[SOLVED] Old HP LaserJet stopped working after 14.2 upgrade, "filter failed", parallel port

j12i · 08-25-2017, 01:06 AM

Hello

after the 14.2 upgrade my Hewlett Packard LaserJet 4050N parallel port printer stopped working. In the CUPS web interface I get stopped "Filter failed" for all jobs. However if I request a test page from the CUPS web interface it prints fine.

Find attached a logfile from CUPS with LogLevel debug.

The first thing I should try may be downgrading the HP stuff to the Slackware 14.1 version, but how would I go about that?

business_kid · 08-25-2017, 04:00 AM

Parallel port? Trailing edge technology now :-). I have the impression (and only that) that when you bang stuff at the parallel port, the printer seems to handle it, but interactive dialogue fails. I don't think PnP (remember that?) was ever implemented on the parallel port. It means info is sparse.

As a first move, if you did move the /etc/*.conf.new files to /etc/*.conf, I'd try and put back the old ones, or set up the new ones again. To downgrade, only cups may need it, which you would do with

Code:

upgradepkg cups-from-14.2.txz%cups-from-14.1.txz

svim · 08-25-2017, 11:40 AM

The 4050N model should also have an Ethernet port and be able to used as a networked printer (note the 'N' designation). Is there a specific reason why you're still using the parallel port? Should be less 'friction' involved if you just added it into your home network as a network printer.

j12i · 08-25-2017, 12:22 PM

Thank you two.
business_kid, I went through the .new files at some point. Edit: with special regard for this problem. I will try the downgrading later.
svim, I looked on the back of it, there's no LAN port, but a suspicious hole where one could have been. Besides, I don't think this would help for this particular problem. Re: banging stuff at the parallel port: I tried echo "foo"|lp, didn't print anything either.

ljb643 · 08-25-2017, 09:19 PM

For information, I have an HP LaserJet printer - even older than yours - connected to my Slackware 14.2 system over a parallel port, and it works fine. I did have to load the "lp" module before CUPS would let it work, or even allow it to be added as a printer. I added "/sbin/modprobe lp" to the file /etc/rc.d/rc.modules.local to make it load at boot time.

One the module was loaded, and the printer turned on, CUPS shows it as a local printer for selection with Add Printer, and the result is a connection URI like this: parallel:/dev/lp0

Troubleshooting CUPS issues is not easy. However, I think the log file you posted is not from printing but from something else, such as access to the CUPS web interface.

ferrari · 08-25-2017, 09:58 PM

This reads like a missing library or similar. It would be useful to see the relevant section of /var/log/cups/error_log for clues about what might be failing. Do you have CUPS configured using a postscript driver, HPLIP, gutenprint, or....? The following can help determine the answer if you're not sure...

Code:

egrep "Model|Name|Filter" /etc/cups/ppd/*

There are a number of driver choices available for this HP model...

http://www.openprinting.org/printer/HP/HP-LaserJet_4050

You could watch the CUPS error_log tail with

Code:

tail f /var/log/cups/error_log

then send a print job and capture the relevant output.

j12i · 08-28-2017, 06:30 AM

Thanks also to you two.
Attached a logfile with the real info, from two printing attempts. (cups..2.log)

The culprit seemingly is the perl script /usr/lib64/cups/filter/foomatic-rip-hplip from the hplip package

Code:

D [28/Aug/2017:12:48:48 +0200] [Job 364] Can\'t use \'defined(@array)\' (Maybe you should just omit the defined()?) at /usr/lib64/cups/filter/foomatic-rip-hplip line 1656.
D [28/Aug/2017:12:48:48 +0200] [Job 364] PID 2130 (/usr/lib64/cups/filter/foomatic-rip-hplip) stopped with status 255 (Unknown error 155)

The respective part of the script reads

Code:

my $dontparse = 0;
if ((!defined(@{$dat->{'args'}})) ||
    ($#{$dat->{'args'}} < 0)) {
    # We don't have any options, so we do not need to parse the
    # PostScript data
    $dontparse = 1;

So, I took that defined() out, and something comes out of the printer. However, it's not what I wanted.

Code:

%PDF-1.3
%¿

Log from this: cups..3.log

Edit:
/etc/cups/ppd/HP_LaserJet_4050_Series.ppd is the single file in that directory, and I don't know where it's from.
grep "etc/cups/ppd/HP_LaserJet_4050_Series.ppd" /var/log/packages/* comes up empty.
Inside the file it says it is from *FileVersion: "hpijs 3.12.9".

phenixia2003 · 08-28-2017, 07:03 AM

Hello,

Quote:

Originally Posted by someone named bert

The culprit seemingly is the perl script /usr/lib64/cups/filter/foomatic-rip-hplip from the hplip package

Code:

D [28/Aug/2017:12:48:48 +0200] [Job 364] Can\'t use \'defined(@array)\' (Maybe you should just omit the defined()?) at /usr/lib64/cups/filter/foomatic-rip-hplip line 1656.
D [28/Aug/2017:12:48:48 +0200] [Job 364] PID 2130 (/usr/lib64/cups/filter/foomatic-rip-hplip) stopped with status 255 (Unknown error 155)

Maybe this patch can solve your issue...

-- SeB

j12i · 08-28-2017, 08:46 AM

Thanks SeB. This wasn't the solution, but I applied the patch anyways.

What I did to solve this was reinstall the printer in CUPS and select another driver (the postscript one).

ferrari · 08-28-2017, 03:47 PM

Quote:

What I did to solve this was reinstall the printer in CUPS and select another driver (the postscript one).

Good move

geekssem76 · 09-28-2017, 05:41 AM

You should change your driver...Reinstall old one or install new

business_kid · 09-29-2017, 04:37 AM

Welcome to LQ, geekssem76.

I would feel that one of the first rules on maintenance is:
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

I would reinstall nothing if you're happy with the performance.