Difficulty with HP Deskjet 3050

[Feathers McGraw]

Well spotted Sir! One hundred points to you.

elder73, it looks like you're running Kubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail, which is no longer supported. Since 13.04 there have been two more releases: 13.10 (Saucy Salamander) and 14.04 (Trusty Tahr). 14.04 is a Long Term Support (LTS) release, and is good until 2019, so we should aim to upgrade you to that.

There's a chart of the different releases and their support schedules here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LTS

You can check which version of Kubuntu you are running by searching for kinfocentre and clicking "About System":



We can either upgrade you twice (13.04 --> 13.10 --> 14.04) or you could do a fresh installation. Upgrading can take a long time (perhaps 2 hours per time) but will leave your settings and files intact, so it's probably best.

There are two ways to upgrade: the graphical way (with Muon) and the commandline way. I have had problems with the graphical way where muon messed up and broke my system, so I think we should try the commandline way.

Before you start, back up any really critical files just in case.

Now attach the power lead in your machine is a laptop, and possibly an ethernet cable to make sure the wifi doesn't slow down your downloads, then run:

sudo apt-get update
sudo do-release-upgrade

Once that is complete you'll be running 13.10 - you need to do this twice to get to 14.04, but once you're there you won't have to upgrade for another 5 years, so it's worth it!

[elder73]

Well spotted Sir! One hundred points to you.

elder73, it looks like you're running Kubuntu 13.04 Raring Ringtail, which is no longer supported. Since 13.04 there have been two more releases: 13.10 (Saucy Salamander) and 14.04 (Trusty Tahr). 14.04 is a Long Term Support (LTS) release, and is good until 2019, so we should aim to upgrade you to that.

There's a chart of the different releases and their support schedules here: https://wiki.ubuntu.com/LTS

You can check which version of Kubuntu you are running by searching for kinfocentre and clicking "About System":

[ATTACH=CONFIG]5089[/ATTACH]

We can either upgrade you twice (13.04 --> 13.10 --> 14.04) or you could do a fresh installation. Upgrading can take a long time (perhaps 2 hours per time) but will leave your settings and files intact, so it's probably best.

There are two ways to upgrade: the graphical way (with Muon) and the commandline way. I have had problems with the graphical way where muon messed up and broke my system, so I think we should try the commandline way.

Before you start, back up any really critical files just in case.

Now attach the power lead in your machine is a laptop, and possibly an ethernet cable to make sure the wifi doesn't slow down your downloads, then run:

sudo apt-get update
sudo do-release-upgrade

Once that is complete you'll be running 13.10 - you need to do this twice to get to 14.04, but once you're there you won't have to upgrade for another 5 years, so it's worth it!

Well that is source of the problem finally. I will use the command line as I have not been very happy or successful with Muon. So I will be in touch when I get it all done.

[elder73]

Last night I upgraded the system and I really do like the command line way of doing that.
This morning I got up and did:
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install xsane
Lo and behold it is in my menu system. When I brought it up it certainly is more like what I was looking for.
However, it only works when the printer is connected via USB. I find that a bit strange as the printer part of it works on a wireless connection just fine.
You did mention some further playing around and if you are up to it so am I. By the way, how do I show this thread as solved.

[jlittle]

However, it only works when the printer is connected via USB. I find that a bit strange as the printer part of it works on a wireless connection just fine.

The hplip package sorted that for me. Once it finds the printer on the network it queries it for capability. I fix the printer's IP on the printer, in the past that simplified things (especially in Win XP), I don't know if it's still useful. (With the piece of dreck I have for a router, which needs resetting frequently, I imagine it helps.)

[elder73]

The hplip package sorted that for me. Once it finds the printer on the network it queries it for capability. I fix the printer's IP on the printer, in the past that simplified things (especially in Win XP), I don't know if it's still useful. (With the piece of dreck I have for a router, which needs resetting frequently, I imagine it helps.)

Thank you, I will give it a try. I could not get hplp to install before I upgraded the system by two levels.

[jlittle]

... I could not get hplp to install ...

Just in case that's not a typo, it's HP Linux Imaging and Printing, hplip

[elder73]

The hplip package sorted that for me. Once it finds the printer on the network it queries it for capability. I fix the printer's IP on the printer, in the past that simplified things (especially in Win XP), I don't know if it's still useful. (With the piece of dreck I have for a router, which needs resetting frequently, I imagine it helps.)

After a couple of tries (Learnig curves I guess you would call them) I got hplip installed and now it both prints and scans by wireless. Thank you for your help.

[elder73]

Hello Feathers McGraw, thank you for your patience and help, It was most appreciated. elder73.

[Feathers McGraw]

You're welcome

[Feathers McGraw]

From visitior message (best to just ask questions in a thread if you want more people to see your question!):

Hello Feathers, A little while ago you helped me get the scanner working on my K.14.04. At that time I was running a dual machine but a few days ago scrapped that and turned it into a total Kubuntu 14.04 machine. My printer is an HP Deskjet 3050. I installed Xsane and then HPLIP the latter being quite a long installation.
The problem is that neither Xsane or Skanlite can find the scanner. It is a wireless connection and it prints just fine. Any thoughts would be appreciated. elder73.

From what I can tell reading the above thread, you never did get it scanning wirelessly when you were dual booting, only using a wired connection.