Printing from Linux, Kubuntu/Ubuntu

users
#1

Hi :slight_smile:
I am just hoping some kind person will signpost me to the proper
forums so that they can help me with a couple of printing issues. I
gather that CUPS is no longer used but i'm not sure and i don't know
what has replaced it.

At last my work-place has a couple of machines entirely using just
Kubuntu/Ubuntu and no Windows at all.

With Kubuntu LibreOffice couldn't open files on the file-server but i
fudged it by installing the whole Ubuntu DE (Unity DE and tweaks) and
now people have no problems using Kubuntu. Printing to the
photocopier or the B&W laser printer is fine.

The only problem is trying to print to the colour printer, an Oki
C810, for which there seem to be hundreds of linux drivers but none of
them seem to work. Actually i have only tried about a dozen drivers
but it's tricky to test them especially if my boss is around.

Also although the Kubuntu machines have no trouble printing to the B&W
photocopier but Ubuntu ones can't cope. I have no idea how to find
the drivers on the Kubuntu machines and copy them onto the Ubuntu
ones.

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#2

Hi :slight_smile:
I am just hoping some kind person will signpost me to the proper
forums so that they can help me with a couple of printing issues. I
gather that CUPS is no longer used but i'm not sure and i don't know
what has replaced it.

I do not know what is the replacement to CUPS, since every drive I use for Ubuntu and Mint needs CUPS. SO, I install in "manually" via the standard package manager for the distro. My default "printer" is the CUPS PDF "system". That way I have not accidental printing to any specialized printer that I have on my network, which saves paper and ink.

At last my work-place has a couple of machines entirely using just
Kubuntu/Ubuntu and no Windows at all.

With Kubuntu LibreOffice couldn't open files on the file-server but i
fudged it by installing the whole Ubuntu DE (Unity DE and tweaks) and
now people have no problems using Kubuntu. Printing to the
photocopier or the B&W laser printer is fine.

The only problem is trying to print to the colour printer, an Oki
C810, for which there seem to be hundreds of linux drivers but none of
them seem to work. Actually i have only tried about a dozen drivers
but it's tricky to test them especially if my boss is around.

Which version are you using for Ubuntu-based OS? I have some Canon printers no longer work properly when Ubuntu 14.04 came out. Needed dependencies not longer we supported by 14.04, but was supported by 13.10.

#3

Hi :slight_smile:
Ahh, mostly the Ubuntu's at work are 14.04. So i might have a try at
a LiveUsb or multi-boot with an earlier version alongside the existing
set-ups or something.

Thanks Tim ! :slight_smile:

Errr, i think the drivers and apps and such are still called CUPS but
i think the forums and websites retired didn't they? Is there
somewhere such as LinuxPrinting.Org? I might have to have more of a
look tomorrow or sometime.
Thanks so far and regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#4

Tom:

CUPS still seems to be alive and well; in fact, I'm not sure how we could
get along without it.

It is listed in the Ubuntu repository, although has always been installed by
default on any installation I've done (admittedly, not a whole lot though).
If you use the Software Center, make sure to check any other additions you
might require (I have everything but OpenPrinting installed).

If you need to install it separately, you can download it from
http://www.cups.org/software.php.

I hope this helps ...

Frank

#5

Hi :slight_smile:
Thanks :slight_smile: I'm trying to find a forum or somewhere i can ask questions.

Someone off-list gave me a link to a thread at linuxquestions.org and
that has given me a couple of things to check up on. However i was
hoping for a way of reaching people who have specialised in printing
issues or have some expertise or special interest. LinuxQuestions is
a bit too generic.

Is there a forum at the Cups website? I thought there used to be one
but i can't find one now.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#6

Hi :slight_smile:
Thanks :slight_smile: I'm trying to find a forum or somewhere i can ask questions.

Someone off-list gave me a link to a thread at linuxquestions.org and
that has given me a couple of things to check up on. However i was
hoping for a way of reaching people who have specialised in printing
issues or have some expertise or special interest. LinuxQuestions is
a bit too generic.

