I too had a similar problem as you, but with a Konica Minolta printer. I have drivers installed for quite a few printer manufacturers and models in the various offices where I work and had no trouble printing single-sided and double-sided documents on the printers that support duplex printing. However, one of the offices has a Konica Minolta bizhub C368 and the printer in this MFP does not enable me to switch between single-sided and double-sided printing even though Windows users could. I tried everything with CUPS unsuccessfully and eventually implemented a work-around to switch between the two printing modes. I explain it below in case it is of any use to you.
I installed the manufacturer's Linux driver for the printer according to their instructions. I then used the CUPS Administration page in a browser window to set up the printer.
As I wanted the printer to be the default printer while I was working in that office, I edited the system-wide and user-specific
lpoptions files to contain the printer name I had specified to CUPS when setting up the printer:
Code: Select all
$ cat ~/.cups/lpoptions
Default Konica_Minolta_bizhub_C368
Code: Select all
# cat /etc/cups/lpoptions
Default Konica_Minolta_bizhub_C368
I was then able to print from all the usual applications, except that the applications could only select single-sided printing, even though the printer supports double-sided printing and Windows users in the office could print double-sided. I could not find a setting for this in the CUPS Manager's 'Set Default Options' page for the printer, so I edited the PPD file to change the relevant default option:
Code: Select all
# nano /etc/cups/ppd/Konica_Minolta_bizhub_C368.ppd
I changed the default printing option from:
to:
Then I could print double-sided pages, but selecting 'single-sided' in applications would still print double-sided. Now, I don't know if there is a proper fix for this, but I could not find out how to do it. Therefore I opted for a work-around which is fine for my purposes. Here is what I did…
I created the shell script ~/Konica_Minolta_bizhub_C368.sh containing the following:
Code: Select all
#!/bin/bash
echo
echo "Konica Minolta bizhub C368 printer"
echo
echo "Select single-sided or double-sided printing as the default"
echo
# Get the password entry over and done with now
echo "Enter your user account password."
sudo ls > /dev/null
echo
CHOICE=""
while [[ $CHOICE != "X" && $CHOICE != "x" ]]; do
if [[ $CHOICE != "X" && $CHOICE != "x" ]]; then
echo
echo -n "[1]-sided, [2]-sided or e[X]it : "
read -n1 CHOICE
echo
else
break
fi
case $CHOICE in
[1] ) sudo cp /home/fitzcarraldo/Konica_Minolta_bizhub_C368/Konica_Minolta_bizhub_C368.ppd.single-sided /etc/cups/ppd/Konica_Minolta_bizhub_C368.ppd
echo "Single-sided printing has been selected"
;;
[2] ) sudo cp /home/fitzcarraldo/Konica_Minolta_bizhub_C368/Konica_Minolta_bizhub_C368.ppd.double-sided /etc/cups/ppd/Konica_Minolta_bizhub_C368.ppd
echo "Double-sided printing has been selected"
;;
[Xx] ) echo; exit;;
* ) echo; echo " Enter '1', '2' or 'X/x'"
esac
done
I use KDE so I created a Desktop Configuration File ~/Desktop/Konica_Minolta_bizhub_C368.desktop containing the following:
Code: Select all
[Desktop Entry]
Comment[en_GB]=Select single-sided or double-sided printing for Konica Minolta bizhub C368
Comment=Select single-sided or double-sided printing for Konica Minolta bizhub C368
Encoding=UTF-8
Exec=konsole -e sh /home/fitzcarraldo/Konica_Minolta_bizhub_C368.sh
GenericName[en_GB]=Select printing sides for KM bizhub C368
GenericName=Select printing sides for KM bizhub C368
Icon=/home/fitzcarraldo/Pictures/Icons/konica-minolta.png
MimeType=
Name[en_GB]=Konica_Minolta_bizhub_C368
Name=Konica_Minolta_bizhub_C368
Path=
StartupNotify=true
Terminal=true
TerminalOptions=
Type=Application
X-DBUS-ServiceName=
X-DBUS-StartupType=none
X-DCOP-ServiceType=
X-KDE-SubstituteUID=false
X-KDE-Username=
I downloaded a Konica Minolta logo from the Web and used it for the icon for the Desktop Configuration File.
And finally I copied the PPD file to two files and edited them:
~/Konica_Minolta_bizhub_C368/Konica_Minolta_bizhub_C368.ppd.single-sided
which includes:
~/Konica_Minolta_bizhub_C368/Konica_Minolta_bizhub_C368.ppd.double-sided
which includes:
Now, if I want to switch between single-sided and double-sided printing I just double-click on the icon on my Desktop and a terminal window pops-up allowing me to select the new default:
Konica Minolta bizhub C368 printer
Select single-sided or double-sided printing as the default
Enter your user account password.
Password:
[1]-sided, [2]-sided or e[X]it :