Parallel port to usb HP laserjet printer

Roo7 · 12-03-2017, 02:58 PM

I can't print since a recent upgrade. Im not entirely sure of what upgrade etc. But at the moment I have purged and reinstalled Cups and HPLIP to no avail.

I have a file called /dev/usb/lp1 but not /dev/usb/lp0 which I believe should be there.

I am a computer user not pro. So can anyone tell me where I am going wrong?

Using Ubuntu 16.04 and a HP laserjet 1100 printer with a parallel port cable to usb cable attached to my computer.

AwesomeMachine · 12-03-2017, 11:35 PM

You might want to check which module drives the parallel to USB converter. It's not just a cable. There are electronics inside it. You can use

Code:

$ lsusb

to check the manufacturer and model.

Roo7 · 12-04-2017, 04:46 AM

The lsusb -t option gives this detail showing it recognises a printer of some sort

Quote:

/: Bus 04.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/2p, 5000M
/: Bus 03.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=xhci_hcd/2p, 480M
|__ Port 2: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 1.5M
/: Bus 02.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ehci-pci/2p, 480M
|__ Port 1: Dev 2, If 0, Class=Hub, Driver=hub/6p, 480M
|__ Port 3: Dev 3, If 0, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 1.5M
|__ Port 3: Dev 3, If 1, Class=Human Interface Device, Driver=usbhid, 1.5M
|__ Port 4: Dev 4, If 0, Class=Printer, Driver=usblp, 12M
/: Bus 01.Port 1: Dev 1, Class=root_hub, Driver=ehci-pci/2p, 480M

Whereas lsusb doesn't show a printer at all!!

hazel · 12-04-2017, 05:30 AM

Recent versions of cups don't like the usb printer module usblp.ko. They use libusb instead.

Blacklisting the driver used to work perfectly well but after more recent updates of cups, I found it was better not to have it built in the first place.

michaelk · 12-04-2017, 05:32 AM

Quote:

Whereas lsusb doesn't show a printer at all!!

lsusb will only show the USB parallel port adapter.

I would expect if you unplug the adapter, restart the computer and reinsert the adapter that /dev/usb/lp0 will be created. I have not played with a USB parallel port adapter in a while. I would expect that hp-setup to automatically configure the printer.

I assume your cups printer uri is:

parallel:/dev/usb/lp0

The LJ 1100 has a legacy parallel port and is not a USB printer. Not sure why usblp is being used but it might be interfering.

Roo7 · 12-04-2017, 05:40 AM

NOt sure but if I go to printers, add printers.

Well no printers are detected at all. I don't really know what a URI address is. There doesn't seem to be an option to search for a URI address.

hazel · 12-04-2017, 05:48 AM

URIs are just a more general version of the URLs that your browser uses. You are familiar with URLs of the type http://www.address.com. They consist of an access protocol and an address, separated by a colon and a slash. If you look at the sample URI provided by michaelk, you will see that it follows the same syntax.

If cups can't detect your printer automatically, you will need to add it by providing a suitable URI by hand.

Roo7 · 12-04-2017, 06:41 AM

thats the part I don't get, where can I put in the URI? With the add printer option its only a network address asked for.

Thanks

michaelk · 12-04-2017, 07:40 AM

I don't know what the latest Ubuntu add printer wizard looks like so not much help except there should be a way specify the port. Does the icon for the printer still exist?

Roo7 · 12-05-2017, 03:07 AM

When I run hp-check -r there seem to be quite a few missing dependencies, here's the output summary

Quote:

Missing Required Dependencies
-----------------------------
error: 'libdbus-1-dev' package is missing/incompatible
error: 'libcups2' package is missing/incompatible
error: 'libsane-dev' package is missing/incompatible
error: 'python3-dev' package is missing/incompatible
error: 'libsnmp-dev' package is missing/incompatible
error: 'snmp-mibs-downloader' package is missing/incompatible
error: 'openssl' package is missing/incompatible
error: 'libcups2-dev' package is missing/incompatible
error: 'cups-bsd' package is missing/incompatible
error: 'cups-client' package is missing/incompatible
error: 'libjpeg-dev' package is missing/incompatible
error: 'libusb-1.0.0-dev' package is missing/incompatible
error: 'libcupsimage2-dev' package is missing/incompatible
error: 'libtool' package is missing/incompatible
error: 'libtool-bin' package is missing/incompatible

Missing Optional Dependencies
-----------------------------
None

Total Errors: 11
Total Warnings: 0

Also, if I run hp-setup I can try any of the setup options USB, parallel, eternet etc. but still no device found

ferrari · 12-05-2017, 03:26 AM

Your earlier output in post #3 pertains to the adapter device...

Code:

Port 4: Dev 4, If 0, Class=Printer, Driver=usblp, 12M

Open a terminal window and watch the kernel output with

Code:

dmesg -w

then plug in the USB to parallel port adapter and capture the output generated.

Assuming that checks out as expected, if the printer is then attached (and powered up) it should then be able to be detected via the CUPS parallel backend (run manually)...

Code:

sudo /usr/lib/cups/backend/parallel

Any output?

Roo7 · 12-05-2017, 04:03 AM

Heres the output from /usr/...../parallel

Quote:

direct parallel:/dev/lp0 "unknown" "LPT #1" "" ""

As far as the dmesg -w command is concerned, I haven t really got a clue what I am looking at or looking for!

Roo7 · 12-05-2017, 04:09 AM

there is a part mentioning lp

Quote:

lp: driver loaded but no devices found

hazel · 12-05-2017, 05:31 AM

Your missing packages mostly seem to be for development, so you won't actually need them. But not having libcups2 or cups-client looks suspicious to me.

Roo7 · 12-05-2017, 05:44 AM

strangely I actually have cups-client 2.1.3.4 installed and also libcups2 2.1.3.4 because if I try to install using synaptic they are listed as installed!!