Solved Pantum P2200W printer not working

[Erik Groothuijzen]

I have now migrated to Linux Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS after having done a new clean install from an ISO image. Ubuntu gave me some problems with involuntary reboots, hence the new install on my Lenovo ThinkPad W530, with an Intel® Core™ i7-3740QM × 8 processor and 8.0 GiB memory. I also removed my optical drive and fitted my old SSD into a caddy and did a new Windows 10 install as I could get nothing in Linux to work with my Garmin map updates. The main SSD is 1TB divided into two drives, one for the Linux install, and the other formatted to FAT32 so I can use it to store things on usable by both systems. Now again, the printer driver is from the Pantum site, the diver is picked up by the DEB software installer and installed, used to work and now does not. The system recognizes the printer, goes through messages of printing and printing completed, but the printer itself does nothing. It is on, goes through the warming process after lugging in the USB cable, and then nothing. It works perfectly in Windows 10 (sorry). What am I doing wrong or what could the problem be. I am still not conversant with terminal and battle with the syntax all the time. I want to use my computer, not reinvent it. I am also not looking for a new computer with Windows 11. I would just like my Linux to work the way it should.

 

[Brickwizard]

https://archive.org/download/pantum-ubuntu-driver-v-1-1-123/Pantum%20Ubuntu%20Driver%20V1_1_123.zip

 

[Erik Groothuijzen]

Thanks for the links. I have tried several Linux distros, I did download those drivers, I did use Ubuntu to install them. The point is that it worked the first time no problems. The same identical actions this time, it does not. I did the same in Widows 10 on the same computer. Uninstalled the printer, installed the new driver, on the same computer, no problems. I don't want to reboot to Windows every time for printing. What could the problem be this time?

 

[CaffeineAddict]

To figure out what's wrong collect error messages and paste them here.
Errors will tell whether it's driver problem or something else.

The best method to capture errors is with lnav command, first install it:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install lnav

Then run lnav as follows:

sudo lnav -r /var/log

As soon as you run command press q key once to close loading menu, and keep the terminal with lnav open.
Maximize terminal window to be able to see more.
Next reproduce the problem with printing, try printing as usual and watch for errors or warnings in lnav terminal.

If you find anything suspicious (red or yellow lines) take a screenshot of them and post here.
You may need to scroll lnav to the right to make entire lines readable, to do this set focus on terminal and press SHIFT + L to scroll to the right and SHIFT + H for scroll left.
Use mouse wheel to scroll up and down, END key is used to scroll to the bottom.

 

[Erik Groothuijzen]

I will look into this, but there are no error messages. There is a message that it is printing, and then there is a message that the printing has been completed, but apart from a "poink" sound when the print command is given, the printer does not react at all. The printer is recognised when you connect the usb cable.

 

[CaffeineAddict]

Other place to look for errors is dmesg, run it as follows and keep open:

sudo dmesg -w

Here use 3 repro steps:
1. disconnect and reconnect printer to see if there is some issue initializing printer
2. try printing and watch for messages
3. restart cups service

Hopefully you catch something of interest.

edit:
I think same message are available in lnav, so just repro point 1 & 3

 

[Erik Groothuijzen]

I and 2 positive. As I stated, when connecting the usb cable the printer responds and is recognised by the computer. When printing it gives messages that it is printing and that the printing is completed, but the printer does not print.Please clear up cups service? It must be a software problem as the printer works fine in Windows 10.

 

[CaffeineAddict]

clear up cups service?

cups service is used for printing jobs, it should be installed on your system, to check run:

sudo systemctl status cups

Maybe it prints something useful.
To restart sudo systemctl restart cups

 

[osprey]

I and 2 positive. As I stated, when connecting the usb cable the printer responds and is recognised by the computer. When printing it gives messages that it is printing and that the printing is completed, but the printer does not print.Please clear up cups service? It must be a software problem as the printer works fine in Windows 10.

There are few checks one can implement.

Probably the first is to check the status of the printer. To get the proper name of the printer if unsure, usually one can run the following. The outputs shown are from a printer on a machine here that works so you can compare notes:

[~]$ cat /etc/printcap
# This file was automatically generated by cupsd(8) from the
# /etc/cups/printers.conf file.  All changes to this file
# will be lost.
HP_LaserJet_P2015_Series|HP LaserJet P2015 Series:rm=min:rp=HP_LaserJet_P2015_Series:
HP-LaserJet-P2015-Series|Hewlett-Packard HP LaserJet P2015 Series:rm=min:rp=HP-LaserJet-P2015-Series:

The name of the printer on this machine is HP_LaserJet_P2015_Series. Note the underscores.

