How does one set up a printer on Solus Budgie?

elfprince

I am asking this because the path, or order of general steps, is not clear to me and is confusing. Between 'hp-setup', 'Printers' and 'Print Settings' (Budgie Menu) and 'CUPS', I have no idea what to do first and last on Solus.

Can anyone please help with this? Thanks!

Oh, and is there a way to permanently unlock things in the Print Settings' and 'Printers' (in the Budgie Menu), because they keep locking every minute or so.

tuxlover4

most modern printers (those 10 years old or less) usually have a driver built into the linux kernel. especially hp and brother printers tend to just work . plug your printer into the usb port of your computer. in the menu look for printer settings and see if your printer is already installed. if it is listed then you do not need to do anything else. if it is not listed then click on add printer . it will ask for your password, type that in . it will then scan your system looking for a printer . if it it finds one it will install the driver . if it does not find one than you need to come back here and see if someone else can assist you . I have several hp printers at home and work and Solus has always installed them using the methods i described above . good luck and happy printing .

P.S. if you need a good scanning app for your printer's scanner try document scanner . it is in the software center .

elfprince

tuxlover4 WetGeek My printer is HP M110W, a wifi only printer model. So, no usb path possible. I was not looking for general steps, I know that much too. 😆 The correct steps on Budgie Solus, as in 1. 2. 3. etc. Why? Because I am not sure if I did something wrong.
Anyway, the printer is on same wifi network as my Solus pc. It prints a test page from Solus, but nothing else.

WetGeek

My printers have always been present without requiring me to do anything, but I'm on Plasma, so that may be a difference because of the DEs. And my printers have been on wi-fi, and on the same network as my computers. That might be a factor, too.

I'll bet @brent could give you a lot better advice that I can on this subject. You might mention how the printer is connected to your computer. USB cable? Wi-fi connection? Something else?

WetGeek

Yeah, I think @brent is your best hope. He's a Budgie guy, and if I recall correctly, he's good at troubleshooting printer issues. If you can print test pages from Budgie, I have no idea why you can't print from the queue.

elfprince

WetGeek I have no idea why you can't print from the queue

Exactly my thoughts as well. @brent , what do you think? 😄

davidjharder

I don't know about the world of HP printers, but for Brother, you have to install the brother drivers (usually brlaser), and then you can add the printer. Otherwise you get a generic CUPS driver (which is garbage for my printer).

I would guess that for HP you should install hplip and then try adding the printer.

elfprince

davidjharder you should install hplip and then try adding the printer.

Thank you, I will try that now. I will remove all the instances of the printer, and then will try again. Question was, which Solus apps should I use, and in what order? I mentioned in my first post that there are 4 or so, hence the confusion.

davidjharder

elfprince You should use the system "printers" thing. rough steps for HP:

install hplip
open the "printers" settings
unlock it with your user password
add a new printer
if there is a drop down for driver selection, you should now be able to select something other than "generic CUPS" (sorry, I don't know how the hplip supplied drivers are named)

elfprince

davidjharder

Turned off and unplugged printer.
Tried to remove all printers with same name from Solus "printers" and 'print settings', but it keeps popping back in on its own. Even tried to delete the printer using CUPS directly. Same result. The printer seems to be indestructible, even when it is offline still.
What can I do now? I don't dare to start adding more printers, because that is how I got mixed up in the first place.

brent

@elfprince what he said ^^ do it all thru system settings. when you get to the drop down driver selection---if your driver is not listed---I shoot for the same model and a number just above or below it and most of the time it works.

Other times I had to crack a tarball and run .sh install the best I could to get the manufacturer driver into Solus by hand--if that's an option.

the best part is I never write anything down so every new install is an adventure🙂

brent

elfprince it should not repopulate after the gui deletion/removal...unless .conf file/folder still there? being referenced by any of the cups crap? I've seen a stubborn deleted printer a time or two but I think I them permanently them after second or third try.

elfprince

Other relevant observation: had same issue on an Ubuntu distro (Linux Lite). However, on Q4OS it was a cinch on the first try. Go figure.

elfprince

brent .unless .conf file/folder still there

And do you know where I can find that .conf file?

brent

likely all in /.config if I had to guess. maybe tear all folders relating to an HP printer out to be sure?

and try to delete a couple more times. I remember a reboot always being part of this method. sequence matters too. if all traces gone and wiped clean then turn printer on and make solus see it...

..but we got to get to the part where you can delete it first. sometimes this stuff is pita

elfprince

brent The phantom printers (the older setups or f**ups) persisted still. I can't believe this. However, I carefully tried another new 'add' and labelled it uniquely. Then it took 2 tries to select the right driver in hplip databse.
It finally worked! Printed out a test copy, and thereafter a document a couple of times. Thank you all for pitching in. 👍️

SOLVED.

EbonJaeger

On Solus, printers did use to be automatically added. I thought that broke ages ago, though. Would be nice if it was fixed somewhere along the ways...

elfprince

EbonJaeger On a different note, are all those locking mechanisms really necessary on a home purposed distro? Can (and does) make life 'difficult' (to be polite). 😄

WetGeek

EbonJaeger On Solus, printers did use to be automatically added.

On Plasma, they still do. I haven't needed to intervene manually for years. Not with Canon, HP, or now Epson.

By the way, I bought that Epson beause it has ink tanks instead of cartridges. I'm lovin' it.

EbonJaeger

elfprince That's inherited from GNOME Control Center, I'm afraid, and there is no compile option for it.

brent

WetGeek do you have a knack for buying popular models with broad representation in the linux community? If that is one of your gifts mine is the opposite: that oddball model printer or scanner that has no direct support.

I will say this...when my current Brother dies...it's getting up there, I am going to find something that is common in the repos as far as a broad driver pack. Not every repo 'brother' or 'hp' or 'epson' driver package is comprehensive that way...conversely sane, xsane, backends, multi-scanner plug in packages don't always service most scanners or 2/3-in-one printers. In other words research research research.

Linux still funny that way after all these years..
...now since I am prisoner to overpriced ink cartirdge$$ that don't last worth poop..tell me about tanks🙂. If @elfprince does not mind the mini-deviation.