CUPS - cannot print to parallel port printer

Message

o5gmmob8 · Post by **o5gmmob8** » Sun Sep 09, 2012 1:02 pm

Hi all,

I have an HP Laserjet 1100 in which I am trying to print to. In CUPS, I have it configured using the hpijs driver (I've tried others). When I try to print, I get the error, unable to open parallel port; however, the error log indicates there is some problem with ghostscript. So, when I run that command-line, I get this error in the output file:

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Error: /undefined in l7Hl2a8c0E600Ru600Dl0Ll48Dl8El6D0Xl0Sl0Ol1X1A2M218Y33W<C6>
Operand stack:
   --nostringval--
Execution stack:
   %interp_exit   .runexec2   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   2   %stopped_push   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   false   1   %stopped_push   1877   2   3   %oparray_pop   1876   2   3   %oparray_pop   1860   2   3   %oparray_pop   1755   2   3   %oparray_pop   --nostringval--   %errorexec_pop   .runexec2   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   --nostringval--   2   %stopped_push   --nostringval--
Dictionary stack:
   --dict:1222/1684(ro)(G)--   --dict:0/20(G)--   --dict:80/200(L)--
Current allocation mode is local
Current file position is 223

Now, when I simply did echo "Test" > /dev/lp0 as root, "Test" was indeed printed on a piece of paper.

I also tried downgrading to cups 1.5.3 as I read in a forum that 1.6 is purposely broken. However, I have the same problem, albeit a slightly different error:

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Unable to open device file: Permission denied

Any ideas?

Walter

Ant P. · Post by **Ant P.** » Thu Sep 13, 2012 10:18 pm

Does cupsd actually have write permission to /dev/lp0?

o5gmmob8 · Post by **o5gmmob8** » Thu Sep 13, 2012 10:41 pm

Hi Ant P.,

Thanks for your reply, that was it. Even though /dev/lp0 was rw by the lp group, it was owned by root. I didn't think it could be that simple since the stack trace indicated something about wrong arguments/parameters.

Now, if I reboot and that device node gets recreated, it will probably have the incorrect permissions. That makes me think there is a bug with udev or whatever creates the node.

Edit:
Oh, and surprisingly I now see LPT1 indicating cups can now see the parallel port when I add a new printer ...

Any thoughts?

Walter

o5gmmob8 · Post by **o5gmmob8** » Sat Sep 15, 2012 2:07 am

Hi all,

I have the same problem with a USB printer. I attached it, attempted to add it, but cups won't see it unless I do a chown lp:lp /dev/bus/usb/004/003 ... Then cups sees it and I can print to it. The original owner was root:lp, but that didn't work.

Walter

o5gmmob8 · Post by **o5gmmob8** » Sat Sep 15, 2012 2:39 am

Hi all,

Another oddity: When using CUPS 1.5.3, I get this error when printing to a USB printer:

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PID 26214 (/usr/libexec/cups/filter/foomatic-rip) stopped with status 1.
PID 26215 (/usr/libexec/cups/backend/usb) exited with no errors.

I also should note that the kernel I am using does not have USB printer support enabled because I made changes to support CUPS 1.6.1. I will reboot with the old kernel and see if it works with that.

With CUPS 1.6.1, I get a cups-filter issue. Has anyone had much luck with the latest CUPS?

Walter

Fitzcarraldo · Post by **Fitzcarraldo** » Sat Sep 22, 2012 4:49 am

walterw wrote:With CUPS 1.6.1, I get a cups-filter issue. Has anyone had much luck with the latest CUPS?

1.6.1 has an annoying bug for some models of USB printer -- see http://cups.org/str.php?L4155

o5gmmob8 · Post by **o5gmmob8** » Sat Sep 22, 2012 4:54 am

Hi,

Thanks for your reply. I think that was not a problem for me. I think I screwed up my CUPS installation by removing the lpadmin user. It works fine on my laptop, but on my server, the lpadmin user was removed.

Walter