Version 18.2 driver problems.

Richard Allen

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I was using V18.2 but had some problems with updates so I reinstalled. Now Linux cannot find my printer (HP Envoy 5660). It was working fine until I did the reinstall. I downloaded the proper hplip except that the one for v18.2 ws not offered. The version I have will not find my HP printer. Now what do I do?
 


Try the one for 18.1? I assume Linux Mint.
 
Yes, I did and no it doesn't. I have tried to intall three times now and ti still tels me I don't have any HP devices installed. An yes I followed the directions meticulously. :)
 
Maybe something got buggered up - at this point i'd say use their uninstall instructions to remove it and install it fresh (again).

http://hplipopensource.com/node/188

I'm wondering if there were any warnings or errors when you first installed it.. that's something I wouldn't normally notice unless i'm looking for it. If you decide to go this route, keep an extra eye out during install for anything it may complain about.

Good luck!
Rob
 
Maybe something got buggered up - at this point i'd say use their uninstall instructions to remove it and install it fresh (again).

http://hplipopensource.com/node/188

I'm wondering if there were any warnings or errors when you first installed it.. that's something I wouldn't normally notice unless i'm looking for it. If you decide to go this route, keep an extra eye out during install for anything it may complain about.

Good luck!
Rob
Thank you Rob. I will do that, If all goes well, you will not hear from me. If it doesn't ... :) OK I see one problem here. The version the instructions are refereing to for the hplip is 3.10.3 While the version I was given is 3.17.7. Could this be the problem?
 
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Heh.. i'm just thinking maybe something happened and it wants to be cleanly uninstalled. You still need to come back with some other problem or help someone with theirs though ;)

Rob
 
Heh.. i'm just thinking maybe something happened and it wants to be cleanly uninstalled. You still need to come back with some other problem or help someone with theirs though ;)

Rob
Rob, I did all of that and still no printer. I did note that the link you had did not correspond to the HP link I have. The version numbers were quite different, and now i can't seem to get to that link. Could that be the problem? I have the wrong version loaded?
 
I was using V18.2 but had some problems with updates so I reinstalled. Now Linux cannot find my printer (HP Envoy 5660). It was working fine until I did the reinstall. I downloaded the proper hplip except that the one for v18.2 ws not offered. The version I have will not find my HP printer. Now what do I do?

I'll throw my two cents in here. Since you recently reinstalled Linux Mint 18.2.... I would recommend doing that again (and be sure to verify the checksum of your download).

My reasoning is that you were running that originally, and your printer worked (but had update problems) but you did not indicate you had installed HPLIP on that original install. And in fact, you should not need to install HPLIP manually.

As I type right now, I am running a "live" DVD of Mint 18.2 (Mate Edition, though the desktop edition shouldn't matter). HPLIP version 3.16.3 is bundled with Mint. This is proven by following the HPLIP instructions here and running the following command in a terminal:

Code:
dpkg -l hplip

The HPLIP website also says here that your printer only needs version 3.14.10 -- so the version bundled with Mint is newer and should be sufficient.

I have a different model HP printer (Officejet 8600 All-in-one), but running the live DVD, all I needed to was to go to Printers, Add a new printer, choose Network printer in my case, and it then searched for drivers (highly recommend an internet connection at this step or it may fail). Within a couple of minutes I was printing a test page. The Simple Scan app also automatically accepted my printer and scanned normally.

You can boot on a live DVD or USB to test these steps too before reinstalling Mint, but it seems that it should work as well for you too, and it is certainly an easy test. If your update problems return, then that is the one to try to track down and fix.

Cheers!
 
Thank you, atanere I had just decided to try that so I m glad to have someone with a lot more knowledge of Linux offer the suggestion. If you don't hear from me for a while, it worked! :)
 
Hi Richard and welcome to linux.org :)

...but had some problems with updates so I reinstalled...

I am particularly interested in the nature of those update problems if you could flesh that out for me?

Also could you tell us a little more about your PC environment such as:
  1. Linux is sole OS or
  2. Dualbooting with Windows or
  3. Other
and do you get a Grub Menu at startup?

Cheers

Wizard
 
Hi Richard and welcome to linux.org :)



I am particularly interested in the nature of those update problems if you could flesh that out for me?

Also could you tell us a little more about your PC environment such as:
  1. Linux is sole OS or
  2. Dualbooting with Windows or
  3. Other
and do you get a Grub Menu at startup?

Cheers

Wizard
Yes, Linux is the only OS I run. Sorry, I have no Idea what a "Grub Menu is.
 
