[solved] going crazy! kubuntu can't set up any network printers

[chowderhead]

Hi,

I've had Kubuntu 9.10 32-bit running on my laptop since it came out, but in the past month all its networked printers have disappeared from the configuration, and I can't set up any more.

I've been through the forums again and again and cannot fix it. I've installed and reinstalled lots of packages related to CUPS but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

I'm not sure what has happened, but I have lots of clues. Since I'm reaching the limit of my know-how here, I'll just list all the clues. I'm not sure CUPS is even running on the machine.

I'm pretty sure the problem is in my Kubuntu laptop, because in my SOHO setup I also have a Kubuntu 9.10 desktop (this time 64 bit) connected to a printer, and I have successfully printed through that from both a Windows XP laptop and a Xubuntu 9.10 box.

On the Xubuntu 9.10 box, I just asked for the GUI print configurator and it automatically detected the network printer. No muss no fuss.

But on the Kubuntu laptop, when I go into the print configurator, here's what happens:
- it shows two options, "new printer" and "server settings"
- entering "server settings" everything is greyed out and unchangeable
- entering "new printer" shows only one option for a connection, "other"
- after entering the address of a printer i know works the configurator has detected the printer
- but then attempting to move forward it crashes with no explanation.

Running the non-kubuntu version of the configurator GUI provides a bit more information before it fails. When I try to access the desktop with the printer attached it wants a username and password. (which wasn't necessary for the two client machines who successfully printed.) And at the end of the process there is an error: "there was an error during the CUPS operation: client-error-forbidden".

Two more clues:
- when I try to go with my browser to localhost:631 the browser can't establish a connection
- but I can see the cups page on the printer's host machine at 192.168.0.104:631 no problem.

Any help would be a great assistance to my sanity. Thanks so much!

[chowderhead]

Re: going crazy! kubuntu can't set up any network printers

I'm pretty sure at this point the problem has to do with cups not being able to run. I don't see any process with a name like "cups" when i open system monitor. and when I try to restart cups manually with a statement like this..

sudo service cups restart

I get back..

 cupsd: Child exited with status 1!

.. However I'm not really sure how to diagnose backwards from that point.

[dibl]

Re: going crazy! kubuntu can't set up any network printers

Something funny there -- why won't cupsd run? I think that is the root of all your issues. There have been quite a rash of CUPS updates lately -- I wonder if something got borked on your laptop. Maybe try

sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install --reinstall cups

and see what happens. If it doesn't give you any useful errors, then maybe in the system log file it will tell something about the

cupsd: Child exited with status 1!

problem.

[chowderhead]

Re: going crazy! kubuntu can't set up any network printers

ok, thanks, will try....

I got the same error message about child exiting with status 1.

um, dumb question: where do i find the system log file?

I'm normally just Joe User; I'm at the [edit: limit of my] technical proficiency now.

[dibl]

Re: going crazy! kubuntu can't set up any network printers

I'm normally just Joe User; I'm at the [edit: limit of my] technical proficiency now.

Ha ha ha -- no problem, we'll stretch you a little.

Actually, I'm away from my Linux box stuck and stuck at a Wintel POS. So, racking my old memory, if you will open Dolphin and browse to /var/log, you will observe a series of files that end in ".log". Those are log files. You want one that looks something like "sys.log" or "system.log" or something like that. If you click on one, it should open in kate or kwrite. Or if you right-click, you can choose "Open with ..." and then choose kate.

When you're looking at a log file, you'll see it is a list of messages from the OS as it works its way through a process. You're looking for the point where it tried to do something with cupsd, and you're looking for an error message.

Sorry I can't be more specific -- do a little exploring in the logs and see what you can find there.

I will note that an inability to run CUPS is an unusual problem -- it makes me wonder if there is something more serious on your laptop than just a printer issue. Did anything unusual happen at the time you were installing Linux on it, or subsequently? When your run updates, for example, do you see any error messages?

[skunk]

Re: going crazy! kubuntu can't set up any network printers

There is also a program called System Log Viewer installed in the System section of the K menu.

Or just type ksystemlog into KRunner

[chowderhead]

Re: going crazy! kubuntu can't set up any network printers

Thanks skunk & dibl-- I think I have it figured out now.

For the record in case it helps someone else:

My laptop is about 2 years old, so it has been through several Kubuntu upgrades. I only use the standard repositories so it didn't have any nonstandard packages on it I don't think -- maybe a few related to DVD's or mp3's but that's it.

When I looked through the system log (which definitely was easiest to search using ksystemlog, thanks), here were the lines related to cups from the last boot:

2010-02-16 12:00:18	obol-laptop-t61	kernel	[  5.098370] type=1505 audit(1266321614.627:5): operation="profile_load" pid=482 name=/usr/lib/cups/backend/cups-pdf
2010-02-16 12:00:18	obol-laptop-t61	kernel	[  5.099163] type=1505 audit(1266321614.627:6): operation="profile_load" pid=482 name=/usr/sbin/cupsd
2010-02-16 12:00:28	obol-laptop-t61	kernel	[  19.272822] type=1505 audit(1266350428.803:12): operation="profile_replace" pid=1102 name=/usr/lib/cups/backend/cups-pdf
2010-02-16 12:00:28	obol-laptop-t61	kernel	[  19.273630] type=1505 audit(1266350428.803:13): operation="profile_replace" pid=1102 name=/usr/sbin/cupsd
2010-02-16 12:00:36	obol-laptop-t61	cupsd	Unable to read configuration file '/etc/cups/cupsd.conf' - exiting!
2010-02-16 12:01:36	obol-laptop-t61	python	hp-systray[1847]: warning: No hp: or hpfax: devices found in any installed CUPS queue. Exiting.

My guess was that CUPS was trying to load, couldn't read cupsd.conf, and gave up.

I looked and found there was no /etc/cups/cupsd.conf, but there was something called cupsd.conf.default, so (as root) I copied the contents of the latter file into a new one called cupsd.conf, and rebooted.

Now cupsd is running and the kde printer configuration tool is finding and adding my office's network printer -- but sadly I can't give it a 100% test because it's out of ink! But prospects look good.

cheers!

[mmmmna]

Re: going crazy! kubuntu can't set up any network printers

Hmm.
I'm VERY new here and VERY new to KDE 4.X and new to Ubuntu and ... well, I'm probably your technical doppelganger. Please don't let me get you too far off track.

For me, so far my printer works. I recently installed U9.10 for 64 bit, less than 2 weeks ago, and used the default Gnome interface until 3 or 4 days ago when I added KDE 4.3.2 (my only other experiences with KDE have been several years with KDE 3.2 - 3.5). My printers were set up using the Gnome tools and so far, so good. I have a USB connected HP PSC1610 which I only use for scanning, and I have a Brother HL2170W monochrome laser printer that is totally wireless. They both work for me.

My point: Maybe switch to Gnome for a few minutes and try setting the printer up that way?

Ok, that is all I had.

[chowderhead]

Re: going crazy! kubuntu can't set up any network printers

thanks for the input mmmmna. yeah, i tried using the gnome tools because it is true sometimes the kde ones seem to be buggy. but i think i solved it by discovering the missing cups.conf file as described above.