[PLUG] Printer help needed

King Beowulf kingbeowulf at gmail.com
Tue Aug 11 03:59:54 UTC 2015


On 08/10/2015 03:11 PM, Denis Heidtmann wrote:
> No test page.  Before I go through deleting and re-adding, I would like to
> understand the relation between CUPS and Hplip.
> 
> -Denis

CUPS does all the actual printing.  HPLIP is a CLI and GUI front-end to
ease HP printer administration for those who find the web CUPS admin
page a bit confusing.

HPLIP will:
1. Find HP printers using any interface
2. select the correct CUPS back end
3. select the correct CUPS driver, or provide its own, newer ppd if CUPS
doesn't have one.
4. make it easier to see printer queues, print status, print ink supply
5. make it easier to align and clean print heads,
6. make it easier to set default print settings
7. If you have a  multifunction printer, HPLIP will set up the SANE
scaner back end as well.

That said, I have noticed that each version of HPLIP prefers certain
versions of CUPS.  Thus, for distros that auto-update a lot (like
Ubuntu), you can run into your situation.

In HPLIP, on the "Printer Control" tab, it should have a message stating
"Started/idle" with a "Stop Printer" button.  If it says "Start Printer"
, click it, provide the root user/password, to restart the printer
queue.  This can be also done via

http://localhost:631/admin

that should work.  If not, reinstalling CUPS then HPLIP will reset any
goofiness.

http://hplipopensource.com/hplip-web/install_wizard/index.html

to get the latest HPLIP package for your printer.  Most package repos
are horribly out of date or include stupid patches.

Have fun!
-Ed





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