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Altoid

Member

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 1,581  

[SOLVED] CUPS and printer drivers

Hello:

After quite a bit of hassle, I was able to get CUPS working properly in my upgraded Daedalus installation.
It was working perfectly well in Beowulf but something happened on the way to Daedalus, so to speak and eventually had to resort to a complete purge of anything and everything CUPS related to then reinstall the application.

Doing things 'the Windows way' is not my idea of fixing things like these in a proper manner, but I was at my wits' end.

I have no idea why all this happened but now it seems to work properly.
As I do not print much, time will tell if it holds or not.

My printer is an inexpensive+basic Samsung / HP Xpress M2020W released ca. 2014, good enough* for what I need at home.
* no ethernet port, just WiFi (which I do not use) but given the price I paid for it cannot complain.

I managed to get it working by using the *.ppd file Samsung_M2020_Series.ppd extracted from a driver file named uld_V1.00.39_01.17.tar.gz downloaded directly from HP, which seems to be the last available version.

Note: it would seem that a file named rastertospl, located the uld/x86_64/ folder is also needed to get the printer working properly.
Otherwise you get an error message in the log which reads:

File "/usr/lib/cups/filter/rastertospl" not available: No such file or directory

It does not seem to be available in any Linux package and the problem is solved by copying it to that directory as root.
Now, with CUPS working properly, at boot time my /var/log/cups/error_log reads:

~$ cat /var/log/cups/error_log
W [24/Jun/2024:07:37:19 -0300] Printer drivers are deprecated and will stop working in a future version of CUPS. See https://github.com/OpenPrinting/cups/issues/103
~$ 

The link in the terminal printout redirects to this webpage which started getting comments in 02/2021, over three years ago.

"Printer drivers are deprecated and will stop working" reads just as forboding as when Nvidia dropped their legacy 340.108 drivers.
Hopefully I am wrong.

The whole thread I linked to above is pretty much printer protocols/drivers specific and is way over my head.

So the question is:
Anyone here at Dev1 use one of these printers (or any other printer needing a *.ppd) with CUPS without resorting to specific printer drivers?

Thanks in advance.

Best,

A.

Last edited by Altoid (2024-06-24 19:41:35)

aluma

Member

Registered: 2022-10-26

Posts: 646  

Re: [SOLVED] CUPS and printer drivers

HP is phasing out Windows support for older printers, but continues to support them under Linux. The indestructible LaserJet 1005 works wonderfully for me.
As far as I understand the answers on two different sites, you don’t need to extract anything for your printer yourself, you need to run the install.sh script in the uld folder.

Altoid

Member

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 1,581  

Re: [SOLVED] CUPS and printer drivers

Hello:

... indestructible LaserJet ...

Yes.

I still shed a tear when I remember all those LaserJet 4/5 sent to the landfill in early 2000 where I worked.
It was a very different Hewlett Packard back then.

... run the install.sh script in the uld folder.

Indeed ...

After having to wrangle (at that time) with this printer's installation in Linux, I resorted to CUPS, which worked from the get-go.

As it did a good job, I want to continue with CUPS instead of using the Samsung/HP ware and its install routine.
Besides, doing so is more akin to the Unix/Linux philosophy.

Thanks for your input.

Best,

A.

Last edited by Altoid (2024-06-24 19:24:45)

aluma

Member

Registered: 2022-10-26

Posts: 646  

Re: [SOLVED] CUPS and printer drivers

@Altoid
I won't argue, I'll state it as I understand it.
The installation takes place in two stages - installing drivers so that the OS can not only “see” the device, but also control it and adding a printer.
For the first, you need the manufacturer's program, I used hplip, it itself downloads the plugin from the HP website and installs everything necessary.
There are several ways to add a printer, including hplip, but like you, I prefer cups.

Regards.

Last edited by aluma (2024-06-25 06:36:04)

Altoid

Member

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 1,581  

Re: [SOLVED] CUPS and printer drivers

Hello:

... as I understand it.

Yes, that is one way.

But you can forego the hplip part by installing CUPS and adding the local printer via the UI.
If the printer is connected (parallel, serial, USB), the system will see it and as a result, CUPS will find it.

To finish you only need to provide it with the printer's *.ppd file, at least that is how I recall having done it at the time. 

As I mentioned in the OP, at some point in the future CUPS will no longer use *.ppd files.
It is not clear when that will happen but it has been talked about since 2021.
As a result of this change, it would seem that whatever printer you have installed will either work as usual or need some application from the OEM to work.

I do not expect Samsung/HP to provide any such thing.

It is still not clear to me if the M2020W will work or I will need to pin CUPS at the last working version which is why I asked.

Thanks for your input.

Best,

A.

aluma

Member

Registered: 2022-10-26

Posts: 646  

Re: [SOLVED] CUPS and printer drivers

But you can forego the hplip part by installing CUPS and adding the local printer via the UI.

Will not work!
You need a driver and printer firmware that cups cannot install. It can only add a ready-to-use printer to the system.

But I won't argue. This is your computer and your decisions, although sometimes very exotic.

Regards.

Last edited by aluma (2024-06-25 11:42:46)

Altoid

Member

Registered: 2017-05-07

Posts: 1,581  

Re: [SOLVED] CUPS and printer drivers

Hello:

... driver and printer firmware that cups cannot install.

Quite so.

Like I explained in my OP, that would be the *.ppd file (Samsung_M2020_Series.ppd) extracted from the Linux driver uld_V1.00.39_01.17.tar.gz file which I obtained directly from HP.

As the use of *.ppd files will be deprecated by CUPS in a future release, I need to plan in advance.
I will keep looking to find out what will happen with my M2020W printer when that happens.

... your decisions ...

Indeed.
It happens that I have an innate distrust for any script coming from HP.
And a *.ppd is a plain text file I can open and look at.
 
Exotic?
Yes, I have to agree.
I think it would be rather difficult to find something more exotic than that. 8^)

Thank you for your input.

Best,

A.