Is there a forum at the Cups website? I thought there used to be one
but i can't find one now.
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

Tom,

I read this group using gmane, so I searched it for cups and got 7 hits, including comp.printing.cups.general and comp.sysutils.apcupsd.user.

Maybe they will be useful to you.

Regards, Jim

#7

Hi :slight_smile:
Brilliant! Thanks :slight_smile: I use Nabble and can hardly ever find anything
from the archives. So, that's another win for the news-groups vs
pretty gui styles.

Suddenly got a lot of other printers giving me a bit of grief but they
should be quick fixes - Such as i didn't realise the foam rollers
(about 1-3cm long) need occasional dusting to help avoid paper-jams.
1 at the front and 2 hidden up inside where the paper-tray goes. So
this is already on a back-burner for now and it might even be a week
before i can try to tackle it again!

Anyway, so many thanks to everyone who has answered, incl Tim Lloyd
off-list link to this ancient thread
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/linux-hardware-18/printer-driver-oki-c810-523af2-ubuntu12-04-kernel-3-2-0-34-generic-pae-4175440032/
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#8

I do not know if you can multi-boot two different versions of Ubuntu based distro, or so I was told a few years ago.

Be nice to have 13.10 for my photo printing on my default photo printer and 14.04LTS or newer for the rest of the work.

As someone told me - off list - CUPS should be installed with the distro, but in my experience not all of the versions I have installed do so until you need it for a "dependency" for a printer driver.

#9

I do not know if you can multi-boot two different versions of Ubuntu
based distro, or so I was told a few years ago.

I'm pretty sure I have done so in the past, but not doing so now.

Wouldn't it be more convenient to install 13.10 in a VirtualBox? Then you could just open it when you need it instead of having to boot to a particular Ubuntu.

Reagrds, Jim

#10

Yes, I agree with you, BUT. . .
When I upgrade to a newer version of Ubuntu via the Update Manager system, I get a message about CUPS being depreciated and no longer used. So it is Removed from the upgraded system. That is when I have to reinstall it, along with my CUPS-PDF package. Of course that package gives the depreciated message as well, but I know of no other PDF file printer for Ubuntu either.

#11

Hi :slight_smile:
I almost always have at least 4 partitions; 1 for swap, 1 for /home
or just to put my data on and 2 to have different distros or different
versions of the same distro on. On some machines i multi-boot between
half a dozen different versions of Ubuntu (but always intend to clean
it up down to just 2 or 3).
Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#12

Good afternoon,
My PC's OS is windows 7prof.-64bit (where LO 4.3.4.1)
My intention is to (again try to) convert to Linux and shall now install Ubuntu (vers. 14.04.1 ready on a DVD)
in a virtualbox and use that for creating database applications with SQLite(3) (& Apache & PHP) and expect
having LO/Base as a front end.

Am I to understand from this thread that I am getting printing problems with
Linux in such an installation?

If so, what version of Ubuntu is then safe and reliable?
My printer is a KonicaMinolta magicolor 1600w.
Grateful for any advice
Pertti Rönnberg

#13

Pertti:

If you are running Ubuntu (or anything else as far as I know) in a Virtual
Box, you don't have access to any hardware unless it is recognized by the
host system. But if your printer functions properly on the host system (and
you set up virtualbox carefully), it should work fine on Ubuntu.

The issues I encounter all seem to be related to LOWriter, so if you have no
issues with that on your host, it seems to me fairly likely that you should
be ok. In any case, if it doesn't work you haven't lost anything.

Just as a matter of curiosity, are you looking to a linux distro just to use
SQLite and Apache? Or was there some other consideration driving that
choice?

Frank

#14

Frank,
Thank you very much for your soon reply -- I was just working on the installations.
The printer seems to be working on the Windows so let us hope it will work OK with the VirtualBox&Ubuntu too.

