Cannot install driver for Canon C5030I copier

[bigal]

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nc 192.168.0.6 9100 <  PostScriptFile

immediately throws the error.

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nc 192.168.0.6 631 <  PostScriptFile

has no response what so ever.

I apologise for not telling you this earlier but I have only just thought of it. From top to bottom the four paper drawers are

A4
A4
A4R
A3

Without exception, every time I have seen the error it has indicated the bottom drawer on the printer screen. I had previously changed the various paper sizes around, including not having any A3 at all but it made no difference. The printer screen still shewed that A3 in the bottom drawer was wrong.

[brian_p]

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nc 192.168.0.6 9100 <  PostScriptFile

immediately throws the error.

I hope you substituted the name of your PostScript file for PostScriptFile

Also try this: delete the previous queue

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lpadmin -x c5030

and set up this:

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sudo lpadmin -p c5030 -v socket://192.168.0.6 -E -m drv:///sample.drv/generic.ppd

The PPD is a generic PostScript PPD. The queue should print any file sent to it.

[bigal]

The PS file I sent was as follows

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%!PS-Adobe-2.0
/Helvetica findfont 12 scalefont setfont
72 648 moveto
(This text is 1 inch from the left edge of the page and 9 inches from the bottom.)show
showpage
%%EOF

Now, I hope I am getting this right.First

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lpadmin -x c5030

deletes the printer then

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sudo lpadmin -p c5030 -v socket://192.168.0.6 -E -m drv:///sample.drv/generic.ppd

adds a c5030 printer then sends the generic ppd file to the c5030 printer found at 192.168.0.6.

Following that the printer was first deleted then, after the second command reinstated but with no output whatsoever. Attempting a test page after reinstatement resulted in the usual error.

I have tried simply copying both A4 and A3 by placing originals on the plattern and no matter which drawers the relevant paper was in the original were all copied correctly.

Do you want to buy a cheap printer? Too much time has been wasted on this. I am giving up.

[brian_p]

Following that the printer was first deleted then, after the second command reinstated but with no output whatsoever. Attempting a test page after reinstatement resulted in the usual error.

The PPD is not a Canon PPD but something quite general. Getting the usual error would imply a printer configuration adjustment. I do not think I have anything further to contribute.

[bigal]

Hi Brian,

I cannot express how really grateful I am for all the time you have put into this. If indeed it is a printer setting rather than a driver problem my simple logic dictates that something has had to have changed. I just do not know what. There are no Canon engineers within 150 miles of me that we could afford to come and adjust the settings so, as I said, it is the end of the line. We are left with what in reality is a very expensive photocopier. It will have to go.

I cannot, in all honesty mark this post as ‘Solved’ so to any future readers that come across it all I can do is apologise if you get misled an thinking it offers a solution.

[printerthinker]

Hi Bigal,

do you get the same error messages when you photocopy something?

[bigal]

No. Using the copier just as a copier works just fine. Image quality excellent stapling, folding, booklet making etc all spot on. I would set the printer back to factory defaults and start again but I have no idea how. The 'User guide' doesn't cover that.

[bigal]

Hi Bigal,

do you get the same error messages when you photocopy something?

Hey printerthinker. I just realised that you are new to the forum. Welcome. I hope that you find everyone one here very friendly and helpful. I certainly have over the years.

[printerthinker]

Thanks for the welcome. Does the printer have the ability to print from a usb stick? If it does, have you been able to print anything from it?

[bigal]

I put some pictures, .jpg, on a usb stick to try that. The printer 'saw' that it was there and offered me the option to remove it. However, it did not shew me what was on the stick although I presume that there is a setting somewhere to look at that. Not one I have ever seen though.

[printerthinker]

When trying to resolve a printer issue, I normally try to ensure the printer is working as intended before anything else. The fact it is photocopying ok, does suggest the problem is indeed from the computer side.

If the printer is asking to for A3 paper, have you tried putting a couple of sheets of A3 in each tray, including the manual override tray (sometimes called tray 1)? If this works, we can assume it is looking for the A3 paper in the wrong trays.

[bigal]

It certainly makes a lot of sense to eliminate one potential source of trouble at a time. Good practice. In the past I have tried A3 in all except the top drawer which is too small for A3, and the bypass; simply because I didn’t think of that one. No matter where the A3 paper was the message on the printer screen was always the same

The most proper size of A3 is not available

Additionally the diagram on the printer screen shews that it is looking in the bottom (drawer 4?) drawer. The message has always intrigued me: What is “the most proper size”? It is A3 or it is not A3. Can’t be anything else can it? That applied even when there was A4 in that drawer.

As far as the our print server stands at the moment it has been returned to the ‘just installed and updated’ state and there is no Canon printer driver software installed.

[printerthinker]

I have one last thought, not quite sure how to explain it though.

The A4 paper in the trays maybe in "portrait" as you look at it, but the print job from the computer maybe expecting the paper to be in "landscape" in the tray. This would mean the document you are printing in A4 is too wide for the paper in the tray, which is why it is looking for A3 paper.

Are the trays big enough for you to put A4 in the opposite way?

In addition, when you receive the error, are you able to bypass it, in other words, tell the printer "yeah, I know it is the wrong paper size, but print it anyway!"

