[Solved] CUPS - "waiting for printer to become available" ... AGAIN

ansak · 2014-04-27 23:28:41

So... I have a LaserJet 1020 and I've used Debian, Gentoo, Ubuntu and now ARCH on Linux computers that attach to it.

I've become (depressingly) used to having different distros go through different back-flips to get me into positions that the printer will work for me and this latest was no exception. I don't know when it happened -- after falling too far behind in the systemd and everything-into-[the]-/usr/bin upgrades, I've gotten into the habit of pacman -Syy / -Su more often than I print things -- but suddenly I couldn't print, as has happened so often over the years, but hadn't for some time.

I googled things but saw nothing remotely like my problem except this post here https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=121944 which I looked through and gleaned one thing from: despite the fact that lsmod didn't show usblp in the list of loaded modules, maybe I needed to kill another chicken and recite "ooh! ee! ooh-ah ah!" once more in another key to bring my printer back. Downgrading the file utility as that post suggested just seemed wrong. My best hypothesis of what was happening was that automatic USB mount procedures were bringing in usblp and the contents of the fooz files was forcing it to be rmmod'd in short order thereafter (I found scripts in there that seemed to do that for various models).

So I dug into a follow-through link on blacklisting: https://www.archlinux.org/news/changes- … cklisting/ and blacklisted usblp yet again (doing this sort of thing has been a recommended! / don't do it! / recommended! incantation over the years), used systemctl to restart cups, cycled power on my printer and voila! Printing works yet again.

I only wish I knew (for sure) why. I followed-up (necrobumped, according to the kind sysadmin, my bad) to 121944 about what I'd seen but I still wanted to do two things:

(a) find out if anyone knows (as opposed to my plausible guess) why blacklisting a module that wasn't loaded when I looked for it worked (or appeared to).
(b) make sure this information is out there with no censure attached to it) for the next puir sod to benefit from when their HP USB printer ghosts on them.

Any answers to (a)? (Printer still works, hooray! after the over-night power cycle)

cheers...ank

Last edited by ansak (2014-05-01 18:08:18)

Rexilion · 2014-04-28 08:41:08

Maybe usblp is talking directly to a device without the usb subsystem. I figures out it has nothing to do (or something like CUPS disables it), but then the USB subsystem will not take over rendering the device useless. Unless it's replugged. (did you try that?).

However, I'm surprised the thing is still there.

ansak · 2014-04-30 04:22:18

Rexilion wrote (and I edited, to make sure I understood):

> Maybe usblp is talking directly to a device without the usb subsystem. It figures out it has nothing to do (or something like CUPS disables it), but then the USB subsystem will not take over, rendering the device useless.

That's about what I figured out was happening, yes.

> Unless it's replugged. (did you try that?).

Several times. To no avail. Not seeing any answers, I did what I described above. That worked -- but something simpler might have worked just as well. Trouble is, I tried a bunch of the simpler things and they didn't. <sigh>

cheers...ank

Rexilion · 2014-04-30 08:00:32

Well, blacklisting a module omits the entire problem under every situation. I really do think that's the simple solution you are looking for.

However, maybe you could open a bugreport a kernel.org to get your model blacklisted.

ansak · 2014-04-30 13:16:05

Rexilion:

blacklisting the simple solution: yes, I agree.

And it's unclear to me if the bug report should go to the kernel or to the fooz developers, or just out toward users who have to make their hardware, which was fundamentally mis-designed hardware (without being able to produce output absent interaction with an OS, originally Windows) work with software coming from at least two other sources (kernel and fooz). That third option was the biggest reason I wanted to get this post out where someone else could use it.

If you can point out the precisely correct place to make that bug report and why that is the right place, I'll be glad to post the bug. For my part, I'm not 100% sure I know enough about what happened to even post a good clear bug in the first place. I also develop software and I find that a bad bug report is often worse than no bug report, hence something I don't want to inflict on someone else.

cheers...ank

Rexilion · 2014-04-30 14:07:35

Frankly I wanted to point you to the kernel bugzilla. But there are no other bugs regarding this issue. Furthermore, usblp is hardly modified and I don't see a huge blacklist of devices.

I was thinking of an udev rule that may have a blacklist, but I could not find usblp in /usr/lib/udev. Furthermore, hpcups only has /usr/lib/udev/rules.d/56-hpmud.rules which is not related.

I would say, let it rest.

ansak · 2014-05-01 12:57:26

As I'll do. (Is it the admins who mark these threads "fixed"?)

If you think of something, post back here or to me directly and I'll be glad to write that bug.

Yield who will to their separation...ank

Rexilion · 2014-05-01 16:25:31

Good.

I think you can edit the title to add the prefix.

Arch Linux

#1 2014-04-27 23:28:41

[Solved] CUPS - "waiting for printer to become available" ... AGAIN

#2 2014-04-28 08:41:08

Re: [Solved] CUPS - "waiting for printer to become available" ... AGAIN

#3 2014-04-30 04:22:18

Re: [Solved] CUPS - "waiting for printer to become available" ... AGAIN

#4 2014-04-30 08:00:32

Re: [Solved] CUPS - "waiting for printer to become available" ... AGAIN

#5 2014-04-30 13:16:05

Re: [Solved] CUPS - "waiting for printer to become available" ... AGAIN

#6 2014-04-30 14:07:35

Re: [Solved] CUPS - "waiting for printer to become available" ... AGAIN

#7 2014-05-01 12:57:26

Re: [Solved] CUPS - "waiting for printer to become available" ... AGAIN

#8 2014-05-01 16:25:31

Re: [Solved] CUPS - "waiting for printer to become available" ... AGAIN

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