Earlier 10-15years ago I used Windows&Ubuntu parallell but then I had to rebuild my PC completely and for some reason
never installed the Ubuntu again - perhaps too complicated -- but I never gave up the idea skipping windows.
Now I re-installed system&programs again and decided to start working with Ubuntu again.
Next step is to learn using Apache&SQLite for my need of databases. I used to work with MSAccess but am not interested in
spending money on purchasing and was told that SQLite is easier and not so heavy as MySQL. Do not know yet.
Anyway I find this interesting and think it is a healthy exercise for an old brain too (75y)

So any guides and ideas how I shall proceed to get SQLite(3) to run in Ubuntu are welcome.
Kind regards
Pertti Rönnberg

#15

Hi Pertti:

I also am one of the old crowd, so I understand.

The database question is probably going quite off-topic (although still part
of this forum), so I'll just make a few comments.

The first is that, since you are already running LibreOffice, can I presume
that you've looked at its "Base" component. If you notice, there are lots of
discussions about that on this forum, so you should have little problem
getting answers to most questions. The manuals for all the components of
LibreOffice are also available for free download, so that is a plus as well.

I personally don't use Base, as I'm an old database person and prefer to use
"real" database management products. Although most of these cost actual
money, a few of them have free personal-use products. If you go to
http://www.antikytherapubs.com/ and click on the "Oracle Installation
Tutorial for 64 bit Ubuntu" you'll find a pdf I put together on how to
acquire, load, and use Oracle XE (the personal version) on Ubuntu (it's
actually intended for Red Hat Linux, but isn't at all difficult to get
running on Ubuntu). If you're looking to "dig in" to relational theory and
all that good stuff, Oracle is a much better choice than some of the
"personal" products out there.

Good Luck keeping the brain cells functioning, and let us know how the
Printer situation turns out ...

Frank

#16

Is there any need to have Linux in a VirtualBox or could you just boot to Linux on your computer - as a dual booting one?

I run laptops with Win7 [pro and home] with Ubuntu on one and Linux Mint on another.

There are some things I need to run on Windows, that are easier to use than any Linux counterpart. But my default booting for these laptops is Linux. I went to Linux as my default OS in the Spring of 2010 , when I bought this desktop. I originally was using Linux before that on "spare" system when the cost of buying the needed software using Windows was getting too much for my budget. I found the needed software "functions and applications" for free with Linux [Ubuntu and others]. Actually I defaulted to Ubuntu since its Live CD was the only one that allowed my HP laptop's audio to work "out of the box".

As for old brains, well after 3 strokes, I am lucky my younger brain still works. I think "healthy exercise" for the brain is important, whether you are in you 40's or 80's. My wife has end-stage Alzheimer's and I really know the importance in keeping you mind as active as you can to help reduce the effects of age on your mental abilities.

I am a little "slower" in doing things due to an illness that just will not go away, but I am learning to live with it, just like learning to live with what the strokes left me to work with.

#17

​Tom have you tried this link : ​
http://foo2hiperc.rkkda.com/
​ ? I'm told it works on Ubuntu....

With regard to CUPS, if I don't misremember, those file were automatically
installed on my (64-bit) Linux Mint 17.1, so I'm a tad surprised to hear
that they weren't on Ubuntu 14.04 even if, admittedly, the two distros are
not entirely identical....

Henri​

#18

Hi,

I've been running Ubuntu since 8.10, and have had every version though
14.04. Since 14.10 had minimal changes and since 14.04 is a Long Term
Service release, I didn't upgrade to 14.10. Every version has been the
standard, including all of the versions with Unity. All have had cups
installed in the standard install. I almost always have done clean
installs, and not upgrades.

Don

#19

Hi :slight_smile:
Yeh i have Cups installed but this Oki printer is annoying even on
Windows. For the other Oki printer the company were kind enough to
include a Ppd file on their installer Cd and on their website so all i
needed to do there was double-click on that file.

