Unable to print with Canon PIXMA TS6420: "The printer is in use."

buffalopete · 2023-01-03 02:47:42

Hi all, definitely not an Arch newb, but printing problems always make me feel like one so I'm posting here, anticipating that I missed something simple.

So after much mucking about, I think I've managed to get my Canon PIXMA TS6420 installed, recognized by CUPS, using the cnijfilter2 driver and the TS6400 series ppd file. My user is in the sys group, the KDE print module sees my printer and shows me the ink levels. So far so good.

But now when I try to print anything, the job gets to the print queue, and sits there with the status "The printer is in use." There is nothing else in the print queue. When I cancel the job, the status returns to "Idle." I don't see anything suspicious in the CUPS logs, but am posting them below for completeness. That's as far as I've gotten. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

/var/log/cups/access_log
localhost - - [02/Jan/2023:20:20:51 -0600] "POST /printers/CanonTS6420 HTTP/1.1" 200 31569 Print-Job successful-ok
localhost - - [02/Jan/2023:20:24:09 -0600] "POST / HTTP/1.1" 200 183 Renew-Subscription successful-ok
localhost - - [02/Jan/2023:20:24:20 -0600] "POST / HTTP/1.1" 200 183 Renew-Subscription successful-ok
localhost - pete [02/Jan/2023:20:24:30 -0600] "POST / HTTP/1.1" 200 183 Renew-Subscription successful-ok
localhost - pete [02/Jan/2023:20:38:58 -0600] "POST /admin/ HTTP/1.1" 200 165 Pause-Printer successful-ok
localhost - pete [02/Jan/2023:20:39:00 -0600] "POST /admin/ HTTP/1.1" 200 165 Resume-Printer successful-ok

/var/log/cups/error_log
E [02/Jan/2023:20:02:41 -0600] [Job 4] Unable to get printer status.
E [02/Jan/2023:20:03:21 -0600] [Job 4] Unable to get printer status.
E [02/Jan/2023:20:04:01 -0600] [Job 4] Unable to get printer status.
E [02/Jan/2023:20:04:42 -0600] [Job 4] Unable to get printer status.
E [02/Jan/2023:20:21:46 -0600] [Job 5] Unable to get printer status.
E [02/Jan/2023:20:36:58 -0600] [Job 5] Unable to get printer status.
E [02/Jan/2023:20:39:55 -0600] [Job 5] Unable to get printer status.

error_log is just a bunch of these, I assume it's just the printer going to some kind of standby mode. I see that in the KDE print module too, when I pause and resume the printer it just goes back to "The printer is in use."

/var/log/cups/page_log
CanonTS6420 pete 4 [02/Jan/2023:20:04:52 -0600] total 0 - localhost Test Page - -
CanonTS6420 pete 5 [02/Jan/2023:20:38:58 -0600] total 0 - localhost ShipperLabel (GIF Image, 1800 × 1200 pixels) — Scaled (45%) - -
CanonTS6420 pete 5 [02/Jan/2023:20:45:19 -0600] total 0 - localhost ShipperLabel (GIF Image, 1800 × 1200 pixels) — Scaled (45%) - -

rab0171610@gmail.com · 2023-01-03 07:07:06

This may sound like a dumb question. Suppose everything is configured correctly-- you have the right driver and ppd file installed, etc. Have you tried turning off the printer, shutting down the computer, and removing power source from the printer for a minute or so? And then starting everything back up again to see if the printer will return to the idle state and be ready to print again?
Obviously, if you are back to square one and the printer is still reporting "in use" and not printing, there is a problem with the configuration.

Last edited by rab0171610@gmail.com (2023-01-03 07:08:20)

buffalopete · 2023-01-03 07:34:22

Yes, I have turned off everything and pulled the plug on the printer. The printer goes to "Idle" until I send it a job, when it goes back to "The printer is in use."

Lone_Wolf · 2023-01-03 17:30:10

How is the printer connected to your system (usb , bluetooth, network to name a few possibilities ) ?

cfr · 2023-01-03 23:15:34

I'm not sure your user needs to be added to any particular group in order to print but, if it does, are you sure sys is the correct one? On my machine, sys doesn't seem to have anything particular to do with printing, but I'm not sure whether that is standard or not.

buffalopete · 2023-01-04 01:38:11

Lone_Wolf wrote:

How is the printer connected to your system (usb , bluetooth, network to name a few possibilities ) ?

USB.

EDIT: Sorry, I had initially tried to connect via USB but now am accessing it over my network. I have been unable to connect using USB, lsusb doesn't show the printer.

Last edited by buffalopete (2023-01-04 01:44:48)

buffalopete · 2023-01-04 01:40:38

cfr wrote:

I'm not sure your user needs to be added to any particular group in order to print but, if it does, are you sure sys is the correct one? On my machine, sys doesn't seem to have anything particular to do with printing, but I'm not sure whether that is standard or not.

The wiki page for Users and Groups says sys is the group that administers cups printers. Which tracks, because before I added myself to sys my system kept asking for my root password to manage the printer.

seth · 2023-01-04 09:21:44

But now when I try to print anything

incl. the testpage from http://localhost:631 ?

Raise the log level, don't forget to restart cups, try to prints sth. and post the log.
https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/CUPS/Troubleshooting

The printeer seems to have some status display (source: googled up amazon picture) - does it indicate any action on printing (from archlinux and/or in gerenal, ie. printing from other sources if available. windows, phone, …)?

cfr · 2023-01-05 00:51:59

buffalopete wrote:

The wiki page for Users and Groups says sys is the group that administers cups printers. Which tracks, because before I added myself to sys my system kept asking for my root password to manage the printer.

Ah, OK. I was thinking of printing rather than managing printers.

Arch Linux

#1 2023-01-03 02:47:42

Unable to print with Canon PIXMA TS6420: "The printer is in use."

#2 2023-01-03 07:07:06

Re: Unable to print with Canon PIXMA TS6420: "The printer is in use."

#3 2023-01-03 07:34:22

Re: Unable to print with Canon PIXMA TS6420: "The printer is in use."

#4 2023-01-03 17:30:10

Re: Unable to print with Canon PIXMA TS6420: "The printer is in use."

#5 2023-01-03 23:15:34

Re: Unable to print with Canon PIXMA TS6420: "The printer is in use."

#6 2023-01-04 01:38:11

Re: Unable to print with Canon PIXMA TS6420: "The printer is in use."

#7 2023-01-04 01:40:38

Re: Unable to print with Canon PIXMA TS6420: "The printer is in use."

#8 2023-01-04 09:21:44

Re: Unable to print with Canon PIXMA TS6420: "The printer is in use."

#9 2023-01-05 00:51:59

Re: Unable to print with Canon PIXMA TS6420: "The printer is in use."

Board footer