Add new printer: "could not add new printer" error message
Hi there,
I try to get a printer work with a Trisquel computer. When I go to the system settings, printer and try to add a new printer: I can see the printer I want to add, so I select it and click on "add this new printer". Then it says "could not add new printer", without telling me more.
I am pretty sure it is not a driver problem, since I have another computer running on Debian Stretch with the same drivers installed on both computers.
I don't quite get how to solve the pb, nor how to get some more information about it. What can I do?
Best,
Louis
First I would install the package "printer-driver-all" and try again. It likely won't fix your problem, but it is worth trying because it takes so little time.
> Then it
> says "could not add new printer", without telling me more.
Sometimes the error messages printed to a terminal are more helpful than the ones in the graphical interface. Try opening a terminal with Ctrl+Alt+T, and then type "system-config-printer" (without the quotes) and press Enter. Attempt to add the printer again. I anything is printed to the terminal when you attempt to add the printer, copy it (Ctrl+Shift+C) and paste it here.
> I am pretty sure it is not a driver problem, since I have another computer
> running on Debian Stretch with the same drivers installed on both computers.
Are you only using Debian main (the default), or have you enabled contrib or non-free?
Thx for your help!
I already found the correct driver, so the installation of printer-driver-all did not change anything.
As for the other computer running with debian I do not have enabled contrib nor non-free.
system-config-printer does not do anything in the terminal: it says bash: unknown command.
> system-config-printer does not do anything in the terminal: it says bash:
> unknown command.
Hm. Assuming you typed it correctly, perhaps the package 'system-config-printer-gnome' is not installed? It should be installed by default though.
It sounds like you made progress with cups, though, so try Stretch's version of the driver first and see if that fixes the problem.
I got the driver that works under strecth to work ...ish.
The print test page is ok. But pdfs take ages to be printed out, and it is litterally impossible to manually stop a job, neither by using the printer button 'cancel' nor by using the gnome interface.
I consider it's ok for now. And I'll put more effort on it later.
Thx very much for your help :)
Also, Debian stretch has more recent version of the packages. For example, it has version 3.16.11 of HPLIP vs. version 3.16.3 in Trisquel's repository. If the model of the printer is recent, that can make a difference.
The printer is not recent, but that is true the driver which works under debian is more recent than what can be made to work on Trisquel. So it is likely the problem is here, indeed...
> true the driver which works under
> debian is more recent than what can be made to work on Trisquel. So it is
> likely the problem is here, indeed...
To find out, grab the .deb file for the driver
https://www.debian.org/distrib/packages
and install it with
$ sudo dpkg -i [package].deb
or by opening it with GDebi Package Installer.