PRINTER getting some info from it

[aus9]

Preamble
###################################################################################
PLEASE DO NOT REPLY TO THIS THREAD IF YOU NEED HELP.
Start a new thread and report your log and other relevant info to your thread please.
Also this post is in documentation so your post belongs in other sub-forums.

I have no problem with experienced printer users adding more tips or doing so by pm for shy members
.....but do not use this post for you to ask help or I will ask you to stand in the naughty corner!

The whisker menu has various options to trouble shoot your printer. Although you can use it, I prefer my way as it eliminates one graphical interface to trouble shoot.
To explain that in case I upset the team, I mean this
----whisker menu -> Print Settings -> click on your printer -> press F1 to trouble shoot -> click on forward.....and so on
IMHO too many clicks and our members may still not understand what to expect, what to configure etc.

THIS POST IS NOT MEANT TO ACT AS A SET UP HOWTO, they should be links as there are many printers etc

Credits me
your member name

##############################################################################
There are 2 main types of printers USB lead and wireless.

From time to time some people report they can not print. Or it prints poorly etc.

Lets try some ways to get some info from the printer that you might include in your posts seeking help?

some wireless and USB issues can be discussed in this post and others need separate posts below

1) First is CUPS running?

open a web browser and go to this page
---this may not work for those who have set up certain wireless static ips

http://localhost:631/

If that page says can not connect.....check your CUPS daemon (service) is running

open a terminal as local user and run

Code: Select all

/etc/init.d/cups status

There are 2 errors above, daemon not running and we did it as a local user. Not a problem we can see cups is not running.

start cups with

Code: Select all

sudo /etc/init.d/cups start

now repeat the status command and with luck you will see it is now running. (I have done it this way to avoid showing info about my printer that would confuse some members. The above command might suffice for most.)



IIF USB cable, can the PC detect it?

Code: Select all

lsusb

as most netbooks and some computers have limited USB ports, some people prefer to print via a hub. I have done so in this screenshot.

When you post, it does not hurt to provide as much info as possible including direct to PC or to hub. More below.


2) is wireless printer daemon running for those who want to setup or use wireless printer?

USB printer users can skip this section

Code: Select all

/etc/init.d/avahi-daemon status

if you see this



then start it

Code: Select all

sudo /etc/init.d/avahi-daemon start

The "starting" output should suffice but you can always repeat the status command to be sure.

3) Both usb and wireless users need this section.

So we go back into web browser and get past that failed to connect message so we arrive at the cups page.

now click on the Printers TAB and look for any printers and in the forum post ....report what the relevant printer status is.



4) Now click on the relevant printer



and examine various info that might be wrong!

they may also be right....but only you can tell how you want your printer setup.

let me highlight some examples here

(a) Do you want to share or being a one person only printer? "shared" versus "Not Shared"
(b) is paper size corrrect for your locale (Country) ....in example....Cups often sets it to US Letter but I am A4 pages
(c) The driver says its 2 sided printer but the default line correctly shows one sided.......this is a one sided printer so not relevant

[aus9]

Lets try to print

refresh the cups page for the relevant printer



does it show its processing?

does the bottom of page show more details



Lets pretend either the status is Processing and after some time.....no paper is being printed or you have an error.

1) Then turn on verbose logging

click on the Admin button which takes you to here
http://localhost:631/admin

tick the box to save the debugging info

DO NOT EDIT THE CONFIGURATION FILE MANUALLY.....that was the old method, cups has improved.



click the change settings

user = root
password is the real root password NOT the sudo password.

2) Try to cancel all jobs

This depends on whether you have set up printer to allow users to cancel jobs or the default which is only root.



so when you click on cancel, if in doubt just enter root and its password.

the admin page allows you to setup users to cancel other jobs. Set up allowed users etc.----not relevant here just mentioning it as I do know about it

3) now try to repeat the print job

then go back into admin page and click on "View Access Log" button

log will open up in web browser....it will be too big to post in forum.

If you know what you are doing ....you could copy and paste the obvious error or better still....copy and paste all into a text editor like leafpad

press CTRL and a buttons to select all
press CTRL and c buttons to copy into clipboard
open leafpad
press CTRL and v button to paste all from clipboard into text file
save file as log1.txt

4) join a file hosting site

upload your txt file to it and link it in your forum post

I prefer dropbox and dropbox links for filename.txt are viewable in the web browser

5) its safe to leave verbose logging on, but the log will get big

see viewtopic.php?f=101&t=41873&p=409885#p409885 for a quick brutal way of clearing the log

[aus9]

finally for USB only printer problems here are some suggested things to report in your post.

Lets pretend your subject is
MX-16 64 bit Epson model 999 does not print anymore

contents would include
Make
model
USB lead direct to PC or to hub
lsub output (to confirm PC sees the printer)

what does the cups page show for the status of the relevant printer?

Mention if you understand or not, each part of the set up stuff. eg shared, server default etc
link to log.
I have confirmed cups is running
I use papersize X and setup printer to use that
Any other info of recent things you did with printing such as changed cartridge, cleaned cartridge etc

Additionaly comments to include when you provide link to log
in post mention the time you attempted to clear all print jobs
mention the time you then attempted to repeat a print job or a new print job
---this helps us to look at log and say.....oooh there is new print job and X is not happening or Y is happening etc

Ideally post the full log as snippets can mislead.

[aus9]

WIRELESS (=wl)

If you can, always try to set up your wls to use a static ip. So when you turn it on months later you can see the printer give you a wl led light and with the HP brand more info such as



to provide info for help, it is important to mention what you did to set up or try to setup wl.

We are human and I am not an expert by any means so the first we need check are your radio signals from printer to router and router to printer.
but wireless must be active on printer first!

for HP users I have done a howto here for static
viewtopic.php?f=101&t=40354&hilit=static

If you have a smart phone, go to your printer location and use a wifi detection tool to see if you can find your router.

I am not aware of any 5 GHz printers so first here is a screenie from an Android phone of the 2.4 baseband



2) now log in to your router. Can your router see your printer?

remember my static ip is 192.168.1.100



3) depending on your router, you may have set up in your config MAC wireless filtering so only your known devices can use your wifi
---ignoring bad girls and boys who can use illegal tools to sniff and break into your router etc.

so I will say this just once, here at the risk of putting foot in mouth disease.

unless your router can see a wl printer you can forget anything not showing in CUPS

4) Pretending your router does detect wl printer now you can check cups, having already confirmed cups and avahi are running.
do a pretend new install of the wl printer by going to the cups page
click admin
click add printer (not detect)
input your root and root password
then it should discover your wl printer as per image


local printers means printers connected by cable
So discovered means using the avahi daemon

5) now similar to USB check your status

[aus9]

because I have 2 printers and today I started to read logs, I needed to quickly start with a clean log or two.

There are a number of ways of doing it, this is quick and brutal but easy to copy and paste into a terminal

Code: Select all

sudo su
rm -rf /var/log/cups/error_log
/etc/init.d/cups restart

[aus9]

this post may be moved lower as I think up new things

so to report wl issues for your printer I suggest the following info

wl=wireless

make
model
method you set up wl
info on the status page in cups
I have confirmed printer is within range of router
I have confirmed router detects wl printer
I have confirmed that cups and avahi daemons are running
I have confirmed cups add printer as discussed above finds my wl printer

link to error log

other info you have recently done to printer such as change ink cartridge, clean heads etc