Yes, Linux is the only OS I run. Sorry, I have no Idea what a "Grub Menu is.
Grub is the Linux bootloader, so it runs before you see Linux and it would allow you to choose Windows instead if you were dual-booting. But since Linux is your only OS, it is probably masked so that you don't see it.

I'm surprised that your printer did not come to life. This should be easy with Mint and your printer since it is supported by HPLIP. But since it's still not working, let's hit the basics...

1. The printer is plugged in and turned on when you use the "Add Printer" app. If yours is connected wireless, you might turn off your router and back on, and turn off the printer and back on so that both are reset before you use "Add Printer."

2. If the printer is connect by cable... that both ends are securely plugged in.

3. If the printer is connected wireless, is it possible for you to connect with a cable instead?

4. Is the printer currently working with any other computers? With any other operating systems?

Wireless printers can have some other things to check... so connecting with a cable is a good test just to make sure the printer is working, and that it is working with your Linux Mint as it did before. So, in other words, the problem could be a wireless connection issue and could be fooling us with the printer symptoms.
 
Grub is the Linux bootloader, so it runs before you see Linux and it would allow you to choose Windows instead if you were dual-booting. But since Linux is your only OS, it is probably masked so that you don't see it.

I'm surprised that your printer did not come to life. This should be easy with Mint and your printer since it is supported by HPLIP. But since it's still not working, let's hit the basics...

1. The printer is plugged in and turned on when you use the "Add Printer" app. If yours is connected wireless, you might turn off your router and back on, and turn off the printer and back on so that both are reset before you use "Add Printer."

2. If the printer is connect by cable... that both ends are securely plugged in.

3. If the printer is connected wireless, is it possible for you to connect with a cable instead?

4. Is the printer currently working with any other computers? With any other operating systems?

Wireless printers can have some other things to check... so connecting with a cable is a good test just to make sure the printer is working, and that it is working with your Linux Mint as it did before. So, in other words, the problem could be a wireless connection issue and could be fooling us with the printer symptoms.
In order asked.
1. Yes and it is not wireless.
2. yes and double checked.
3. N/A
4. I have no idea since I have only the one computer; however it was working one hour before the first reinstall with no obvious reason for it to stop duriong that hour.
 
Okay, wired connections have less to figure out, so that should help. In fact, there are only 3 things here to consider: the printer itself, Linux Mint, and the cable connecting them. If you have a spare printer cable, I would swap it as part of the things to test (if no spare, unplug and replug your existing cable on both ends can help too). A fresh install of Mint tends to make me think it is okay too... it worked before for you without manually installing HPLIP. And a fresh install works for me too... I just now installed 18.2 fresh on a spare PC, and I did not enable networking so I have no updates or internet connection to get drivers. I disabled the wireless connection on my printer and used a standard cable to follow this process along with you.

1. With Mint running (and printer OFF)... I plugged in cable to USB and turned on printer.
2. A window popped up on my desktop saying, "Configuring New Printer" with options to Print Test Page or Configure. This windows disappeared after just a few seconds, and the printer worked. I did not even have to use the "Add Printer" app. It was that easy... again, with no internet so in my case it did not need to search online for drivers. I suggest having the internet working though, just in case.

So I tried something else after the above success, and got a failure too. Here's what happened...

1. With Mint running (and printer ON)... I unplugged the USB and I deleted the printer in the Configure Printers app.
2. Then I plugged the USB cable back in and I got an Error Window pop up... Missing printer driver for FAX (with a search box available that I did not use).
3. Checking the Configure Printers app showed that it did NOT install the printer either, not just the FAX.
4. But repeating this process again and it installed successfully again, even with the printer ON.

My drivers must be included with the HPLIP bundled with Mint 18.2, and yours may be too, or maybe not. But if you have the internet connected, there is little to keep your printer from working. It would be nice if someone had your exact model of printer to test with, but Linux and HPLIP are really very good with those printers that are supported, like both of ours.

It is possible that your printer died, just then, at a weird moment with the other things going on. I doubt that really, but strange things happen in the world sometimes. Can you print a test page from the printer's touchscreen menu?

Another step you might take, especially if you can print a test page from the touchscreen menu... is to look through the Setup section, maybe in a Tools sub section (where mine is).... and select "Restore Factory Defaults." You could browse around other sections to see if anything strikes you as possibilities (like it got put into wireless mode) but restoring defaults might tickle it into communicating over the cable as it used to do.

That's about all I can think of at the moment. Hope something here gets you on the right path. I'll be around today to try to check back, but starting tomorrow I will be very hit-or-miss while doing a little traveling for about a week.
 
