I've just gotten a nice fresh copy of gentoo on my laptop, and have hit a brick wall. I've emerged CUPS, Gimp-Print, and Foomatic, but have this problem. When I try to print CUPS reports this:

I [21/Mar/2003:22:07:37 -0500] Setting Epson2 printer-state to 3 (was 5.)
I [21/Mar/2003:22:07:37 -0500] Saving printers.conf...
I [21/Mar/2003:22:07:37 -0500] New printer 'Epson2' added by 'root'.
I [21/Mar/2003:22:07:39 -0500] Started "/usr/lib/cups/cgi-bin/printers.cgi" (pid=6176)
I [21/Mar/2003:22:07:42 -0500] Started "/usr/lib/cups/cgi-bin/printers.cgi" (pid=6177)
I [21/Mar/2003:22:07:42 -0500] Job 1 queued on 'Epson2' by 'root'.
I [21/Mar/2003:22:07:42 -0500] Started filter /usr/lib/cups/filter/pstops (PID 6178) for job 1.
I [21/Mar/2003:22:07:42 -0500] Started filter /usr/lib/cups/filter/pstoraster (PID 6179) for job 1.
I [21/Mar/2003:22:07:42 -0500] Started filter /usr/lib/cups/filter/rastertoprinter (PID 6180) for job 1.
I [21/Mar/2003:22:07:42 -0500] Started backend /usr/lib/cups/backend/usb (PID 6181) for job 1.
E [21/Mar/2003:22:07:42 -0500] PID 6179 stopped with status 126!
I [21/Mar/2003:22:07:42 -0500] Hint: Try setting the LogLevel to "debug" to find out more.
W [21/Mar/2003:22:07:42 -0500] [Job 1] Media tray empty!
I [21/Mar/2003:22:07:44 -0500] Started "/usr/lib/cups/cgi-bin/printers.cgi" (pid=6183)


BUT, I can do a 'echo -e "test message" > /dev/usb/lp0' and it sends it to the printer just fine. Anyone have a clue on what's going on? There is paper in the printer.

"linux is the best thing since the invention of the wheel..."

Maybe for some of us but evidently not for you.

You should abandon cups and try something else. It is not working for you.

giving up is not in my nature...

back on topic here:

I unmerged all of it, and re-emerged CUPS and emerged ESP Ghostscript this time (instead of gimp-print and foomatic), although I get the same error. I have found a little on the CUPS bug discussion group, but they mention editing a 'backend/usb.c' file. I have 'backend/usb' but 'usb' is a folder not a file.

I fixed it. See why I don't give up? Patience is the key...

I manually installed CUPS-1.1.15, and ESPGS-7.05.2 (the versions that successfully worked in Slack), and got rid of the 'Media..' error, but got a 'No Pages Found!' error. I also found that I had LPRng merged, so I promptly unmerged that. After a reboot, I merged CUPS-1.1.18 and ESPGS-7.05.6 (on top of the manual installs), and viola! I'm printing through CUPS! Some programs don't print properly, therefore I just use the 'lpr file.pdf' command line program which works like a champ.

I hope this helps someone who is having the same issue.