XP-4100_Series: usb://EPSON/XP-4100%20Series?serial=583642523036323477&interface=1
EPSON_XP-4100_Series accepting requests since Sat 02 Nov 2019 11:18:04 PM CDT
printer EPSON_XP-4100_Series is idle.  enabled since Sat 02 Nov 2019 11:18:04 PM CDT
jeremy@jeremy-741:~$

Code:

jeremy@jeremy-741:~$ sudo egrep -i "name|model|filter" /etc/cups/ppd/*
[sudo] password for jeremy: 
*% "foomatic-rip" backend filter script of Foomatic 4.0.0 or newer. This 
*PCFileName:    "EPSON.PPD"
*cupsModelNumber:  2
*cupsFilter:    "application/vnd.cups-postscript 100 foomatic-rip"
*cupsFilter:    "application/vnd.cups-pdf 0 foomatic-rip"
*ModelName:     "Generic ESC/P Dot Matrix Printer"
*ShortNickName: "Generic ESC/P Dot M. Pri. epson"
*NickName:      "Generic ESC/P Dot Matrix Printer Foomatic/epson (recommended)"
*driverName epson: ""
jeremy@jeremy-741:~$

ferrari · 11-03-2019, 01:33 PM

I note that you're using the generic foomatic-rip driver. They don't always generate compatible printer code for the printer model concerned. I recommend you install the Epson driver and reconfigure accordingly...
https://download.ebz.epson.net/dsc/s...search/?OSC=LX
Search for 'XP-4105'

The CUPS filter entry in the PPD will then look like

Code:

*cupsFilter: "application/vnd.cups-raster 0 /opt/epson-inkjet-printer-escpr/cups/lib/filter/epson-escpr-wrapper"

Linux.Blue741 · 11-03-2019, 02:19 PM

I downloaded a .deb file and used Qapt Packager to install it. A few files were installed, said done.
But I don't see anything different. Been looking all over the printer selections, seeing nothing added. nothing added in my home directory.

UPDATE: Sorry, forgot to remove the printer and reboot the computer to see if that shows up differently.
So after I got back on, and selected to add a printer, I saw something new, and selected that file and it actually printed!

Thank you very much! The new printer printed something, the text is nice and crisp. I appreciate it very much.
Now how to do I go about adding "solved"?

frankbell · 11-03-2019, 08:21 PM

As an aside, su is not enabled out-of-the-box in Ubuntu or, as far as I know, any of the little *buntus (though it's fairly easy to enable it).

I think that you can mark the thread solved using the "thread tools" item in the title bar of your initial post.

ferrari · 11-04-2019, 12:31 AM

Quote:

Thank you very much! The new printer printed something, the text is nice and crisp. I appreciate it very much.
Now how to do I go about adding "solved"?

Glad to have been of assistance.