[SOLVED] Printer Drivers and Linux

llewellen · 12-04-2020, 04:53 PM

What in hLL is so incredibly complex about a simple desktop personal printer that causes finding drivers and getting the printer set up on Linux so obscure and convoluted after about 40 years of PCs being on the scene?

Is there an app I can install that will:

- detect and identify the printer when it is plugged into the USB port
- ascertain the necessary drivers and dependencies for all that printer's functions (print, scan, fax)
- find them and install them

sgosnell · 12-04-2020, 05:16 PM

CUPS.

That said, some printer manufacturers do not support Linux, and make it difficult to get the necessary software. Some work out of the box. If you tell us the printer you have, you are far more likely to get useful suggestions.

llewellen · 12-04-2020, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sgosnell

CUPS.

That said, some printer manufacturers do not support Linux, and make it difficult to get the necessary software. Some work out of the box. If you tell us the printer you have, you are far more likely to get useful suggestions.

Which cups? When I run baph -sa cups in ArchLabs I get 409 items listed.

ArchLabs 2020.11.04 > Openbox 3
Canon Pixma TR4527

ferrari · 12-04-2020, 06:37 PM

Canon printers are notorious for lack of support with printer drivers. That said a very quick search online turned up the following page (amongst many others)...
https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/p...vers_downloads

I'm not familiar with the distro you mention...there are deb and rpm packages listed, but you will likely need to grab the source file packages instead, extract the packages and follow the instructions (eg readme files) contained.

llewellen · 12-04-2020, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ferrari

Canon printers are notorious for lack of support with printer drivers. That said a very quick search online turned up the following page (amongst many others)...
https://www.usa.canon.com/internet/p...vers_downloads

I'm not familiar with the distro you mention...there are deb and rpm packages listed, but you will likely need to grab the source file packages instead, extract the packages and follow the instructions (eg readme files) contained.

Thank you. That wasn't among the dozen or so that I looked at. In any event, I was trying to install from AUR so that I would receive upgrades in the usual course via pacman -Syu

llewellen · 12-04-2020, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by llewellen

Thank you. That wasn't among the dozen or so that I looked at. In any event, I was trying to install from AUR so that I would receive upgrades in the usual course via pacman -Syu

Alright, I downloaded and extracted cnijfilter2-source-5.70-1 and scangearmp2-source-3.70-1.tar.gz from that site. The scangear package has no ReadMe file. The cnijfilter file has a ReadMe file that tells me how to build an rpm installation. Brilliant.

The packages were extracted right in my Downloads folders. To which folder should I move them?

ferrari · 12-04-2020, 07:01 PM

For printing, I usually start by checking here and here. If not, then the next place to look is the vendor site.

Anyway, good luck with installing the requisite drivers. For a USB-connected printer that should be all that is required for CUPS to be able to send print jobs to the printer. CUPS provides a native web interface for manual configuration/administration. From a browser, navigate to http://localhost:631

ferrari · 12-04-2020, 07:12 PM

A search of this forum shows that you have previously posted about the drivers on AUR...

Quote:

Someone on the Majaro forum provided the solution. The necessary drivers are in AUR:

[URL="https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/cnijfilter2"[/URL]

[URL="https://aur.archlinux.org/packages/scangearmp2"[/URL]

If you have the drivers installed, I would expect CUPS to recognise the printer.

When it is connected, run

Code:

lpstat -t

llewellen · 12-04-2020, 07:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ferrari

A search of this forum shows that you have previously posted about the drivers on AUR...

If you have the drivers installed, I would expect CUPS to recognise the printer.

When it is connected, run

Code:

lpstat -t

Thank you (sheepish). Both of those are now installed but then this:

Code:

[drew@archlabs-drew ~]$ pacman -Q cups
cups 1:2.3.3op1-1
[drew@archlabs-drew ~]$ lpstat -t
scheduler is not running
no system default destination
lpstat: Bad file descriptor
lpstat: Bad file descriptor
lpstat: Bad file descriptor
lpstat: Bad file descriptor
lpstat: Bad file descriptor
[drew@archlabs-drew ~]$

ferrari · 12-04-2020, 08:45 PM

Ok, that shows that CUPS (in particular cupsd) is not active.

This thread may be helpful to you...
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=216216

The printing service can be checked with...

Code:

systemctl status org.cups.cupsd.service

If necessary, it can be enabled with...

Code:

systemctl enable org.cups.cupsd.service

which will have it start at next boot. To start it immediately, do

Code:

systemctl start org.cups.cupsd.service

sgosnell · 12-04-2020, 08:52 PM

To be clear, the service must be enabled before it can be started.

rkelsen · 12-04-2020, 09:00 PM

Yeah, cups makes it so easy. I set up a networked printer yesterday in seconds, without needing to download or install any drivers.

The generic PCL drivers provided by gutenprint are also very good... If your printer can understand PCL, they're a great choice.

Once you start the cups service, you can control it by browsing to localhost:631 in your web browser.

ferrari · 12-04-2020, 09:09 PM

None of that applies to the Canon printer model in question. Vendor drivers are required.

llewellen · 12-04-2020, 09:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rkelsen

Yeah, cups makes it so easy. I set up a networked printer yesterday in seconds, without needing to download or install any drivers.

The generic PCL drivers provided by gutenprint are also very good... If your printer can understand PCL, they're a great choice.

Once you start the cups service, you can control it by browsing to localhost:631 in your web browser.

localhost:631 won't connect on my system.

ferrari · 12-04-2020, 09:18 PM

Forget that until you've started CUPS as already explained. The web interface functionality is provided by cupsd.