(I've asked this here with no resolution.)

When using Kubuntu 13.04, my network printer worked fine. After upgrading to Kubuntu 13.10, I can no longer print with a particular network printer. I get the error "The printer is not responding."

I've tried to add the printer again, and it is automatically recognised. I can add it, and select it from print dialogue boxes, but I get the same error.

The printer is connected to an Apple Airport Extreme. Printing works fine over the network from my wife's MacBook Pro. I attempted connecting the printer directly to my laptop with a USB cable, and this worked fine, so it's not a problem with drivers. (FWIW I'm using the recommended HL-2040 Foomatic/hl1250.)

I've tried another printer over a different network, and that works fine.

Brother HL-2040, Kubuntu 13.10 (KDE 4.11.2)

Is it actually "enabled" in system settings when run as root?

toad wrote:Is it actually "enabled" in system settings when run as root?

I'm not exactly sure where this setting is. I tried `kdesudo systemsettings` then went to the Printers section, but couldn't see anyway to enable printers specifically.

In any case, I can access the printer from normal printer dialogues, so I suppose it's enabled. Also, I tried adding it from scratch, once via USB, which worked, and once via network, which didn't, so I suppose it must have been enabled in both cases.

I do "kdesu systemsettings" - printer configuration - select your printer in the laft hand column and in the resulting window on the right you have three hooks at the bottom under "Printer Status". Find it?

toad wrote:I do "kdesu systemsettings" - printer configuration - select your printer in the laft hand column and in the resulting window on the right you have three hooks at the bottom under "Printer Status". Find it?

I'm not really sure what you are talking about. Firstly, I presume kdesudo does the same as kdesu, which I don't have. Secondly, I selected "Printers" not "Printer configuration". Also, I'm not sure what you mean by hooks, and I can't find "Printer status".

Thank you for the screenshot! It is obvious that we have different KDE versions p:

In any case, have you been in "configure"? iirc your screenshot looks like CUPS and you should be able to toggle it in there.

toad wrote:Thank you for the screenshot! It is obvious that we have different KDE versions p:

I wonder if it's distro dependent? (From my OP, I'm running KDE 4.11.2, and Kubuntu.)

toad wrote:In any case, have you been in "configure"? iirc your screenshot looks like CUPS and you should be able to toggle it in there.

Yes, I did go in there. I can't see anything like that at all. Here are more screenshots: 1, 2, 3.

In any case, as I said earlier, I can't imagine it's as simple as enabling it, for a few reasons. Firstly, I didn't change any settings in the upgrade to Kubuntu 13.10, and one network printer (at work) still works fine, while this one fails. Secondly, adding the printer anew works fine for USB but not network.

Thanks for the info. Have you been in CUPS itself?

If not, it is worth a try for better error descriptions. Open up a browser, enter localhost:631 and have a general dig around.

toad wrote:Open up a browser, enter localhost:631 and have a general dig around.

I did have a look before, but I've just reinvestigated. I can't find any more options than what I find through the normal GUI. There's a log there that is not particularly useful.

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E [07/Nov/2013:09:11:25 +1100] [Job 145] The printer is not responding.
E [07/Nov/2013:09:12:25 +1100] [Job 145] The printer is not responding.
E [07/Nov/2013:09:13:25 +1100] [Job 145] The printer is not responding.
E [07/Nov/2013:09:14:25 +1100] [Job 145] The printer is not responding.


Have you tried checking the log files directly on disk? They are probably located at /var/log/cups/ - you will need to be root to read them however.

bcooksley wrote:Have you tried checking the log files directly on disk?

I followed all of the files in /var/log with `tail -f` while I tried to print. Nothing was particularly informative.

First I tried printing with the previous profile that used to work.
access_log

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localhost - - [07/Nov/2013:20:33:25 +1100] "POST /printers/HL-2040 HTTP/1.1" 200 84433 Print-Job successful-ok

error_log

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E [07/Nov/2013:20:34:00 +1100] [Job 151] The printer is not responding.

I tried adding the printer anew.
access_log

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localhost - - [07/Nov/2013:20:34:38 +1100] "POST / HTTP/1.1" 401 91 CUPS-Get-Devices successful-ok
localhost - sparhawk [07/Nov/2013:20:34:38 +1100] "POST / HTTP/1.1" 200 2134 CUPS-Get-Devices -
localhost - sparhawk [07/Nov/2013:20:34:52 +1100] "POST / HTTP/1.1" 200 3734978 CUPS-Get-PPDs -
localhost - sparhawk [07/Nov/2013:20:35:07 +1100] "POST /admin/ HTTP/1.1" 200 720 CUPS-Add-Modify-Printer successful-ok
localhost - - [07/Nov/2013:20:35:27 +1100] "POST /printers/Brother_Brother_HL-2040_series HTTP/1.1" 200 121844 Print-Job successful-ok

error_log

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E [07/Nov/2013:20:36:01 +1100] [Job 152] The printer is not responding.

You might wish to alter the CUPS configuration to cause it to output debug level error output, which might indicate what the issue is with interacting with your printer.

Ah, I didn't even know there were levels of debugging. The output of /var/log/cups/error_log is here. Possibly obvious, but my Airport Extreme is called "Tom".

Based on the messages given, I suspect CUPS may not be able to resolve the Avahi / Bonjour names - could you try adjusting the printer configuration to use the IP address of the printer to see if that works?

That's fantastic. Thanks again. This indeed did work. It's very strange though, because (as I mentioned) I was able to find the printer automatically to add it in the first place, which suggests that Avahi was working at some level. Also, as mentioned, printing worked fine before some package upgrade. I also tested printing via printer sharing through a MacBook Pro, and this worked fine. (Also suggests Avahi works somewhat.)

To aid others, I followed the instructions here, which worked perfectly. (i.e. adding the printer as "socket://<ip address of Airport Extreme>:9100".) Fortunately for me I already had my Airport Extreme set up with a static IP, but it'd be annoying otherwise. Also, I've no idea how you'd configure it if you had two printers connected to the router.

Thanks again!

==EDIT==
Oh, and also, Avahi works fine for the other network printers that I've tried, so perhaps some synergistic bug with the Apple hardware.