SOLVED Canon MG5250 mixes black with colours

[bernardsun]

This problem appears likely to prevent me from migrating entirely to Linux. It happened just the same in Ubuntu on my old computer a couple of years ago and I never solved it -

Using Canon MG5250, I have installed driver 'CUPS+Gutenprint v5.2.9'
All colours are printed mixed with a large quantity of black.
I can see nothing in the long list of controls in the driver which is likely to correct this, but the list is too long to experiment because also the ink deposition is too heavy and I can't afford it.

Can anyone please advise?

[pdc_2]

Hi Bernard;

can I suggest you try the drivers that Canon supply for their printers: they provide 3 flavours for linux: debian and rpm packages and a source code package

for Mint, you need the debian package; it contains both 32bit and 64bit drivers; and an install script that detects which is needed and installs appropriately;

(If you download and SAVE when asked, and it will be saved to your Downloads directory)

so if you go here http://support-asia.canon-asia.com/cont ... 01702.html and you will be downloading the cnijfilter-mg5200series-3.40-1-deb.tar.gz

if you copy and paste the commands (in red) below into a terminal;

cd Downloads

tar -zxvf cnijfilter-mg5200series-3.40-1-deb.tar.gz

cd cnijfilter-mg5200series-3.40-1-deb

./install.sh

.........that should install it; you should be able to see two printer drivers; so you select the Canon driver and see if that works well

[bernardsun]

Hi pdc_2
Thanks for your efforts. I thought I had checked Canon resources and they told me MG5200 was not supported on Linux. However they don't make it easy to find anything.

Trying to use the terminal commands that you gave, the reply to the second one told me that 'tar -zxvf' was not valid (can't remember the precise wording)
so I used your link to the Canon web page and downloaded.
This gave me a choice of 4 items, but when I tried to install the one which appeared to be the most likely it told me 'dependencies not satisfied' and would not install.
So installed one of the others in spite of the fact that they did not appear to be the best choice. Tried a print and found it still wrong.
Please see the screen shot which i have posted on a page of my own web site:
http://www.flyonahook.me.uk/hidden.html

Just to make things more confusing, I checked the downloads again and this time the best choice - which i take to be the right-hand one of the four - said 'Dependencies satisfied' so I installed it.
The printing is still wrong but I have no way of confirming that the right driver is in use. In fact, print properties look the same as they did with the Gutenprint driver.
Can you please advise how I can check the drivers and uninstall the wrong ones? When I look at the Driver Manager from the Admin menu, it only shows NVIDIA drivers.

[pdc_2]

things to do: in red
...........rest is words.............

Trying to use the terminal commands that you gave, the reply to the second one told me that 'tar -zxvf' was not valid (can't remember the precise wording)

always a lesson in guiding; I will endeavour to take it on board

In aiming to form a picture of where things might be on your computer, now I see you said

This gave me a choice of 4 items, but when I tried to install the one which appeared to be the most likely it told me 'dependencies not satisfied' and would not install.

possible explanation: what you downloaded was a compressed package; inside it was an install script and a folder called packages; with both 32bit and 64bit packages; and one installs the common one first; and then the specific; (ideally you let the package do the work by running the install script; I sense you may have attempted to hand-pick what you need;)

_________________________________________
ACTIONS TO TAKE:
so let's see what is installed: if you copy and paste this command into a terminal: and I suggest you use the top line of the terminal: ie use the mouse and start at Menu and move to Edit and down to paste .. (as control v does not work in the terminal)

dpkg -l | grep cnijfilter

this command is asking the system called dpkg (debian package management) to list any files with cnijfilter in the title ..........

______________________________________

let's see what drivers are listed: click on this link http://localhost:631/printers/ and it opens CUPS (common unix printing system aka manage your printer) and the 4th column on the right should mention the drivers;

ie I am guessing there will be two lines about MG5250: a reference to gutenprint should appear in one line (in 4th column); and Canon MG5200 series Ver.3.40 in a separate line:

can you identify each from the name in the left-hand column; maybe write the names on a piece of paper ( hopefully there is a slight difference) and then try a test print with each in turn from libreoffice ...............

(I enclose a thumbnail of what the gutenprint may look like).........and what a Canon driver looks like in our CUPS ..........)

____________________________________________

The Canon driver gives a utility called cngpij that allows you to tweak various settings etc

If you paste the command

cngpij -P MG5200USB

it should open a window to allow changes; (one can set up a launcher to allow you to launch this by a mouse-click when you wish)

[bernardsun]

Hello again pdc_2
The short version is, success.
Opening CUPS with your link showed only one driver - the original wrong one.
I tried again the terminal download and this time it worked - don't know what I did wrong the first time. Apologies for making a hash of it.
Looking at CUPS now shows 2 drivers. Please view the following screenshot
http://www.flyonahook.me.uk/hidden.html
A test print shows that the new driver is in use and prints correctly.

I would apprediate advice as to removing the Gutenprint driver.

Regards
Bernard

[pdc_2]

thanks; well done; you did very well

if you go back into CUPS: and click on the gutenprint driver in the QUEUE NAME listing; (left-most column): it opens a dialogue window for that;

click on the drop-down that says Administration; select DELETE PRINTER and it should be gone;

enjoy linux; you will find you can get a lot done!

let us know how it goes

[bernardsun]

Perfect result. I had seen 'Delete printer' but it worried me.

Thank you for your time
Regards
Bernard

[pdc_2]

pleased to help Bernard; enjoy your system; a very nice printer

have you set up the scanner?

Canon supply ScanGearMP to run the scanner side of things?

Your version comes from here http://support-asia.canon-asia.com/cont ... 03002.html and comes down as scangearmp-mg5200series-1.60-1-deb.tar.gz and installs as the printer driver does

to initially run it, the terminal command is

scangearmp

and you can then set up a launcher ............to launch it ...........

[bernardsun]

Of course, I had not considered the scanner.
I have now installed it via the same route (via the terminal) as the printer driver. I first tried to download it but I think there is some problem with the downloaded package similar to the 'cnijfilter' package which caused me to try to bypass the correct installation procedure - that is, the file 'install.sh', which I assume should run when double clicked, does nothing in both cases.

However, you now raise another issue - that of creating a launcher. It doesn't matter for the printer since it launches with the 'Print' menu item in the relevant app. But for the scanner that is not so.

I can run it from the terminal but a launcher would be better.
I see 'Create launcher' on the desktop right click but I have no way of knowing what detail to enter. 'Browse' is no use since I don't know where to look in the File System. 'Help' is no use since it tells me 'Document Not Found The URI ‘ghelp:user-guide?gospanel-52#gospanel-52’ does not point to a valid page.' I can find 'scangearmp-mg5200series' in the Package Manager but this gives me no useful clue.

I do not want to keep pestering you, but perhpas you could help me to settle this?

Regards
Bernard

[pdc_2]

pleased to help............

........so ScanGear runs well with the terminal command................??

are using Mate or Cinnamon?

[bernardsun]

Mint 16 Petra MATE 64 bit

Well, it's ok thanks - I finally got it.

Regards
Bernard

[pdc_2]

well done; while you are on a roll.............you can make a launcher for the Canon printer config

cngpij -P MG5200USB

and you can check ink nozzles etc

[bernardsun]

Thanks again, got that one now.
What puzzles me is how does anyone know these things exist unless some person who is generous with their time tells them?

[pdc_2]

you are right; much information is hidden away; the effort of updating wikis is huge: the forums are the informal village cafe; or local pub!