Mostly Hewlett Packard printers work well with almsot anything. As it
happens they tend to be a LOT more rugged and last a lot longer with a
lot less maintenance. Also inks and toners tend to cost a lot less.
So running costs tend to be a lot lower but ymmv. Sadly a lot of
businesses see ancient Hp's in other people's offices and fancy
getting something a bit more modern looking and shiny. They don't
seem to think about why all other makes tend to look a lot newer.

Cannon are a bit hit&miss. It's difficult to figure out which
companies are good and which tend to be a bit rubbish. Sometimes the
Ppd driver file is on the European version of a company's website but
blocked from being accessed in the US or some other countries! Some
printers only need a little bit of work to get them working. Lots
work easily but an annoying amount are still very tricky.

Also it can vary a LOT between different models. It's not even a case
that newer models work better so it's not easy to predict which will
work and which is going to be troublesome.

I'd just about given up on ever getting the Oki C810 to ever work and
just relied on using the Oki MB471 instead, until i installed Kubuntu
and noticed it getting some sort of response from the C810.

If i have a choice over which type of printer to get i go with Hewlett
Packard. I did sign the petition against them investing so much in
drone technology that has been known (apparently) to kill innocent
civilians and generally terrorise people and invading their privacy.
However a LOT of tech companies are guilty of that. The petition i
signed covered a lot of them.

I think it might help if more of us grumble directly to manufacturers
and point out that with the rise of Android, Chrome, iThings (and
others) that they need to start support non-Windows systems more
reliably. People might stop buying printers that don't work with most
of the systems they use!

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

#20

Hi :slight_smile:
Yeh i have Cups installed but this Oki printer is annoying even on
Windows. For the other Oki printer the company were kind enough to
include a Ppd file on their installer Cd and on their website so all i
needed to do there was double-click on that file.

Mostly Hewlett Packard printers work well with almsot anything. As it
happens they tend to be a LOT more rugged and last a lot longer with a
lot less maintenance. Also inks and toners tend to cost a lot less.
So running costs tend to be a lot lower but ymmv. Sadly a lot of
businesses see ancient Hp's in other people's offices and fancy
getting something a bit more modern looking and shiny. They don't
seem to think about why all other makes tend to look a lot newer.

HP third-party ink are hit or miss for working properly - due to the new chips added to their ink cartridges. Their ink tank technology is a bit different so it is easier to get the non-OEM ink to work.

Canon third-party ink seems to not have as much issues.

Yes, the newer Canon printers are getting more hit or miss for Linux support. Also, there are dependency issues for the older printers on 14.04 and above so that the photos and images colors are really off. This desktop is still using 13.xx based OS since my default photo printer has that issue. The newest fax printer [plus photos] does not have that issue, but it does not have the best tray to use for ease of switching photo paper to various sizes.

Cannon are a bit hit&miss. It's difficult to figure out which
companies are good and which tend to be a bit rubbish. Sometimes the
Ppd driver file is on the European version of a company's website but
blocked from being accessed in the US or some other countries! Some
printers only need a little bit of work to get them working. Lots
work easily but an annoying amount are still very tricky.

Also it can vary a LOT between different models. It's not even a case
that newer models work better so it's not easy to predict which will
work and which is going to be troublesome.

I'd just about given up on ever getting the Oki C810 to ever work and
just relied on using the Oki MB471 instead, until i installed Kubuntu
and noticed it getting some sort of response from the C810.

If i have a choice over which type of printer to get i go with Hewlett
Packard. I did sign the petition against them investing so much in
drone technology that has been known (apparently) to kill innocent
civilians and generally terrorise people and invading their privacy.
However a LOT of tech companies are guilty of that. The petition i
signed covered a lot of them.

I think it might help if more of us grumble directly to manufacturers
and point out that with the rise of Android, Chrome, iThings (and
others) that they need to start support non-Windows systems more
reliably. People might stop buying printers that don't work with most
of the systems they use!

Regards from
Tom :slight_smile:

Chrome/Android and printers - bad news if you do not have a Windows system to host the print server.