Mint 19 - HP281MFP - not so solved - more issues.....

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badgerlinux

Mint 19 - HP281MFP - not so solved - more issues.....

Post by badgerlinux »

After hours of searching posts, and reloading hplip (latest) from sourceforge a few times, I have finally got Linux 19 to find my device (and wirelessly too!). I thought my problems were over, but when I go to print, the printer begins to spool up, the dialogue box says the printer has received the job and then the job is complete - but nothing comes out of the printer. The scanner works fine (small miracle given my lack of Linux skills!). I have tested the printer using Windows 10 on the same machine and it works fine. Is there anything I can try before I risk deleting hplip and -hpsetup and trying to start from scratch again? Just I've no idea how I got it to work in the first place - mainly trial and error from reading the posts on the forum... Many thanks
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 3 times in total.
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badgerlinux

Re: Mint 19 - HP281MFP - patial solution at first...

Post by badgerlinux »

Turns out I needed to go into hplip itself (via icon on the system tray), select the printer and set as default.....
Screenshot at 2018-08-10 16-57-56.png
Also, under programmes such as LibreOffice, there is another printer with a mildly different name but which doesn't work.... I have to select the printer which starts "HP-HP......." and is without a suffix.
Screenshot at 2018-08-10 17-00-43.png
Much as I'm a big fan of Linux Mint (and dislike Windows - in the latest version of 10 I couldn't even open the OS on a brand new laptop without having an MS account!!!), the faff and trouble with installing printers is sure to put some people off .... I remember having similar problems with Mint 13 and a Canon printer a few years back. Without the forum's help, and diving into Terminal (and cut and pasting commands without really knowing what I was doing - but having trust in the community!) I'd have been scuppered. Please please make printer installation easier in Linux.

As an aside, during my final (successful) install of hplip, I rejected the option for the extra security and also installed the plugin package via terminal. Also the GUI mode couldn't find the printer, but the terminal ("interactive") mode did.

Scan works fine using XSane.

For those with this particular printer, before you try to connect make sure that the printer wireless is switched on. It is not massively user friendly. If you leave it a few minutes it seems to switch itself off - maybe a power saving mode because nothing is interrogating it wirelessly. (Make sure the small blue wireless icon on the menu pad is "blue" (by pressing it) and check it shows an IP address in the Wireless menu (you need to scroll down)

Hope this helps other print sufferers....
Last edited by badgerlinux on Sun Aug 12, 2018 9:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
pdc_2
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Re: Mint 19 - HP281MFP - it can find printer but won't print (Solved)

Post by pdc_2 »

Much as I'm a big fan of Linux Mint
... this may bring a torrent of abuse down .. but .. I would suggest ... happy to be proved wrong .. that these things are possibly related to hplip ..

Other issues are the new airprint compatible issues too: some one needs to try to sort out what is going on; (I suspect this device; that only came out last year?? .. can you help us with this?? ... I think it is airprint-compatible)

Mint 19 has airprint compatibility (AC) built-in; (it came in with Ubuntu 17.04); that AC should mean the printing side of the thing (NOT the scanner side) is set up automatically ..... so when I see 278-281 I wonder if that is an AC designation

you can look in your PRINTERS folder . (inside the ADMINISTRATION folder ..)

how many icons do you see for your MFP? Right-click on each icon; look for MAKE & MODEL: drag the window to the right so you can see all the words; copy each entry; paste it back here please if you will
badgerlinux

Re: Mint 19 - HP281MFP - partially solved

Post by badgerlinux »

I think there used to be 3. But I deleted one to try to force the system's hand... The extra one had a lot of suffixes after the name and I suspect that was the airprint version. It was also the one which the system wanted to default to using. I've copied the info for the remaining printer below...
Screenshot at 2018-08-12 10-08-09.png
The printer is new (in the last year like you said). This is my most recent install of Mint, and I've heard others say that unlike earlier versions, these latest versions end up being a Tutorial into how to get Mint to work... Installing Wine is another area I've had trouble with (even using the guides online) and given up on......
Last edited by badgerlinux on Sun Aug 12, 2018 9:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Mint 19 - HP281MFP - it can find printer but won't print (Solved)

Post by catweazel »

pdc_2 wrote: Fri Aug 10, 2018 5:11 pm ... this may bring a torrent of abuse down .. but .. I would suggest ... happy to be proved wrong .. that these things are possibly related to hplip ..
<whistles nonchalantly>
"There is, ultimately, only one truth -- cogito, ergo sum -- everything else is an assumption." - Me, my swansong.
badgerlinux

Re: Mint 19 - HP281MFP - not so solved - more issues.....

Post by badgerlinux »

frustration continues.......
Now xsane scanner no longer works. Some problem with I/O when trying to scan. It feels almost random whether Linux / hplip recognises the printer (wirelessly) then connects to it properly. Is there a way to fix this?
In my printers menu - it has now given me 5 printers! (see below). I get that one is the fax side of things, but don't understand why the other 4...
Screenshot at 2018-08-12 14-10-46.png
Any help appreciated. And I thought setting up the printer in Mint 13 was bad........
pdc_2
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Re: Mint 19 - HP281MFP - not so solved - more issues.....

Post by pdc_2 »

this must all be very frustrating;

but can you print reliably now?

