[SOLVED] Well known Samsung no longer recognized

[Trio3b]

Trying to install Samsung ML2151N mono-laser on Mageia 2 . This printer has long been autodetected by drak-tools and supported on MDV2005, MDV 2008.1, PCLOS 2007/2009, PCLOS 2010/1012. This printer is not recognized by printerdrake nor prints in MAGEIA 2

Printer shows up in lsusb
CUPS is installed and running according to MCC "services"
I have never been able to install any printer in linux using CUPS web interface @localhost:631 so I always install via distro GUI tools. This is even recommended on openprinting.org.

Just for fun I tried installing via CUPS web interface but encountered same problems I did 7 yrs ago. - eg CUPS requires root/passwd or user/psswd combinations at random , interchangeably or sometimes does not work at all. Also asks for device URI and gives numerous examples none of which even resemble a usb connection. One would think that CUPS would have a USB printer connection standardized by now. I entered every combination of device URI I could think of:

usb:/dev/usb/lp0
usb://dev/usb/lp1
URI:usb://dev/usb/lp0
etc.etc.etc.etc.probably 20-30 variations of syntax

Tried printerdrake in MCC but in MCC when using printerdrake noticed:

1. required a huge 4xxmb download - is this new?
2. Once that was downloaded PD(printerdrake) did not recognize any printer. Selecting "add printer" it only give parallell port and "enter URI" the same as CUPS so...same problem.
3. I know this printer uses plxmono ppd file or one of the hplip poackages but they are usesless if I can't get the device URI right.

This printer used to be automagically recognized, installed and ready for printing in 60 seconds for the past 5 yrs. Now nothing.

Any ideas appreciated

[Trio3b]

When first connecting BOTH USB printers, was curious about the printerdrake in MCC 500mb printing download. Is this a bug? Did not see this in errata.
After download , synaptic shows:

task-printing-hp
task-printing-lexmark
task-printing-server

but neither USB printer was recognized on USB. This is apparently why both CUPS and printerdrake were showing printers on parallel port. AFTER I manually ticked off "TASK-PRINTING" and it d/l several other packages then printers were recognized on USB.

Did I miss something or is this a bug? Maybe missed it in errata.

[doktor5000]

When first connecting BOTH USB printers, was curious about the printerdrake in MCC 500mb printing download. Is this a bug? Did not see this in errata.
After download , synaptic shows:

task-printing-hp
task-printing-lexmark
task-printing-server

but neither USB printer was recognized on USB. This is apparently why both CUPS and printerdrake were showing printers on parallel port. AFTER I manually ticked off "TASK-PRINTING" and it d/l several other packages then printers were recognized on USB.

Could you please be a bit more specific about the part with the "unticking" ... ?

And it's not in Errata, it works as intended. The driver need to be installed in order to setup the printers, but it should normally only download those drivers for printers it can find attached to the box. And those 400/500 MB are in installed system, not for downloading. Download is something like ~100MB or so, which is not that much, if you look at the number of printers those drivers support.

For the samsung printer driver, you may want to have a look at viewtopic.php?f=24&t=630
as you seem to havea similar problem with usblp module, and this has been blacklisted by default for Mageia 2, so maybe you have to manually load it before trying to set up the printer.

[Trio3b]

After connecting printer via USB and using MCC printerdrake requested a large 400+ mb download. I allowed d/l but USB connected Samsung printer still not recognized on USB port AFTER THE download.. It was seen on parallel port.

Went to synaptic and noticed task-printing meta package not instaslled so I "ticked the box" and installed. AFTER I d/l that package, THEN printer URI was identified correctly on USB and was presented as an option in MCC printerdrake.

Just curious because theis printer has been automatically recognized and drivers installed since MDV2005 and PCLOS 2007 with no additional packages required.

Now on MGA 2 I had to let MCC download a very large set of packages and when that did not work I then manually download task-printing to get this to work. Is this default now?

[doktor5000]

The number of packages needed hasn't changed, maybe there were some problems with hardware recognition.
You could post this as a bug report, but please pay attention to https://wiki.mageia.org/en/How_to_report_a_bug_properly

[Trio3b]

Thanks will look into it.

[UIPDATE 1] Needed to reinstall OS for another reason and again, when using printerdrake in MCC to add Samsung printer, MCC wants:

system-config-printer
task-printing-server
task-printing-hp

On selecting "install" - 97 packages are required, a 415mb download. Possibly b/c you were referring to the DVD which would presumably have most print packages. I am installing MGA 2 from LiveCD. Anyway, am documenting all this in real time as I do it. I will check again to see if these USB connected printers are recognized on the USB bus and not the parallel port as in the previous install and update accordingly

[UPDATE 2] After that whole download, the USB printer is not recognized on a USB device URI and task- printing is NOT installed. On selecting task-printing in software management, an additional 18mb of approx 40 packages is required. According to info:

task-printing - This task package contains the default selection of printing packages used in Mageia. Watching the download there are numerous cups drivers, task-print packages, etc.

[UPDATE 3] after reboot, the Samsung is now recognized by MCC printerdrake and installed normally as has been for the past 5 years. Seems like quite the scenic route. This can definitely be reproduced. And this also happens with the Brother DCP-7020 mono-laser all in one. It too is recognized on parallel port until after the "task-printing" download. In the case of the Brother however, I then d/l and install drivers from Brother website as I have done for the past 5 years and they work nicely.

Are these huge task-printing downloads normally required for printer device URI's recognition or should I file bug report?

Thanks

[laidlaws]

Those "huge" downloads have always been standard, even under Mandriva. Another one that I queried was downloading all the HP stuff when I have no HP hardware at all. HP claim that there are a lot of utilities there, and every distro has them.

[Trio3b]

Honestly can't say what has happened after MDV 2008.1 which I used for 3-4 yrs, but pretty sure task-printing ( the second d/l) was included. I remember this because Adam Williamson was fielding a lot of questions about why task-printing had been left out of either MDV 2006 or 2007 (can't remember) which implies that those packages have been default on many versions of Mandy. At that time Adam had reported that indeed, it was an oversight that those packages were left off and they were meant to be included. in the .iso and I specifically remember him pointing users to "task-printing".

As you can see, urpmi even reports them as the default selection of print packages used in Mageia. Since "task-printing" is only about 18 mb, just wasn't sure if this was an oversight. Well so far all seems well so will leave as marked.

[doktor5000]

Well, AFAIK the samsung driver, as you posted uses /deb/usb/lp* for which usblp module is responsible, which is also used for parallel port printers (as the brother you mentioned). As there were some problems and kernel freezes and stuff due to usblp, it was blacklisted by default for Mageia 2. Maybe installing task-printing (which is normally not needed, as device detection only installs drivers which are necessary for an attached printer) changes some behaviour related to that. You should report a bug for this behaviour change / the failing printer device URI's recognition for printers which use physical/virtual parallel port cvonnection.

And again, the size given is the size which is needed in your filesystem AFTER installation and decompression of those packages. NOT the download size.
We even reduced the number of packages which are installed by default when a printer is plugged in related to Mageia 1, which itself needs as many packages as Mandriva needs. Also may i remind you about the fact that f.ex. under windows most printer drivers for ONE attached printer including some software are nearly the size of a full CD when installed. Now look at how many printers Mageia supports with the default set, which is a ~100MB download ...