Okay, wired connections have less to figure out, so that should help. In fact, there are only 3 things here to consider: the printer itself, Linux Mint, and the cable connecting them. If you have a spare printer cable, I would swap it as part of the things to test (if no spare, unplug and replug your existing cable on both ends can help too). A fresh install of Mint tends to make me think it is okay too... it worked before for you without manually installing HPLIP. And a fresh install works for me too... I just now installed 18.2 fresh on a spare PC, and I did not enable networking so I have no updates or internet connection to get drivers. I disabled the wireless connection on my printer and used a standard cable to follow this process along with you.

1. With Mint running (and printer OFF)... I plugged in cable to USB and turned on printer.
2. A window popped up on my desktop saying, "Configuring New Printer" with options to Print Test Page or Configure. This windows disappeared after just a few seconds, and the printer worked. I did not even have to use the "Add Printer" app. It was that easy... again, with no internet so in my case it did not need to search online for drivers. I suggest having the internet working though, just in case.

So I tried something else after the above success, and got a failure too. Here's what happened...

1. With Mint running (and printer ON)... I unplugged the USB and I deleted the printer in the Configure Printers app.
2. Then I plugged the USB cable back in and I got an Error Window pop up... Missing printer driver for FAX (with a search box available that I did not use).
3. Checking the Configure Printers app showed that it did NOT install the printer either, not just the FAX.
4. But repeating this process again and it installed successfully again, even with the printer ON.

My drivers must be included with the HPLIP bundled with Mint 18.2, and yours may be too, or maybe not. But if you have the internet connected, there is little to keep your printer from working. It would be nice if someone had your exact model of printer to test with, but Linux and HPLIP are really very good with those printers that are supported, like both of ours.

It is possible that your printer died, just then, at a weird moment with the other things going on. I doubt that really, but strange things happen in the world sometimes. Can you print a test page from the printer's touchscreen menu?

Another step you might take, especially if you can print a test page from the touchscreen menu... is to look through the Setup section, maybe in a Tools sub section (where mine is).... and select "Restore Factory Defaults." You could browse around other sections to see if anything strikes you as possibilities (like it got put into wireless mode) but restoring defaults might tickle it into communicating over the cable as it used to do.

That's about all I can think of at the moment. Hope something here gets you on the right path. I'll be around today to try to check back, but starting tomorrow I will be very hit-or-miss while doing a little traveling for about a week.
I want to thank you for taking the time with me to try to figure this out.
What I did:
1. I changed the USB cable out and used a different USB port on my computer with the printer off and un plugged.
2. Plugged in the printer and turned it on. Linux still does not see the printer.
3. Just for the hell of it I turned on the wireless from my printeer as I do have it available in my homje. I then printed the report with ease. (Still no printer in Linux.)
3. Restored the defaults on the printer and printed that report. Still no ... yeah.
Now I am wondering if there is anyway to go back to v18.1 which is the highest one the driver you offer says it will work with. I am a writer under a deadline and that printer is my lifeline and source of income. Kind of important.
Rick
 
Switching USB ports was a good idea too! I wish this would have worked!

You can download Mint 18.1 here if you want to try that. I don't blame you a bit since these other ideas are not panning out. Doing the manual install of HPLIP can sometimes be tricky, so just follow along their instructions carefully. I've only done a manual install once, and it was a long while back.

When you turned on your wireless on the printer... did you get it fully configured with your home network? You should get an IP address from your router. And then the "Add Printer->Add Network Printer" application didn't find it?

I am at quite a loss. The cable connection should be the easiest of all.

Will keep thinking about this, but maybe you will have success pursuing the 18.1 and HPLIP installer. Let us know how it goes.
 
Switching USB ports was a good idea too! I wish this would have worked!

You can download Mint 18.1 here if you want to try that. I don't blame you a bit since these other ideas are not panning out. Doing the manual install of HPLIP can sometimes be tricky, so just follow along their instructions carefully. I've only done a manual install once, and it was a long while back.

When you turned on your wireless on the printer... did you get it fully configured with your home network? You should get an IP address from your router. And then the "Add Printer->Add Network Printer" application didn't find it?

I am at quite a loss. The cable connection should be the easiest of all.

Will keep thinking about this, but maybe you will have success pursuing the 18.1 and HPLIP installer. Let us know how it goes.
Yes, I did get it fully configured and still no printer. Yep, got the IP address, subnet mask, all of that. Tried to print a document and no printer even on WiFi.
I am going to try the 18.1 and hope the 18.3 has a valid hplip. Any idea when that will be vailable?
Oh I figured out why the oprinter worked with the old version of 18.1. The HPLIP was an earlier version and not the the 3.17.7 which is the only one I can find these days.
 

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