We have an officejet: its entry in MAKE & MODEL says
HP Officejet 4650 Series, hpcups 3.16.3
as we have Mint 18;

the hpcups to me means it is using hplip; if so, I would have thought the entry in MAKE & MODEL needs to say hpcups to know it is using hplip

if you run

Code: Select all

hp-setup
that should look for software issues; and should set up an entry for printing and also clarify scanning;

so it may duplicate a printer entry that already exists; but you need to know what entries there are at all times in your PRINTERS folder; so you can spot new ones that sneak in;

.. knowing in the way that it helps to check the water level in the battery; and the oil level in the car; for hopefully a smoother life; (I find maintenance hard but I try to keep up on the jobs!!) sorry you are having issues; we will continue to try to provide help to you
badgerlinux

Re: Mint 19 - HP281MFP - not so solved - more issues.....

Post by badgerlinux »

hp-setup can't find any printers on the network.. But I can still print..

Either hplip or something else is not playing nice.... I have 4 printers listed in Administration > Printers
Screenshot at 2018-08-13 18-27-45.png
It feels random. Sometimes the programmes (LibreOffice) can find and use the printers, sometimes not...

Is there a way to diagnose which of the printers listed is "real", or are they all needed, and I just need to find out which one to select for each task? Or is the fact hp-setup finding nothing an important finding?
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Re: Mint 19 - HP281MFP - not so solved - more issues.....

Post by pdc_2 »

Hi badger; what does

Code: Select all

lpinfo -v
give in a terminal;

and what does

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lpstat -t
give please? If you can copy the results and paste them back here; copy in a terminal is select text then use 3 keys: control and shift and c
badgerlinux

Re: Mint 19 - HP281MFP - not so solved - more issues.....

Post by badgerlinux »

Hi, the lpinfo -v command gives:

network https
network beh
file cups-brf:/
network ipp
network ipps
direct hp
network socket
network http
network lpd
direct hpfax

then lpstat -t gives the following (printer was turned off at the time):

scheduler is running
system default destination: HP_ColorLaserJet_MFP_M278-M281
device for HP-HP-ColorLaserJet-MFP-M278-M281: hp:/net/HP_ColorLaserJet_MFP_M278-M281?hostname=NPIC3D69B.local
device for HP_Color_LaserJet_MFP_M281fdw_C3D69B_: ipps://NPIC3D69B.local:631/ipp/print
device for HP_ColorLaserJet_MFP_M278-M281: hp:/net/HP_ColorLaserJet_MFP_M278-M281?ip=192.168.1.109
device for HP_ColorLaserJet_MFP_M278-M281_fax: hpfax:/net/HP_ColorLaserJet_MFP_M278-M281?ip=192.168.1.109
HP-HP-ColorLaserJet-MFP-M278-M281 accepting requests since Sun 12 Aug 2018 10:47:11 BST
HP_Color_LaserJet_MFP_M281fdw_C3D69B_ accepting requests since Sun 12 Aug 2018 10:37:44 BST
HP_ColorLaserJet_MFP_M278-M281 accepting requests since Sun 12 Aug 2018 13:45:59 BST
HP_ColorLaserJet_MFP_M278-M281_fax accepting requests since Thu 09 Aug 2018 22:52:03 BST
printer HP-HP-ColorLaserJet-MFP-M278-M281 is idle. enabled since Sun 12 Aug 2018 10:47:11 BST
printer HP_Color_LaserJet_MFP_M281fdw_C3D69B_ is idle. enabled since Sun 12 Aug 2018 10:37:44 BST
printer HP_ColorLaserJet_MFP_M278-M281 is idle. enabled since Sun 12 Aug 2018 13:45:59 BST
printer HP_ColorLaserJet_MFP_M278-M281_fax is idle. enabled since Thu 09 Aug 2018 22:52:03 BST

Hope this info helps..
srq2625

Re: Mint 19 - HP281MFP - not so solved - more issues.....

Post by srq2625 »

FWIW - these are things I've been forced to do to get my printer/scanner to work:
  • Given up on wireless - it's Cat5 to the router now
  • Given up on DCHP - I assign a static IP address to the printer
  • Don't depend on hp-setup to find the printer - I know the address so manual discovery works quite well
  • I assign my name to the printer during setup so I can distinguish it from those the LM might "install".
Of course, YMMV
pdc_2
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Re: Mint 19 - HP281MFP - not so solved - more issues.....

Post by pdc_2 »

hi badger; seems to me strange that your MFP is not reported with lpinfo; eg on our system, for our Officejet, it says
network dnssd://HP%20OfficeJet
amongst other things.

I don't have a systematic way to sort all this: various other folks have suggested plugging an HP in via usb cable; that seems to establish "trust" and the HP then seems to settle on a wireless connection; ... all a bit voodoo like but one seems to flounder with some of this stuff; similarly with Epson, kyphi on this forum will recommend to folks to get the device working on usb; and then attempt to throw off the waterwings, and go wireless
badgerlinux

Re: Mint 19 - HP281MFP - not so solved - more issues.....

Post by badgerlinux »

many thanks for the advice. It is working again for some reason (I'm not confident it will stay that way...). I'll have a go at your suggestion to connect via USB when the printer next goes AWOL and try a set up from there. I might also to go back to the beginning again and start over the hplip. Is there a simple way to remove all traces of hplip and hp-setup, so I can reinstall them from a "clean sheet". Thanks again.
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Re: Mint 19 - HP281MFP - not so solved - more issues.....

Post by pdc_2 »

Code: Select all

sudo apt purge hplip
should get rid of all;

then you need to install the latest from hplip; they seem to imagine the default directory for downloads would be Desktop; but Mint has the Downloads folder as its default;

so if you already have 3.18.7 in your Downloads folder;

then the commands would be

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cd Downloads
and you can check 3.18.7 is there by typing

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ls
which is short for list and do you see 3.18.7? If so, do

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sh hplip-3.18.7.run
....... you will note that no sudo preface is needed
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