[bigal]

In normal usage the four trays, counting from the top down are set A4, A4, A4R and A3. No matter which way I put an A4 original on the platen glass it copies correctly. Equally, if the original is A3 I get an A3 copy. As far as print jobs from the computer were concerned even the ‘printer test page’ threw the error, as did the CUPS test page. Once the error was present on the copier all I could do was cancel the job. No option to send it anywhere else.

[printerthinker]

I understand, what I am trying to say badly, is the driver could be expecting the A4 paper to be in a different orientation in the paper tray.

So, is it possible to rotate the A4 paper in the trays to see if it prints?

[printerthinker]

oh, and put A4 in all the trays.

[bigal]

Although in normal orientation I have tried with A4 in all trays. It still looked for A3 in the bottom tray. In normal orientation the long edge of A4 corresponds to the short edge of A3. When taking paper from the normal A4 or the A3 tray the length of the edge that leads is the same. In any case, I go back to what I said earlier, that as a copier everything works just as it should.

Poor Brian has gone through so many different settings, ppd files and drivers with me he is now convinced that the problem is with the printer, but, as you see to all intents and purposes the printer is working fine. Canon have annoyed me as they supply drivers for Linux then promptly disown them and refuse to offer any kind of support at all. I, for one, will never buy anything Canon again, or recommend them to anyone.

[brian_p]

Hi bigal. Back again; a glutton for punishment.

Poor Brian has gone through so many different settings, ppd files and drivers with me he is now convinced that the problem is with the printer, but, as you see to all intents and purposes the printer is working fine.

My rationale follows.

The command

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nc 192.168.0.6 9100 <  Any_PostScript_file_of_your_choice

does not use a PPD. In fact, it does not use any part of the printing system on whatever machine sends it. The C5030i is a PostScript printer; it is obliged to print valid PostScript.

All that netcat does is shovel data using TCP/IP from point A to point B. Point B has a first-class Adobe PS interpreter. The file has to print. If it doesn't, TCP/IP has broken down (shock, horror), the input is not valid PS (even then, you'd probably just get gibberish out) , the interpreter has failed (really?) or the printer needs a good talking to.

Canon have annoyed me as they supply drivers for Linux then promptly disown them and refuse to offer any kind of support at all. I, for one, will never buy anything Canon again, or recommend them to anyone.

Have you thought of contacting Canon and being creative. For a start, don't mention the L word. You have commissioned an application which runs in the Cloud (no - you do not know what it runs on). This application accepts jobs from customers and produces PS which is then sent directly to the printer. But the problem you are having is blah, blah, blah. No - you do not need any drivers because this is the way printers work. PS in; printed paper out. So please guide me on getting rid of this "The most proper size of A3 is not available".

[bigal]

Hi again Brian. Welcome back

The question I must ask is why did

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nc 192.168.0.6 9100 … … 

at least try to print but sending the file to CUPS

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nc 192.168.0.6 631 … ...

did not even try. No output at all?

For the greater part of time I try only to ask about something I know a little about – printing and printers I now know I know nothing about. Also I know next to nothing about Cloud computing so feel that I would soon be so out of my depth I would make mistakes when answering any questions which would only serve to confuse and cloud (pun intended) the issue. In any case we do not have any kind of service contract with Canon so there I no reason for them to talk to me. I wouldn’t want to start one unless I could be sure that the end result would get this contraption of our working and I am now pretty much convinced is something that will never happen.

One kindly friend suggested that I compromised and put a Windows 10 computer into our LAN and used that as a print server. I flatly refuse to do that – I don’t talk to him any more.

[brian_p]

The question I must ask is why did

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nc 192.168.0.6 9100 … … 

at least try to print but sending the file to CUPS

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nc 192.168.0.6 631 … ...

did not even try. No output at all?

Earlier on you set up a print queue with the official Canon PPD and URI of socket://192.168.0.6. 192.168.0.6 is the IP address of the printer; socket is the protocol used to send data to it on port 9100. Sending a job to the queue got you your familiar error but at least it indicates communication with the printer.

For all intents and purposes, what netcat and socket:// do is identical; both just shovel data to the printer. The first command cannot contact CUPS because CUPS cannot use port 9100 for communication. I thought you said you just got your A3 message with this command.

Basically, this command sends to the printer and should work. It was tested before being given to you.

The failure with port 631 is my fault. The IPP protocol is used on that port and netcat cannot handle it with its shovelling technique.

For the greater part of time I try only to ask about something I know a little about – printing and printers I now know I know nothing about. Also I know next to nothing about Cloud computing so feel that I would soon be so out of my depth I would make mistakes when answering any questions which would only serve to confuse and cloud (pun intended) the issue. In any case we do not have any kind of service contract with Canon so there I no reason for them to talk to me. I wouldn’t want to start one unless I could be sure that the end result would get this contraption of our working and I am now pretty much convinced is something that will never happen.

Your ignorance is your strength. You are the junior member of the team tasked with sorting this problem out. All you know is that a cable comes from the internet to the printer and you do not get this error with an HP LaserJet which does PS. Canon offer support by phone. Surely they would have come across the issue before and can answer without requiring a service contract. Besides, they should be used to users missing the significance of instructions in the manual. Anyway, I'll leave that there.

One kindly friend suggested that I compromised and put a Windows 10 computer into our LAN and used that as a print server. I flatly refuse to do that – I don’t talk to him any more.

As a matter of interest - PostScript is a driverless PDL (Page Description Language). The type of computer or OS is completely immaterial. The problem is soluble. It has nothing to with Mint or drivers.