Then you can check it's status entering the printer name in the following:

[~]$ lpstat -l -p HP_LaserJet_P2015_Series
printer HP_LaserJet_P2015_Series is idle.  enabled since Fri 17 Oct 2025 15:41:44
        Form mounted:
        Content types: any
        Printer types: unknown
        Description: HP LaserJet P2015 Series
        Alerts: none
        Location: office
        Connection: direct
        Interface: /etc/cups/ppd/HP_LaserJet_P2015_Series.ppd
        On fault: no alert
        After fault: continue
        Users allowed:
                (all)
        Forms allowed:
                (none)
        Banner required
        Charset sets:
                (none)
        Default pitch:
        Default page size:
        Default port settings:

There must be a relevant ppd file for the printer. Note that all users are allowed. That can be configured in cups at:
http://localhost:631 in a browser.

Next check the cups error log at: /var/log/cups/error_log, and the access.log in the same cups directory. Are errors reported? Is access impeded?

It's also worth configuring in cups that the printer is the default printer which means that it knows where all printing jobs are supposed to go to.

Sometimes a printer can choke on a job, but it's not clear from the outputs that that has happened. You could try to cancel all jobs, power-cycle the printer and try again for a test page. To do this, bring up cups in a web browser with: http://localhost:631, then run through the menu (as root): Administration -> Manage Printers -> <select printer> -> Maintenance -> Cancel All Jobs. Power-cycle, try and print the test page. Sometimes this can clear the choke if that's the issue.

 

[Erik Groothuijzen]

cups service is used for printing jobs, it should be installed on your system, to check run:

sudo systemctl status cups

Maybe it prints something useful.
To restart sudo systemctl restart cups

These are the messages I get now:

 

[Erik Groothuijzen]

There are few checks one can implement.

Probably the first is to check the status of the printer. To get the proper name of the printer if unsure, usually one can run the following. The outputs shown are from a printer on a machine here that works so you can compare notes:

[~]$ cat /etc/printcap
# This file was automatically generated by cupsd(8) from the
# /etc/cups/printers.conf file.  All changes to this file
# will be lost.
HP_LaserJet_P2015_Series|HP LaserJet P2015 Series:rm=min:rp=HP_LaserJet_P2015_Series:
HP-LaserJet-P2015-Series|Hewlett-Packard HP LaserJet P2015 Series:rm=min:rp=HP-LaserJet-P2015-Series:

The name of the printer on this machine is HP_LaserJet_P2015_Series. Note the underscores.

Then you can check it's status entering the printer name in the following:

[~]$ lpstat -l -p HP_LaserJet_P2015_Series
printer HP_LaserJet_P2015_Series is idle.  enabled since Fri 17 Oct 2025 15:41:44
        Form mounted:
        Content types: any
        Printer types: unknown
        Description: HP LaserJet P2015 Series
        Alerts: none
        Location: office
        Connection: direct
        Interface: /etc/cups/ppd/HP_LaserJet_P2015_Series.ppd
        On fault: no alert
        After fault: continue
        Users allowed:
                (all)
        Forms allowed:
                (none)
        Banner required
        Charset sets:
                (none)
        Default pitch:
        Default page size:
        Default port settings:

There must be a relevant ppd file for the printer. Note that all users are allowed. That can be configured in cups at:
http://localhost:631 in a browser.

Next check the cups error log at: /var/log/cups/error_log, and the access.log in the same cups directory. Are errors reported? Is access impeded?

It's also worth configuring in cups that the printer is the default printer which means that it knows where all printing jobs are supposed to go to.

Sometimes a printer can choke on a job, but it's not clear from the outputs that that has happened. You could try to cancel all jobs, power-cycle the printer and try again for a test page. To do this, bring up cups in a web browser with: http://localhost:631, then run through the menu (as root): Administration -> Manage Printers -> <select printer> -> Maintenance -> Cancel All Jobs. Power-cycle, try and print the test page. Sometimes this can clear the choke if that's the issue.

This is what I get

 

[CaffeineAddict]

These are the messages I get now:

Here is something about this error:

Troubleshooting Raspberry Pi as a print server configuration

Here I will share the issues I found during the configuration of my Raspberry Pi as a print server.

medium.com

Before running chown you may want to check for existence if lp user with lslogins

 

[Trml]

Your status shows an error for "hpfax", which is not the printer model:

https://www.linux.org/attachments/screenshot-from-2025-11-07-08-23-06-png.28542/

It could be your printing tests just went into the void, because the wrong printer is set as default. I'm not on Ubuntu, hence don't know if "hpfax" may be installed as default for pdf printing. In any case, check in the cups interface you see your installed printer there, http://localhost.631

You might need to add your user to be in the "lpadmin" group to modify somehting in the web interface, see https://documentation.ubuntu.com/server/how-to/networking/cups-print-server/#web-interface

 

[Erik Groothuijzen]

After many hours of looking and looking again, struggling with cups etc., I finally realised that Ubuntu installed a hp driver for my printer with the same name. Going through the process of managing to download and install the correct driver with terminal. everything is working properly. I must say, Linux does not make it easy.

 

[Brickwizard]

I finally realised that Ubuntu installed a hp driver for my printer

strange you should say that, on my new to me machine, i plugged in my Epson printer, normally no problems, but this time it would not work, so i went to the Repository, and saw the latest mint LMDE had installed HP drivers and not the Epson 2205 drivers... may be a glitch in one of the updates.